Status of Defender

My mechanic informed me that it was the transfer case that went out on us in Kansas, which is surprising since I just had that replaced about six years ago.  But he also said that since I have the original transmission gear box (LT77), which was superseded in the 1995 NAS Defender by the R380 gear box, that I replace that also.  I agreed, especially since the R380 is more robust than the LT77 and has an option for a higher performance fifth gear, the lack of which I believe caused my transfer case to fail on the snowy, cold, long, empty highway in Kansas two weeks ago.  (I was cruising along in 4^th gear because 5^th didn’t give me the performance I needed.) Since the transmission is 26 years old and will go out sometime, I will save the labor costs to replace it since it can be accessed at the same time as the transfer case. Better to replace it now than have it go out on us in, say, the Yukon. These parts are being specially manufactured in England on November 21 (it takes four days) and by the time they get here and are installed, I will not see the Defender until the second week in December at the earliest. The bottom line is: clearly, I made the right decision to ship the Defender back to DC and rent an SUV to get us home. Donner thinks so, too.

Day 45, Wednesday, November 6, 3:15 p.m., “Donner, I get the feeling…

"Donner, I get the feeling that we are not on the road anymore."

I am making this final posting for OTR-10 as I pull into the driveway at my home in Washington DC. For the first time in 45 days, "home" is no longer where I pitch my tent.

Over the last two score and four days and nights, Donner and I traveled 8,900 miles, passing through, in and out of 29 states in this great land of ours, coming within a day's drive of more than 90% of the population of the USA, and pitching our tent in some of the most beautiful settings on this planet.

We first traveled from the District of Columbia to the Badlands of South Dakota, and then on to Yellowstone National Park, setting up camp at various state parks along the way.

We then drove on to the Grand Tetons, Craters of the Moon in Idaho, and Mount Rainier, before taking a well-deserved respite on a gorgeous bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Washington State.

We then headed south along the West Coast Highway until we took a detour to experience the other-worldly Crater Lake in Oregon, after which we sojourned farther south to camp right on the beach at majestic Walker Lake in California before moving on to breathtaking Death Valley for five days.

We then pointed the Defender northeast and drove through stunning Zion National Park before setting up camp for several days in the forest and then at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. After that, we moved on to the high desert in Utah and put the Defender's reputable prowess to good use on the rugged dirt roads thru photogenic Monument Valley and the adjacent spectacular Valley of the Gods. Resisting the necessity to end the journey, i toyed with the idea of recreating the pleasant evening we spent in Arches last year, but my better judgment took over and i navigated the Defender out of that surreal place and onto I 70, the road that would take us home 2000 miles away, pitching our tent one final time in a movie-set setting in a deep canyon on the great Colorado River.

The weather cooperated beautifully with us the entire journey, although it did mete out challenges with temperatures ranging from the low twenties to 100° the day we entered Death Valley. We outsmarted two historic snowstorms by good planning, lots of experience, and simple old fashioned intuition, not to mention some good luck.

Marauding animals cooperated even more so and we were not harassed as we were in the past by grizzly and black bears or, worse, thieving raccoons.

We pitched our tent in mountains and forests; on lava flows; on lakes, rivers, and creeks; on a bluff overlooking the magnificent Pacific Ocean in Washington State; and in the high desert and in the low desert.

Lady Fortune followed us everywhere this entire trip and I made sure to give her credit where credit was due, and in places where it was not, lest she remember that some miles down the road. One does not cross Lady Fortune.

We met good people, lots of good people, all along the way, the kind of people you wish lived next door to you rather than 3000 miles away.

Donner, who celebrated his fourth year with me along the way, met more dogs than he imagined existed, easily fulfilling his quota of new dogs each day.

The Defender acted exactly as it was meant to the entire route, getting us to where we wanted to go, and then getting us home, or most of the way home. Along the way it celebrated its 238,855th mile, the distance to the moon, and we celebrated that milestone in a fitting fashion. There is a new speedometer waiting for it at home and a new transmission on order from England. And i finally gave it a name after 26 years: Grane, Brunhilde's faithful steed who took her wherever she wanted to go, too, and in the end got her home where she belonged, sort of.

We experienced more sunsets in different settings over these 45 days than most people experience in a lifetime.

We had one hiccup along the way, in Kansas, the day after I unofficially announced the (camping part of the) trip over, but with the help of good people and lots of planning, we resolved that quickly and expertly and got on our way in three days.

