Team Twin-Snail
Luke gripped the wheel of the Minerva gently, keeping in the power for most of the trip, taking advantage of the lack of traffic and the reasonable speed limits to give them an edge, one he knew they’d need. However, it was growing painfully obvious that with 6 hours on the road, and three living team members, they’d need to do something about that.
“Linda, can you check the map for upcoming things to do?” Luke inquired.
Linda flipped through a map, nudged Scott in the ribs to get him to help out, and between the two of them, they found out about Ruby Beach.
“Could stop at Ruby Beach, do a little sight-seeing and some relaxation there. Would also give you a chance, perhaps, to fix the car.” Linda replied after a few minutes. Amy nodded, then said, “Sounds like a good place. If we’re putting this to a vote, mine’s in for it.”
“It’s settled, then. Next stop, Ruby Beach. I’ll use that time to clean the throttle bodies and the MAF sensors, swap in two clean filters, and hope like hell this Maintenance Required light turns off.” Luke said. “Meanwhile, you three can enjoy the view and the weather, and maybe find something to eat nearby because I know you’ll need it.”
Luke cruised along the highway as they fired up another CD, the band this time being The Eagles.
However, their enjoyment of the music was interrupted by the piercing cry of a typical frat-party air-horn being blasted by, of all things, the driver of the Burning Corolla.
“Two can play noise-wars on this highway.” Luke said, opening the ash tray and flipping two switches ominously.
Click. ‘high-volume’
Click. ‘armed’
He then hit the horn again, the tritone truck horns being drowned out by the blare of a diesel train. It lasted for only a moment, though the silence had been shattered. He clicked the switches into the ‘low-volume’ and ‘disarmed’ positions, leaving them with just the triple-note cluster working while the engine strained against the air compressor, filling the undersized air tank.
Team Twin-Snail watched as the little hatchback disappeared into the distance.
“Damn, Luke. Didn’t know you had used railway stuff in here!” Scott said.
“I helped him install that. He said ‘I need an air horn’ and I told him that I knew a guy who dealt with used railway surplus.” Amy said.
“It was my idea to have them on separate switches, though, so that most of the time, I’m only using the triples from the truck. I have to go out of my way to make the train horn blast, and even then… It uses up all the air in less than a second.” Luke finished.
“Still, teaches them to party-horn us.” Linda quipped, as they made it to their next ‘checkpoint’ in the run.
Aftermath
Car: Still needs some work done.
Team:
MRL +5 overall
FTG +4 overall
Mileage: 106 trip, 246 day, 246 total
Team will be stopping at Ruby Beach for rest and sightseeing.
Cleaning the Left and Right throttle bodies, as well as the Left and Right MAF Sensors will be attempted if allowed.
