When 'yer trip starts off with lemons......

ericnliz

Just got back yesterday from one of our yearly 'gotta go' campin' trips with friends we've camped with for 20+ years. Here's how it went....
Day 1: Plan: Get an early start, and meet at designated spot...NOT. Unexpected family visitor came to my friend's house, so we met there instead, good thing.
           Finally got started about 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour later than planned, but not a problem. Decided to follow my friends in their camper for the 3 (HA, HA) hour                trip. Everything was going well, and as expected until we got to near the top of Sherman Pass. Steep, long grade, varies from 6% to about 8% in spots.                      About 3 miles from the top, I started smelling a hot, antifreeze smell, looked at temp gauge, hmmm, not me. Then I looked up towards my friend's                          camper, only to see a trail of not only water on the highway, but steam flowing out past the camper. NOT a good sign under the best of conditions. At the              first "turnout" (for slow vehicles), he pulled over, and opened the hood. After getting out, and walking up, he told me his temp gauge went from full on hot              to down to zero. upon inspecting under the hood, and releasing pressure, heater going full blast, and heaving water into the front of the radiator to help                with the cooling process, two bad things were discovered. 1) things got so hot, it totally blew the top OFF the reservoir, and 2) absolutely melted the temp              sensor OFF the block of the motor!!! Finally, after several "geysers" from the radiator, got it cooled down enough to proceed on. Thank goodness we both                go on trips prepared (extra antifreeze & water jugs, especially when it's hot outside), and have mechanical knowledge as he's a retired mechanic as well.                  Finally crawled close to the top, when his truck got hot again, and he had to stop for a "cool down". This time, going so slow, mine was getting hot as                      well. Got out (leaving mine running to help cool it off), and started to go through the whole same process again, when Liz came up, and said "You left the                truck running, so I shut it off." In stereo, she heard " NO, don't do that!!!", so I went back & started it again. Now she knows NOT to shut off a hot vehicle!                After a few minutes, my friends wanted us to proceed on, without them to go find camping spots, rather than wait for them. ABSOLUTELY NOT! I then                      asked my friend if he would leave me there under the same circumstances, and he humbly said "No way", so that argument was quickly put aside. I told                  him, " Worse comes to worse, park it, lock it, you two and the dogs (two of 'em) can come with us, and we'll go to town and get a tow truck." Finally after                cooling down again, made it to the top, and he "coasted" down to town where (now out of spare water & antifreeze) we replenished, and cooled the motor             off for another hour. Finally we got back on the road, with only 14 miles to go. With about only 3 miles left in the trip, the truck was so hot, he had to stop             again and cool off. This time, it started "knocking" (bad sign!), so he was crawling to the park entrance, where he stopped at the boat launch parking, and               said "Go find two spots, and we'll come meet you there in a while." As luck would have it, found two spots directly across from each other, and he limped               his truck in, and got settled. What a day!!! 3 hour trip had turned in to about 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Liz & I got all set up, and were pretty much exhausted as                 were we all!!!! Sammiches fer dinner tonight folks!!! Thank goodness for plenty of cold beer & GREAT friends!!! After dinner, discovered the folks next to us             were also long time acquaintances from the campground, and they were leaving the next day. Since it was a better spot, and my friend could back his rig               in, we asked them to let us know when they were leaving so he could change spots in case worse case scenario (truck no longer functional came to pass),              and the reply was an instant "Absolutely, do you need any help?" (Now you folks know why we frequent this place, and further along in this story, you'll                    even see it happen more!) I'm not sure about the rest of our group, but, I know speaking for myself, my head barely hit the pillow, and I was OUT!
Day 2: Beautiful morning, counted 9 loons on the lake (more than I've ever seen), watched a bald eagle dive several times for breakfast, and enjoyed 3 wonderful                cups of "campin coffee". ( Irish cream is a must have fer campin'!) Started lookin' around a little more, and huckleberries EVERYWHERE, and                big ones to boot! The ladies finally crawled out of bed, immediately went berry pickin' for huckleberry pancakes!!! YUMMMM!!! After breakfast, got my                   friends moved to their "better" spot & started to evaluate the damages of the trip. Upon evaluation, motor not "seized" (great thing!), thermostat stuck in                 wide open position, melted off temp sensor, AND melted off Thermal fan sensor on the OTHER side of the block, no reservoir cap, upper radiator hose                  collapsed, the dire need of more antifreeze, and whatever else came about after repairs. After taking the thermostat housing off, discovered this was NOT              the first time the truck had overheated. The amount of corrosive gunk on the inside was unreal! Managed to scrape it all out so it was again usable. Off to              town for more ice, and parts for the truck. Thank goodness for a local NAPA store. Managed to get antifreeze, thermostat (Oh, almost forgot, the one we                took out was not only the wrong size ( with a Mickey Mouse way to make it work), but the wrong temp as well!), and had to order the