Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Back to the USA


The next step was to get back into the US. Ryan from Courtenay told us earlier that when taking the ferry Victoria - Port Angeles, all customs formalities are handled on the Victoria side and the crossing would be more relaxed compared to the one at the Interstate.

We checked-in and waited for the immigration officer to come. He instructed us to go to the booth for checking and getting a new stamp (permission to stay in the US). After answering a few questions we got another stamp into our passports allowing us to stay another 6 months in the US. No problem – USA here we come again :)

The ferry took only 1.5h and this time we were allowed to take our girls up into the lounge area. A few people passed by, recognized us from the local TV news and came to chat a little. That was spooky once more. I think we are not “celebrity-material”. Lyra waved her tail at everybody and anybody walking by.
Mommy's baby :)
and the little monsters to me :-o
Ready to debark.
I was really happy and felt somehow relieved once we were on the road again. We fueled up in Port Angeles (petrol was a lot cheaper there compared to Victoria) and then headed towards Kingston for another ferry crossing. We had booked two nights in a motel in Kirkland and the following day
I took the two little girls for teeth cleaning – this time we tried it anesthesia-free. After a quick check both got their treatment and they both looked ok. That was a much better approach compared to going to a vet, putting them to sleep and then do the treatment!
Artistic farmer(?) leaves irrigation system on in freezing weather ... entire fields covered in ice.
Cute little visitor.
Nice view from the ferry.

Hertta was not doing well. She was in heat and on top of that she was occasionally shivering and refused to eat properly. Skippy used her skills to gave her a little food, goodies and vitamins.
Due to the cold and Hertta's condition we would not ride very long the next day. Our path led us to Centralia (what a strange name for a city, sounds to me like from some B-class Sci-Fi movie).

Since we took it easy I organized a new rear tire for my GS at Fred's discount tire. The mounting was very easy and the owner of the shop was very friendly. Since he did not have the tool to balance the tire, he offered to drive to the motorcycle dealer to balance the tire there. We did that and it took quite a while that the guy came back, obviously it was no easy job but anyway he did it. Obviously ashamed of the fact that it took so long, he did not charge for the balancing job. We went back to the tire shop and mounted the tire on the bike and I left.

Instantly I heard some really strange noise. I stopped and tried to locate the sound – it came clearly from the rear wheel. I drove to an empty parking lot, took my jack out and lifted the rear. Yep – there it was. On a specific spot it made klong-klong-klong when moving back or forth. I tend to think worst-case scenario: Broken rear bearing!

It started sizzling and I went back to the tire shop. We lifted the bike up, took the tire off and saw that the balancing weights were mounted on the inner side of the rim and touched a bolt of the swinging-arm. I did not think that the construction is that tight. Well, the owner suggested to put flatter weights on the rim and after we did that and installed the tire we realized that it was still too thick. This weight also got stuck on the swinging-arm. What-the-heck, we took the weight off and I left. Thanks Fred for your help and patience! Safe travels!

Have to remember this: no weights on the inner rim.
Our track
Skippy made another travelogue - welcome to our road life reality show.

Then something happened which changed this trip forever ...

~ Wolfi

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