Are you going to have net access? (If so, take lots of pics and post them!)
Lynn
I don't want to spend the $$ on an Aircard, so when we are in campgrounds with wifi, then I'll be online. I suppose I could look for hotspots, but cruising towns for wifi is not a priority. I can go about 3 days without internet before serious jonesing starts. Pics? When we get around to taking them and then downloading.
What with driving, planning, working out, hiking, eating, sleeping, staring into space, cleaning self and dishes, catching up on reading, staring at trees, staring at water, checking e-mails, checking the Forum, photos, how can we do all this? It sounds crazy when I put it that way. I'll have to cut back on the staring.
We tend to approach travels like work and when we get home, we hope to get some rest, but, of course, we never do get that rest which will have to wait until the big sleep. If this sounds depressing, it isn't. We enjoy doing lots of stuff, especially me (Barb just collapses). Work is meditation.
What with driving, planning, working out, hiking, eating, sleeping, staring into space, cleaning self and dishes, catching up on reading, staring at trees, staring at water, checking e-mails, checking the Forum, photos, how can we do all this? It sounds crazy when I put it that way. I'll have to cut back on the staring.Gene
Not so fast--try multi-tasking. You did not mention tequila so I'd opine that you could combine a good anejo tequila AND staring. Actually, after mucho tequila, I have no problem staring, sometimes w/ a close up view of the floor.
__________________
Larry
"Turleen", the '57 Flying Cloud
Lone Jack, MO
Pop.528 "You better learn it fast; you better learn it young"-John Fogerty
Larry, many, many years ago, when I was conversant with tequila, I knew many who became one with the floor, but, somehow, I was always the last man standing (or sitting). Now, however, I haven't had tequila in 20+ years and I fear I, too, would be discussing something unintelligible with the floor, and the floor might even talk back. Alas, two beers now make me say dumb things and feel as tipsy as a girl. What have I come to? What else I remember about tequila was it tasted like I imagined kerosene would taste like if kerosene tasted good.
Raining and sleeting again. I've been cleaning the truck, finding all the scratches, some done by me, some by the cat, some by those people in parking lots. Maybe it's best not to look.
What, scratches are a bother? Either drink the tequila, or the much easier and faster route (certainly so for the gray-age-approaching) of just taking off the eyeglasses.
'Bout the same weather here: Rain/snow mix, sometimes heavier, sometimes light. I've been hiding inside all day while finishing up the taxes and planning my assault on the newly-discovered leak in the MG radiator. (MGs were designed to leak oil as well as wiring smoke, but not coolant.)
Good luck with your MG. My long ago MGB (back in the tequila years) used to leave muffler parts on the road if something was lying on the pavement. Things like a piece of paper or an ant. Every 1,000 miles the oil pressure gauge would go crazy until I changed the oil, then normal pressure for 1,000 miles, then change the oil. Let's not talk about the TR4A.
Changing the oil IS the problem! I learned this trick from the Harley days of the 60's--brownie pan under the old panhead at night and pour the oil tank carefully back into the tank in the a.m. That was, I guess, recycling way before Al Gore invented it.
My old BJ8 used to change its own oil. All I had to do was add a quart every 1,500 miles or so and it was happy.
__________________
Larry
"Turleen", the '57 Flying Cloud
Lone Jack, MO
Pop.528 "You better learn it fast; you better learn it young"-John Fogerty
Good luck with your MG. My long ago MGB (back in the tequila years) used to leave muffler parts on the road if something was lying on the pavement. Things like a piece of paper or an ant. Every 1,000 miles the oil pressure gauge would go crazy until I changed the oil, then normal pressure for 1,000 miles, then change the oil. Let's not talk about the TR4A.
Gene
The cute part is that our F150 does the same with oil pressure. Scared the daylights out of me the first time it happened. The factory says to replace the oil sensor (defective), but I'm not exactly big on taking practically half the components off the motor just to replace it. So now know: If it's below zero outside, and I start the motor, and the oil pressure goes up and then suddenly drops to zero, don't sweat the details and drive on.
You are going to have a wonderful trip! Not being fisher-people ourselves, we hired a terrific young man named Chris Granrud to take us fishing on Rainy Lake at International Falls last year. He has the underwater sonar, to make sure you find fish, is at mr_rainy1@yahoo.com, or RainyDaze Outdoors, should you be interested. We caught a MESS of fish, which he cleaned and fileted for us after we returned to shore. Yummy and great fun!
What else I remember about tequila was it tasted like I imagined kerosene would taste like if kerosene tasted good.
When I was in my youth (and I say that proudly because I can remember it, despite that having been in the '60s) one of the guys in our group drank tequila, almost always.
I remember his mantra, "one tequila, two tequilas, three tequilas, floor".
Have a great trip Gene. We'll wave when you're almost in Ontario. You'll almost see us!
__________________ ♫ The road to a friend's house is never long. (Old Danish Saying)
Lynn, I know how it feels to look down and see the oil pressure gauge read 0. We were in northern Newfoundland, which like most of Newfoundland, is trees and more trees (also rivers, lakes, bogs and trees).
