Big Adventure Update Sunday North Judson. After breakfast at the Bluejay Cafe Rod headed over to his Mothers birthday party. I like the Bluejay, Jim usually doesn’t want to go out for breakfast, so most days at 8 o’clock in the morning I usually need something from NAPA and manage a side trip to the cafe.
I laid down for a nap before going to Valparaiso to have dinner with my son Mark and his family. After dinner we went to visit Mark’s grandpa Dick Chael. It was good to see him again after many years. Rod and I arrived at the Long’s before they made it home from the state fair. I’m glad he made it to the party. It’s time for a nap after the long drive last night. I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for time with our families!
Blue skies!!!
Monday August 6, 2018
Big Adventure Update Monday North Judson- We need to come up with a plan. The window is closing for the drive back to Alaska this month. The truck is getting me crazy. We get up early, have breakfast at Fingerhut Cafe. It’s good to see some of my old friends that are there also having breakfast. NAPA opens at 8 and we are scratching at the door to get in. While we are telling Roger our sad story a diesel mechanic comes in and says we need to change all 8 injectors. I would like to hire him to do it but he is too busy. He gives us some pointers, we buy a few tools we need, and get the injectors on order. Out at the Long ranch we pull the truck in the shop and get started. It is hot so we get a big fan blowing on us. The first three injectors on the right bank come out fairly easy after we get the fuel filter, air box, and hoses out of the way. The back injector is a little harder to get out but we have half of them out shortly after noon. It is really hot here for an Alaska boy. We get started on the left side. There are all kinds of parts, cables, and pieces that have to come off before we can even see the injectors. Our friends, the Long’s neighbors the Blocks are coming for dinner at 6. We are so dirty we have to quit before five to get cleaned up enough for company. We have 2 more out and 2 to go, the hardest 2. Dinner was great, pulled pork, corn on the cob, and potatoes. Corn doesn’t grow very good in Alaska so we don’t have it much and when we do the quality isn’t that great. I think Kari said it was $2 an ear this year. After dinner we visited for a while. I had a couple Baileys and soon it’s time for a nap. Injectors arrive at 8. I have big hopes that with the new injectors the truck will run great. I’ve been so busy and tired that I haven’t cared about checking on the Kardashian’s.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for another day!
Blue skies!!!
I would attach pictures but I’m too dirty.
Tuesday August 7, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update Tues NJ Up early as always. We have breakfast and are at NAPA when they open at 8. 7 of the 8 injectors are there so we decide to use the injector we bought in Newark for cylinder #3 only we moved it to #1 to see if the problem followed. It took all day to get the last 2 injectors out and the 8 replacements back in. We are meeting at the Route 10 for a mini Class of 70 reunion, so we were hustling to get everything finished and try the truck out. It started ok, but we had a couple lines to tighten up. No more time today. It took a while to get cleaned up for the party. We were the moving target for our arrival in NJ so it was really good to get a dozen or so people together on short notice. It was great to see everyone and catch up. We need to have mini reunions more often. Five years is too long between the big reunions. We were back to the Longs fairly early. When everyone at the party is over 65 years old it doesn’t last too late. Tomorrow is the test for our two days of work. A sip of Baileys and time for a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for friends and family.
Blue skies!!!
Wednesday August 8, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update Wed NJ. I guess you can tell by the length of the updates and the amount of humor that I’m not having a good time. If Jim wasn’t around so that I could give him a hard time I wouldn’t be having any fun at all. Remind me to give Sue a dollar for putting up with him. Time for the test, no leaks, seems to be running better, still making some white smoke. We think this is just fuel and oil left in the system and will improve. We go for a test drive down English Lake Road. Seems to run somewhat better, so I run it up to about 80 smooths out but it is just the rpms hiding the miss and the wind hiding the smoke. Same way I drove on that same stretch of road in my high school days. I think the mini reunion could have triggered this behavior. Normally now I don’t drive much over the speed limit. We think the truck has improved slightly but it is still puffing some white smoke. Now for the big test, hook up the trailer and see if the truck will do 80 now. Just kidding 70 is good. Under load still running bad. The scanner is still showing misfires on cylinder #3. We take it on a road trip to Rod’s brother Joe’s place. Somewhere on the way back I saw the fuel gauge steadily dropping. A small rubber return line that I had replaced came off the fitting and pissed away a half tank of gas in less than 20 miles. Add $35 more to the bill. Back to NAPA and get another injector to try. By now my bill for parts is more than I paid for my first new car in 72. I’m thinking about starting a go fund me page so that some of these people preaching socialism can share the wealth. I should at least get a government grant to fund the big adventure. We change #3 again, no help still the same. Tired of getting dirty messing with this truck. Time for some Baileys and a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for another day!
