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Eddie Hintz, August 2nd
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Hey now,
It is now 1:15 AM, 2 August. Much has past since the last report. Obviously, we made it to Inuvik. But just barely...
It all started yesterday, before we left Eagle Plains. It rained. A lot. The Dempster Highway, which is unpaved, became mud. And we slogged on through. Slip sliding away...
My problems started with a flat tire. Changed it out, using one of Bob Hoover's spares instead of mine since his were better tires. So on the road again, when not too much farther Bob hollers at me to stop. So I stop, and my left rear shock is dangling from the bottom bolt-the top bolt MIA. Off comes the shock, and we continue, about 50km to Fort McPherson. The road seemed to improve somewhat, so we decided to continue to Inuvik-most likely place for parts. So I continued at about 30-40MPH and we played a game of tortise and hare- I was the tortise... So we finally reached Inuvik, pulled onto the first paved road in over 400 miles, and life was good. Until I hit the brake pedal and it felt like stepping on a plum. And the bus didn't stop. Not good. Pulled over via emergency brake, and inspected. Wasn't real hard to see the problem, the left rear wheel was covered in brake fluid. Blew the wheel cylinder because of all the bumping around without a shock. So we nursed it on into the campground via emergency brake, and set to work.
Went looking for parts, and spent most of today running about trying to find them. Most of the parts shops laughed at me, the rest gave me blank stares. The end result was that I was unable to find a wheel cylinder, so I found a plug at Northern Metallic, who were very helpful, and regretted not having the parts for me. Aircooled VW's are not a high ticket item in a town that stays around -20 to -40 for 6-9 months of the year. I wonder why... ;-) Anyway, I plugged the left rear brake line off, bled the whole system, and had brakes again. Credit is due to Sir Hoover at this point, for his help in defining the proper sizes of plugs etc. for the repair...
Now for the other part, the shock. Found a fellow by the name of Mr. Gutti Gudmundsson, who runs Apollo Communications in Inuvik. Satellite and Radio supplier for the area, and also a car buff. He has a '74 Safare bus in his yard, and was gracious in allowing me to purchase his shock. This is *not* a parts bus, it is his project, so I am quite grateful that he allowed me to do it, otherwise I'dve had to drive all 400 miles of the Dempster back with no shock... Gutti is not on the net yet, but likely will be soon, so we should have a new listmember before long. ;-) That'd make 2 in Inuvik! Anyway, Gutti also let me take his shock mounting bolt, and I'll mail him one from Texas-Austin VW has about 60+ busses in thier yard, that bolt will be easy to find. Contrast that with Inuvik, where I spent 3 hours going in circles to every auto parts store, hardware store, and even the snowmobile dealers trying to find the right bolt. Never did find one.
Next problem-when the bolt worked its way out, it buggered the threads. Enter Roland, at Inuvik Auto service, who spent half an hour helping me tap out the mounting hole, at no charge. He also gave Jorge some grease for replacing his wheel bearings yesterday, as all the parts stores were out of high temp grease for disc brake systems. Three cheers to Roland!!!
So, for the last hour or so I've been taking pictures of the sunset/sunrise from an observation point here at the campground. The sky is a brilliant orange/red, with a sort of a cottage cheese texture, and every 15 minutes it gets even better than before. I've used up about 8 pictures so far this evening, and several other members of the caravan are doing the same thing. In fact, Ron took a shot of me typing this report, so when he gets back I'll post it on my page with these reports. Should add a little spice to it all.
Today we flew to Tuktoyaktuk, and we dipped our feet and whatnot in the Arctic Ocean. When I was about 4, my dad & I were on a camping trip up in northern California, and I had a great time skipping rocks on the river. I called it throwing "Wocks on Yow". Don't know how I got "Yow" out of water. Anyway, today we threw wocks on Arctic yow. Kind of a neat experience, added a touch of nostalgia to the whole thing. It was neat to do it next to my dad and our new friends-Jorge and Ivita from Puerto Rico, and John and Dennis from the bay area. And when we took off in the Beech 99 from Tuk to return to Inuvik, we headed south. For the first time in over a month, I was headed towards home. We have reached our objective, like those that came before us, and like them, we are now on the return journey, to those we left behind. And to the comforts of home. And for me, to Samantha. It will be a happy reunion.
Peace,
Eddie
