Gisele and I are going away for a week or so. First to Las Vegas for two nights, then San Francisco to visit Gisele’s sister Angela, then finally down to Pasadena to visit Devon.
Leaving tomorrow (Monday) morning, back early the next week.
Derek is still on winter break, but decided to stay home and take care of Apollo.
Driving or flying?
Comment by Don — January 5, 2009 @ 12:42 pm
When you gonna be in Pasadena?
Comment by Don — January 6, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
We are driving. We should be in Pasadena towards the weekend, maybe Saturday.
Comment by Daryl — January 6, 2009 @ 10:17 pm
We made it to San Francisco after a 9 hour drive today from Las Vegas.
We saw “Phantom of the Opera” in Las Vegas. It’s quite spectacular, with amazing stage special effects.
We bet a total of two dollars in slot machines, both of which we lost, of course. I often like to play blackjack, but the minimum game I could fine was $10, which would lose my money faster than I like. So I didn’t play at all.
Comment by Daryl — January 7, 2009 @ 10:40 pm
I typically play the nickel slots. I figure you go to Vegas to either gamble and/or see the shows. If you plan to gamble then decide how much you plan to lose and stop when you lose that amount.
Gambling to me is fun and I don’t mind losing a bit. If I spend $50 to see a show I’ve also lost $50. I find losing $50 gambling or seeing a show provides me with about the same amount of enjoyment.
Of course if losing even $10 bothers you then not gambling is the smart thing to do.
Comment by Don — January 8, 2009 @ 1:05 am
Where are you now? Have you run into any flooded roads or bad weather?
Comment by Donna — January 10, 2009 @ 4:27 pm
We just arrived in Pasadena this evening after an eventful trip.
We stopped in Salinas on the way down to get some coffee. As I came back to the car, a man told me that he had seen smoke coming out from under the hood.
Turns out the power steering hose was leaking onto the exhaust manifold. Turns out it is leaking in multiple places, almost if the hose material was defective…
According to the Salinas Honda dealer there is not a replacement hose available in North America (Does that mean that others have had the same problem?)
I bought some hose clamps and tire patches and managed to reduce the rate of leak enough that I was comfortable going on, but it’s still leaking and smoking. Now that I am at Devon’s I’ll see if I can rig up something a little more permanent.
We’ll be home either Monday or Tuesday afternoon/evening.
Comment by Daryl — January 10, 2009 @ 11:21 pm
Or maybe yours it the only one that has ever leaked?
Comment by Don — January 11, 2009 @ 12:52 am
The Salinas dealer called an LA dealer who told him he had just looked it up for somebody else, so there is at least one other person.
I found a pipe and hose repair kit that uses fiberglass and resin to wrap around the hose. After letting it cure a couple of hours, it is no longer leaking. Hopefully it will get us home.
Comment by Daryl — January 11, 2009 @ 6:33 pm
Staying one more day; back home on Tuesday.
Record heat in Pasadena. It was about 80 yesterday, and expect the same today. We almost froze in San Francisco, though that was partly because Angela’s apartment doesn’t have heat and she likes to keep the windows open.
Comment by Daryl — January 12, 2009 @ 11:27 am
Gosh, I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened to me. I don’t have your handy mechanical ability, so I would have been stuck by the side of the road… for days, months, years. Maybe Honda would have made some new ones by then to get me on my way.
Have a safe trip home.
Comment by Donna — January 12, 2009 @ 5:29 pm
We made it home. The fiberglass hose patch worked very well. The local Honda dealer located a new hose (he said it was one of only two in the country) and the power steering hose is now fixed.
Comment by Daryl — January 14, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
Is the new one made of the same material that the first one was (that you thought might be defective)?
Welcome home. Looking forward to a blog post about your trip.
Comment by Donna — January 15, 2009 @ 3:31 pm