I wanted to share with you some of the wild folk art that we saw in the little town of Conway, WA.  We visited with Phyllis and Steve Hammatt who are HCCA members in Mount Vernon the day before yesterday.   We met them at their house to look at some vintage clothing that the local HCCA club had stored with Phyllis and Steve.  I found several items that were perfect for my Hershey vintage clothing booth in October. After visiting with them, they took us out to lunch in Conway where we found these great pieces of folk art in addition to a couple of great antique shops.  If you are ever in that area of WA state, be sure to visit Conway.  Thanks to Steve and Phyllis.     

Wild owl made out of found objects including a base from on old stove, circular saw blades, bottle caps, a plow share, and pitch forks as feathers on the top.

Another huge work of art with a Model A wheel used as the brim of the hat.  More bottle caps used.  Such creativity.

Another of the figures.  I want all of them in my back field!

We followed Rt 2 south over Deception Pass Bridge to Whidby Island.  Deception Pass Bridge was impressive, but traffic was so busy that I wasn't able to get a picture of it.  I'm really sorry for that.  It curves over a huge body of water with tide surges of up to 15 feet so the bridge is really high.

I had always heard about Whidby Island and after hearing about it, half wanted to live there.  I have definitely changed my mind.  Northern Whidby Island is home to the Whidby Island Naval Air Station and there is an almost constant stream of naval jet flyers taking off and landing.  Really noisy.  I know the Navy needs that training facility, but I am very glad that I don't live nearby.  I found the lower part of Whidby
Island to be pretty unspectacular, (mostly scrubby vegetation) not at all what I had expected.  I was also F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!!  We had left our winter coats (mine had a fuzzy hood), blankets, and thermal underwear in Bellingham to be brought to Hershey by Steve Hammatt to save space in the car.  I had on a denim coat and Joe's denim duster and was about to die! My ears were frozen.  We finally reached the Keystone Ferry Landing and took the ferry from Whidby Island to Port Townsend, just a short ferry ride away.

Landing in Port Townsend was like landing in another country and another century. It is is a marvelous place - full of Victorian buildings, art galleries, boutiques, book shops, great restaurants - so different than Whidby Island.  

Just one of the many, many Victorian buildings in Port Townsend.

This old building had a magnificent Bull Durham Tobacco ad painted on the building.

After spending the night in Port Townsend, we traveled on to Sequim where we spent the night.  The area from Port Townsend to Sequim was beautiful - farmland and lavender farms, lots of recreational activities - hiking, boating, etc.  In Sequim, we called Dennis and Mary Hood, HCCA members, and went out to dinner.  They met us in their 1914 Cadillac.  It was beautiful - green and pristine.  They arrived at the restaurant in their dusters with the top down on their Cadillac.  Our car had already been put to sleep and covered at the hotel.  We met them this morning at their home just outside Sequim where they had everything ready for Joe to give our very dirty car a much needed bath.  Many thanks for the water, the soap, the brushes and the mitts.  Our car just sparkles now.  While Joe was busy doing the dirty work, I was visiting with Mary and enjoying a tour of their yard.  Not long after leaving their place, Joe spotted an upholstery shop and stopped in to borrow a tool to replace a snap on one of the side curtains.  Gary Smith was very accommodating and we appreciate his help.  

As we traveled down Rt 101, we stopped for a brief time in Port Angeles to visit with HCCA members Bob and Mary Osann.  We were very bad - we just drove up to their place without notice - something we try never to do.  They were very gracious and while Joe was giving Bob a ride in our car, Mary and I were looking at all the landscaping that they have been doing at their new home overlooking the Olympic Mountains and the harbor at Port Angeles.  Across the harbor you could see Vancouver Island in Canada and the ferry going over to Victoria.  Mary had a turn in the car while her husband and I got to get to know each other a little.  Many thanks for being so gracious on the spur of the moment!        

We are spending the night in the little town of Fork on the western coast of WA.  This was and still is a huge logging area.

