Oil leaking from Wheel hub changes our plans

It's hard to believe it has been eight days since my last post. We are alive and well and are enjoying the cool weather on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. This should probably be two posts, instead of one long one.

We have just spent a week at the Forks 101 RV Park, but our next planned stop was changed from going to another park on the Washington coast, to a stop inland at the Freightliner Service Center in Olympia.

The front wheels on our Freightliner chassis have oil-filled bearings. When we were at the Sol Duc Resort, we noticed patterns of black material on the cover of the Alfa's passenger side front wheel. We couldn't tell if this was new or if it had built up over a period of time, but either way there would be no help for us at the National Park.

We knew our next stop, Forks WA, was only 40 miles away and figured we would be able to drive there. Craig took the following picture of the wheel.

Then he thoroughly cleaned the hub cover so we could see if there was any new material on it after our drive.

There was, but not much. Craig posted this picture on the new alfaSeeYa forum on groups.io, and got some helpful advice and offers to help. We have learned so much from following this group, and have tried to add information we have discovered over the years we have owned the Alfa.

[From Craig] I found the wheel cover nut wrench that came with our Alfa when we bought it used. It's a small flimsy thing, and I couldn't get the wheel cover nuts off using it. 

So I went to NAPA and bought their longest socket wrench and a 1-5/8" socket, plus some Blaster which I've read about for years.  Great stuff -- the 3 nuts that hold the wheel cover came right off.  The hub looked cleaner than I expected, but the oil level was a little low.  Called Freightliner and they said it wanted 80-90W gear oil.  So back to NAPA for that.  Turned out that the drain plug (which was positioned at the top of the hub) was loose. I added some gear oil to where the level was above the minimum shown on the hub window, and tightened the drain plug about as tight as seemed right for a plastic plug. I cleaned all the black stuff from the wheel cover before putting it all back together.






At this point we might have just kept an eye on it and had it checked out when we go in for our annual Freightliner service in Salt Lake City (scheduled for September 17), but we still have coverage from an Extended Warranty that expires on September 6. So instead of spending a few more days on the coast when we left Forks on Tuesday, we went directly to the Freightliner Service Center in Olympia. 

Our experience there was great in three ways. 

First when we pulled in, the service writer gal was efficient and scheduled an inspection ASAP. 

Second, after removal of the wheel to check the brakes, the evaluation was that there was no oil on the brake components and all was OK. The seals were also OK and the loose plug had caused the problem. Any new oil on the outside of the wheel cover was residual.

Third, the total bill was $37.75. A good deal for peace of mind!

Since Millersylvania State Park was only three miles away, we went there and were happy to get a nice spot. It is mid-week, so we were not suprised by the availability.

Now, back to our week in Forks:

We have been jokingly saying we feel we have finally outrun summer and the fires. Some of our afternoons were sunny, but on others the sky was overcast. It was hard to tell if this haze was smoke or marine influence. Sunny or not, the daytime temperatures were pleasantly cool, and our warm quilt was welcome at night. 

On Wednesday, we drove about ten miles west to Rialto Beach.

The tree line above the beach feels like a post-hurricane debris field, littered with stripped trees and bleached driftwood. I guess this is just the ongoing effect of the ocean winds and high tides.

The ocean and the coastline rocks were quite rough. There was some fog.

I wonder if this is the stump of a tree that grew here,  or it is a driftwood stump that washed up and happened to be roots down as the rock and sand washed in around it. Whatever its source, it was one big tree!

The beach itself was not sandy like some. All of the rocks were very worn and tumbled smooth.

Our next stop for the day was La Push. For anyone who has read the Twilight vampire books, this is where the Native American Indian "werewolves" lived.

Back-to-back signs at the town line:

The beach in the town of La Push is called "1st Beach." It is sandy and also littered with lots of large driftwood logs.

I can't imagine how old this tree was, and how many years have passed since it came down and washed up here.

Friday was a bit sunnier. We took a fairly long drive south to the Lake Quinault area for lunch at the big old lodge there.

Lake Quinault Lodge

President Roosevelt stayed there in 1938 when he came to see the area he would later designate to be set aside as Olympic National Park.

After lunch we headed back North on US 101. Along the way we took two detours to visit a couple of record trees.

There are Douglas Firs that are taller, but this was a record Red Cedar.  Quite a sight!























As I review the many images we take on each of our outings, I try to choose those that are a little different. The next three were taken on our walk at the Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center area. 

Club Moss drapes almost every twig and branch.

Several Gray Jays, also called  Canada Jays, flitted about keeping an eye on us. It seemed every time I got one in focus he would fly to the next branch. I would have loved to sit around quietly with a tripod.

I wondered if these trees both fell in the same storm.

It rained on Saturday, and was quite overcast on Sunday, so I took advantage of the time and did the wash and relaxed in the Alfa. We do love our time at State and National Parks, but it is also a treat to have a laundry in the park, satellite TV, a good Verizon connection, and a good grocery store just across the street! (I'm pretty good at keeping the larder stocked with everything we need, and making substitutions when necessary. But it is nice to be able to just run to the store when you run out of something while cooking.)