That lightning bolt of fear went through me, then the brain returned and I figured if we were still moving, pistons weren't flying through the hood, it probably wasn't the oil pump. It only happened at 2,100 to 2,300 rpm, and since that was between around 60-65 mph, I generally went faster or slower, usually faster. I called and went to a couple of Toyota dealers, all of them very helpful, and eventually found out there was a notice out on the sending unit. A dealer in Gander arranged for a new sending unit to be waiting for us at the Toyota dealer in St. John's. Unlike a lot of big city auto dealers, the St. John's dealer was quick, friendly, efficient and reasonably priced. I got Toyota to refund the money for the sending unit. Since I paid for it in Canadian dollars and it was refunded in US dollars, I made money on the deal—that made up for the lightning bolt that went through me.
Everywhere in Newfoundland people treated us very well and it was one of our most memorable trips. It was really hard not to worry about that oil gauge even though I knew it was the sending unit. I considered putting some electrical tape over the gauge.
As we take longer and longer trips with the Safari, will it be No. 3 to Alaska, or No. 2 to Newfoundland as the next 10,000 mile one? I think one of those will be the late Spring, 2010 trip.
Thanks for the good wishes doug&maggie. We won't be fishing, but thanks for the tip which I'm sure some others will be noting down.
Another grey nasty day here. 1 1/2" snow last night, winter snow warnings in the central mountains. One of the problems with crossing the Continental Divide in the "spring" is that at any time through May there can be heavy snows. When we lived west of Denver in the "foothills" at almost 8,000', we saw it snow several times in June including on the first day of summer. We loved the weather there (moderate summer temps, cool nights, real winter), but sometimes winter wouldn't quit. November, March and April are the snowiest months in Colorado. The next day it can be in the 60's and sunny. The good thing is that late April snow melts fast. I'll be watching the weather carefully hoping we aren't delayed for our appointment at Jackson Center.
Today I can finish detailing the pickup. It'll probably be dirty by the time we leave. In a week, we wash the Safari and wax it. The dust storm we had about 10 days ago was followed by snow. That packed fine mud into everything. Washing it out of crevices on the truck was an effort; same will be true on the trailer. I'm not looking forward to it. I used Griot's Paint Sealant on the Safari last August and we've only washed it once since and it still looks pretty good. The Griot's Spray On Wax will be what we use next week. The Paint Sealant is supposed to last a year and it look like it will. Each are easy to apply and require a lot less elbow grease than other waxes. After waxing the Safari, comes summerizing (dewinterizing), getting rid of rust on the hitch and repainting, other odds and end, and then packing. This is when a trailer feels like a full time job.
Four days to go. How are we going to get it together? Not sleep, sleep in our clothes, find a methlab (there's plenty of them in rural America), better stick with caffeine.
The truck was beautiful last week, but coming back from Denver, rain and snow made for a dirty truck. Barb said she'd rinse it tomorrow when I am at a meeting. She's not only beautiful and smart, she's wonderful! We washed the Safari yesterday and I polished it until I was ready to fall down—only a few more panels to go. I even put some shirts in the small wardrobe—packing has begun.
Last Friday I had new Michelin LTX A/T2 load range E tires put on the truck. Everyone recommends different tire pressure. Big O said they put 60 lbs. in but today I checked and it was 54 or 55, but it was about 10˚ cooler. Last week I called Michelin and the guy I talked to said 50 front, 55 rear after checking. I found out he thought I had a 10,000 lb. truck although I had told him it was 6,900. He seemed confused, then said 45 and 50. I called and spoke to someone else today and he told me they didn't have charts for this truck with E tires because it comes with C tires. He did some math and said 42 front and 45 rear, maybe 3 lbs. more towing. Given the C pressures (30 F, 33 rear) that seemed more sensible to me. I reduced the pressure to 45 F, 48 R since I'll be towing in a few days (easier to let air out, than to pump air in). At either pressure these tires ride much more smoothly than the Goodrich's did.
I'm watching the weather. Maybe a little snow in the mountains, but it should be warm enough for the roads to be clear, however, weather can change fast in the mountains as people found out last weekend. We got through just before everything got bad and I-70 was closed for more than 1/2 a day. There's so much traffic on I-70, accidents are frequent and road closures are too. We have an alternative routes east in case. By sometime Saturday we should be passing through Hays, Kan. where it's supposed to be 83˚. A cold front will be behind us. Cold fronts meeting hot air bring nasty weather. Half of the time we go through Kansas, tornados are nearby. Drive fast and far, aiming for Missouri.
When we are at the factory, the shop opens at 7 am. That's 5 am Mountain time. That is not something to look forward to. One of the joys of retirement is not getting up early. So much for that. We are practicing using the dreaded alarm clock.
In truth, it's best to get some sleep. On one of our early trips to the mountains from Texas -- my gosh, I guess this was 15 years ago or so -- I had my first experience with involuntary sleep. Just driving along, chatting with Maria, and next thing I know, Maria's yelling at me, and we're hitting gravel on the shoulder of the highway. A very ugly feeling!
There are two campgrounds: Union Bay CG has electric service and has crowded, small sites. Presque Isle campground is rustic, but in an old growth forest overlooking L. Superior--awesome. Roads into these campgrounds are fine.
Fort Wilkins State Park in Copper Harbor on the Keweenaw Pennisula is also lovely. Long way up that pennisula to get to it though.
I look forward to your reports on the trip. Happy Trails
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