Spring 2016 - Headed South Leg Four

15th March 2016  

Leg Four Bishop CA to Ridgecrest CA 2.25hrs 220kms

Bishop to Ridgecrest

There was no surprise when we woke up and found our tire(s) short of air.  So once again our came the pump and we topped up the soft tires.

The goal was to get on the road so we could get to the "Tire Man" in Ridgecrest at a reasonable hour so we could get our tires fixed.  We called Chuck along the way and made arrangements to drop in to his shop once we arrived in Ridgecrest.

After we left Bishop the scenery changed once again!
More desert and snow capped mountains.

We came upon our first large cacti - one's which were in blossom.

We keep finding the scenery changes by the mile!
Gone are the mountains and now into the low hills. 

Some of the spring flowers were out on the roadside.

We arrived at met Chuck's shop at 09:45 where we took some time to go over our problem which was improperly installed valve stems.  We met Chuck's wife Sue and their little poodle "Doc".

Chuck's Place
The Tire Man
Ridgecrest, CA

Ridgecrest is adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.  Which we were able to hear and see a lot of fighter jets flying overhead.

Fighter Jets - Lost of Them

We had a bit of time to kill, as Chuck   could only fixed the front tires today.  This was done by 11:45am; so we went exploring the town of Ridgecrest, found a car wash where we did an outside clean.  We then went back to Chuck's where Jan did an inside deep clean and organize and Craig spruced up the exterior.

Front two tires being done.

Chuck balancing our Michelin LTX II M&S

The business, building and signs have been around for a long time.

Craig after the LTV has been cleaned up!

Chuck was able to fit us in today but could only do the front tires; we stayed the night on his parking lot where he has an RV hook-up for water and power.  As promised Chuck showed up at 06:30 and started work on the rear dually's at 08:00.

Our overnight parking site!

Chuck has 6 bays at his shop.

This inner valve stem is suppose to be straight?
Hmm, wonder what part of the instructions they read to install these back home?

Our stop was well worth the effort.  Every single valve stem were installed improperly, the nuts on the inner side of the stems were loose, backed off and all could be turned by finger.  The gaskets were pinched and damaged, no locktite was used as per Chuck's instructions.  Then, as shown in the above picture, valve stems installed not in the right way so the installer just bent and twisted them so they would fit.

Amazing we made it this far!

Thanks Chuck!

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