Interstucken....

Wednesday, July 14th

Yesterday I thought I would vacate this country and head to Innsbruck via Liechtenstein (just for the hell of it...how many people do you know have been to Liechtenstein?). Well Betty had other ideas. I had heard some funny sounds from her as I motored into Interlaken. I think it’s a wheel bearing. It sounded much worse so Liechtenstein is definitely off. I tried a garage whose owner directed me to the Ford dealership and they were booked up for the next 2 weeks! The guy there gave me some numbers of dealerships in nearby towns and I headed back to the campsite where I knew there were some phones. I tried the first one but they too were busy...seems the case in all garages in Europe! I talked to the young lady at reception, Corinna, and she was nice enough to try a bunch of local garages for me while I hung out by the lake for an hour. She found me one in town that I could visit in the morning...sweet. So a mellow evening with some blogging, emailing and Skyping accompanied by a few beers was in order.

First thing in the morning I drove into town to the Eiger Garage, that ironically has a superb view of Jungfrau, not the Eiger. The moustached, balding man in the office walked (well, really he limped) me through to the mechanic who sported a pony tail and looked like he could be a member of the band Rush. I explained the problem and we went for a short test drive around the block as he listened to Betty’s whining and then into the garage to hoist her up. He removed the rear driver side hubcap and then the problem was fairly obvious. The five bolts that attach the wheel to the axle were all loose so the wheel was able to wobble half an inch in and out...not good, nor safe. The mechanic tried to remove the nuts but they spun as did the bolts they were attached to. As I waited I chatted with the guy from the office, Hans, and it turned out that this was a family business since 1940 and the mechanic was his brother Peter. Hans had never been to Canada but has a friend that moved to the far north (near Whitehorse, North West Territories) and is the biggest “Cowboy Junkies”, a Canadian band, fan having collected every piece or music they have published and was super proud that he had received some emails from them through their fan club...never would have guess it.

These guys were fantastic, albeit quirky at times, but in a good way. When I told Peter that the van’s name was Betty, he later made a joke as he lowered Betty back down that this was “Jack” and she “Betty”. The parts I need should be in tomorrow afternoon so they are letting me stay in Betty, outside their garage and home. At least I save some money on camping fees!! So I walked around town a bit and then came back to the beach at the campsite...all in all, it’s not a bad place to be stranded!