Pennslyvania, Vermont and Massachusetts!

So we've been doing loads of driving lately. We're currently at a motel in Cape Cod (Massachusetts) and it's bloody raining! I haven't posted a blog for ages, and I've only got an hour before we have to check out here so I'll summarise most of what we've been upto to date.

Leaving Buffalo
We left Buffalo last week (after getting the van inspection - same as MOT) and headed for Pennsylvania - namely the Pymatuning State Park which was nice, and looked a bit like Dartmoor, but with a huge lake in the middle of it. We camped there for one night which is when we decided that we're going to need to travel through the night in order to keep costs down. We heard that they have this "Spillway" not too far from where we were, so we decided to head up there the next day.


The Spillway
What's the "Spillway" I hear you ask. Well, it's a bit like the Brook in Dawlish, where the water flows down a little wall of rocks (about 2ft high) where a massive amount of fish (not sure what type) are there. If you throw bread in, the fish try to eat it - but the best bit is that the ducks surrounding the area run into the water and on the fishes heads to get the food first!


First Breakdown
After the Spillway, we decided to leave and start roughly heading for Vermont, stopping at various places along the way. We got in the van, Sarah turned the key and nothing. ...... nothing at all. No electrics worked, the engine made no noise - just nothing!

After trying to turn the key about 58 times, Ed decided to jump out and look around the engine. He didn't find anything broken, so just wiggled some wires (which fixed nothing). He then looked in the fuse box, which uses really old fuses of weird and wonderful sizes, and found two blown fuses. Great.

Luckily, we had some spare fuses - but none of the right size or amperes - so Ed selected one similar to the blown amperes, and wired them up dangerously using some old speaker wire and electrical tape. Sarah turned the key once more and voila, the engine started. Joyful, we stopped the engine, put the tools away and hopped back in to head to the nearest town to get some proper fuses. The engine didn't start, again!

Frustrated, we were told there is a town about 2-3 miles up the road, so we decided to walk - it was a nice day after all! We got to Linesville and found a petrol station, where we found no fuses that we needed so we asked for anyone that might have them, where we were told that the hardware store may have them (just down the road). We went to this store and finally got the fuses we needed (plus some ductape - not sure why we got it, but we did - and it has come in handy!).

We arrived back at the van, Ed changed the fuses and guess what - the engine didn't start. After ringing Justin (Garry's son), he suggested changing the regulator (we have some spare parts we bought before we left) so Ed changed the regulator and that fixed nothing. Rang Justin back, and he said to wiggle some wires under the drivers side dash - so we did and w00t! the engine started!

A little worried that we have a dodgy connection somewhere, we headed off for Vermont about 4 hours later than planned. When it got dark, Ed put the headlights on and the engine and everything just turned off for about 3 seconds then came back to life - even more worrying, but nevertheless we just continued on. Sarah decided to get some sleep around midnight whilst Ed motored on down the freeway. Around 1:45am Ed pulled into a rest area to go for a Jimmy Riddle. After jumping back in the van wouldn't start again!

After having some random truck drivers peering in through the window, Ed decided to wiggle the wires and put the radio on for a moment. Wiggled the wires, and the radio came on. Good. 20 seconds later and it all cut out. So Ed wiggled the wires again and it came back. Cool. 20 seconds later - all cut out.

Ed decided that we can't go on with a dodgy engine like this, nor can we sit here for too much longer with random weirdos looking in, so he got right under the dashboard - upsidedown - and played with the wires (mobile phone torch in his mouth) once again. Getting frustrated, he called for Sarah to wake up and give him a hand, and when he did that he found THE wire causing all the problems. It was a positive going into the battery condition dial - which was really loose. After tightening it all up, he even fixed the interior lights (which didn't work before!). We hit the road and stopped a few hours later for a sleep in a rest area.

Vermont
Vermont is amazing. It is really picturesque, with huge mountains and green valleys. I'm running out of time rapidly as I write this so I'm going to have to really speed things up! Not much happened in Vermont, but one guy at a petrol station gave me his phone number and address so he can buy our van when we're finished with it (haha, may I also add that he was wrecked!). Route 100 is the best road to drive on through Vermont, with Rochester being the best looking town.

Oh yeah - I forgot to add that we went to the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory which is in Vermont!

Massachusetts
We haven't really seen much of here yet, but will do soon. It doesn't look as good as Vermont at all, but we're currently in Cape Cod on the coast. We'll update you with more new soon!

Oh, by the way - We are members of the triple A (AAA) which is the same as the AA in the UK - so don't panic mums when you hear that we broke down. We couldn't ring them before as you have to wait 10 days for the activation of your membership.