I kept this blog and took over 1200 photos and videos, in addition to keeping my journal, certainly so that others could ride along with us and share the adventure, but also so that one day when I or the Defender are no longer able to take these incredible journeys with my beloved dogs, through unbelievably beautiful nature, tenting on the road through this fantastic land of ours, i can repeat them over and over again, listening to This Land is Your Land, North to Alaska, Take Me Home Country Road, Red River Rock, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Nessum Dorma, and all that other great music that kept me company over close to 150,000 miles over ten journeys on the road, from sea to shining sea to shining sea.

Although the trip has now officially ended, i will continue to post here from time to time until the Defender is repaired and back home, probably in a few weeks, and then open up OTR-11. In the meantime, although the excitement of my trials and tribulations on the road was not in evidence this trip as it was in the past, and my posts rarely rose above the mundane logistics of the day, and never to the profund musings i would have liked, i hope this blog inspired some readers to do some tenting on the road yourselves. 

There are too many people to thank here for making this 10th " incredible journey" (as the National Geographic" titled our first) possible and a success, including these whose friendship i shared along the way, so i thank each of  you and them here simply with a heartfelt "thank you." And Donner thanks you, too.

Ed and Donner, from home.

Day 45, The last last

I-66, the last highway, which, 75 miles away will take us two blocks from home. But i will first detour to take Donner swimming and to visit the Defender in the hospital.

Day 45, As It Is Happening, Last rest stop of trip, West Virginia.

We probably took 150 rest stops on this trip. Our last one. In three hours, home. (I hope.)

Boy, is this state beautiful. Back country roads the whole trip home. I think it'll be back country roads the next trip.

I did not set out Donner's throne, but he found one that suits him just fine. I hope he is not telling me something.

Day 44, Donner meets his last OtR-10 dog, Sissy

Outside the TipTop Cafe in downtown Elkins, WV

Day 44, The deck on Poplar Cabin at Cheat River

One of the reasons i stay here is for this great hot tub.

Despite all the comforts of this wonderful setting, it is not my style. Give me a tent in any setting you choose, my dogs, and my Defender, and you have my style, at least until the last few days of a journey.

Ed and Donner, from the road

Day 45, As It Is Happening, 8:00 a.m. Take Me Home, Country Road

The last leg of the trip begins.

Day 44, Tuesday, November 5, Cheat River Lodge, Elkins West Virginia

How does one spend one's last full day of an extraordinary road trip? Here 's how..

Luxuriated three times in the huge hot tub on the deck of my cabin just feet away from the rushing Cheat River;

Jotted down my post-trip to-do list, more than 50 items, with just four days to accomplish them in;

Jotted down my personal to-do list of about another urgent 50 items i must get to within days of returning, after not having thought of a single one in at least 44 days;

Read through my journal and extracted still another 50 items or so to consider for OTR - 11:

Reviewed my own personal goals etc. to start on the day i return (my new year begins the day i return from these trips),

Drove into pleasant town of Elkins to get a splendid Thai massage from Kyle, the owner of Jivaka Wellness Center, to regain my ability to walk after not having used 800 muscles over the last six weeks and overused the other 40.

Walked next door to Jivaka to give Donner a well-deserved, but resisted, bath;

Walked a few doors down to indulge in the best coffee i can recall drinking ever at TipTop Cafe, and to enjoy a veggie salad the likes of which were unseen the previous 43 days and would be hard to come by in DC.

Returned to my cabin for final reflections about what occurred over the last 44 days.

That's how.

Ed and Donner, from off the road

Day 44 Welcome goes out to the folks in Elkins West Virginia

Before this last full day of On The Road-10 ends, today's welcome goes out to all the good people of Elkins who made Donner's and my brief stay here more delightful than i had planned.....

Roxy, Scott and Billy at Cheat River Lodge, whose hospitality is hard to match,

Mark, the multi-talented conversationalist who made us feel right at home in a town new to us,

Kyle, my Thai massage therapist who expertly restored my ability to walk in a straight line after riding almost 9000 miles in the Defender, i,e., the equivalent of riding in a tractor for those who have not experienced it.

