The van with a name is getting up in years. Her odometer says she is up in the 74k range. She still runs like a champ, but with that mileage comes certain maintenance responsibilities.
The motor company had set maintenance points for your motorbike, where if you wanted
to keep your warranty active you paid a couple of thousand dollars so some tech
who supposedly tightened every bolt on
your motorbike, and greased the bushings on your fog lights. I would have paid a extra1k just to see every
bolt get tightened.
The van needed brakes, so I knew it was going to be a big job. I called the ford dealer in Pocatello and what a surprise they could get me in on Friday, contingent on if the van with a name would fit in the shop door. It did.
Jade, the service writer, met me at the door. He knew it was a big job too. They got the van inside and started the inspection. The estimate came down. .45 under 3k. I said I’m in. That’s when the drama started. Jade said there are special bolts that Ford says have to be replaced when they lift up the petticoats of the van with a name, and they had none.
They could be ordered. Be in by Wednesday or Thursday. That was
okay by me if I could live in the van with a name in a corner of their shop. That was not what they wanted
to hear, and magically the NAPA truck showed up in about a hour with all the
parts.
The van got new brakes, new rotors and new special bolts,
and she stops on a dime and gives nine cents change. Courtesy Ford got their
light bill for the week paid by me, and all the mechanics loved the van and
loved working on it. There were at least three of them on it at any given time.
It was late getting out of Ford, so I elected to spend
another night in Pocatello and since I had credits with KOA I thought I would
give them another chance. I had hoped that the lady who yelled at me last time I
was there and wouldn’t refund my money but let me park by the building during
the great Pocatello blizzard of a couple of years ago. would be there again, but she wasn’t. I think
it was her husband that checked me in and he was nice as could be and even
answered the phone when I called after a few hours, to ask if it was normal for the caravan next
to me to leave their dog tied out, without any water.
In the morning, I was glad to get out of Pocatello. I wasn’t
glad that I would have to drive Interstate 86. My schedule was pretty open so
when I got to Twin Falls, I googled camping near me and discovered a free RV
camp in the Snake River Canyons Park.
Ricketts RV camp was great. Picnic tables, outhouses, and fire rings at every level site. My fire ring even came with dry firewood , and if I used it, I might have been able to ignite the mountains of dry tumbleweeds that were piled along the fence line.
The campground has parking for horse trailers, and there are
miles of trails for off road vehicles, horses, and dirt bikes. Several dirt
bikes with suited up riders were doing stunts on some of the trails. The people
who moved in across from me had a four
wheeler, and all their underage children were riding around with no protection
at all, in spite of the law requiring hemits for riders under 18. You think you
would want to protect your children.
It felt good to get off the interstate and cross into Oregon. This is almost home turf. One night in Burns at a familiar RV park and it was on westbound on the Santiam highway past Brothers, and past Sisters to the Metolius river where I discovered the perfect RV camp. Camp Sherman.
Camp Sherman sits adjacent to the river, the Ponderosa Pines were fragrant, the weather great. I even spotted a new bird, a White Headed woodpecker, and would have stayed more than one night but my phone signal was poor, and I had a zoom meeting coming up. Will be going back their next time.
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