sensors, and upper                radiator hose, to be delivered the following day. (Saturday) Back to camp we go, after collecting more ice (asked the clerk "If it melts, do we get a refund?",              she got a good chuckle out of that one!), and scoring on a free milk crate to help haul the ice. Upon arriving at camp, found out a long time friend had taken          the spot that my friends had just vacated. Nice surprise, and we had been talking about her right before we'd gone to town. She came over, and joined us at            our campsite, and started chatting about how much we were going to miss the old Camp Host we'd had for the past several years, as he indicated he was not          coming back. I had to go to the trailer to get something, when I heard the familiar sound of a Honda 90 dirt bike. Now, the ONLY one I'd ever seen up there            belonged to Jake, the old Camp Host....Hmmm, no way. Looked out the window, and there he was!!! Evidently, the Camp Host that was there, his wife was             diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer, and had to leave the prior day, so Jake was called, and accepted the position for the duration of the season. It was like             "old home week"! Had a great dinner (hamburgers, and a great salad), and sat around chatting with everyone around the campfire 'till the wee hours of the             morning.
Day 3: Overnight thunder and lightning storms, with enough rain to knock the dust off everything. Woke up about 4:00 am, and watched the lightning striking all             around with the thought of "I REALLY hope it doesn't start a fire"! Watched as it went overhead, and on by with no visible signs of fires starting. Waited 'till               the sun came up, and several cups of campin' coffee to put out the solar panels for the day. (Thank goodness I had put them in the truck the night before!)
          My friend had come over from his campsite while I was getting the panels out, and we were chatting when all of a sudden, my left knee decided to go on                 vacation, and totally gave out while wrenching my back in the process, landing ME directly on the top of the solar panels, face down. Freaking my friend                 out, the first thing he inquired was that I was okay. (love my friends!), and picking me up, then, the solar panels, he says "Good thing these things are                     tough, only a couple of surface scratches." Whew! That could have turned out a LOT worse!!! Now, injuries sustained, I was pretty much "camp-bound",                   limping around, and trying NOT to let Liz know now much it really hurt. Knowing that there was a Prime Rib in the cooler that I had promised for dinner                   that night, I was bound and determined not to fail.  I proceeded to thaw out the Prime, load the Pit Barrel with charcoal, and get on with my own bad self! (I'm a pretty tough well seasoned type a guy!) During this time, Jake walks by & says jokingly "What's for dinner, Prime Rib?" (last year I made some as well, and Jake got to share.) "Yep, Prime for dinner"! A BIG smile came across his face, and he continued on his rounds. During this time, my friend had gone back down the road to where you can actually get cell service to call, and check on the parts, only to find out, the WRONG sensor got ordered for the fan sensor. Now, it would be Tuesday before the part came in. Oh, boy, here we go! Liz & I have to head back on Tuesday because she has to work on Wednesday, crap, now what? Should have known better ( another reason we keep coming back here!), Jake finds out about the transportation problem to town, and simply says to my friend "When you need to go to town, come up and get my truck, and go." It's Sooo nice to have great friends!!!! Right after having this conversation, Jake shows up in our campsite with a guy we don't know, and we look at each other and give it ??? look. Come to find out, he's got a brake fluid issue with his truck, seeks out Jake for help, and Jake says "There's only 2 people in this campground that are going to have brake fluid, one has a big Chevy 1 ton dually with a camper, and the other has a teardrop camper, they're right next to each other down by the lake, come on, I'll take you there." Now he says "either of 'ya got some brake fluid, this guy is stuck, and I don't have any." "Yep, we have some, here". Now the guy tries to pay us for it, and Jake just starts laughing, and says " 'Ya might as well keep yer money, they won't accept it" Our reply "you're right, use what 'ya need, save the rest just in case, and drive CAREFUL". The guy walks away with Jake muttering "can't believe the nice folks up here". Ya just came to the right place there buddy!!! Had a really nice Prime Rib dinner, saved the bones for Jake (his favorite part) which he shared with his grandson. Had a nice campfire, lots of laughs, and off to bed.
Day 4: BEAUTIFUL morning, breeze blowin' in off the lake, loons swimmin' by, and new addition, pair of geese with 5 goslings in tow! Decide, today I'm goin'                      fishin', don't care HOW bad it hurts, I'm goin' fishin'. Everybody gets up, huckleberry pancakes for breakfast. Now, my friend and I are left to our own devices, and are off to go fishin'. I limp down the hill to our favorite spot, and we start to fish. Did we ever pick the right time of day! I caught 5 in about 15 minutes, and he did the same. Back to camp we go, tryin' to decide what we're going to make for dinner. Open the cooler, and there's the fixin's for shish kabobs! ( Gotta love Liz for the things she doesn't tell me about!) Now, the temps are startin' to climb, and I REALLY don't want to stand over a hot Pit Barrel, so, we decide to cook 'em up in the fry pan instead. Off to bed. Wake up about 2:30, 3:00 am for beer recycling, and notice two to three campsites down, they have a HUGE fire blazing!!! I see someone wandering around, still wondering WHY so big a fire, and go back to bed. Liz wakes up for a nature call, and the next day, tells me, she sees the same thing.
To be continued!
 

