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We got an early start the Sunday and made arrangements to
meet up with some friends in Parhump. We had a Father's Day Sunday
Brunch Buffet at the Nugget there. For some reason, they got
the impression that LT and I were fathers (I said nothing!) and
we ended up getting 4 meals for the price of 1. Meanwhile, the
mercury was steadily rising outside. I'd left the dogs in the
Runner with the A/C on high. When we came back out, the dogs
were still nice and cool and we were ready for the rest of the
trip.
We made it into Baker, CA without problems. We filled up the
gas tank and continued on, hitting large amounts of traffic on
I-15. The temperature was 101 outside. We then cut over towards
Bakersfield, CA on CA Hwy 58. The engine started running a bit
warm while idling in Mojave but keeping the RPM's up kept it
cool. We quickly gassed up again and hurried off.
Once we finally got to I-5, we were in a hurry to get home.
5th gear was a pipe dream but we could go 70 in 4th, and did.
Our next fuel stop was in Hollister, CA. This was where we were
going to pull off to head on 152 towards Gilroy. Given the amount
of traffic, everyone else had the same idea too. Once again,
the engine started really heating up while it idled, so I kept
the RPM's high until we got to the gas station. I checked the
oil and found it to be down by 1/8th of a quart. However, I found
that I could touch the top of the radiator without it burning
me.
LT, with his long pants on, stood on the bumper and used his
foot to open the radiator cap. No hiss, no steam... pretty much
bone dry. Aparantly, we'd boiled off all of the coolant for the
most part. We filled it back up with antifreeze and water (mixed
50%), watered the dogs and let them, in turn, water the nearby
bushes, then we were off again. Incidently, even a few weeks
later, the coolant level hasn't changed in the Runner, so no
worries of a leak for now.
Back on the road, for the first time since Colorado, we weren't
hitting a head wind. This made travel easy through the bay area.
At 10 p.m., we arrived at our destination, LT's new home.
He unloaded his Samari and some of his stuff while I quickly
fell asleep. The next morning, we hung out a bit and then I took
the tow dolly back to U-Haul and finally made it home!
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