Blue skies!!!
PS. I don’t want to waste any prayers on the go fund me page. I think prayers are for things money can’t buy, friends, family, people, health. A new boat, truck, money, and other material things are handled with wishes.
Thursday August 9, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update Thur NJ. The window for driving the truck and trailer back to Alaska has passed. I was thinking of maybe driving as far as Fargo or Minot, ND and putting the truck and trailer in a secure storage. Rod could fly to Tulsa and I could fly to Alaska. Then I could come back and pick it up in about 4 weeks. We are even running out of time for that so the plan is to fly home tomorrow or Sat.
Today I cannot account for the morning but we were at NAPA about noon. I want to try to have a Chevy dealer reload the software in the computer that controls the engine. Roger calls the one at Knox, they can do it at the end of next week. I sure miss the luxury of having my Uncle Willie Shepherd around. His dealership in Winamac took care of the family station wagon while I was in high school. Seems like the back tires were spinning in a pile of wet leaves and when the tires hit the dry pavement it ripped the rear end right out. Thanks for GM warranty. Dealerships aren’t like that anymore. I don’t even like going in them. That’s why I bought this truck on eBay in 2007 at a dealer in Boone, NC.
Another side story. Kari and I flew to Bristol, TN, rented a car and drove over to Boone. I went in an office to close the deal and hanging on the wall was an old picture of the dance hall at the south end of Bass Lake, IN about 8 miles from where we were living at the time. I remember Dick Clark coming there from Chicago for dance contests. I don’t know if it was American Bandstand then or not. Dick was a DJ I think at WLS. It is a small world. Anyway Roger gets me set up with Team Chevy in Valparaiso. In about I bought a Chev Suburban here from Terry Jordan when the dealership was a different name that I can’t remember. Kari and I drove it up the Alcan towing our first of many trailers. We sold the Suburban when it had about 325,000 miles on it. Like I said earlier it’s a small world.
At Team we drive inside into the service center. Reminds me of going into a store on Rodeo drive in Beverly Hills. The floor is painted and polished, the service writer is wearing a white shirt and tie so I know he isn’t going to work on my truck. I’m all greasy and they are all looking over their noses at me. I give the writer a brief history, tell him I would like the computer flashed back to factory original, he says that will be $100. Ok. Then I would like him to hook up the scanner, trouble shoot it, and let me know what’s wrong. He said the diagnostic fee would be $99.95. Ok. I think he is more interested in hooking the scanner to my wallet to see how much I can afford or if I can afford a new truck. Anyway diagnosis…#3 injector needs to be changed for only$1150 and they would like to keep it overnight and continue from there. Rod and I didn’t want to walk back to Jim’s or sleep in a used truck in the parking lot. I already have that T-shirt. I also didn’t want to spend that much money for injector number three in that same cylinder. We said we would get back to them and left $225 lighter. I guess the $25 is to keep the floor polished and the service writers shoes shined. The truck ran worse than when we brought it in.
I called Joe Elder at NAPA he says he will bring another injector out to Jim’s after they close. Rod and I are getting quick on #3. We have it out by the time Joe arrives and we install the new injector and a glow plug in #3. No change. Still a misfire code on 3. I’m finished, going to take it somewhere in the morning and just leave it. More Baileys and a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord!
Blue skies!!!
Friday August 10, 2018
Big Long Adventure Update Fri NJ- ORD. Some of you have commented that the posts were way behind then came all at once. I think I may have figured it out. Our internet cable in Alaska runs on top of the ground. I set up Facebook on my desktop computer and I think whenever I post on the road from my iPhone or iPad it still sends it to Alaska to my home computer and then to Facebook to post it. There has been a moose in the yard lately and I think it has been standing on the cable and not letting the signal through. So don’t think I’m being a jerk if you text or message me and I don’t answer for a while. The moose will get off the wire sooner or later. Kari should resolve this problem when moose season opens and she can lure it into the garage.