The staff at Fancy Paws, who helped restore Donner 's ability to, well, smell like a dog instead of an entire dog-sled team,

The owners of TipTop, the best coffee shop and veggie wrap procurer east of the Pacific Ocean, and to Matty, their barista, who lovingly boxed the sole-remaining pumpkin bar for Donner and me to enjoy on our trip home tomorrow, but which Donner selfishly devoured alone while i stepped out of the Defender to fill up the gas tank.

You are all good people, and lucky to live where and how you do. The values and graciousness that seem to permeate the air in West Virginia are to be envied by all as much as the sheer beauty of this vestibule of heaven you live in.

Ed and Donner, from the road

Day 43, Cabin at Cheat River Lodge

The other side of our cabin at Cheat River. This is quite a different experience decompressing at a cozy place like this for several days as opposed to the pace and routine of moving on every day. It helps transform the incidents and experiences of the trip into permanent memories. Depending upon your perspective, it sure beats sleeping in a cold, small tent.

Ed

Day 43, Proustian moment, Railroad track in West Virginia at Cheat River

From time to time on my blogs, i made an observation or two about railroad tracks. There is a reason for that. One of the earliest memories i have, from age three, is of a single railroad track stretching far into the distance and then disappearing. Every time i see a single railroad track, that memory, and with it the pleasant circumstances surrounding it, is evoked, along with the smells of kerosene and the fresh morning dew on a grass, other Proustian memories formed at the same time from the summer my famiky spent at a bungalow in upper New York State. During these long trips covering thousands of miles and scores -hundreds, really- of different landscapes, other memories are triggered. Just another serendipitous benefit of these trips.

Ed and Donner, from the road

Day 42, The Trip So Far, 7564 miles, beautiful West Virginia, 190 to DC

I get the feeling i should have been home yesterday.

Day 43, As It Is Happening, 12 noon, TipTop Coffee Shop in lovely downtown Elkins

Came into town to ship back my rented sat phone. What a pleasant town this is. Over the years i have been coming to Cheat River, this is the first time i have taken advantage of the relaxed life in town. I could get used to this life style. Great coffee at TipTop.

Once again, Donner refused to sit down until i fetched his throne from the vehicle and set it out for him. But let me tell you something, he deserves this treatment.

After this, we head back to our cabin to start the decompression and, as important, planning for On The Road 11, wherever that takes us.

Ed and Donner, from the road

Day 43, Cheat River Lodge, West Virginia

Photo..the view from the rear deck of my cozy log cabin in the Cheat River. I found this jewel of a resort more than three decades ago just after i got Grane, also known as NAS Defender 291.

The more time i drive through and spend in West Virginia, the more i am convinced it may be the most beautiful state overall in the USA. The entire State seems to be in the Appalachian Mountain Range, which runs through 13 eastern states, including my own back yard where I grew up on the Hudson River. Wow, is it pretty, especially in the fall when the hills are resplendent with brilliant fall colors. I spend the last days of my trips here to ease the transition back to city life, but also to remind me that i do not have to travel 9000 miles to surround myself with unsurpassed natural beauty. John Denver was almost right when he referred to West Virginia as "almost heaven." It IS heaven.

Ed and Donner, from off the road in West Virginia

Day 42 photo, what are they?

Does anyone know what kind of creature these are? They have goats' heads. They sure got Donner's interest.

Day 42, West Virginia at last

Made it to the Cheat River Lodge in West Virginia at 3:30. Will spend two or three nights here decompressing from our trip. I cannot think of a better place to do so. If i wait till i get home. (210 miles away) i will never get done the things i need to following a trip, and the list is long.

As i drove through the absolutely marvelous autumn setting of the Appalachians today, the one thought that kept coming to me was how to respond to those who ask how the trip was. Those who followed the blog know the answer to that question. I suspect my simple response will be, "Quite splendid," although it was far, far more than that.

Ed and Donner, from the a cozy log cabin on the Cheat River in West Virginia.

Photo...Donner wasted no time in making himself at home in the cabin.

Day 42, 11:00, As It Is Happening, rest stop somewhere in Ohio, next stop, West Virginia, where i belong

I had almost forgotten how absolutely beautiful the east coast is. Driving back roads all the way now. The countryside is clothed in all its splendid fall wardrobe. It is mesmerizing. Sitting here now on a gorgeous day, listening to some Beethoven, surrounded by pure natural beauty. What a grand country we have. We are all so very lucky.

Day 42, Sunday, November 3, As It Is Happening, Almost Heaven,

While John Denver thought West Virginia was almost Heaven, Donner feels that way about all the space he has in this temporary Defender of ours.

