Trips 2 & 3

A couple days ago, we took Ludwig on a more normal highway run to get a feel for what's going on aft. The only real town you can get to from Anaconda on a flat road is Deer Lodge, so off we went.

We promised E a surprise at the end, a different playground. We also went to the William K. Kohrs Memorial Library, which was really nice. Esmé read ten books (I mean, had them read to her).

Both of us felt something was off as we drove him, but it was difficult to pin down due to the ridiculous wind bearing down on us. Today we fiddled around some more and cleared up the problem: the new accelerator cable is too long, so even when fully engaged with the throttle crossbar, a floored pedal didn't open up the carbs all the way. Solution: bend the stop tab on the pedal flat. 

With that squared away, we drove him up Mill Creek Pass. Contrary to everything I strive to be, I am still a pretty superstitious person so taking Ludwig up the road that he'd been on only minutes before the death of the last engine four hundred seventy-odd days ago made me a little nervous. But, it was the road Melissa chose. He performed admirably in getting us into the Atlantic watershed. 


See that nice field of purple wildflowers in the distance? I wanted to see the countryside I'd been missing for the past six months or so sans vehicles. We've rented cars to get places, but never just for sightseeing. Besides, the view never looks quite as nice out of non-ACVW windows (if you own an ACVW, you know I'm not making this up). 

But don't look too triumphant yet, Ludwig.

My optimistic nature has been steadily draining away, I think due to a combination of a series of let-downs from the people we've paid good money to get us quality parts/repairs over the past year, and wondering if we would get back in to our bus before Winter closes in on us again (the first frost comes in August in these parts). Getting out of town and starting to get a feel for how very different this engine is from the last is very, very exciting. Things are definitely starting to look up.

(miles 233,346-233,387)