Captain Dean Bean

Greeting and Salutations,
Welcome to Elyria, OH. Yippee! Okay, so it's not the most exciting destination. Sorry Elyrians. This place just happens to be where we decided to stop over last night. We made it through Cleveland – actually a pretty cool skyline and a beautiful sunset last night – and figured we had better get some rest. We traveled about 500 miles and that was enough for one day.

Dean Bean took the wheel for most of the drive. He did pretty good for not having worked a clutch in years, and I was able to enjoy the scenery along the way. Not too interesting really, pretty flat but very green. The day was rather hot, over 80 degrees! I haven't felt heat like that since we were in Hawaii in 2008.

We had a little scare when a flashing red light came on in the dash, right behind the temperature gauge needle. Oh no! I got really worried. After a stressful few miles of hawkishly monitoring the needle and a bit of research on my iPhone I had it worked out. Turns out we were just a little low on coolant. That's why dad kept that half-full bottle in the back of the van. Three cheers for Donboy! He always came prepared.

There's no indication of a leak and water's not getting into the oil or anything like that. I'm not sure where it's going to but I topped off the reservoir (just a pint or so) and no more blinking red light. Huzzah! I'll have to keep an eye on that. Overheating is probably about the worst thing that can happen to the van. In such a case, catastrophic engine failure is soon to follow. No worries though, crisis averted.

Today we head for Madison, WI. It's about another 500 miles or so. I've never been to any of the states that lie between here and Seattle, WA so it should be interesting. I'll try to be better about taking photos from here on out.

Peace out,
Bail-Dog

Uncle Dean Bean prepares for the drive.

Captain Dean Bean at the helm.