Take a look at this H-U-G-E log with our E-M-F beside it.  When it was logged in 1978, the log weighed over 70,000 lbs (35 tons) and they had to build a special road to get it out of the woods.  The average number of growth rings per inch of wood is 20, so scientists have figured out that this tree was 1,250 years old when Columbus discovered America in 1492.  They figure that the tree began its life in about the year 258 A.D.!!!!!!   Amazing!!!

We expect to be in Moclips, WA tomorrow evening.

THE STEERING COLUMN

About 3 weeks ago, I started having a problem with the engine idling rough, hard starting and a little loss of horsepower.  When ascending a hill, it was not pulling smoothly and when descending, the engine didn't hold the car back as well, and would occasionally cough. 

Whenever I am trying to troubleshoot an issue, I get back to basics and start reasoning it out.  You need 3 basic things to make an engine run - gas, spark and compression, and of course each of these things need to be operating properly. 

I had recently removed the carburetor, taken it apart and found no problem - the intake manifold was in good shape - I could find no vacuum leaks and I had good fuel flow to the carburetor.  I had already replaced spark plugs, wires, and the magneto. The spark timing couldn't be off because the magneto coupling is pinned. That pretty much eliminated a spark issue.

Now I am focusing on compression or lack thereof.  I remembered hearing a low, muffled tone from the exhaust pipe which was different   It just sounded like there was a lack of compression.  About 10,000 miles ago, number 4 exhaust value was stuck open.  I had removed that valve, cleaned it up and replaced it and that was all that was needed.  I was pretty certain that I was having the same problem again so for the last week or so I had been putting more lubricating additives in the fuel tank and squirting penetrating lubricants onto the lower end of the valve stems, hoping that the oil would find its way up into the valve guides.  I had been doing this during the time we were in Alaska and didn't have an opportunity to work on the car.

When we returned from Alaska last Sunday, the car seemed to run a little better but was still not right.  I went back to Mike Yeakle's shop and took that opportunity to start taking the valves out one at a time.  I started with number 4, thinking that maybe that was all I would have to do.  I was surprised to find that number 4 exhaust was well lubricated and moving freely, so I continued down the line removing each valve and found that all the valve stems were well lubricated and moving freely.  

Closer inspection revealed that none of the valves were seating very well.  Mike reground the 4 intakes, just enough to clean them up, (a recessed groove had been worn into the seating surface), then I did some serious lapping on each one, number 4 being the worst.  I spent 2 hours lapping that one valve to a point where it looked like it was making a good seal.  Once that was done, I inspected the tappets.  Bingo, I found a definite problem.  The tappet's adjusting bolts have a non-metallic insert on the top.  The purpose of these is to deaden the "clicking" noise that valves make. Two of those inserts had fallen out on number 1 intake and number 2 exhaust.  This causes a wild gap of at least 1/4 inch.  When this happens, the valves won't fully open and they won't  open and close at the right time.   I could have replaced those inserts, but after discussing it with Mike, I decided it was best to eliminate all of those adjusting bolts with the inserts and replace them with plain grade 8 bolts, with their heads ground smooth.  I figured this would make the "clicking" noise a little louder, but on the other hand, they would never cause me any problems.  

This job is awkward and time consuming to do but it was necessary.  It wasn't this trip that caused the problem, it was just time to do it.  I spent 2 days working on it in Mike's shop.  I found that additional "clicking" noise to be so slight that it is not bothersome at all.  If anybody else has this problem, I would recommend this minor modification.  

The car runs like new again and we are back on the road.  As I write this, we have moved on to Port Townsend, WA, and this morning we will head west to Sequim, then Port Angeles and over to Rt 101 on the Pacific coast and from there, we will stay on the coast down to southern CA.  

For those people along our route who are south of us who are expecting a visit, continue following this blog for updates.

---------AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING-------       

Juneau was full of tourists, but also full of history.    

ICEBERG !!!!

This was native artwork on an apartment building.  Really striking images.

