Monday July 30, 2018
Big Adventure Update – Monday – Albany, GA to Mayberry, NC. We woke up about 7, I should say I woke up a little after 7, Rod was up and ready to depart. Downstairs to the free Holiday Inn Express breakfast. Guess what they have, boiled eggs, they cook them too long though. 7min 45 sec after they come to a rolling boil, then cool them immediately with ice cold water is the right way to boil eggs.
So a couple boiled eggs, a banana, and yogurt. I try to pass the cinnamon rolls but sometimes I come to and one is on my plate. Rod eats pretty healthy so he is a good example.
We are off for Douglas,GA and USA Trailer. This is my second trailer from here. They have a Beast option for most of there trailers that includes 14000 pound axles, radial tires and a lot of other upgrades to make it heavy duty for the Alcan. When you order over the phone they tell you the day it will be ready. Don’t come early. First one I arrived a day early and luckily it was rolling out the factory door as I drove up. This time we are a few days late, so it is in the lot waiting for us. Looked it over, sign the paperwork and off we go north bound. We talked to some other people picking up trailers there and said not to take I-95 like I had planned. We headed north through Vidalia. I assume this is where the onions come from but we didn’t see any. Last time I brought watermelons and cantaloupe to take north, but I don’t feel that nice this time. Actually we didn’t see a roadside stand selling them.
Then we headed on north to pick up I-520 around Augusta. We could go left or right around the city. We picked right. Bad choice. We were just a couple miles from joining I-20 and traffic comes to a complete stop. Roll over semi blocking all 4 lanes. We can see cars ahead going across the median and heading back the other way. I don’t want to take the new trailer through the median. All ahead of us is solid semis in both lanes. All the cars have gone through the median and we are the only non semi left. A sheriffs deputy came and told us we could go through the median if we wanted or we could go left of the line of trucks to a gravel crossing and head back south. Good plan until we wouldn’t fit between the trucks and a road sign in the median. The deputy said if we had a wrench or something he would get us though. Always prepared we took a big pair of channel locks out of the drivers side door pocket and the deputy took the bolts out of the sign and laid it down. He handed us the pliers, we thanked him, and we were on our way. Never say anything bad about the “Georgia Patrol”. We went around Augusta in the other direction, only lost about an hour. Now it’s up I-20 to Columbia, SC to pick up I-77 to Charlotte. As I calculated the 75 gallons of cheap gas we bought in Tulsa is almost gone. Time to buy some more. Gas Buddy showed a station with diesel for about 35 cents cheaper than anywhere else in the area. I guessed it was about 15 miles off our route. It was more like 25 by the time we got there in bad traffic. The station was hard to wiggle the trailer into. I went in to prepay for 125 gallons, all we can hold, the cashier says sorry the diesel pumps are inop. Back to the interstate. I figure out that this is one of the few places that I don’t have a Starbucks mug for my “everywhere I have flown the 747-400 to” collection. Others I don’t have mugs for being Tel Aviv, Shannon, Tbilisi Georgia, Bishkek Kyrgyzstan, and Killeen TX. Go to Starbucks no Columbia mugs, no South Carolina mugs. Not sure but SC is probably a red state, Starbucks being a blue state liberal company has quit making red state mugs for the deplorables to drink there coffee from. We find some cheap fuel. Only lost another hour. Now it is on to the Holiday Inn Express in My Airy, NC “Mayberry USA”. We are late so no food at Aunt Bee’s and too late to have a drink with Otis. Andy and Barney are no where to be found. So we wiggle the trailer into Chick fil A in a huge downpour. I don’t think I can get the rig through the drive through. We got drenched for a chicken sandwich. We go to the hotel. Tight spots to park. I make a couple attempts first time dragging the trailer tires up over the curb. My excuse very dark and still raining. We check in and the clerk says “Welcome to Mayberry”.
Other than all that everything went fine today, 587 miles.
Time to take a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a day!!
Blue skies!!!
PS. I make these posts so that you can look at any situation that you are in, think of me, and say to yourself “It could be worse”
Tuesday July 31, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update – Tues – Mayberry, NC to Allentown, PA. We woke up in Mayberry, had some breakfast. We went out to put our bags in the truck. Someone had run up over the curb and made a deep track in the landscaping. I don’t know how it was possible with the trailer there. We drove through town past Andy’s home place, now a B&B, and the Andy Griffith Theater and Museum. We headed out of town on the back roads. In a few miles we were passing through Fancy Gap, VA. where Kari and I were about a year earlier on a FART. In quilting circles that is known as a “Fabric acquisition road trip”. We also spent the night in Mayberry on that trip.
