From the Bay area we headed north toward Ashland OR where we found ourselves in an old campground with rather tight spots for our “modern” 36 foor 4 slide coach. This was Glenyan RV,  It is in the process of change of ownership, will take a look if we come back this way. We were in Ashland for two plays. The matinee was Sense and Sensibility.  We howled. The performance was wonderful and so was the staging. 

We were celebrating our 54th so went to dinner at Peerless Restaurant a 10 minute walk from theater. Had a marvelous meal with proper timing and attention from Justin (that name keeps appearing I know). Then on to the theater for Othello set in the US military with cellphones (which drew giggles from the audience). Iago is not any nicer nor is Othello himself in this setting. Somehow I have never enjoyed an performance or reading of this tragedy. Hamlet is easier to take. 

On to Bend OR where we are as I write. With the help of Tiffen Service I got the correct part from Tiffin Parts and found Coach Master of Bend to do the installation. Everything is working at the moment. Total shop time was an hour! They had the coach for a total of 3 hours. There is more to the story.

While here we have been parked next to Dan and Bev Armstrong at the Elks Lodge and went to Lava Cast Forest with them on Monday

and then on to Crux Fermentation for lunch and some fermented drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday Carol and I went out to Newberry Crater where we took the shuttle to the top of Lava Butte,

 yes that is my finger intruding. From there we headed down the road to Obsidian Flow where we climbed the stairs and the trail to the summit

Words cannot do it justice.

We concluded the adventure at Pauline Peak a drive to the summit at 7984 feet most of the road being washboard gravel. 

Some trees actually grow in the field of obsidian and pumice.

I doubt I will ever get tired of snow capped peaks in the distance

and a lake up high in the crater. 

We concluded the day with dinner with Norm and Patrice Sundholm at their home. We packed in food from Costco and our own resources. 

It has been a while since there has been a report of various failures and my attempts, mostly successful, to get us back on the road. 

The latest round started in the campground at Redlands Truck and RV service. Friday late afternoon Dan the service driver brought the coach back to the campground after a day spent servicing the engine and the chassis, this is an annual event. With the coach back in our possession we set up for the night with the leveling jacks extended and the slides extended as usual. 

In the morning the first sign of trouble was the failure of the right front leveling jack to return to the stored position. This is a hydraulic system and the store command merely opens a valve to let the weight of the coach and two strong springs retract the jack. Very simple. Except the valve didn’t open and the jack didn’t store. Not going anyplace in that mode. I tried a couple of things to encourage it, to no avail. A call to Coach-net, the road service I have used for 17 years, brought the hoped for response, eventually they found a mobile tech who could get to us and maybe get us on the road. Justin , of SOS Mobile Truck Service, arrived with his truck and attempted to get it started, to no avail. He resorted to a tactic I had thought of but was not prepared to do. He crawled under the coach and with two wrenches he opened the hydraulic line and let the oil drain into a pan (mostly), mirabila dictu the jack retracted leaving Justin almost stranded under the coach. He squirmed out, after tightening the line and set about restoring the hydraulic fluid level so I could operate the two slide out rooms that depend on the system. End of part One.

A digression: While parked in a truck stop at the pumps I opened the door and a part of the door handle fell on the ground making enough noise that I noticed it. Fortunately nothing was broken, just a screw had come loose. Maybe in my head by then. Two minutes to find an allen wrench of the correct size and it was as good as, well it was in place and working.

Part Two: Arrival at the campground was uneventful, although I cannot use my jacks to level until I get the system repaired. When Carol went to extend the slides the hydraulic slides, which had worked when Justin left us, refused to move. The one mobile tech I reached wanted 3 hours minimum at $159 per. I verified with Tiffiin Motorhomes what fluid I needed and went to the nearest Napa to get the ATF and a funnel. This took two trips as I only bought a quart which was not enough. On my return I bought 2 more quarts of which I needed 8 ounces. The slideout rooms are now extended. 

Another Digression: The last tech to work on our coach at Redlands Truck & RV failed to secure the oil fill cap properly. We arrived with much oil on the front of the Jeep. I took the Jeep to a nearby car wash and many dinero later the car looks like this:

 

I know I left this off in Ireland. Short story we spent a week in Dublin during which we saw art galleries, museums and two more visits to the dark side with a visit to the jail where so many IRA members (they were called Volunteers then) were held and executed and then a visit to the cemetery where they are all memorialized and 1.6 million Irish of all beliefs are buried. I consumed my share of Guinness Stout and tasted some more Irish Whiskey – I’ll try to categorize them in another post.

We returned to Jojoba Hills with only the minor mishap of our luggage containing the laundry from the trip being delayed because it couldn’t make the flight we made in Chicago. Thank you United! They delivered it the next day.

Our week in Jojoba Hills was marred by the sudden death of Joe Gibbs, our immediate neighbor on our first site and one of the nicest people we have come to know. Otherwise the week was uneventful, with several Happy Hour gatherings and my playing a fair amount of Bridge

Yesterday we took the coach in for service at Redlands Truck and RV and they got everything we asked for completed in the day allotted and we spent the night in their campground fully expecting to be on the road this morning. It was not to be. Going through the routine we noticed that the right front leveling jack did not retract. I have tried all of my “rituals” to no avail. I suppose I could dance around the rig, but that seems unlikely to help. Naturally it is Saturday and all the Redlands people are enjoying their weekend. Called Coach-net and they are seeking a mobile tech to bail us out. Waiting. . . 

Quick Edit 1:45 PM about 90 minutes later SOS Truck service to the rescue and we are ready to roll.

 

How to begin? During the negotiations to bring the conflict to an end certain brave men, drivers of Black Taxis, drove through the gates to carry the negotiators and others to the meetings in the Monastery in the Protestant section. Gates? Protestant section? This was our tour as our Black Taxi driven by one of those brave men showed us where the walls are and drove us through those gates. The walls are still up 20 years later and they are the highest barriers you can begin to imagine. The gates still close at 9 or 10 pm every night. The Protestants, Unionists, feel safer separated by the walls from their Catholic, Republican neighbors and vice versa. There is a third area where there is no separation or walls, that is where the educated and well off people live. They too are either Protestant or Catholic, but they live entwined and they intermarry. 

The tour ended at The Felons Club. The credential for membership is  being  an IRA member and having served time in under the British. We sat for over 90 minutes with three men. A Protestant Unionist,  who served 16 years and a Catholic  member of  Sinn Fein who was a member of the IRA and served 17 years of a life sentence, and a British infantry man who served in Belfast during the troubles. These three men who would have been glad to kill each other in 1990 are now able to present there stories to groups like us and to share a friendship that seems unthinkable. None of them think that it is likely to be wide spread in the near future.

Terminology. Unionist wants to remain united with UK (well until Brexit anyhow) Republican wants to reunite Ireland into one country. Ireland is made up of 32 counties. 26 counties make up the Republic of Ireland and 6 are the Irish part of the UK in much the same manner as Scotland and Wales. Just to make it more murky, Ulster is a Province of Ireland and the 6 counties of Northern Ireland comprise 6 of the 8 counties of Ulster. By definition, most Protestants are Unionists and most Catholics are Republicans. They inhale this with their mother’s milk.