NV->Hershey PA Trip Reporrt, (probably way too long ...) Options

[ArtechnikA]

the theme song for this adventure was supposed to have been 'Eastbound and Down (loaded up an' truckin')' from Smokey and the Bandit, as featured on the Joe and Steve's Excellent Adventure CD produced by Mark Britell. instead, it was 'Here Comes The Rain Again' by Eurythmics... i played tag with an eastbound storm system all across the country and mostly, i was 'It'.

this was also supposed to have been the trip that took the 914.6 east, nestled in a wooden cradle to facilitate loading the suspension-less shell onto and off the truck, and in storage for the forseeable future. however, that construction broke in half during loading sending me back to the drawing board for a review of Strength of Materials. and it meant that a lot of other stuff would have to be moved instead of the car -- but of course, that stuff wasn't packed yet, in anticipation of it making the next (and originally, final) trip. so everything that could be (more or less) easily tossed into the truck went in, not nearly enough but i was running outta time...

finally took off noonish PDT Tuesday the 22, about 24 hrs late, headed for a straight-through shot to Denver and Mike Ginter's place. the steady drizzle turned to snow in Ely, NV around dusk and stayed that way until i'd decended to around 4000' for the portion of the trip into UT. some ambiguous highway signage at the Hwy 50/I-15/I-70 transition took me 50 mi out of the way but i eventually made it back on track.

things weren't going too badly but i had to stop for a nap around 0500; a rest stop materialised where i really needed one. back onto the road just in time for the storm to catch up with me again, changing from rain to snow to snow over ice as i pushed uphill toward the Continental Divide around 10,000'. very slippy, treacherous conditions, but only commercial vehicles were being stopped for chains so i continued (since i had no chains to consider that as an option...). i eventually slowed to a wheel-spinning stop near the left shoulder and was just about resigned to having to wait for a Very Big Tow Truck. as i was stopped, waiting, considering my options, a couple of snowplow trucks snaked between me and some vehicles stuck on the right sholder.

with the weight of the loaded truck working for me, i was eventually able to find a gear where the available torque sorta matched the avalable traction and was able to control the wheelspin to where i was making forward progress - a few feet per minute. once i made it into the freshly paved track (not down to pavement, but better than nothing) i was able to keep going - a 20+ mile wheelspinning controlled drift. (i had already begun to think of the truck as an 18,000-lb Porsche, since it had the ignition key on left and the proper 901/914 shift pattern...). once i got into the tracks of chain-equipped big rigs i knew i'd be okay - the rest of that leg was slow and very tedious, but it was at least interesting enough to keep my mind off the fatigue factor...

somewhere in that portion of the trip i became aware of increased exhaust noise, fumes in the cabin, decrease in power (beyond that attributable to altitude) and a clunking noise over bumps. when i made it to Mike Ginter's house for a stopover, we had a look and sure enough, the left header had come adrift from the flexpipe connecting it to the rest of the system. after a series of phone calls (a story in itself) i got the truck to a regional repair facility where they replaced the flex pipe, the more-off-than-on right high beam, and the totally missing license plate light. since this repair stop, originally estimated as "10 to 30 minutes" dragged on past 3 hrs, i didn't even want them to look at the speedometer that was indicating 45 mph at a GPS-measured 65 mph roadspeed...

following a solid nap i launched for Manhattan, KS around midnight into predicted rain and snow that was mostly clear until out of the mountains and then steady rain on into KS, where i met up with Lawrence around 1100. got some lunch, talked about cars and such, picked up a tow dolly, ran my grungy clothes through the washer and dryer, and had a couple of minor adventures getting the 911 onto the tow dolly (short version, we did it the hard way...). i took off out of LB's place around 2100 and it was solidly dark before i began the Two Hours Of Hell trying to get out of Manhattan, KS, which involved getting the truck stuck in the muck and mire while trying to turn around out of Ft Riley where i didn't want to be in the first place.

