First, a few photos of scenes along the way…

We departed our last campsite for this trip on our way to the Chapman Cabin in Port Angeles with a bunch of technical problems with both the electrical and brake cable connections between Khan and Polo.  We figured that we would be able to fix all of these at Mike’s cabin – none seemed to be too big a deal.

The first problem we noticed was the dashboard complaint that trailer lights weren’t working. This had been plaguing us for a while, but usually we were able to resolve the problem with some spray lubricant on the connectors. This time the problem was being stubborn and on closer inspection, one of the connecting pins to the brake lights on Polo was wiggly and probably had an intermittent connection and needed to be fixed. 

The next problem encountered was more serious.

Tom thought the brakes on the jeep were dragging as we pulled out of the site. But after a quick check, nothing wrong was noticed. While driving things still didn’t feel right – no pep even mostly flat roads, and our mileage, normally a stellar 12 MPG, had declined to 7 MPG.  When we stopped to check, the brakes were very hot, so obviously something was wrong. While checking, Tom noticed the Jeep was running. You won’t hear from us who did that.

Tom thought he coiled and clipped the brake cable tightly to prevent it from dragging. We stopped briefly at Ruby Beach to check the sights, and found out the brake cable was dragging on the ground and was worn from the experience, and when we tried to reattach the cable it broke.  So no more Polo brakes for a while.

On the way to our meeting at Crescent Lake Lodge, we decided to indulge ourselves with a soak at Sol Duc Hot Springs – a perfect place to relax and get away from our technology woes.  Having thought our problems were behind us, Scott put his “waterproof” Samsung S21 in the pocket of his swimsuit and hopped into the hottest pool – which was just about the right temperature.  The phone apparently had a major leak, and despite coming up for air a few times and sorta working, it turns out it is soaked and trashed. No amount of resuscitation efforts brought it back to life.

Next, as if the problems so far weren’t enough for an entire trip, let alone one day, upon arriving at the lodge, Scott was telling a story about how Susan was hit with a power failure one of the times he had just left for a trip.  As he said “power failure”, the lodge lost power.  After waiting 50 minutes for the power to be returned, we drove to an alternate restaurant – Granny’s Cafe.  Scott rode with Mike and Tom soloed in Khan and Polo. Mike was driving like he had a Ferrari and Tom did his best to keep up. On the straights wasn’t bad, but Khan and Polo don’t handle well in the curves. At Granny’s, we enjoyed both excellent burgers and sandwiches, and the menagerie out back that included emus and goats. It was nice to get good hot food with the lights on.

On the way from Granny’s to Mike’s cabin on narrow, winding roads with steep drop offs, we found a power crew working to restore power – so we’re glad we didn’t wait any longer at the lodge. Mike and Scott easily passed the bucket truck, which was blocking a little more than our lane, but Tom was worried about whether he could pass safely. He asked the flagger how the drop off on the left was and the answer was an emphatic, “Not Good.” After a brief pause, Tom asked the flagger to watch the passenger side while he hugged the white line on the left. Inching along, it was clear that the situation was not as dire as original thought and the passage was made without noticeable scratches or tumbling down the embankment. Tom then proceeded to once again try to keep pace with Mike.

After arriving at Mike’s cabin, we got a quick tour, but with all the delays along the way, it was getting late. So while Mike and Tom chatted, Scott went to retired to Khan at his normal 8:30PM bedtime.