July 5 and 6, 2011
Olympia, WA
I got up this morning in Cannon Beach, OR and it was about 60 in my camper. After I got up enough warmth and courage, I got out from under the covers and got dressed and on my way. It was about 6:30 a.m.
I continued up the Oregon coast into Washington state. There was a really amazing bridge to drive over between the 2 states. I wish I could have taken a picture, but it was not possible to stop anywhere for it, especially since I was driving in traffic and trying to watch for the signs where to turn. Driving through virtually no town, I saw a building that said Goose Point Oysters, also sell to the public. I thought I don’t need any oysters. After driving a few miles, I turned around and went back and bought a 16 oz container of fresh oysters that they caught that morning in the Willipa River. The pint only cost $7 plus $2.50 for cocktail sauce. What a deal. Had the oysters for dinner, they were really delicious!!!
Since it was time for an oil change and I’ve been looking for a few days and didn’t see anywhere, I figured today is the day to find somewhere. Also, my converter has been acting strange and not working right with my auxillary batteries. So I looked for a camper repair place. I found one in a very small town but they were too busy to get to me until tomorrow, if then. So I drove into Olympia, WA thinking I could find somewhere there. There were several exits and I tried 2 and they didn’t have anything. One happened to go towards the Capitol. I knew that was not going to help. Neither did the next exit.
I got off at another one and found a tire store and asked if they knew an RV repair place. They recommended Bryan’s Automotive Repair a few miles down the street, so I headed there. I saw some motor homes in the repair lot, so I figured they worked on campers too. I went into the automotive repair shop and boy was I pleasantry surprised. Instead of the usual automotive repair shop and waiting room, I walked into a 1950s designed oldies shop that was so beautiful,and I felt like I was a special customer. You have to see the photos to believe this place, check out the Photo Gallery page. 
I was amazed at all the work and attention to detail in the office area. It turns out that Bryan, the owner, did all the work, even laying out the tile floor in a most interesting pattern. I was really impressed by the way it was laid out.
Bryan the owner, and Dave the service manager were behind the counter and kindly listened as I described what I thought was the problems. They told me it would be a while but they would have my converter and batteries tested. As it turns out, I was pretty much correct. The converter was not working right. It was overcharging my batteries. So I needed a new converter and 2 new deep cycle batteries. They had to order the converter from Oregon so I have to stay overnight. They changed my oil, using 5 W 30 which I have not heard of, but they said it is fine and won’t hurt my engine. They also reset the carburetor on my generator for a lower altitude. The generator was set for the altitude in Yellowstone and now I am a little above sea level. I will probably have them check my driver’s side window since the other day when I put it all the way down, I had to pull it up to get it started again. It goes up when only partway down, but all the way down is a problem. I don’t want to forget sometime put it down and then be stuck. Since I will be here until after noon anyway, waiting for the part to arrive, it might be worth the extra money to get everything I know of fixed since I have the day here anyway. It turns out the window did need the expensive electronic part to make the window operate. Dodge had one in stock so I had the window fixed while I was there.
Dale was the consumate professional service technician that worked on my camper making sure it was safe for me and working properly.
This turned out to be an expensive group of repairs, but they were needed, and I like to be safe when I am on the road, especially since many of the campgrounds I have been spending time in do not have electricity. As of today, July 6th, everything I know of is fixed on the camper and it is working great.
So instead of a day driving all day like usual, I camped for 2 days at a really nice 50’s recreation area inside this auto shop. They played oldies music including the Beach Boys, etc. and the were no commercials, only songs. I sat on the sofa that looked like the back of a car and I knitted some hats that I will be donating to hospitals for the babies. So the day was productive after all. I met a lady named Mary while I waited that lives in Olympia now, she is also a cancer survivor. She used to live in Seattle, and she told me about some places I need to visit north of Seattle since I might be up that way later this month. I told her where the pow wows are that I know of and we said we might meet at one of them since she likes going to pow wows too. Small world??? 
After the shop closed, I camped in their parking lot overnight, so I will be here when they open and wait for the part so it can be installed. Then I will get some gas and be on my way again. If you need a great auto repair shop in Olympia, WA, check out Bryan’s Automotive Repair.
The needed parts arrived on Wednesday, and as soon as they did Bryan had Dale work on my camper, and I was on the road about 2:45 p.m. that day. It was okay, I didn’t have any set plans to be anywhere and as it turns out, the timing was great. My friend Patt in Seattle called me on Wednesday and I am going to visit with her on Friday afternoon for several days. I decided since I was so close to Port Orchard, WA where author Debbie Macomber lives and has a yarn shop and tea room, that I would go there to visit her. I had already checked with her staff Heidi and Renate and knew she was in town and could meet with me early Thursday morning. Also, while I was camped at the auto repair, I got 7 baby hats knitted that I could give Debbie for her project in which she donates hats to those in need.
Onward to Port Orchard.