This simple metal box about the size of an outdoor air-conditioning unit was transformed with the artwork.  Amazing way to integrate native culture into everyday life.

While Joe and I were at the Juneau newspaper office, Joe was inside talking with a reporter and I was outside across the street where I saw these salmon in the shallows.  There were hundreds of them!  The salmon in this picture were about 4 feet long, 6-7 inches wide and just as thick!  Hundreds of them!!  The water was just churning with them.

This little boy was so excited to have caught a fish that he was running to show his granddad.  This was one of the small salmon.  I would have been happy to catch a fish this big.

This isn't a very good picture, but I wanted to show you just a hint of how many bald eagles were around.  There are at least 10 in this picture which was taken just outside Juneau on the mudflats.

Joe in front of one of the most popular saloons in Juneau.  Swinging doors, beer and dancing can-can girls - quite a trip back to the gold rush days.  With the flannel shirt and blue jeans and beard he could have passed as a prospector just in from the claim ready to have a "night on the town"!  

This newspaper boy in Juneau was all decked out in 1930's garb and hawking the daily paper.  Where else could you see something like this except in the movies?

On the way back down the coast, we passed a tiny iceberg.  Wonder where it came from and what it saw coming down the inland passage - bears, sea lions, whales and lots of cruise ships and fishing boats.

My favorite flower from Alaska - the fireweed.  It's about 4 feet high it makes a real splash of color in the woods because, it is, after all a weed.

The trip back from Juneau was lazy and we spent a good part of it napping and reading.  It is going to be tough getting back into a routine.

   

Back in Washington state this morning from our Alaska adventure.  A piece of me is sad the trip is over and the other half wanted to kiss the ground of the lower 48 states!

Since we were without wi-fi for the duration of the trip up there, I'll try to bring you up
to date on our adventures.  

I have always wanted to see Alaska and this trip was just the tip of the iceberg as far as exploration is concerned.  If we return to Alaska, we've decided it would be best to fly to Anchorage or Fairbanks in the north, rent a car and drive modern to see the sights - we can cover more ground that way and see a greater variety of scenery. I believe we have seen what we need to see in southern AK.

If you will bear with me, I'll just take you on a photo journey up the inland passage from WA state to Ketchikan and Juneau and return.  If you ever have the opportunity to take a boat to Alaska, I would definitely recommend going by ferry instead of cruise line.  The ferry is much, much cheaper, has much fewer people and the accomodations are fine and the food is good.  The cruise lines offer shows and the rooms are maybe more spacious but the difference in price doesn't warrant taking the cruise line in my opinion.  The engine problems we encountered with the ferry, according to crew and many passengers that use the ferry system with regularity, were extremely rare, some having never experienced any problems in many years of regular travel.

We left from Bellingham, WA on the ferry along the Inland Passage which goes along the west coast of British Columbia and between islands on the west side of the water passage.  As we made the decision to go to Alaska on the spur of the moment, no staterooms were available and we camped out up on the top deck in what the ferry called the "Solarium".  We called it "Woodstock".

  

The Solarium was taken over by campers, some tent camping and some sleeping on the deck lounges and chairs.  Tent city went up quickly with corners tied to the railings or secured with duck tape to the floor.  There were heaters under the roof so it stayed comfortable when it was windy or rainy, which it was for most of the time we were on board.

Another view of "Woodstock".  Many of our fellow campers were young hikers and some were "old hippies".  I'm not sure that we fit either description but you could say that all of us up there were "adventurous" and "adaptable".

Joe and I found a long corner, in fact the last spot in the Solarium, and made it "home".  We spent many hours up there talking, laughing and reading and napping. It's been years since we've had no schedule and no expectations and could just nap at will.

One of many small villages along the edge of the inland passage.  The villages were small and so different from the villages in PA.  Travel was primarily by boat and villages were few and far between.  I like water but I also like being able to go to town in about 10 minutes and find anything I need and travel in the heated or air-conditioned comfort of my Subaru.  I am spontaneous and adventurous but like my creature comforts, too.  We were seeing these villages in summer, just think about them having to go places in winter!  Not me!