In any event, we are heading to West Virginia now, 254 miles away.

Day 41, Saturday, November 2, Columbus Ohio

Drove 550 miles today -more than i prefer to drive- to make up a day to get back on schedule. Would have been tough to do in the Defender, but the Defender can do things other vehicles do not even think about.

Took a rest stop in every state we passed through today, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. While passing through Ohio, we came upon the John Bryan State Park, where we stayed on day 2. We have now come full circle.

Staying at a Motel 6 tonight. Same room as last year. Woke up to a big drug bust next door here . Exciting.

Tomorrow we hit West Virginia where i hope to spend several days reflecting, or whatever. Then it is back to DC on Tuesday.

It was nothing short of a great trip. Then again, all ten of my trips were the same since all of us made it back safely. That is my only criterion.

I will keep posting something, i hope daily, until the Defender is back home. Then I open up On The Road 11, wherever that might take us.

Ed and Donner, from the road

Day 41, As It Is Happening, rest stop Indiana , 3pm

Pushing on to Columbus tonight so i can spend a couple of days reflecting in West Virginia. Was planning to visit my lovely ex-wife, Connie, in Indianapolis and then stop off the pay our respects to James Dean, but it will be too dark.

Below photo of a rest stop is as exciting as this last leg of the trip gets for the two of us. Real nice pet area here too. Ironically, rest steps for pets are better and friendlier heading east than west. You go figure.

I will say this, that i am appreciating the sceneds during this drive, especially the vast farms all over. Those good people work hard to feed all of us. God bless them.

Listening to Gotterdamerung. Decided to finally name the Defender, Grane, Brunhilde's great steed. Like Grane, that mighty Defender will take me wherever i want to go. I will have a formal Christening after he returns mended.

The road beckons.

Ed and Donner, from the road

Day 41: Sat, Nov 2, rest stop in Illinois, 11:30

Just got word that the Defender arrived safely back at Dean's, my mechanic's shop, at 10 this morning. My thanks to Dawn, my broker, and Gary, the indefatigable driver, for their good work. Together with Phil, Austin, and, of course, Jim Pendleton, that pesky issue was resolved in three days.

Spent a pleasant night at La Quinta in Columbia, Missouri, last night. Shared the hotel with the entire women's lacrosse team from the University of Michigan.

Was going to head to Indianapolis today, but decided to push on and head for Columbus, Ohio. While i certainly miss the Defender - okay, the attention we get in the Defender - this VW suv i rented sure makes good time on the road. It took me a while to adjust to all the modern conveniences the Defender does not offer.

I am enjoying the scenery on this part of the trip better this year than last. Last year, it rained the whole way and half the time was in the dark.

The road beckons.

Ed and Donner, from the road

Looks like my camera lens took a hit. Sorry.

Day 40, As It Is Happening, Rest somewhere area in Kansas

Great rest stop. Beautiful scenery. My vote for best rest stop in lower 48, 49 if you include DC, which no one does. First rest stop where there are no No Pets signs, or at least that i can see. And they even have barbecue grills.

Absolutely beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. 50 degrees. In fact, the weather forecast the whole route to DC is grest. Thank goodness for that respite on Wichita. I lucked out again. Now i wish i had brought my tent etc. with me instead of shipping it back in the Defender.

I find it ironic that i wrote last week that i was tempted to ship the Defender back to DC after Denver, and that's exactly what i did. Regardless of the motivation, i am looking forward to my new more robust transmission. I should have upgraded years ago. In fact, Land Rover upgraded the transmission for the 97 Defender, the third and last year they imported them.

I was also commenting to myself last week that i have never gotten sick on any of my trips. Oops, I spoke too soon. I have been nursing a stomach ailment since Monday. I will manage.

The road beckons.

Ed and Donner, from the road , Pomona KS

Day 40, As It Is Happening, moving on to Columbia Mo.

“Donner, i get the feeling we are not in Kansas, or the Defender, anymore.”

The Defender is halfway to DC, but we are just starting out. A very pleasant stay at La Quinta. Will probably stay in them all the way to DC.

I leave Wichita with a very positive impression. Good people, willing to help strangers in need of a hotel, or new transmission.

Above is our temporary Defender. Not quite like the real thing, but it will have to do.

Ed and Donner, from the road