It has been a busy week in Anacortes as I prepare to head north to Alaska tomorrow, on Monday 30th April. Deer to dinner, working on the car, haircuts, incidents with Alice the Moose, picnics in Washington Park, and a few family photos before everyone disappeared home.
Earlier in the week Janet my Sister, Ted and I went to dinner with some friends of theirs who live nearby, and are car people, Lee and Betty, They have an MG TD of which Lee is the original owner, and he bought it when serving in Libya in the early '50's. Still has his Libyan front number plate on !! Anyway, they live right on the edge of Washington Park, and because they feed them, they have dear coming "round for dinner" every night !! Only about half a dozen came round while we too were having dinner that night, but they say they have had up to 40 come round some evenings. So tame too - When Lee goes out to feed them, they do not move away, and if he doesn't come out quickly enough with the food they will come right up and put their noses aganst the window to remind him !!
On one of the days my sister took me over to Deception Pass which is the gap between Fidalgo Island (on which Anacortes is located) and Whidbey Island to the south, bridged in dramatic fashion. The water rushes through the narrow gap when the tide is flowing, and there are the everpresent tree trunks of driftwood on the shore. Although they do not really show in the photos, under the bridge one could see the snow covered Cascade mountains in the distance. There really is some beautiful country around here, and I can see why people love to live here.
Next item on the agenda was to find a jack I could use to get the wheels off the car so I could change the brake pads, and through the Evergreen (Seattle) Lotus Club found Bill Rabel who lived not 5 minutes from my sister's house. Although currently an "ex" Lotus owner, he had a collection that included all my kind of cars - Merc 230 SL, Jag 3.8 Mk II, and a Healey 100/4. Elsewhere a Morris Minor Traveller and an old VW Kombi - Just a perfect mix. And a great low jack, just perfect for the Elise !! Thank you, Bill, much appreciated. So borrowed that to do the brakes, and on the way home, went for a haircut. When walking around the marina the previous week I had noticed a sign for "Snip 'n Sail", a salon located up stairs over looking the marina - Certainly an interesting location, I walked in, one person was waiting, so started chatting when I noticed he had an Austin Healey shirt on. "Just seen one of those" I said. "Was that Bill's ?" he asked !! Turns out everyone knows everyone round here ! Then Lori (who owns the salon) heard me say I was in a Lotus, and she told me that a friend had emailed a photo of an Australian Lotus Elise that he had seen parked in Safeways a few days ago - So she wanted a photo to send back to him so she could say "And he came to my salon today for a haircut" ! So I said " I have a much better idea - I will take you out for a ride and then you can tell him you went in it"- Lori was not slow to say Yes - In fact she tried to shut down the salon right then to go out but a couple of the patrons were not overly enthusiastic, so I agreed to come back later in the afternoon. So after my haircut, I went home and changed all my brake pads using Bill's jack, and by 3 pm was back at Lori's to take her for a run. It was raining so I suggested we put it off till it was sunny another day, but Lori would have none of it and wanted to go there and then. So off we went, Lori not sure about sitting on the left hand side but not having a steering wheel - Hope you enjoyed your spin in the car, Lori, and your friend was suitably impressed when you told him !! You certanly had the "Elise Grin" on your face while we were out !!
Next item on the agenda was to get the Windscreen Tear-Offs that I had ordered from North Carolina fitted. These are used on Nascar race vehicles as tear-offs, and are 4 layers thick, but I shall be leaving them all on for protection from stones on the dirt roads, and not tearing them off. The material is quite thick, and I had to find someone to apply it for me, which was not easy because most windscreen tinters are unwilling to handle something that is not their own product. But I eventually found a place in Burlington called Tint Shack, and they agreed to try. So I went over there and it really was quite a battle because we tried to do it without heat, as suggested in the instructions, and it was very difficult getting it to shape to the Elise windscreen. However eventually we got it on, and apart from a couple of minor blemishes which will hopefully blend out over a short time, it is fine and will provide good protection from stone chips or worse. Thanks Brian and Jason - Appreciate your work.
Next was the oil change, which was easily done as Ted had ramps and oil catch trays and funnels here in the garage. I did a filter change as well (I had brought one with me from Aus), and while I was under there with the trays off I made sure everything else seemed OK, which it did. And as a follow up to the screaming brake pad saga, it seems that so far the EMC Greenstuffs are not making any noise - The proof will come in the next few days as I put some miles on them, but it is such a relief not to arrive at every Stop sign (and if you know the USA, they are at EVERY junction !!) and traffic light with a scream of tortured brake pads !!
With all the chores done, it just remained for my sister Janet to throw a party for me in Washington Park yesterday for family friends who have been reading my blog and wanted to meet me and see the car. Luckily it turned out to be a fine (if quite cool) afternoon, and we had a great time meeting everyone, and chatting about the trip. Several people had visited Alaska recently, so I came away with a number of tips and hints - not the least for a place called Snow City Cafe in Anchorage where I can get a massive breakfast that is apparently excellent !!
Today I took my niece Suzanne and her husband Erik for a run in Elsie (no, not simultaneously !!). When out with Suzanne we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee, and there was a local police car parked outside. So we parked next to it, and found the officer ordering a coffee on his way home after his night shift. "Excuse me, officer - Do you have any Police Department stickers ?" After explaining that I was collecting them on my way around the US, the officer (Rob, I think ?) came out to the car, and was suitably impressed with my growing collection from different Police Departments around the US that he added one from Anacortes (so now two medallions and 3 stickers) !! Certainly a novel collection - I wonder what Canadian Mounties have that can outdo the US Police Departments !!! Hmm - Will have to ask them !! Watch this space !!!
I cannot end without mentioning "Alice". Alice is a somewhat large and floppy moose that my sister purchased recently, although exactly which member of the family Alice was actually purchased for is somewhat unclear !! But I have done (been forced to make ?) several trips with Alice in the LH (passenger) seat, which if course causes all sorts of reactions on the road here when people think for a moment that the moose is actually driving !! As you can imagine, Alice has caused quite a lot of merriment over the past week or so since she started being taken out in Elsie !! By the end of the party, she was exhausted, as you can see in the photo of her at the picnic in the Park !!
Photos of the week are here :-
https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/AnacortesWeek3?authkey=Gv1sRgCIXN7-Ko8KeqzQE#
After a great 3 weeks break here with my sister in Anacortes, I leave tomorrow morning for Vancouver where I will spend a couple of days exploring and staying with friends, then up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler and will overnight somewhere in the mountains on Wednesday, then on to see some old friends who live north of Kamloops on Thursday, before heading North to Alaska on Friday. Can't wait to get back on the road again, and my blog will resume accordingly !! Back to a life on the road, and internet connections when possible at Starbucks and McDonalds !!!!
