I am on my way to Minden Nevada to pick up the Range Rover which I am told now runs. IF it runs, I will take it up to Gerlach on Tuesday to see how long the drive takes from Truckee. This is all in preparation for a tour of the Great American Outback for Michele’s – mostly – European cousins in September.
The NOAA forecast for the area is Chance Thunderstorms High: 67 °F.
For some unknown reason, Google decided that I would want to know that a pod of 14 Sperm Whales were spotted swimming in the Firth of Forth. Not that I don’t like Sperm Whales, but a pod swimming somewhere around Scotland is not of great interest to me. But I do find it interesting that something is named the Firth of Forth. Interesting in an humorous way.
Then the article – on the stv edinburgh website – went on to say The group were seen making their way from the island of Fidra to Lamb off the coast of East Lothian….They then changed direction, heading towards Crail in Fife.
It all sounds like something from The Middle Earth Gazette. I know that Scotland and England make up Great Britain and it appeals to me that the blue cross of the Scottish Flag – shown here on David Coulthard’s F1 helmet –
and the English flag – shown here on Jenson Button’s F1 helmet –
When Michele and I buy paper towels, what we get depends on where we are. If we are at Whole Foods, we will get some something like Seventh Generation which advertise that they are 100% recycled paper and 100% unbleached. If we are at Safeway, we will get something like Bounty which just touts their soaking up power.
But, when we get home, both choices seem wrong. The Bounty and their ilk are made from virgin forests and bleach, so we are wrong there. But the perforations allow us to use half sheets so we use alot less. The Seventh Generation paper towels are perforated so we can only use full sheets (unless somebody wanted to use scissors to cut the sheets). So they may be made in a way that has less impact, but using them uses almost double the paper.
On April 30, 1863, the the Confederates controlled Mississippi River traffic from Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Union could not transport goods from the upper Mississippi basin to the sea because they could not get past Vicksburg. It also connected the two halves of the South. The Citadel of Vickburg, sitting on a bluff overlooking the river, was called The Gibraltar of the West and considered impenetrable.
After several failed tries to take or get around the city, Grant marched south of Vicksburg on the far side of the river. Supported by Admiral Porter”s gunships and transports, he crossed back to the Vicksburg side at Bruinsburg on April 29 and April 30, 1863. They ferried more than thirty thousand men across the Mississippi, making it the largest military amphibious maneuver until World War II.
He was now deep in Confederate territory, out numbered and cut off from his supply lines. In his memoir Grant said that he felt a degree of relief scarcely ever equalled since…
on the evening of April 30th, 150 years ago, as the sun sank in the west, it sank on the other side of the Mississippi. Grant stood on dry ground on the same side of the river with the enemy. All the campaigns, labors, hardships and exposures from the month of December previous to this time that had been made and endured, were for the accomplishment of this one object.
He was about to start one of the most dazzling military campaigns ever.
It is Friday night and I am sitting in Michele’s family cabin; it is Friday night and my – formerly – trusty Range Rover is on its way back to Minden, Nevada. At least I hope it is on its way back to Hollar’s Automotive And 4 Wheel Drive in Minden. To start at the beginning:
After the Range Rover collapsed on the way to Death Valley and was towed to Hollar’s, it was given a complete top-end rebuild in situ. Monday, Michele and I set out to pickup what we expected to be the rejuvenated Range Rover in Minden. We settled on Highway 88 as the best way to go. Highway 88 seemed counter intuitive but both Google and Apple agreed that it was the fastest way to get to Minden and we figured that, even if it wasn’t the fastest way, it would probably be the most interesting way.
We left home about noon and drove to Stockton by freeway. Passing into Red State California around Altamont Pass at the Jesus Saves Hillside.
At Stockton, left the freeways for the – relatively – backroads. It was mostly straight roads across the Great Central Valley into the foothills. Then lots of sweeping turns over the Sierras and down into the Carson Valley to Minden.
The Rover was ready to go and Michele wanted to have her VW GTI serviced at Eurotech in Incline Village – because she felt they had done such a good job with the Rover the first time we were there and German cars are their speciality – so she drove ahead to Tahoe to get there before they closed.
I paid Hollar’s for the work on the Rover and then followed her a few minutes later. Driving up the Carson Valley and then over Spooner Summit on Highway 50, along, I marveled at how good the Rover sounded. Then the low coolant light came on. Just for a moment, just a flash, but enough to raise my blood pressure and adrenaline level. Then no light, then more flashing.
By the time I got to Eurotech, the light was flashing full time and popping the hood revealed splashed coolant all around the radiator holding tank. It was after business hours, so we left the Rover at Eurotech and drove the GTI to the cabin. The opposite of our plan which was now starting to look like a distant fantasy.
The next morning, Eurotech called and said that they tightened a couple of the houses and they thought everything was OK. It was amazing how quickly the fantasy returned. I drove Michele’s GTI over to Eurotech, picked up the Rover, and was on my way. The light didn’t start to flash for almost 45 minutes. That was Tuesday morning.
With variations, Wednesday was similar. Thursday was waiting for a part day – a part that was new about three weeks ago, but we were now hoping was defective – because the replacement was being shipped from Seattle. Today, Friday, was finding out that the part was probably not defective day and that I have a bigger problem.
It turns out that Dave at Eurotech and Mark Hollar are big off-roading buddies and fans of each other’s work. Dave called Mark who sent a truck to take the Rover back to Hollar’s in Minden. I don’t hold much hope that I will ever be wandering around in Nevada – in the Rover – again and, as I write that, I am starting to realize what a big portion of this blog – and my life – that is.