Ratkity

OMG a Cliff Hanger!! What a story! 

rkj__

Is this a copy and paste from another blog or something?  The formatting is really weird, with odd spaces, and no distinct paragraphs.

Anyway, it sounds like you managed to have some good fun, despite facing some challenges. 

Smullis7

AHHH...what happened?!?  :-)

Homebodyatheart

Oh boy! @ericnliz is home! Eric, I hope your pains are down to a dull roar. Glad you all made it there safely, and you and Liz are safely home. Enjoy the heat!

ChrisandAlexis

Oh, c'mon, what happened next? 

ericnliz

Day 5: (Had to split this one up, too long.)
           Wake up, grab my coffee, look over, the fire down the way is still blazin'! Windy today, and quite a bit                  cooler. Need to keep an eye on the fire down the way. My friend and I head to town for more ice, check              on his parts order, and get gas for the trip home so I don't have to stop. Get back to camp, and was told            by my friend's wife that the folks on either side of us, and them went to town for the day, so other than              the people down the way with the fire, we were the only one's left in the lower campground. My friends              leave to go huckleberry pickin', and Liz is gonna go fishin'. Park Service folks are makin' their rounds,                 checking out folks tags for validity, and just kinda givin the place a good checkin' out. they wave, and                 drive by. Liz is just ready to head out to go fishin', and the Park Service lady comes running over asking if           we have a bucket. Liz grabs a big pot, gives it to her, and leaves to go fishin'. I'm sittin' there lookin' at               the lake when I notice the Park Service lady is FRANTICALLY running back & forth from the water supply             to the fire pit of the people that had the huge fire going. I get up, quickly grab my 5 gallon water                      container, and run as fast as my injured body will let me to go to assist. As I get nearer, I can still see                  smoke coming out of the fire pit, with the Forest service guy frantically turning over the ashes inside. I got          there, removed the cap off my container, and dumped all 5 gallons on the fire pit. Now, having about 2              inches of water floating on top of the fire pit, the water is BOILING from the heat of the fire pit. The Forest          service folks and I just stood there shaking our heads. These people had LEFT with that fire still blazing!            Unlucky for them, the Forest Service guy stood there with their site tag in his hand, and said to me "We'll            find them, and they will get a citation with a fine." My reply, "The citation, and the fine as far as I'm                    concerned won't be near enough for the lives and property they just put at risk." He readily agreed. The             whole kicker to this story is that the day before, the same lady inquired to Jake about how to become a               Camp Host! As I relayed this to the Forest Service guy, I thought I was going to have to pick his jaw up off           the ground, and he said to me "If I have it my way, they'll never be welcome in any Campground in this               area again". My reply "Good, they don't deserve the privilege!" I wish this were the end of the story of                 idiots, but...NO. Upon relaying this incident to Jake who had been at one of the adjacent lakes helping                 another camper with a flat tire, he told me the same thing happened at the camp ground up above where           he is camped. Kicker to that one...it was someone he KNEW! He was furious! Drama over, had Maui steak             for dinner, enjoyed our small campfire, and went to bed.
Day 6: Time to come home. packed up, said our goodbyes to our friends, who were in good company with Jake              there. Got back home to the heat, unpacked, and went to bed. 
Update: My friends made it home with no further problems. The truck now has a 4 sale sign on it, and posted                 on Craig's list! Can't say as I blame them. Even after all the events that took place, we had a really good               time with even better friends. Looking forward to our next adventure, probably September some time.

