Hi Everyone, Well I know you are all bursting to know what happened, well wait a mo and i will bring you up to speed.

We stopped the night in Klamath Falls as you will recall, we had been cruising the area looking at some beautiful properties around the lake with private moorings, triple garages, manicured lawns etc when we heard a very nasty noise coming from the back of the car, well I did actually. It was no mean noise either, a real swealling metallic noise at first which developed into a bit of a howl!

We had a problem and it didnt go away. Everything we did just made it worse, eventually we made it back to the Motel and decided that the best way to think about our options was to go and have a hearty meal and a few beers! The plan was to call the hire company and get the thing towed and replaced the next day, good ,sorted then. Wrong. We called the hire company who advised us to drive the car to Medford about an hour and a half away and replace the vehicle there. Ermmm. I confirmed that this was what They wanted and that We were not happy to drive the car, in fairness they noted the comments and off we set. The noise was horrendous and at one point we seriously thought we were not going to make it, but like all good things about cars, when we got to the airport the noise had stopped. I know what you are thinking, it was a stone or something similar in the brakes. Well maybe it was, but, if you could have heard it you would not have liked it. The car as going no further with these boys that was for certain.

So we changed it.....For a Chevy!! Even bigger, even more thirsty, currently getting a massive 21 to the gallon, and even more room for me to thrown my kit around. Marvellous.

So we are sorted then? Yep, we set off for Crater Lake. It was well worth the journey, we ventured up the only open road to the visitors centre and then onto the Craters edge. The mountain errupted 7700 years ago and then formed the lake when the magma bubble underneath collapsed, the mountain effectively collapsed in on itself. The lake was formed after centuries of snow and rain. Not surprising really when you consider that they get an annual snow fall of about 40 feet!

We left Crater Lake in our nice new shiny Chevy and headed north, aiming for Eugene in Oregon. We wanted the scenic route. By golly did we get more than we bargined for!

It was nobodies fault really, we decided on a road which unfortunately disappeared before our very eyes. The sign said ' pavement ends ' Okay what pavement! Ah they mean the Road! We were on a mountain going up. Seriously up and the map said we wanted to get to the other side, of the mountain that is.

We ended up driving up a dust track which, having been taken down a logging track by my friend Bernie in Canada, I spookily recognised as a logging track and promply told Rog. Just at that moment we turned the corner to be faced with hundreds of felled trees and a track which went to nothing.

We were up a mountain, with no signs and no obvious way down other than to go back which was a long way, the fuel was getting low, well at 21MPG it would, wouldn't it! We were a long way from Eugene and the light was fading. We happened across a sign which indicated that we were a way off our anticipated location. We followed another track. At least it was going down, better fuel economy, and we might hit some terra firma! The car was all over the place, it handles like a wet sponge, even with traction control, four wheel drive, locked diffs, you name it, 2 tonns of metal going down a track designed for, well 4 X 4's it wasnt good. The dust cloud could be seen for miles, even the Indians came out to offer us a hand thinking that we had sent distress signals!

We hit a tarmac surface! What a total relief, I seriously thought we were going to have to spend a lot more time trying to find ourselves, it was just dense forested outback with not a sign of life around. We then found what we recognised as the route we may have evntually headed for but were a good 30 or so miles out. That does not sound too bad really, does it, well it could have been worse I admit. It was getting on for 9.00pm and both of us were tired. The first Motel we reached was where we stayed and fortunately for us it was exceedingly good, and cheap, another deal, another dollar! We went to the local bar where our landlady had phoned ahead and organised some food for us, very kindly. We sat down, had a few beers and then had a laugh about it.

We actually do know that we were lucky because the car was never designed to go down tracks like that and it took a bit of punishment along the way. I have deleted the picture in case any of you think you are going to bubble me up to the company!!

The next day was a lot calmer but we started by washing the car, only in order to see out!!

Catch you next time, Take care, Chris