Today’s journey landed us in Douglas, WY, the first place we are revisiting since leaving the Bay Area. We are staying with M K and Mme D’s cabin deep in the surrounding hills. Funny enough, at purchase time, they didn’t know the property came with two houses, both of which had been left unused for some time.

We are at the lower of the two; the upper is a ways further and I’m not sure the bus would actually make it. Actually, the drive to the lower house was the first time on dirt and the last couple of miles kept me going less than 10, if you catch my drift.

The house is very comfortable and the surrounding area, I’m told surprisingly, lush. The nearby creek is flowing too, another sign of the unusual spring.

M K explained the noise I’ve been describing as high RPM is the intercooler and, like M C said, is completely normal. He recommended letting the engine warm up at least a minimal amount, maybe 5 minutes in normal weather, prior to moving and confirmed I’m using the engine properly to keep the 5 1/2 tons from smoking the brakes and losing control going downhill.

I looked at the reservoir this morning before departure and turns out that we are losing coolant. That’s actually good news vis a vis blown head gasket potential as the warning light with no apparent loss is a symptom. Also, the “hose squeeze test” was negative, again a relief. Still, losing coolant is no reason for high fives and hopefully the root cause can be identified soon.

Other outstanding issues include wiper fluid leak, intermittent horn, house electric and fine tuning the headlights. It would be wonderful to figure out how to make driving in the intense daily heat less exhausting btw.

Since the ride, I’ve had fricking leg cramps again. As in getting woken up from a body reposition. I’m ramping up the salt intake. Hopefully succor can be found.