ericnliz

@rkj__, Nope, not a copy of anything. Don't know why it did that, and I don't stutter either!
Sorry to leave you folks hangin', but had some things to do that interrupted me in the middle of the story. 'Ya know those "life happens" things!

Ratkity

I hope your knee gets better!! Is it replacement time or just PT time? Then a tweaked back. Still, that chair with the strategically placed cooler and a sweet wife like Liz to keep you all content was just the ticket you needed.

I feel for your friends and their truck. Is it very old and what were they pulling? A long-long trailer? Of course, the T@B sounds like it faired well. I need to remember to put the transmission temp and engine temp on the screen when going up such grades. 8% is steep! 

ericnliz

@Ratkity, It's a '92 Chevy 1 ton dually, haulin' a big full length camper, and towing a canoe full of firewood. Big block 454 V8. Shouldn't have overheated, but with the problems we saw, I'm surprised it made it that far. The radiator gave out on it the last trip. Glad they decided to give it the 'ol heave-ho. Even happier they made it home safe & sound. Just spoke with them a little while ago, and the trip home was un-eventful taking a different route home with a lot less steep grade! I've seen brand new rigs overheat on the grade we took over because folks don't down shift & let the tranny help, rather than leave it in overdrive. I know because my friend and I have helped some of 'em out when THEY overheated. Live & learn.

ericnliz

Almost forgot the other thing that happened. First time Liz went down to the dock to fish, she knocked her fishin' knife (one I JUST got for her out of my knife collection) in to the lake. She kinda had a hard time tellin' me about it, since I had just given it to her right before we left, and she felt terrible. The subject came up when Jake was there, and immediately, he says, "No problem, I brought my snorkel, and fins, I'll get it for you tomorrow morning." Give an ex Navy Seal an excuse to dive, and away they go! 

Smullis7

Great story!  Hope you are feeling better.  I had an area I used to camp in (a different story of why I don't go there anymore) that at least 3 times in the same camp area someone had left the fire smoldering!  It's a boondocking location, so you know I was none too happy about using my water supply to put out it, but I couldn't just leave it go...shortened my showers for the weekend to accommodate it.  :-)

marknjudy

If you could get Arlo Guthrie to put this to music you'd have a song even better than Alice's Restaurant.

Great story with ups, downs and a mid season finale. Can't wait to hear the rest. 

ericnliz

It's NEVER a boring campin' trip with us!

2Cougs

And you not only had good friends, and a story to tell, but Huckleberries!!!

marknjudy

Yes huckleberries! Discover these little gems in Yellowstone a couple weeks ago. You struck gold!

Verna

As a Camp Host, I still am amazed at the one blazing campfire I had to extinguish plus all of the hot ones I have to extinguish. It takes at least 4 gallons of water to extinguish a hot fire and about 10 gallons to extinguish a blazing fire. 

Thanks for for the trip notes, Eric--good reading and no offense, I'm glad I wasn't there for the trip to the campground!  I'll pick you to have my back door any day;)

Ratkity

ericnliz said:

Almost forgot the other thing that happened. First time Liz went down to the dock to fish, she knocked her fishin' knife (one I JUST got for her out of my knife collection) in to the lake. She kinda had a hard time tellin' me about it, since I had just given it to her right before we left, and she felt terrible. The subject came up when Jake was there, and immediately, he says, "No problem, I brought my snorkel, and fins, I'll get it for you tomorrow morning." Give an ex Navy Seal an excuse to dive, and away they go! 

ROFL!! I've heard that more than once from my veteran friends! So? Did he find it?