Soon we joined up with I-77, took it up to join I-81. Rod had told me earlier that he was a space enthusiast. We would be passing close to Dulles Airport. I asked him if he would like to go to the Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles. He said I didn’t have to ask him twice. We figured we had about 781 miles to go from Mayberry to Milford, NH. So we could stop for a couple hours and still be there before midnight. What’s an extra hundred miles out of the way on a ten thousand mile trip. Sometime after passing Harrisonburg,VA the truck started running really rough and smoking a lot when we tried to accelerate. I figured it was water in the fuel or a dirty fuel injector. Along comes google and tells us the nearest NAPA store is in Front Royal, VA. We bought some fuel treatment and injector cleaner. Then we pulled the truck up by a dumpster with an old reclining chair next to it. I stood in the seat of the chair and changed the fuel filter. It seemed to help a little bit so we continued hoping that running another tank of fuel through it would clear it up. We are not going to make Milford today so we go to Dulles anyway. There at 330 it closes at 530. Straight to the space section and then we had time to walk past all the other airplanes by closing time. We decide to keep heading toward New Hampshire, didn’t want to go through the swamp of traffic in DC so we headed north toward Frederic, MD. On to Harrisburg, PA. Managed to stay away from Three Mile Island so we wouldn’t glow in the dark. I flew the DC-9 into Harrisburg a few times and you turn final right over the island.
We filled up the truck with fuel. I wanted to drain the fuel filter into a cup and see what it looked like so we parked in a shopping center lot and checked the fuel. Looks ok to me. We both need to go to the restroom so we go into Chipotle. We came out of the restroom looked at the menu, didn’t see anything we wanted so we got in the truck and headed on down the road. Later we read on the internet that Chipotle is poisoning people. Another bullet dodged. On to Allentown, PA we’ve had enough for today only about 350 miles to Milford. We stop and get a room at Staybridge Suites. Front desk tells us 3 places that are still open at 10 o’clock that we can walk to. First 2 are closed. Third one called Copperheads is open. I have a Caesar salad with a crab cake on top. Excellent, can’t remember what Rod had and he’s asleep right now. Just message me and I will wake him up if you really want to know. Time for a nap. Don’t know how many miles today, but not enough. Museum was great so the whole day wasn’t so bad.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for getting us this far!!!
Blue skies!!!
Wednesday August 1, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update – Wed- Allentown, PA to Allentown, PA. By the title you can get a clue how the day went. Breakfast at Staybridge is better than Holiday Inn Express. We have an appointment to pick up solar panels in Springfield, NJ just outside Newark at 1 o’clock, we are only about an hour and a half away. I had already googled and found a Chevy dealer and a NAPA store. When we go out to the truck we notice an oil sheen on the wet pavement. Fuel is dripping from a line back by the fuel cooler and tank. I don’t want to lay under the truck and fix it in the rain. I repaired another line in Alaska before I left. I had a tubing cutter, hose, and clamps in the travel box just in case. After a closed bridge several detours and a trip through the narrow downtown streets of Allentown we get to Chevy. No place to park a truck and trailer we make several laps around the dealer and just end up parking on the street. Service is booked up they can take a look at it next week. On to NAPA to find a scanner to read the ODB code from the trucks computer. I have a cheap one in the travel box but not detailed enough. The truck is still smoking and people are looking at us. I feel like we are the Beverly Hillbillies. No parking lot here so we park on the street again. I always wondered who those privileged jerks were that would park in everyone’s way with the four ways on. NAPA doesn’t have a scanner any better than what I have. The guy there is very helpful and says Pep Boys has all kinds and it is on our way. I pay for the cleaner with a credit card and when the guy checked my ID all of the typical questions came up. Is it cold? Is it dark all the time? How far is it? Is the Alcan paved? Do you live in an igloo? Do you have different money? Do you know Sarah Palin since we are both from Wasilla? There is one guy in line behind us and is paying attention to all the answers. We go outside and it is raining pretty good now. The guy that was behind us in line comes up and says he knows a mechanic that could possibly take a look at the truck. He said he was a straight shooter and did a lot of work for him. So we introduce ourselves to our new best friend Craig. He calls the shop, gives us the address and we take it over. Our next new best friend Buzz takes a look. GM fuel lines have special connectors that are only available with a whole new line from GM. Buzz will cut the line and replace it with a hose and clamps just like I did on the other line. Drop the trailer, bring it inside, Buzz repaired the line in no time, scanned the codes and says #3 injector is misfiring. He doesn’t have time to change it today but if we are still having problems he can do it tomorrow or when we are on our way back to Indiana. He charges us $30 for the repair and scan. I’m sure it would have been cheaper at Chevy. I gave him 50 and Rod gave him 20 more, we were happy to have the leak fixed and know what was goin on with the engine. We took his card.
