[Leica] Not the best trip we have been on.....

[Wayne Torry]

Aram & Margie,
I read every word. Your future was sounding so grim. Getting worse with
each twist and turn!
And then “Shazam”! Saved by a miracle. A business that stays alive keeping
old vehicles running!
So happy that you have a silver lining behind all of the rain clouds!
Have a safe trip home!
All the best to y’all!
Wayne and Lisa

On Tue, Oct 26, 2021 at 10:00 PM Aram Langhans via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
wrote:

> Hello fellow photographers.  So, the short story is we are back at my
> father-in-law, Bob's house, three days after we left.   So, here is the
> rest of the story.
>
> We got to our half way stop in an RV park in Bakersfield on Saturday and
> spent the night.  Then we headed out for Yosemite. The weather was not
> too bad but I knew they were expecting pretty bad rains in Yosemite
> Sunday night but we would be already camped.  So we are on our way in
> and past Oakhurst winding through the trees.  It is raining but not
> bad.  The fall color starts to get really nice so I am anticipating a
> great trip.  We get to the area where the fire hit a few years ago and
> it is misty/foggy with these spindles of trees reaching skyward and a
> beautiful wet undercover of reds and yellows of the dogwood.  Just
> spectacular. Of course, Bob is in his GIANT 5th wheel so we have on
> place to pull over.  A little past that really nice spot is a place he
> can fit, so I say lets pull over and he can get in our rig and go back
> about 1/4 mile to a few small turnouts.  Well, he is packing up and
> Margie sees some steam under our van.  I though we just hit some water
> and it was evaporating from our exhaust but then it filtered inside and
> smelled a bit different.  I spun around to a asphalt area, put it up on
> some leveling blocks and crawled under to see transmission fluid running
> out from between the engine and transmission and it was HOT.  I checked
> the fluid level and it did not seem low, so, we waited a bit and turned
> around.  It was running just fine. It was mostly downhill back to Fresno
> and we were hoping we could make it may that far or further to a
> campground and regroup to see what we could do.  It was still running
> great.  Never noticed any problems.  Well, on the outskirts of Fresno it
> started to shift a bit hard when we took of from a traffic light but no
> slipping.  Found a campground and I we were about 1 mile from the exit
> when a horrible screeching noise started so I pulled over and just as I
> stopped it jerked.  I checked the fluid level and it seemed to be fine.
> I have a hard time reading the tranny fluid levels.  I added fluid
> anyway and went to get back on the road to get off at the exit but it
> would not budge.  Locked up.  Well, a few phone calls and a tow truck
> was suppose to be there in 45 min.  The freeway was busy and scary as
> cars and trucks went screaming by at a million miles/hour. About 1.5
> hours later still no truck even after a few more calls to AAA.  Finally
> a CHP officer stopped to see if we needed help. He offered to call AAA
> and did as Margie was also talking to an agent.  Margie was told there
> have been lots of calls due to the rain and flooding and we have been
> skipped over three times. Well, I guess the CHP had more weight because
> when they called AAA we had someone there in about 15 min while our AAA
> truck still was not there.  Anyway, we had no idea were to go, so asked
> and he towed us to the Dodge dealer since he knew they had a place for a
> Sunday night drop-off.  A late night sales person said we could sleep in
> our van and Bob could leave his 5th wheel along the street for the
> night.  Filled out the forms and after dealing with street racers and a
> uncooperative security guard, left with Bob and spend the night at a
> Walmart.  Next morning we went back at 7:00 through rain and flooded
> streets and were told they will not work on it because it is too old and
> they can't get parts anymore. Gave us a few tranny shops to contact so
> we did and all said it would be about  month before they could get to
> it.  After much debate we decided to have it towed back to Bob's in
> SoCal and got that all arranged.  So, skipping that long story, we made
> it back today after spending the night in another Walmart in Victorville.
>
> So, today I looked up Jasper remanufactured trannies for a price and
> called a few local places to see how long.  We expected to leave the van
> here and rent a car to drive home, them come back in the spring to
> picked it up, or have it shipped home.  Much to my surprise we found a
> place on Jasper's preferred list that will get the tranny and install it
> next Tuesday.  WOW!  So, that is what we are doing.  A little over $4K.
> Almost the price of a Q2, but well worth it.
>
> So, NO PHOTOS OF YOSEMITE OR THE DRIVE IN!  Saw it on the news today.
> 5+ inches of rain, beautiful colors and raging falls by autumn levels.
> But safe and sound and her to tell this story.
>
> Aram and Margie
>
> --
> Aram Langhans
> (Semi) Retired Science Teacher
> & Unemployed photographer
>
> “The Human Genome Project has proved Darwin more right than Darwin himself
> would ever have dared dream.”
>     James D. Watson
>
>
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