Not Everything Goes as Planned- Greg

Oh boy.... well somewhere outside of Silver Springs, NV but north of Weed Heights we came across a dead coyote in the road (likely COVID casualty)....our day was slightly better than his.... long live the roadrunner. Our day started with an amazing sunrise over Reno. We were in the 18th floor of the Eldorado, the view was amazing. The sun came up between the 2 towers of the closed Harrah Hotel and Casino. The day prior on our trip into Reno Krystal had noticed a sweet smell while getting in the car at a stop near Susanville. I had told her its the smell of antifreeze, but I had checked all over the place last week and couldn't see anything, I was sure its fine, likely nothing. We had the oil changed just before Christmas with no reports of a leak, so I was chocking it up to paranoia. At Bordertown, NV I decided I should crawl under the side Krystal smelled antifreeze. Sure enough, I have a dripping leak. Not sure how bad, cant see the source....but its definitely leaking. Remember this, its important to the story.

Ok, back to this morning and the sunrise..... its awesome, get checked out of the hotel, hit Oreilly for some coolant. I'm able to pour in about 1 liter and cross my fingers Ill make it to Vegas. If I can get to Vegas I can get a repair made in the week I will be there. We have at this point decided that we are having breakfast in Virginia City. The Delta Saloon's website in Virginia City says they have bloody marys and a whole list of Bitchy Biscuits, iterations of the traditional biscuits and gravy, but some with a twist. Sounds like a good time, and they have Bloody Marys... On the way up we stop at the lookout, take some awesome pictures, Ava manages to not throw up... though she threatened many times, and Lance explains to us all that a "Museum of History" is really just a museum with fancy marketing. OK Lance, yes, absolutely, all museums are about things from the past or history. We pull into Virginia City. What an amazing place. Frozen in time, clear clean air, quiet... and the view is unbelievable. Its said to be a 100 mile view from places. We park the car and go to find the Delta Saloon. Google says its open, you can take that to the bank. Not these days, closed up tight as a burros butthole in fly season.(We did see a burro, no flies this time of year though, so not speaking from experience.) Fortunately we found a place called the Canvas Cafe. They had incredible food and probably the best bloody mary I have ever had. There was nothing on top or in it. This thing stood on its own. There was a small mouth mason jar, ice, straw, and bloody mary. That's it, no green beans, no onions, no asparagus. It was awesome. We wanted to grab a couple post cards from one of the shops before we leave. The shop we had chosen was midway through town, the restaurant was right at the beginning which is also right near where we parked. It wasn't a big distance between the two, but we are at over 6,000ft in elevation. I told the family I will meet them up by the store. I get up there and park, get out to walk to them. About the time I get around the car and up on the boardwalk of the old timey store fronts I hear a loud crunchy crack of plastic. This was all thanks to a lady in a green Honda Accord misjudging her distance between my cargo rack and her front bumper. I should have asked if she had tried anything other than the bloody marys maybe. This was an empty street! There was parking spots everywhere. Her name was likely Karen, she looks at me and says "Ohs its fine..." . My Audi Q7 TDI has a curb weight of nearly 5600 pounds and she bumped me going up hill and managed to bounce the car off the parking gear. Thanks lady! A couple that witnessed this with us have a brother who flies out of Medford as a pilot and lives in Klamath Falls, Or who in fact were in Klamath Falls visiting said brother just last week. Small world.

We left Virginia City heading towards Vegas. It wasn't long before we saw Mr. Coyote and were in the middle of beautiful desert. In the back of my mind in all the open expanse I consider how long I might wait for a tow truck if the coolant drip of a leak would turn into a serious leak causing a total breakdown. Fortunately we had made it as far as Weed Heights with no incidents which was 70 miles into our 450 mile journey. I checked the coolant level and it was right up there were you would want it. Good news, but Im still dripping a few drops every time I stop. We leave Weed Heights after grabbing some snacks at a stab n grab and continue on.

The next landmark we pass would be Walker Lake. Its a natural lake, about 11 miles long and 5 miles wide with a max depth of 68ft. Pretty lake that used to be known for massive native trout. The total dissolved solids and salinity levels have elevated to the point now that all the fish have ceased to exist which also means the migrating Loons also no longer visit. The Department of Fish and Wildlife is working on buying the water rights in the surrounding areas to attempt to restore the water levels, but the native fish likely will never exist hear again.

Just after this we passed the Hawthorne Army Depot, the largest ammunitions storage in the world. Not much to say about this other than 'Merica. Seriously though, its unbelievable how many bunkers and buildings are out there. Miles and miles of storage.

Right after this is when it got fun. Lance had to pee, Ava has to "use the restroom", its 115 miles until the next gas, we see a place called the Crescent Dunes Solar energy project (Look it up, its actually kind of neat to learn about), and we got a notification to add DEF. This is Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) its really a liquid with a chemical called Urea that binds with the burnt diesel exhaust to make it less harmful to the environment. Not a big deal but another thing that needs dealt with. Now I have a coolant leak and a low fluid level. Oh and we also get notification we have low tire pressure in the left rear tire.

So far the coolant leak is manageable, the DEF fluid is good as long as we take care of it in the next 1000 miles, and Lance and Ava can both make their business on the side of the road if necessary, but I definitely need all 4 tires to have air or its an all stop soon. We are approaching Tonopah and the tire isn't noisy so it isn't too flat yet. We pull into town and on Sunday there isn't anything open. I see a tow shop on the main drag working on a UPS truck, park the car and get out to find a screw in the left rear tire. Couldn't miss it, it was the one pretending to be a snake.(SSSSSS) Guy working on the truck couldn't help but he pointed me in a couple directions. None of these were helpful. Body Shop... closed, Napa... closed, Hardware Store.... closed. I pulled into a gas station ready to buy bubble gum and a shrimp skewer if that's what it took, but was fortunate to find a tire plug kit in their "Misc" section. I grab it and some vice grip style plyers, head to the counter and whip out my credit card. "Sure, $9.45, perfect, sounds good.... declined? what? lets run it again... accepted... awesome" BofA about had me over a barrel but came through. While appreciate the fraud protection usually, this wasn't the time. Yes BofA I want to fix my leaky tire with the screw in it. Get the car in position to get at that damn screw, get it pulled out and nearly break the plug tool off in the tire, twice... with enough rubber cement for lubrication I prevailed over the shoddy metal tool and the $.02 screw and we are back on the road. This station also had DEF Fluid so I filled that up and checked coolant, still quite acceptable levels, right arm....

This hopefully marked a turning point for the whole trip. For some it may not seem like much but a 7 hour journey in the car that is the lifeline for your family, not sure if your educated guess on the unknown leak would turn in your favor only to then encounter a screw in the tire with the only option being a sleepy town, oh boy, sometimes you might be jealous of the coyote.

Tonight I am so thankful to be here in Vegas. Looking forward to staying still for a bit. We have covered in the neighborhood of 740 miles in 48 hours. Even though I need to make some repairs to the Audi, we have clocked in around 25 mpg. The kids have been very good and Krystal is such an amazing co-pilot. Time for some rest.