This is a reanimation of the Vicaribus blog as lived by Miro Kazakoff and Ehren Foss in 2004 and 2005. The photos may be spotty.

With Wild 'Bandon

Posted by ehren

After noting the time I went for a walk along a similar route to the noontime run. I brought my camera this time, and filled up a flash memory card or two with pictures that failed to capture the size of the trees. I should note that every time I want to use the camera I must hit it against a rock or countertop, or simply shake it violently, in order for the lens to open correctly. I think some sand or grit from abuses long past (White Sands perhaps?) is rattling around in there.

Miro cooked a dinner of chicken quesadillas, and managed to use the entire kitchen in the process. We watched 60% of Fight Club (batteries went dead) and called it a night. Watching movies every night is relaxing, but not optimal. However, it's raining, there's nobody else here, and there aren't any good two-player card games.

We got on the road around 2, and drove to Crescent City where ideally we would have called Moms for the very special Day After Mother's Day call. We still weren't in enough of civilization to demand a cell tower, so we kept on. Shortly afterward we were in Oregon, where the trees are shorter and it rains with additional vigor.

Mid-afternoon we stopped for a few hours at Crazy Norwegian's Fish & Chips Shack, which is the only location in a 50 mile radius known to offer free wireless (why???). The fish, chips, and milkshakes were top knotch, and I have the Crazy Norwegian to thank for getting the Redwoods pictures online. The menu included a usage and pronunciation guide for "Uff-da". Oh yah, hey?

We stayed in an RV park near Bandon, Oregon. Miro downloaded a ROM of "Oregon Trail" (For everyone over 30 that's an educational computer game our generation played in middle school) a few days ago, so in just under a half hour we took our fully stocked wagon from Independence to The Dalles. We left in April and arrived in late September with a 100% survival rate. Remember, if the river is over 3 feet deep, you shouldn't try to ford it.

The battery charger started to possibly go on the fritz during the overnight charge. It claimed to bring the batteries from 12.5 to 15V in just under 30 seconds, and then it started blinking and shut down. It seemed to work in the morning on the 2A trickle mode. I'll keep an eye on it.

Today we drove past more misty forests, some very large and wet sand dunes (Oregon Dunes Recrational Area), and the world's largest woodchip exporting port (Coos Bay).

Some have been asking about the status of our veggie oil fuel conversion. I offer the following excuses for our lack of progress:

1. We haven't been in a big enough city during business hours to buy used fuel tanks and steel angle iron for mounting.
2. It has rained solidly for the last 5 days, and I'm in no mood to crawl around under the bus examining fuel and coolant lines if it means lying in a puddle.
3. Laziness.

Ah, I almost forgot. Yesterday the gray water tank overflowed into the shower and the rest of the main cabin. Gray water (sink runoff, including foodstuffs, soap, toothpaste, etc) isn't as bad as black water (sewage), but it still is fetid and colorful and bad smelling. It happened on a long downgrade; We smelled something, couldn't figure out what it was, and then a waterfall started to flow across the floor and down the stairwell. We drained 10 gallons at the roadside (sorry, Oregon) but found that the tank was empty when we arrived in Bandon, meaning that perhaps the valve wasn't closed all the way.

Whooops!

Once it gets warm and hot again, I predict that the bus will smell real pretty.