I have 75 solar panels in Newark that are already paid for and I want them in my hands instead of in a Newark warehouse. If we pick them up today we can come back from New Hampshire to Indiana via the northern route along the lakes. So on to Newark pick up panels. We know Buzz is a straight shooter, the NAPA guy said we could get an injector in Newark from the store attached to the warehouse. They had 4 when we got there. $454 each plus $200 core charge until we return the old one. The engine has 8 injectors. I bought just one for #3 cylinder. I’ll wait to get to North Judson and get a spare from Roger and Joe. BTW $454 is for a rebuilt one that’s why they want the old one back. We call Buzz and he can change the injector at 1030 tomorrow.
Rod and I think that maybe we can change it ourselves and save half a day at least. The plan is to park in the NAPA parking lot in case we need to buy more tools or parts because if we tear it apart our chariot is dead in the water. There is a Holiday Inn just down the street that has a Tequila Bar attached so I’m thinking we do it there in the lot. If things go bad we go to the bar to cry, if they go good we go in and celebrate. We opened the hood looked at the hot engine, no shade around so we came to our senses and headed back to Allentown and the Staybridge. It is only 5 o’clock when we get back to Allentown so we decide to get haircuts. I had been talking about more crab cakes all day, I think that was the final factor in the decision to return to Allentown. When we checked in the Staybridge was having happy hour in the lobby/breakfast area until 730. We didn’t want to pass up the free food so we ate there planning to get a crab cake later. The place across the street advertised the best crab cakes in PA. It was the one that was closed the night before at 10. Tonight the front desk assured us it is open until12. So we fight off sleep until almost 11 and go across the street. Had a “Crabby sea witch” sandwich. It was good but not as good as the night before at Copperheads. Time for bed.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for Buzz, crab cakes, and two twin granddaughters that arrived this morning in Alaska!!!
Blue skies!!!
Thursday August 2, 2018
Big Adventure Update Thursday. Allentown, PA to Milford, NH. We woke up early at the Staybridge Suites and have some more fruit for breakfast. Buzz said to be there at 10 so we show up at 9. We dropped the trailer and Buzz has us bring the truck in the shop to cool down so he can work on it. I get the new injector out of the box, Buzz takes a look at it and says let’s get started. The old injector came out easier than I expected and we were out of there by 1030. The truck is running better but not great so we head on our way to Milford. I think it is about 400 miles so an easy day. I texted John Folger and he said to drop the trailer at the CNC bay outside town and come by his house. We visited for a bit with John, his wife Ida, and their Scottie Haggis. Haggis just had surgery on his leg and is taking it easy while he recovers. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had a good meal. Then Rod and I drove over to Merrimack to the Holiday Inn Express and checked in for two nights. I stayed here a couple times before when I came to Folgertech. Folgertech makes 3d printer kits and CNC router kits. I’m here to pick up a used laser cutter machine and whatever else I can scrounge up. It is sort of a boring day as far as the adventure goes but we are happy to be here. I had my doubts about making it when we were in Allentown. Time for a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for another good day.
Blue skies!!!
Just so you know what Folgertech does
This is a short video of a new 3d printer in its early development. I was working on this during my last trip to Milford in May.
