Devon: The First Month
Devon: The First Month - February
It took quite a bit of time to figure out how everything worked in this new ride. Everything is manual from the window crank to the cooling system. (That is, the two ventilation flaps in the front.) I haven’t them to use then yet.
The windshield wipers are tiny and flat. They remind me of my first VW Bug. They have 3 speeds, intermittent, slow and a bit faster. The washer fluid is there, but I’ll have to see about adjusting the stream.
The diesel heater was the first feature to figure out because it really puts out the heat, and I needed to get it dried out. Of course the temperatures are in Celsius, so I had to get online to do a conversion to have a temperature range to aim for. The really nice thing about the heater is that I can keep it running while I’m doing an errand and the truck stays warm.
The windshield washer control for the front is a lever on the column, while the one for the back window is on the dash.
The control for the heated windshield is on the dash, while the one for the back window is….I’ll need to look again.
The horn is so cute! It is on the turn indicator lever on the column. You press it towards the column to honk.
Getting fuel has been fun. People just come up to me and talk and gawk. I get smiles and nods from people in passing cars. That’s pretty fun.
We all know that Land Rovers leak. This is my third, and they all leak. What do you expect from a wet country like the UK? They just accept it. Well, I learned a trick, and so far it is working. You park with the nose downhill and all the water runs off the front instead of down the sides and into the back. It is amazing.
The first week of driving my partner George kept telling me, your over the center line! (Which is even more scary when you’re the passenger on the left!) Getting myself positioned on the track in my lane took some time. (And remember, I didn’t have a left side mirror either!) I’d look out my window and see how close I was to the right hand paint. I must have finally gotten pretty comfortable with driving close to it, because last week my daughter asked if I felt like I was going to go off into the ditch. You just can’t please everyone.
Really, the sides are all windows, and they aren’t tinted dark like the LR3, I can actually see out of them. It really does have a good field of view. I was driving the kids to school one morning and spotted a hawk and was looking out the window and trying to show the kids, when my daughter yells, “Mama! Road!” I looked back and sure enough, I was driving off to the right, same direction I was looking. Great viewing though.
The radio seems to be a nice upgraded one. It will take a cd, but I haven’t tried that yet. It has quite the blue surround lights that are a bit bright for night driving.
So, did I mention that I got the lock fixed on the passenger door? Yes, it works now, locks and unlocks, no problem. The only glitch is, that Ships forgot to attach the mechanism on the inside. Now, the passenger needs to roll down the window and depress the outside button from inside, and then roll the window up again. (Thank goodness the windows work!) The alternative is that the driver can get out, go around and open the door. It is a good practice in patience. Please note, that Doug from Ships Mechanical has fixed the problem. He is a tremendous resource, and I am so glad to have found him!
My cat enjoys a good ride too. She sits on my lap in the LR3 for hours. We even took her from Oregon to Illinois and back again in it. So, I figured it was time for her to experience the Defender. I put her cat box in the back, along with her scratch board. She doesn’t like to eat or drink on the road, so no bother there. She even has her own wool blanket that I put across my lap for her. Witty says that when you have to sit on a set of legs that are constantly shifting, it really interferes with her sleep pattern. The jury is still out on this one. I’ll give an update after we take our first 200 miles to the cabin this weekend.
Wanna hear my new mantra? PHIL. I need to say this every time I stop and get out, and start up to go. I think it’ll hang from my rear mirror like a pair of fuzzy dice for a while.
Parking brake
Heater
Ignition
Lights
I have driven off with the parking break on more times than I’d like to admit. I hate that smell of burning brakes. I am not sure how long the separate diesel heater will go, but I’m not interested in coming out to an empty tank of diesel. The ignition is not too hard, but I needed a vowel, and I am infamous for leaving lights on. I’ll get a set of jumper cables as insurance. DONE.
Stay tuned to: First Drive to the Cabin on the Deschutes!