in taxpayer mode, i'm glad to have had the help of several strong young people in getting the POS truck out of the mudbog, although i wish any one of them could have communicated in clear, unambiguous language what was the *right* way out of town. i managed a few more wrong turns through mud including one into a tight, hilly residential area where i managed to completely block a street while i figured out how to perform a 3-point turn with 26' truck and tow-dolly-mounted 911. i managed to push one rear corner of the car into a muddy berm in the process (sorry, LB...) and sprung one corner of the fiberglass rear bumper and bent the muffler a bit - fortunately in such a way that the tailpipe securely held the bumper corner against flapping in the wind. lovely - the 911 is mine less that 2 hrs and already i've managed to crunch a corner. (NBD, i've had a twin-pipe sport muffler in storage for a couple of years, having taken advantage of an opportunity to pick it up during another Lister's search for The Ultimate 911 Muffler, waiting on the day i could mount it to the 914.6... mounting that muffler will involve changing the cutouts, so this is really not even that much of a detour...)

and so it was that i -eventually- made it back onto I-70 Eastbound and down, loaded up an' truckin', gonna do what they say can't be done - got a long way to go and a short time to get there... but i digress lyrical...

36 wall-clock hrs to make a 24 hr trip. close but there's nothing to lose, because the swap meet is right on the way to where i have to be anyway. onward.

most of the rest of the trip is a blur of fuel stops, rest-stop naps, and open-road driving. I-70 through Kansas City was a nightmare of potholed roads, whimsical interchange lane assignments, and Surprise By Design signage. fortunately there was no traffic during my 0300 transit so i could move about unimpeded by other vehicles. asked for the hot setup around St Louis during a fuel stop and recieved some excellent (and almost complete) instructions. Illinois was
unremarkable as was most of Indiana although i noticed an indicated 12V on the voltmeter most of the day. hoped i was just seeing a gauge quirk caused by the huge amounts of rain spray everywhere. settled in for a 4-hr nap 10 mi W of Indianapolis and sure enough, there was but 10V showing on the meter when i tried to refire for the next leg. called UHaul road service -again- and after 30 minutes convincing them i had a legitimate electrical malfuction, they dispatched a repair mechanic. i told them not to send the guy without a battery and alternator. 2 hrs later he arrived, spent 5 minutes doing a charging system check, verified what i knew (dead alternator) and of course, he didn't have one on the truck and had to have one dispatched. but he pulled the old one and was ready when it arrived, and meanwhile i got him to check the oil (i hadn't yet on the trip) and he found it was about a gallon down. discovered why when he went to add more - no oil cap !

this additional 3-hr delay pretty much meant there was no way i'd be making the opening gate of the swap meet, but Press On Regardless. the remainder of Indiana, all of Ohio, and that little bit of West Virginia passed beneath my wheels and finally, i was into Pennsylvania! one last fuel stop and nature break and i was Eastbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike headed for Hershey!

the road surface on the PA Turnpike from its western terminus to very nearly Harrisburg is truly cr&ppy, a place to be avoided. d&mn, it's horrible.

but the directions to the meet provided by the Central PA Region were spot-on, and i made it to the venue with no real difficulty other than the brake pressure emergency warning light (complete with annoying buzzer) coming on for the last 10 mi.

looked around at the event some, but it was clear that the rain had kept attendance down and that the early birds were already long gone. i met up with my ArtechnikA airbrush art partner, Dave McLaughlin, and my wife, Joy, drove in to meeet me. we caravanned back to Lansdale, PA and began the week of geting the truck full of stuff into storage, job interviews (for her) and finding a place to live. we flew back to (now temporary) home NV Friday, and now the real work begins, getting the 914.6 ready to be cradled into another version of the Very Big Truck (hopefully, one that has way fewer problems), the 356 ready for its time on the trailer, and all the rest of the contents of the house into whatever space is left.

long trip, glad to be back home, not looking forward to the work yet to be done to get us completely out of here, but i don't have to like it, i just have to do it.

many, many thanks to those other members of the Factory 914.6 Owner's Association, Mike Ginter and Lawrence, for having provided 'traveler's services' en route -- without their generosity this trip could not have come to a successful conclusion.

in a couple-three weeks we'll be out of The West and on to our new adventure in the Northeast. it should be only a few hours to get the MSD-6 retrofitted into the 911 and get it going again. we have leads on two places to live, both with garages (yes!) so there's a chance i'll be able to make some progress on multiple fronts.

the 2005 Parade is being hosted literally Right Next Door by the Central PA Region - it's not too soon to be making plans for a big get-together. meanwhile, logistics willing, Joy and I are planning on attending the East Coast Ramble this year.

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Onward
rich - 'carpe p.m.'
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