Friday August 3, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update Friday Milford, NH. We were up early again. We have several stops to make. I am going to get some truck parts and some Unistrut from Lowe’s to use for mounting the solar panels. I need 50 pieces. It is about $5 a piece cheaper than Lowe’s in AK. No sales tax here either just like Alaska. Stop at 2 stores only had 17 pieces total. We showed up at Folgertech about 9. I’m getting a used laser cutter/engraver from John. Problem, it is on the third floor, weighs 250 pounds, stairs are steep and narrow, and Rod is the only one with muscles. A trip to Tractor Supply for a block and tackle and some chain is in order. We put a 4x 4 across the doorway at the top of the stairs to hook one end of the block and tackle to and tie the other end to the machine with a chain. We lower it down with great difficulty. The good news is the driveway to the back of the building comes to the second floor. We take the machine down a few steps outside. John has parked his van out front to block a place for the truck and trailer while we load. I drive up the street, John pulls out and I pull in to park in front of the Mexican restaurant on the first floor. Along comes Murphy. I didn’t see the Mexican flag hanging out over the parking spot. I get out, here comes the owner he says thanks for taking out his flag. This could turn into an international incident. I tell the owner of the restaurant I’m sorry and we will fix it. We roll the machine down the driveway and are loading it. Now the owner of the building comes up and Rod tells him we will fix the flag pole. He says no just give him $20. I say ok, I have $7 cash after buying truck parts. I tell Rod to give him $20 and an international incident is narrowly averted. Rod watches closely while I pull away. He doesn’t want to spend another $20. We go back and park the trailer at the CNC bay. Time for lunch. We go back into Milford afraid to eat at the Mexican place so we eat at the restaurant across the street. I haven’t eaten here before on my previous trips. The special was a lobster roll. Well worth the drive to NH.
Lobster at the grocery store is way less than $9 a pound and they will steam it for you free. We didn’t have time to stop and have any. Back to Folger to load up some more treasures. John has a metal brake, shear, and roll machine combo that he wants to get rid of. I want it but Rod and I just don’t have the energy to haul it down the stairs. It must weigh 300 pounds. Maybe next trip…… Rod and I have dinner with John and Ida (pronounced eeda) and head back to the Holiday Inn. Today was a hard day. I tell Rod that we got out of the flag incident real easy. He said it was really easy for me it was his 20 bucks. Time for a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for keeping us safe!!
Blue skies!!!
Saturday August 4, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update Saturday Milford NH to North Judson, IN. We would like to stay in New Hampshire another day but the road awaits. Tomorrow at 3 is Rod’s mother’s 98th birthday party and I want to make it back to Indiana in time for him to go. About 8 am we went to the CNC bay to change the fuel primer pump because we thought that could be causing our problem. It started to rain as we finished. We loaded up some more treasures to haul to Alaska. Back to the Folger’s to say goodbye. Just one more quick stop about 30 minutes east of Milford, Manchester Electronic Surplus. I figure we can find a surplus dc motor and if we have any more trouble we will rip out the Duramax engine and replace it with an electric motor and cover the outside of the trailer with the panels we are hauling anyway. On to Indiana solar powered. MacGyver at his finest. Anyway we are westbound by 11am. Things are going pretty good, weather is good, and the traffic is light. We were about 35 miles east of Syracuse, NY when we stopped to fuel up, I checked the oil and the quantity was greater than when we started. We were making oil. Not good. Diesel fuel is getting into the crankcase. We continued on to Syracuse and decided to get something to eat. By the time we finished eating it is about 940 pm and we are parked in a K-Mart parking lot. We hustled in bought 3 gallons of oil and a drain pan before K mart closed at 10. I had installed an EZ drain in the oil pan before leaving Alaska. Rod crawled under the truck and drained the oil. Most K-Mart shoppers would have just let it run on the pavement but that’s not our style. We caught it in the pan and poured it into the empty jugs after we filled the engine and put them in the bed. We aren’t too tired yet so we decided to keep heading west. Rod is driving I’m taking a nap to be rested for my turn driving. We think about stopping in Rochester and getting a hotel. Rochester is pretty far off the New York Thruway and we are driving around lost looking for fuel. All the hotels are sold out for some reason so we make our way back to the Thruway and head for Buffalo. Hotels here are sold out, it’s too late to go to the Anchor Bar where Buffalo Wings originated. I had stopped here on a previous trip to NH. Pretty good wings. We decide to keep heading west, too late to get a hotel, and it will be daylight soon anyway.
We pass Erie, PA, Cleveland and Toledo. Time for fuel again at Angola, IN. We wasted about 30 minutes in the spaghetti maze of roads and construction at the exit. Now it’s on to the Michigan City exit on the Indiana Toll Road. We are almost there. We rolled into Longs yard at 1030. 24 hours 1085 miles. Quick shower, then to the Bluejay Cafe for breakfast. I guess the day wasn’t so bad.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord.
Blue skies!!!
THe Big Long Adventure continues at…Sunday August 5, 2018 The Big Long Adventure – Part 3
The View from the Outhouse 