Tuesday June 19, 2012

Hello All,

Sorry we haven't done the blog since we got to Vegas, but you know..... What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

Ok, that would be cool if we were party people but it's us, Gar & Ter, we are not bar hopping drunk off our rears partying till 4am people.... The truth is we didn't have internet! Can you believe that? Seriously, there is internet at Harrah's but we for some unknown reason to us and to the hotel tech guy and the people we spoke to in India could not connect. So no blog...

We did have a fun time in Vegas, I won, I lost, I laughed, I cried! We saw a show, ate at Toby Keith's restaurant and relaxed! It was freaking hot, 107, 109, 107............ and W I N D Y !! And you know how I love hot and windy!!


This morning we checked out of the hotel and hit the road by 9am for a nice drive to LA... Isn't it funny how the universe has a different plan for you sometimes? We made it about 20 miles out of Vegas and the car started going slower and slower....So we pulled over in Primm and Gar popped the hood and looked and it looked fine, he gunned it a few times and it sounded good, so off we went... The universe said NO again and we only made it to the next exit where we sat for about 25 minutes and Gar tried again.... Nope backed down the exit again, Gary checks everything, again, we wait 10 minutes and try again, still can't go faster than like 30 MPH.. Did I mention it is freak'in hot already? We head back to Vegas and and AutoZone.... Takes awhile at 30 MPH but we make it. The "Car Whisperer" thinks its the fuel pump so he jacks the car up in the Autozone parkinglot, (no shade for my man to work in!) He gets almost everything unhooked and goes in to get the fuel pump...They don't have one.
Now here you might be thinking, "Hey, maybe you guys should have asked before you did all that work?" Well, yes, under normal circumstances I might agree, but we were stressed out, and hot, so I blame the weather! So he reconnects it all, takes the jack off and we go to another parts store a few blocks away....
He checks first (we aren't that Stupid!) and they don't have it either, but they send us a few miles away to an O'Reiley Auto Parts store that has one tree that we park under so my man can work on the car in shade (Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus!), they have the part (YAY!) and the clerk is a young kid who loves old cars and wants to do anything he can to help us out without leaving his post for more than 15 minutes! Long story short 2 1/2 hours later the car has a new fuel pump on it, my man is covered in grease, gasoline, dirt (parkinglots are not that clean when you have to lay on the ground!) and sweat, but that damn thing is on... We thank the nice clerk and we are off...It is now 2:30 we are hot, need gas and something to drink. We go to a gas station, Gar fills up, I get the drinks and I'm back in the car and Gar says"The car is running like Crap already!" Oh my heart sinks, he is so tired and has worked so hard, how can this be? We drive again at about 20 MPH to a shopping center and park behind a Home Depot where there is shade from the building and he decides to take off the carburator and check that out... It has some gunk in it he blows it out puts it back together and we try again... Hmmm... Seems to be running fine, we head for Hwy 15, we make the turn on to the Hwy and the car chokes and sputters! OMG! Are you kidding me..I have to pull out the big guns as it is about 110 degrees, my man is exhusted so I do what everyone in a desperate situation does, I say "Hey Universe! How about cutting us a freak'in break? Let us make it to LA tonight huh?" Just as I finish that thought, my man guns the hell out of it, and it seems to have blown out anything that was blocking whatever, and we are on our way! Car runs great! We are up to speed and in our hotel room by 9pm... Again, I need to say my husband is a genius. I was never worried he wouldn't figure it out, he knows that car inside and out but I think today the heat really played a part in what was wrong... Vapor lock was part of it as well today.

Tomorrow some nice people in Santa Monica are going to show us around. They have the day planned with a visit to a Mansion and lunch. Looking forward to that and driving on the last part of Rt. 66.

Sorry no pictures tonight I left the camera in the car and there it will stay  we are too tired to go get it!

See ya on the Road,
Ter :)
　
'From the driver's seat'.....Every night, regardless of where we stay, we have the internet at our disposal....middle of Arkansas, got wifi.....Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, got it. Harrah's in Las Vegas.....nope! They have hard wire but it didn't work and had no interest in making it work...WHAT?????. Their options were buy computer time in the business center but it closes at 4:00 PM...again, WHAT????, or buy time at a private company's kiosk at 35 cents a minute....yeah.Thanks for all the help....NOT. We finally found a Starbucks with wifi and at least booked tonight's room.

Terry gave a pretty good description of today's happenings....once again the car didn't leave us on the side of the road but managed to limp back to Vegas. I was fortunate to happen upon a young guy who knew small block Chevys and immediately pulled the pump I needed....everyone else wanted the year and make of car....OK dimwit, '51 Ford. I love 'old school' thinking in the next generation...he's getting his grandfather's '49 Ford sedan and came out and talked 'shoeboxes' with me. While we were working he brought us a couple bottles of cold water and after I bought the pump I still needed some extra parts which he wouldn't let me pay for. I'll be writing to O'Reilly's to brag on him....
The fuel pump barely put enough fuel in the carb to do 30 mph and once the new pump was installed it sucked up some debris and plugged up the filters inside the carb...once I cleaned them all up, reassembled the carb and put it back on we were under way with only one hick-up in the next 250 miles. I cannot tell you how happy I was to get out of Vegas!!!!!

By the time we get to Santa Cruz we will have driven 11,000+ miles in eight weeks. A fuel pump, a few electrical problems and a water pump gasket aren't too bad for a 60 year old car...I'm still happy with it. We've still maintained our schedule and we've never been left out on the road....it's still the journey, not the destination although tonight it was the destination.