FWIW we have arrived in Vancouver, well really Salt Spring Island just off Vancouver Island.  As
far as Vanagon notes go: 1) We had to tighten one coolant clamp, 2) The oil pressure buzzer went
off and after spending CDN $200 to find out that the oil pressure is OK, and the pressure sensor
is OK, seems to be a fault in the electrical ribbon behind the speedo,  Speaking of speedos, 3)
The speedo cable  snapped in two right where it goes into the front diff (Jeff???),  4) The brakes
had been a bit spongy since leaving Halifax, I had to pump once to get good pressure then again to
brake.  While going up and over the Rocky Mountains, and using the brakes a lot more, brake fluid
began dripping from the bottom of the tranny.  Again another CDN$200 was what it took to replace
that section of the brake line which had worn a hole from rubbing on top of the tranny.  5)  I
will be searching the archives to find why the sliding door seems to prefer the open position to
the closed position, as the door latch lets go at random. The van is still sucking a lot of oil up
through the crankcase vent tube, but that is not a trip stopper.

So, all in all, the trip has been  fine.  To see all of the varied landscape of Canada: Eastern
mountains, Mid-western forests, the great plains of Manitoba, Saskatchewan  & Alberta.  IMHO you
can all skip the Canadian Rockies, just huge mountains, beautiful lakes & varied wildlife, and to
many people, (Kansas is much nicer, go there).

As we left Halifax we toasted the Atlantic ocean, and now we have toasted the Pacific ocean., one
month to the day, and I wish I knew how many kilometres, but I�d guess about  5 to 6,000.  Of
that, only about 500 kilometres were on 4 lane roads, and only two major cities (Winnipeg &
Vancouver).  We stick to the small 2 lane roads as we travel.

We will be here a week, and then we will again test the van to see if it can make it back to
Halifax, this time through the northern US.  Take care.  Malcolm & Pat

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