Ratkity

Verna said:

As a Camp Host, I still am amazed at the one blazing campfire I had to extinguish plus all of the hot ones I have to extinguish. It takes at least 4 gallons of water to extinguish a hot fire and about 10 gallons to extinguish a blazing fire. 

Thanks for for the trip notes, Eric--good reading and no offense, I'm glad I wasn't there for the trip to the campground!  I'll pick you to have my back door any day;)

Wow, V. I didn't know it too SO much water to extinguish those two types of fires. 5 gal bucket is now going to be a permanent part of my arsenal in my storage area, even though I usually use my Little Red Campfire (the small one). Good to have a bucket like @ericnliz did to help.

I use the propane campfire more because of the lack of smoke and how sensitive I am to it, plus no worries about putting out hot coals. Also, you cannot move wood in most of the east coast states because of the Emerald Ash Borer. The wood you can purchase at the parks is usually green and smokes terribly when you finally get it to burn.

Off to HD to get a BRIGHT ORANGE campfire brigade bucket!

Ratkity

ericnliz said:

@Ratkity, It's a '92 Chevy 1 ton dually, haulin' a big full length camper, and towing a canoe full of firewood. Big block 454 V8. Shouldn't have overheated, but with the problems we saw, I'm surprised it made it that far. The radiator gave out on it the last trip. Glad they decided to give it the 'ol heave-ho. Even happier they made it home safe & sound. Just spoke with them a little while ago, and the trip home was un-eventful taking a different route home with a lot less steep grade! I've seen brand new rigs overheat on the grade we took over because folks don't down shift & let the tranny help, rather than leave it in overdrive. I know because my friend and I have helped some of 'em out when THEY overheated. Live & learn.

Wow @ericnliz, it shouldn't have even begun to heat. I had that '94 extended cab Chevy (V8 350) , but to be honest, never took it over 6% then 8% and then 6% grades continuously. The worse I ever encountered was just getting around TX while hit State Parks with a popup. I think *I'd* be sweating going over those grades, nevermind the truck. The gauges in those early Chevys were still as bad as idiot lights. They don't tell you anything!! Many folks I knew who did heavy hauling (horses and cattle), added real accessories that told them transmission and engine temps. 

Friend who currently has a 2004 dually 3500 HD (Diesel Cummings engine) was surprised when her oil pressure gauge started to move (low went idling, going up when moving). I had to laugh and tell her that the gauge must have been stuck and decided to start moving for some reason - plus don't rely on it. She hauls LOTS of hay and a long 4-5 horse trailer. I had to show her my electronic screen setup in my new truck that gives oil pressure to reassure her that it lowers when idling. My only hope is that the electronic transmission temp, engine temp, battery and alternator voltage and oil pressure numbers are true numbers and not glorified idiot lights.

ericnliz

@Ratkity, Yes, he found her fishin' knife. The funny part is that he didn't dive for it! He & his grandson were raking the sand by the swimming area, so he used the rake to retrieve it! Liz gave his grandson a bunch of Hershey bars & marshmallows for smores for getting it back to her. Guess he had the graham crackers! All I know is he ate about 10 smores the night before at our campsite! Nice kid, Jake has a great helper for the summer. He sure has grown since I saw him last year!!!
I have two 5 gallon collapsible water containers. Not too heavy to carry, and I have a wand style pump I can use to fill my fresh water. They also come in REAL handy for water around the campsite, picnic table, and for an emergency. Keep one full at all times.

ericnliz

@Verna, I can't even begin to count how many smouldering fires my friends and I have put all the way out. I keep pouring the water on until it quits steaming, and I'm absolutely sure it's all the way out. Thinking back on the other day, I remember on my way back to my campsite I had to crawl over 2 downed trees. Don't even remember having to deal with them on the way over to the fire. Guess the adrenaline kicked in on the way over 'cause it was a little painful climbin' over those suckers on the way back! Good thing I was still workin' on my campin' coffee!
By the way, thanks for the compliment. I try to help when I can, cause it always comes back around eventually!

Ratkity

@ericnliz, I had a 3 gal collapsable water container and I was terrified the handle was going to come off while carrying it. It felt flimsy. It never fell off, btw. I just lost the cap lol.

ericnliz

@Ratkity, The handles on my new ones are molded into the entire structure of the container. My old one was as you describe. Big part of the reason I chose the ones I have now. Got 'em at Wally World!