Hi all,

Just wanted to say thanks again for all the good volks who called/
emailed in response to the mechanical problem that happened on the way
up to the San Juans a few weeks ago.

  In case you missed the story, I will recap. The van lost power to
the wheels coming into Portland on I-5. I thought the tranny might
have blown. I just "happened" to be at the exit to my brothers house
and he "happened" to be home. What are the chances of that happening
on a 900 mile trip? Anyway, I took a quick look at the CV joints that
I had just serviced and noticed nothing wrong. That's when I posted to
the list to get some idea of what to do next. The response was
amazing! The phone calls and emails started coming in and continued
the rest of the day. Lots of good advice and offers to camp out in
driveways, use tools, and even a cold beer to sooth the frazzled
nerves! Anyway, the consensus pointed to the CV's as the problem, so I
took another look and, sure enough, the inner left rear CV bolts had
backed out and the CV was just sitting on the skid rail with all the
bolts still in place! Bolted them up, bought lunch for my brother and
blasted off to make the ferry to Lopez Island that evening with 20
minutes to spare. Many thanks to all for their support and good cheer.

Since then, the trip to the islands, Seattle, Olympic NP was nothing
short of stellar. Met several really nice Westy owners from BC and
lots of other very friendly  people, too. The scenery was nice, but it
was the people connections that have made this trip so memorable.

So the trip continues south and the VikingWagen has been running
great. Hope to see some of you heading down the Oregon/CA coast on Hwy
101. Hard to miss a westy with an 18ft kayak and bike on top.

Note to self and others: re-tork CV bolts after servicing.

Best to all,

Keith O

PS Sorry for the cross-post