I forgot that last night we decided to use a GM product X66P that cleans injectors and the engine top end. We took off the fuel supply and return lines and ran two 4 foot fuel hoses to a 2 gal can with diesel and the X66P in it. We started the engine and let it run for a few hours until the cab was empty.. This morning we took the hoses off and reconnected the truck fuel lines. Didn’t notice much change but at least it was clean. I had one more thought. I know, I’m working without tools again. I’ll go to go see John Anderson at Anderson Automotive. If he can’t figure out what’s wrong he can send me to the best place to get it repaired. After he dropped what he was doing and checked it out he sent me to a guy near Lacrosse, Jim Hayes. Jim is very knowledgeable. He looked everything over and said it was very likely a compression problem with #3 cylinder. He is booked up and doesn’t have time to fix it in the next 4 weeks, in time to make my next window of opportunity to travel after Kari’s recovery and before the snow flies on the Alcan. Jim recommended taking it to MDI in Crown Point, called and set up an appointment. There is a reason businesses are busy. I wouldn’t want to take my truck to a place that had nothing to do. Back to Long’s to get things cleaned up, pack our bags, and get out of town before NAPA takes that check to the bank. I brought Jim a boiler that I had in Alaska to pay for part of our lodging bill. Now he has the audacity to want me to come back and install it. I think he just has a vacancy in my room in the basement and wants to make a couple bucks off me. I’ll show him. Next time it’s the WalMart parking lot in Valparaiso.
Rod and I take the truck to MDI, Jim and Sue follow us, we have lunch at one of my favorite places Portillo’s Hot Dogs. I think I’ve been to every one in the Chicago area. From there we go over to the Dune Park South Shore Station to catch the train to Chicago. It’s a good deal they have a senior fare $4.50, but I’d rather pay the $9 and be young. The train is packed, I can’t believe how many people are going into the city at 5 o’clock. To party I guess. We had to ride in rear facing seats so it wasn’t as good for looking out the window sightseeing. That reminds me, one of my elementary teachers told me to turn around and study, no one would ever pay me to sit and look out the window. For almost 38 years I had the best window seat in the world. I sure saw a lot of stuff.
We get to Millennium Station and me being cheap we drag our bags down Randolph. I think I passed up one Blue line station, so we went to the stop in Illinois Center. I should have done Uber or left more of my clothes at Long’s since I will need them there anyway. We take the train to O’Hare for $2 each so we are into this trip to the city for $13 now. We catch the shuttle to the Holiday Inn Rosemont and arrive about 830. Harry Cary’s restaurant closes at 9. Rod and I each have a salad which is plenty. Don’t tell Jim but a N.Y. strip is $48 and I’m sure it isn’t any better than the ones he cooked the night before. Awesome meal at Jim’s, steak, salad, and corn on the cob. I look for prices to rise at the Inn on my next trip. Rod has been a very good influence on my eating habits. I have eaten so much salad that I hop around and wiggle my nose. We need to get up at 4 am for the early flight to Minneapolis so there isn’t time to check on the Kardashian’s. Time for a nap.
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for the many blessings that I really don’t deserve.
Blue skies!!!
Saturday August 11, 2018
Big Adventure Update Sat Aug 11 to Tulsa for Rod, O’Hare to Anchorage for me. The saga continues. There were 40 open seats at 6:30am out of Midway to Minneapolis but no hotels with 2 beds so I opted for O’hare. 17 open seats showing last night for the 6:30am to Minneapolis. Plan was to go to Minneapolis on the early flight. Rod was going to go to Oklahoma City and Wendy will pick him up. The direct flight to Tulsa leaves Minneapolis at 5:30pm so OKC will be quicker. I plan take the 900am to Anchorage and be home early afternoon. Got to the gate and the numbers don’t look good for getting on this flight. We are the only two non-revs that didn’t get a seat. The next flight is shortly after 9 showing no seats. We get right on no problem. 38 years and I still can’t figure out the system. Now we have the day to kill in MSP. Rod is going to Tulsa at 5:30pm. His bag is already in Oklahoma City. I’m going to Anchorage at 5:50pm. We go to one of my favorite places on earth the “Mall of America”…Not. It is better than sitting at the airport all day. We had some lunch and got a good walk in. We went back to Rod’s gate and I thank him and we say our farewells. Get a text from Rod while I’m at the ANC gate. He has a well deserved first class seat to Tulsa. I get a seat on the ANC flight with no one in the middle seat. Great ride home. Kari picked me up at the airport. We have two days to get everything ready for her knee replacement.
Rod is a great travel companion. I would go on any trip anywhere with him. Thanks Buddy!!
I’ll be in touch.
Thank you Lord for a safe journey!!
The adventure is in the hold right now. The diesel shop called last week, took a quick look at the truck and didn’t find anything wrong with #3 cylinder. Good news but still unsure about what’s wrong. They are going to dig further on Monday. I will let you know when I’m ready to leave the hold. I’m estimating leaving Alaska about Sep.15. I need to get up the Alcan before the snowballs start hitting me in the you know where. I would like to get the solar panels home and on the roof yet this fall.
Blue skies!!!
The View from the Outhouse 