48stateroadtrip.com » truck

Applications, Sleeping In, and Fixing the Camper Shell (Day 86)

bkdunn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:11:47 +0000

Slept in Williamsburg. Sat around in the hotel in Williamsburg trying to get my PhD apps to their next phase. And, between bouts of sitting around, fixed my truck’s camper shell, which had shifted back an inch and a half about 20 states earlier.

The ratchet set was the real hero.

But on the plus side, the canopy doesn’t look all jacked up any more.

bkd

Video Tour of My Rig in Daylight

bkdunn — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:42:04 +0000

A month and a half ago or so, it was requested that I share with all y’all how my rig’s outfitted for travel. Right after that, I shot this video. And now? Now I’ve bothered to post it. It’s from a while back and it’s kind of long (8.5 min.).

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Ah, sweet memories of South Dakota. And by “Yellowstone”, I meant “Yosemite”. And the truck has never been that clean or organized in actual practice.

bkd

(LMK if the video doesn’t work.)

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Fall

bkdunn — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:40:04 +0000

Some random road that my GPS told me to get on.

Driving into the Adirondacks was pretty. Heck, *the Adirondacks* were pretty. And if my transmission would’ve only taken one week longer to get fixed, they probably would’ve been even prettier. ‘Course, the days are already too short, so — you know.

bkd

PS, I know it’s only because it’s part of a headline, but it’s a relief to finally be able to legally capitalize the name of a season.

Because I Said I’d Post Something for Every Day of the Trip (Day 34)

bkdunn — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:08:47 +0000

Otherwise, there’s not much to talk about for Day 34 aside from some truck trauma (“it’ll be another two weeks and $2,000+”!) that resulted in me skipping the Important Hike so I could borrow my bro’s rental car (thanks again) and drive down the hill to where I could get some cell and internet service and thereby improve the situation slightly.

OTOH, we did work on this puzzle for good parts of the day:

It’s a trail map of the Jackson Hole ski resort for some reason.

The puzzle was a group effort of every adult inhabitant of Cabin 47.

The greater family also enjoyed a rousing game of scum (aka “butt-man” and any of a number of other names), in which I firmly established myself as the second-best player. IMHO. As such, I’m considering joining the professional tour.

bkd

Transmission Update (Days 27, 28)

bkdunn — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:34:46 +0000

I understand no one cares about this quite as much as I do, but whatever: it’s pertinent to the trip. I gave the go-ahead today for the transmission place to start work. Hopefully they’ll have it done by the end of this week so I can pick it up either Saturday morning (I’d have to talk someone else into foregoing the Skagit River Jungle Cruise so I could get a ride) or Monday morning (in which case I’m cutting into the trip itinerary by a day). We’ll see how it goes.

bkd

And Then Everything Fell Apart (Day 26, Part 2)

bkdunn — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:02:21 +0000

After St. Helens, started driving back to my parents’ house. Got to Olympia, trying to accelerate uphill on the 5 and the engine just revved, nothing else. Had enough speed and space to get over to the shoulder where it became clear that the transmission wasn’t, like, working.

And it’s still not.

But on the plus side, at least my hazard lights work!

Fortunately I have AAA, so it got towed for free. Turns out that the transmission coolant line burst, which caused the failure. Cheap enough to replace the line, but it also turned out (I found out today) that the transmission burned up in the meantime. I’ll call around and get some more estimates on Monday, but the AAMCO place quoted me about $2K, assuming they don’t find any more problems once they get going on it.

The cost sucks, obviously, but I’m mostly just down on not knowing when they’re going to have it fixed and not having any way of influencing, well, anything. Was supposed to be at the family reunion up here through Sunday anyway, so maybe it all gets done by then and it’ll be almost like nothing ever happened. Then again, they could “find” more problems during the work they’re doing and… who knows? Meanwhile, I’m stranded at my parents’ house. It’s a good place to be stranded, no doubt, but I guess I’m just used to having my fate in my own hands.

Oh, and there are no rental cars available in the Seattle area until Monday, at which point they’re $65/day (?!). And the screen I brought on the trip for my XBox has cracked and therefore useless.

I dunno. Maybe I’ll head out to the Olympics tomorrow with my brother and nephews (if I can find a car to borrow), or maybe not.

bkd

Tour of Road Trip Living Quarters

bkdunn — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:35:34 +0000

[Note: Video *should* work now (7/16 @ 8:46 AM).]

Yes, this is how I live. (Although I’m staying tonight with V&T in Sunnyvale in much, much nicer — and roomier! — digs.) Also, yes, I went with the ultimate low-maintenance haircut to start the trip.

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

I have more photos to post, but the USB cable is out in the car and I don’t want to have to put pants on.

bkd

(BTW, lmk if the video doesn’t work — thx.)