Countdown to Departure

Northern New England experienced a hard, long winter this year. Actually, I shouldn't use the past tense yet because we still have well over a foot of snow in the back yard and the temperatures are still quite cold. The weather people keep saying the same thing: "We should be about 10 degrees warmer this time of year." Well, this certainly is not conducive to much melting or climbing on real rock. I was hoping to get to the Gunks to work out the cobwebs this past weekend - but New Paltz got 5 inches of new snow Thursday and it didn't go above freezing during the day. How would you spell the sounds of a tongue rattling as you stick it out and vibrate it in disapproval?
Pppllllllllluuuh....

I have about one month to go before I hope to be in the van with all the trimmins headin' west for sunshine and new adventures. But first, Blanche needs to be coaxed out of hibernation. Not an easy task with over 2 feet of snow outside the door of her winter storage barn.

Once we bust her out she needs to go to see Dr. Matt at HeadsUp Motosports for some fine tuning. Eurovan's are expensive to service because many of their parts are so unique and the 5-cylinder engine is super tight. All last year we drove her about with an annoying idle fluctuation caused by a small part called an Idle Air Controller (IAC). The new OEM part costs about $400 - but it only take s a few minutes to install - go figure. I bought a used one last year online for 40 bucks - turned out it was in worse shape than this one, so I am still looking. I can head out without it, but I don't really want to.

I need one of these - an IAC

Blanche ready to come out of hibernation

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