The further north we traveled, the more rugged the coastline became with trees right down to the waterline.  I kept my eyes peeled for bear, but no bears.

One of several lighthouses along the inland passage.  This one was in such a beautiful setting.  There were several along the inland passage which varied in width quite a bit.  In some areas, we were close to shore on each side with markers to show the route among the rocks.

Numerous waterfalls were seen along the passage.  This is definitely wild country.

Our first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska in the chillly rain.  It claims to be the Salmon Capital of the World.  Yes, no?  Their claim to fame.  There were several cruise ships in port and downtown was F-U-L-L of tourists just off the cruise ships.  Downtown was definitely geared toward the tourist trade - curio shops, high-end jewelry shops with designer label watches, big diamonds and other gemstones, furs from sable to mink to exotic and art galleries with high-end artwork.  We entered one art gallery and a man tried his best to get us to buy a sculpture that was in the $40,000 range.  What a joke.  I like art but I like to make my own selection and never in the price range he was pushing, and I mean pushing!

Totem pole in park in Ketchikan.  The totems were really interesting.  As an anthropology student, I studied Alaskan art and to really see a totem pole was a thrill.

  
Use your imagination here.  There is an eagle on the left flying toward the top of the tree where there is another eagle already resting.  This was taken along the inland passage in the rain.  We saw many eagles, porpoises, orcas (black and white) killer whales like you see at Sea World, humpback whales and salmon throughout the ferry trip up and back.  Since the weather was not very cooperative, pictures were few.

This cute little boat is called a Seine boat.  It drops a net over board and uses the small boat at the back to drag the net in a circle to make a net trap for fish.  The net is then hoisted with the crane into the boat.  The haul is taken to a 'tender' that buys the catch so that the boat can go back out and fish some more.  This gives the fisherman more time on the water since they don't have to go all the way back into shore each time to sell their fish.  They catch halibut, several varieties of salmon, rockfish and others.  Fishing is B-I-G business in Alaska.

After three days on the ferry, we arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska.  Juneau is unique in that you can only get into or out of town by boat or airplane.  It is larger in area than Rhode Island and Delaware.  There are no roads out of the Juneau area that connect to other areas of Alaska because of the rugged terrain.  Downtown is at sea level but quickly rises to about 4,000 ft and from the Juneau Icefields atop the mountains flow about 30 glaciers, the largest of which is Mendenhall Glacier.  

Area at base of Mendenhall Glacier, wetlands and Mendenhall Lake in the background.  This is prime salmon spawning area but that is later in the summer. That was fine with me since salmon spawning brings the bears in numbers to the area. The day we visited the glacier we were watchful for bears on the trails, but encountered none.

Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenall Lake ( in the fog and drizzle).  

Glacial rock at Mendenhall Glacier.  Note how smooth the rock has been ground down by glacial action over eons.

This rock shows the scoring or marks left by rocks and debris dragged across it as the glacier receded.  It's amazing the power of nature.

Downtown Juneau was busy with tourists - 3 to 7 big cruise ships dock each day with thousands of tourists from many countries.  There were many of the same types of shops as in Ketchikan but more variety and if you walked away from the cruise ship docking areas, there were some really nice shops and galleries with reasonable prices.  Many of the areas of Juneau retain the original buildings from the Gold Rush days so there is a sense of continuity and history there.  The first Europeans to see the area were there in the 1790's and in the 1880's a native showed a mining engineer where there were gold nuggets as big as peas or beans.  That started more exploration and gold was soon found across the channel on Douglas Island where a very productive hard rock mining operation and stamp mill was set up.

Downtown Juneau with mountains rising right from base of town.

Take a look at the steps leading up the mountain just off the main drag in Juneau. The people of Juneau - in the gold rush days and today - were and are hardy people!


I'll take a break for a while and write more later.  Much more to tell and many more photos to post.