The Dlog: Maine -> Pennsylvania, 8/1 - 9/16
Monday, September 16th:
Lake Lewey was foggy and slightly overcast in the morning. One could barely see the other side of the lake. Max built a fire and made coffee and tea for everyone. We skipped breakfast and got right on the road. According to Google maps, we had about 5.5 hours of travel ahead of us. But travel in the van is always a bit slower than you expect and it ended up taking about 7.5 hours to get to Williamsport. It was a bit of a grind-day, but we successfully made it!! WOO!
The day's route:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VPfj5RKuPzGPpcLf7
Wow, that was a big one.
Lola was reintroduced to Sam and Roxy and the three of them had a vigorous play session. We helped Dad prep dinner and ate an incredible meal with everyone. The finishing touch on the day was picking up Jesse's mom from work using the van.
Lake Lewey, about 10m from the van in the morning:
Sunday, September 15th:
We spent the morning drinking espresso, packing our stuff, and preparing the van for it's longest journey yet. The leaves in Vermont were just starting to turn when we left and the nights and early mornings had a chill in the air. The Van (we still need to find a name for it) drove beautifully and the views were astonishing. We stopped briefly in Burlington, VT which was cool, and then headed directly to our campsite in the Southern Adirondacks. Arriving shortly after dusk, we quickly cooked and ate before crashing into bed.
The day's route:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PpsoAAUuuRyWroXJA
Not a bad campsite at JF's...
Creemee stop, somewhere in Vermont...
Saturday, September 14th:
From JF's we took a day trip to the Kingdom Trails mountain bike park. we put a super heavy bike rack with a swing bar on the van and loaded it with three bikes. We were so proud of how capable an adventure vehicle the van proved to be. We met with Patric and Marie who are fellow Vanagon adventurers. Max also had a friend Bob from eastern Mass who is an accomplished mountain biker himself. He graciously acted as our tour guide around kingdom trails. After shredding the trails for a few hours we all met up at a tiki bar and shared drinks and charcuterie.
Kingdom Trails; Classic Vermont:
Side note (by Max): you may remember our Vanagon-friends-turned-real-friends Patric and Marie from episode September 5th and 6th of the Dlog. By chance they were travelling from Southern Maine to Northern VT to ride the Kingdom trails the same day we were planning to go. Such a wonderful coincidence. Great to see you two, and may our paths cross again soon!
And Hey, don't let too much dirt get in that CV joint boot!
Better yet, my friend Bob from MA was also there by chance, and somehow we made the whole thing work out to get us all together. Bob and I shredded another 15mi together afterwards. Thanks for the trails and great to see you again, Bob! I hope your fancy dinner shmoozing the land-owners went well :D
Friday, September 13th:
We woke up refreshed and clean at JF's house. This is when we were in introduced to JF's espresso machine. We were able to help out JF with some minor homestead projects including building some solar kilns for drying firewood and chopping some kindling. After that work was done, we took Lola to Dog Mountain for a nice long walk and got maple Creemees, sweet corn, and raw milk on the way home.
Morning Views (Photo creds to Win):
Espresso! JF, what a beautiful view you have.
Solar Kiln build process:
Solar kilns finished!
Thursday, September 12th:
The day's route:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ny7kMePk3BZuAnC26
Something changed when we entered Vermont (photo creds to Win):
Wednesday, September 11th:
The day's route, from the lake house to the campground, with a few stops:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/o3f3vNFG9i95M5a19
Sunrise at the lake:
Kancamagus Highway:
Hike from the campground:
Dinner over the fire:
Tuesday, September 10th (Retro-Dlog):
Quick morning at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Eric's House, on the road by 7:00am
Drive to Kennebunk, ME to get an alignment and inspection. The van ran very, very nicely.
Bakery + Coffee Stop
Kennebunk beach to walk/run/play Lola
Library (Blog writing) while we wait for the inspection
(plan) drive to Lake Winnepasaukee, camp the night and drive to the White mountains in the morning for some hiking
Inspection and alignment; SHE PASSED!!
Just 4 days prior I took the van for an inspection and they brought back a list of 5+ things that needed to be fixed. Here are the issues and the ways I fixed them in just 4 days:
Windshield crack: found a donor vehicle, got the windshield and swapped it with a new seal.
Horn not working: swapped the blown fuse
Reverse lights out: fixed the electrical connection to the sensor on the transmission
Left Side Rear light out: swapped for a new light/housing (thanks Patric!)
Left Rear Running Light out: Swapped the bulb (thanks Patric!)
Monday, September 9th (Retro-Dlog):
It's van-work day at Debbie and Eric's!!
Jesse removed our old (cracked) windshield and began to prep the whole surface for the new one.
There were a few rusty spots the needed rust treatment and some bondoWin and Max diagnosed some idle issues including replacing vacuum lines and finding a *very* broken part, the "auxiliary air regulator valve", which had been completely destroyed, see photo.
Our symptoms were high idle (up to 2000rpm :O) at warm temperature and a sporadic throttle. Win did a fantastic tune job and now she runs at a steady 850rpm :D
(This broken part was responsible for regulating extra airflow that bypassed the Mass Airflow sensor, to account for changes in engine temperature and other operating conditions.)
While we determined it'd be fine to block off the whole loop, we wanted to replace the part so we...
Made a trip to Gloucester, MA to pick up a new (used) aux air regulator valve from a donor Vanagon
While Win and I were gone, the neighborhood kids came over to test-drive the van
We refueled with some wonderful stuffed shells for dinner (Thanks Aunt Debbie!) and all got to work putting the new windshield in
We took a few laps around the neighborhood (probably 9:00pm by now) and Max took Debbie and Eric for a long-awaited Vanagon ride.
Max stayed up installing some new parts in the van and packing up all of the day's tools for departure in the morning
Lola was plenty tired from the day's activities.
Sunday, September 8th (Retro-Dlog):
Early wake-up for an obligatory HGS (Harvard General Store) ride with the 545Velo crew
Prepped the dogs and wrapped up at Ali's house
Picked up Max's brother Win from the airport (he'll be joining us for the next 10 days :D)
Watched dogs play at Middlesex Fells dog park for several hours (Jesse, add some photos here!)
Ventured back to our favorite pizza spot in Hudson, MA to meet Uncle Eric and Aunt Debbie
Finally made it back to their house with the van (where we'll stay until Tuesday morning)
Side story: We stayed with Debbie and Eric for the month of April while Jesse finished up her job and we always talked about visiting again with the van (and that I'd bring some minor project to work on while we were there). Some part of me wasn't sure we'd ever get the van on the road and that element of uncertainty had hung over my head a bit. Making it back here and taking them around the block in the van felt like a really wonderful celebration of our last few months of effort and marked a new chapter for me on this journey.
Here's the van in their driveway:
And here's our planned journey for the next two weeks while Win is in town:
Saturday, September 7th (Retro-Dlog):
Friday, September 6th (Retro-Dlog):
Thursday, September 5th (Retro-Dlog):
Wednesday, September 4th (Retro-Dlog):
Tuesday, September 3rd (Retro-Dlog):
Monday, September 2nd (Retro-Dlog):
Sunday, September 1st (Retro-Dlog):
Woke up at the campsite, chill morning
Drive to Freeport w/ friends
Walk/Hang at Tidebrook Preserve
Freeport Shopping/Outlets
Pizza + Beers at brewery
Back to Campground, Friends to Boston
