West Virginia - "Almost Heaven", as the song goes!!

 

 

A little out of focus!!

Made it to West Virginia! A bit later than planned, but, "I have a very flexible schedule"!! So here we are in the mountains until sometime in September!

 

Getting closer!

And it feels so good to be back! It is still warm in the low areas of the state, but once you get into the mountains....oh, it is "almost heaven"! At least for me it is! As I say, I look for 45-75 degrees all year. Woke up this morning and it was a very pleasant 46 degrees!

 

 

But, as I always "plan"....things don't always go real smoothly! And when you have a "home" that is 27 years old & sits on a van chassis....well, things just happen!

A bad day, Driver!!

Was on I-77 getting close to Elkins, WVa when Lily started making some odd noise that I was not used to. And so hit the shoulder and started checking her out...and....the outer wheel bearing on the driver's side was the issue.

Some of the highway workers stopped to lend a hand, and with a surprisingly easy job, we got down to the bearing and it was a bit dry of grease, so they had grease, repacked it and in short time, back on the road for the rest of the trip to Elkins.

Once in Elkins I went by "my" tire shop here and had 2 new tires put on the suitcase. Went up a size and from 4 to 6-ply tires. The forest roads here are not like the one out West. Here the main ones are covered with a layer of crushed granite! And that stuff is a bit on the sharp side. And I had no desire of blowing 2 year old tires with 20,000+ miles on them.  

 

Next day, I was running a couple of errands before heading up to Cheat Mountain to start the summer....and....well, that bearing I mentioned....it decided to just totally go to pieces....literally!!

 

Thankfully I was only, maybe, a quarter mile from the tire shop when it let go. So I "hobbled" Lily back to the shop and the repairs began. Now keep in mind, Lily IS 27 years old! And for some reason, the parts shops just don't see the need to keep bearings for a vehicle that old in stock! So Lily, Abbie & myself spent the night parked in front of Bay 1 at the shop! (I even called my parts guru in AL to make sure we were trying for the right bearing, since they had sent a total of 7 bearings to try out!) And guess what, not a single of the stores in AL had them in stock either!!

So next morning, bright and early, Lily had new bearings installed  and was ready to roll!! Left the shop and drove, oh, maybe 3 miles, to the Wally to get the last couple of things I needed. When I came out, put away the things I'd bought, hopped behind the wheel.....and Lily would not run! She would try to run, but no such luck!

The brand new, in-line fuel pump - the one that had been installed less than 3 weeks earlier - had died! And I mean dead died!!!! Yippee!!

A couple of friends here brought me a floor jack, and I proceeded to remove the NEW pump and go to get a replacement for it! There are some good things about the big box stores that have all their shops connected, so they could pull up the account, verify I had just bought it in AL and give me another NEW pump!  LOL!

An hour later, it was installed, everything put up, Lily purring away....and we were driving away to get up on the mountain before dark and rain got here!

So, all that being said....We are here!!!

There will be more coming soon...places to see, pictures to take & share, and cool weather to talk about!

Stick with us, I think this will be a good summer with lots to share!

C'ya soon! And remember.....

Be Safe, Travel Easy and Go to the Woods!!

Frog & Abbie