Monday was a perfectly glorious, sunny day for our drive up to Cape Flattery.

The road was good, and I was suprised to see several RV parks overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. We also saw several small marinas. 

When we got up to Neah Bay we stopped at the Makah Tribe Museum to get the required $10 permit to go out to the Cape Flattery viewpoint. It is on reservation land.

No photographs are allowed inside the museum, but this is the front door.

Since the trail is an easy hike, there was a rapid turnover of people, and we didn't have to wait for the next parking spot to open up.

The path out to the Cape was well maintained. It was obvious that it could get quite muddy, and many parts either had rounds of cedar embeded in the path, or thick cedar plank boardwalks. There were a lot of up and down steps, so the path is not suitable for anyone with mobility issues.

It is incredibly difficult to choose only a few of the pictures we took, to share in this post.

Wild, surging waters are always a favorite.

Catching a splash is a fun photographic challenge. 

Going to a place like this reminds us of the relentless power of the sea and how it is not controlled by man or country.

This is our "official" image from Cape Flattery

There is always on ongoing battle between land and sea. This tree tenaciously fights the wind and rock.

Eventually the eroding power of water will win as it carves away at the cliffs, creating huge caves that will eventually colapse.

After having a small picnic lunch on a bench on one of the view point decks, we headed back up the trail to the car.

These are a couple of the last Olympic Peninsula pictures we took.

Craig found a natural tree while I rested on a bench near by.

Autumn is just around the corner. New places to go.  New things to see. 

Life is Good!

Olympic National Park, three day update

Friday, August 16, 2013

It is somewhat hard to believe the rest of the world exists. It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s August. 

There was a question about some of the distances. Sol Duc Hot Springs is 12 miles from Hwy 101 and then Port Angeles is another 30 miles to the east, and Forks is 28 miles to the west. There are at least two rain forests, one is another 32 miles past Forks, and the second is another 69 miles. It is a big park and nothing is a quick drive.

Since it was bright and sunny, Friday morning seemed like a good day to hike the high country at Hurricane Ridge.

I once dreamed of hiking in our beautiful National parks, and now I am doing it!

How different this was from the hike thru the forest to Sol Duc Falls. At one point I felt like I was on the set for The Sound of Music. You know, the scene where Julie Andrews burst out singing “The hills are alive with the sound of music…”

Every direction you looked the view was breathtaking. Every moment it seemed the light changed. The hike was a bit hard, but the sights were very much worth it!

At the top of Hurricane Hill a very tame deer was busily eating the tips of the highest evergreen tree there. I could have reached out and petted her, but of course I didn’t because the rule is to keep the wild, wild.

We also saw this furry guy. He is an Olympic Marmot. He was close to the trail, didn’t seem afraid of us, but kept his back to us so he could make a quick get away if necessary.  I thought he looked like a very fat, fluffy cat crossed with a giant prairie dog.

After dinner we soothed our tired hiking bodies with a nice soak in the mineral hot tubs at the resort. They do charge a bit extra unless you are a guest at the resort itself, but we got a double discount. The cost was only $6.00 each because we are seniors and we went after 7 PM. That still gave us plenty of time for an hour-long soak and a shower before they closed for the night.

I don’t think I would want to go in the hot tubs and then drive to a distant campground outside of the park, but it sure was relaxing and the walk to the RV only took a few moments. The last number I saw on the clock before falling asleep was 9:44.  Snore!

Saturday, August 17, 2013

We are starting to understand the weather patterns here.  We woke to a very dark foggy world Saturday morning.  That was fine because our plan for the day was to drive out to Neah Bay, stop at the Makah Indian Museum and then go to Cape Flattery for a for a short walk.

The drive was quite scenic, and we stopped in Sekiu for a brief look at the boats moored there. They were having a salmon fishing derby for the kids. Everyone was walking around with a large fish in hand! I guess they had to check in their fish for the completion.  The town itself seemed very “real”, in that it was not a cutesy tourist spot.

We bought our $10 parking permit at the Makah Museum and went out to the Cape. Although it was just after noon, the sky was still overcast and wisps of fog filtered thru the trees. The forest was wet, but not dripping.

The path from the parking area to the sea overlook was wet and mucky but not slippery.  Much of it was boardwalk, with many steps up and down.

The view of the cape was intriguing.

 It was not much different than many other rocky cliff overlooks we have seen, but somehow knowing it was the farthest-northwest point of the continental United States made it special.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Forgot to grab the camera today.

We went on another six mile hike in the Elwah River area. It was mostly forested, with some great views of the river. At one point as we walked along a winding path, thru a fern and moss covered, sun dappled, grove, Craig said he felt like he was in a Disney movie, and that any moment a group of dwarves might appear singing “Hi Ho, Hi Ho …”  Quite a place!

[From Craig]  Every morning this week in Western Washington it has been cloudy and sometimes drizzled. But one must not give into despair and just plan to read all day, because it typically clears by 11. Sunday we forgot the camera. The Elwha valley had lots of very tall firs, some amazingly thin for their height. We will have to call up our visual memories, while you will have to go to other blogs for your daily fix of nature images. Sorry. 

Monday ... Off to see some Beaches.