Well, I hadn't expected to hear from John until after his adventure when he gets back online more regularly but to my surprise I just got off the phone with him.
It seems that the compression release that was popping off wasn't the issue at all.
He stopped in Yakima to see about the part and they didn't have it so he continued on down the road about 20 miles and WHAMMY...............
Now running on one cylinder he managed to limp back to Yakima and the dealer.
Seems that he lost a lifter and it took out ancilliary other parts. Now the good news as I lat heard it. All parts in stock and he now should be back on the road, same day service while he waited.
I hope he checks in here with details, but if not we will know he's safely once again on his way.
Hopefully he'll have that big smile the rest of the trip, like this..............