Leaving Visalia

The morning of July 6th we were in Visalia, CA where it was HOT.  We needed to address some issues with the van and stock up on provisions before we headed north.  Our next stop was Lake Tahoe. 

We were suspecting problems with the transmission on our drive from Sequoia National Forest the day before.  After consulting the maintenance manual, we checked the transmission fluid and we seemed to be low.  We ended up adding two quarts - which is a lot.  We hoped that the symptoms we were seeing the day before were from the low transmission oil level.  

After stocking up on some provisions we headed north.  The transmission was not showing any of the symptoms is had the evening before, and we attributed it to the low transmission oil. It was simply another fluid we would have to check at regular intervals. 

 It was a long hot drive, and we noticed the van seemed to be a bit short on power.  This was frustrating considering all the work we had put into the fuel system.  (See Fuel Pump Retrospective.)

We knew that it was unlikely we would make it to Lake Tahoe in one shot, so we headed for the Sacramento area to motel for another night. 

On the way I called my friend Cedric and Marc who are starting a business cleaning solar panels with custom designed robots.  They offered for us to come to dinner and spend the evening with them in Davis, CA.  This was right next door to Sacramento - and I was itching for the opportunity to catch up with Cedric and Marc and hear about their successes cleaning solar panels.  Their company, GreenBotics is making huge progress: http://www.greenbotics.com/

We got a tour of their shop and a breakdown of their robot design evolution. They had just finished cleaning their first megawatt of solar panels (several acres), and had achieved a major milestone in row cleaning speed.  

It was a really wonderful eating full of catching up with friends, brainstorming business ideas, discussing ways to use new technology, and eating a fabulous candle lit dinner outside on the patio.  Thanks to Marc's mom Morgan who was a wonderful hostess despite her back injury!  Best wishes toward a speedy recovery.