On the Road Day 2: Good thing its a Test Run

[Better Today]

Good Morning Las Vegas!

I finally arrived in Las Vegas after a number of minor mistakes and set backs. First and foremost, the car and trailer are doing quite well. I was a little concerned about the car because just before going to get the tires checked on Monday, the check engine light came on, then upon receiving the car back from the tire place it was off again. I check with the tire folks, they didn't do anything to turn it off, but this has been an on-going issue for about six months now. At first, I did things to fix the code that the check engine gave, like changed the air filter, changed spark plugs, cleaned some sensors, and checked for vacuum leaks. Each time the light would go off, then it would come back on, then turn itself off again. It's been off for about 2 months till Monday, so when it came on then, I was concerned that this time it was something new. Seems I was wrong, thank goodness. The car ran like a charm, it pulled the trailer wonderfully, and the trailer also did fine.

Though I've had both the trailer and the car a while, I've just never had to go very far or very fast, and the trailer never had more than 200#s in it, compared to what's got to be close to 1000#s now with everything. Apparently my Mazda isn't rated for pulling any trailer at all, so I have to admit to being concerned that steep terrains and high speeds would tell the tale that the Mazda was right and the trailer hitch folks were wrong. Again, thank goodness, the trailer followed beautifully. The only even momentary concern was climbing a 6% grade at about 9000ft. The thin air and the heavy trailer, ... but once I accepted that 40mph in 3rd gear was as good as it would get for that situation, all was good.

So I bet you're wondering what the setbacks were. Well, I forgot two things at home, one I remembered before I was even a half block away, music CDs. The other was pillows. I left my pillows at home, and I didn't think of those till I was about 50 miles on my way. I decided, no big deal. I can wad up a couple sweatshirts, I'll be fine.

I drove quite a while Monday night/ Tuesday morning and arrived in Wells, NV around 4am. Pulled into a local Flying J, got gas, found a parking place next to a group of RVs, crawled into the trailer for a bit of rest and...yeah, not happening. First and most annoying was the fact that a huge Coachman RV that was running when I pulled in, continued to run all night. Stupid me, when I pulled in and heard it running, I figured it was just on it's way out, nope. All night the rumble of diesel engine not 10 feet away and the SMELL! At one point, I got out and thought about moving a space or two, but seems another Coachman had pulled in a few spaces away and was also running it's engine non-stop. Add to that, folded or wadded up shirts don't stay put around the slip-slidy sateen that sleeping bags are made of. . . I didn't probably get 15 minutes of actual sleep but I did get about 5 hours of frustration and irritability.

So I give up, go in and ask where in town I might buy a pillow. Now Wells isn't large, but there had to be two or three dozen hotel/casino type places, but not one Kmart, or Target, or even (gag) Walmart. So I decide to "hop" over to Elko to buy some pillows. Yeah, right, "hop" my ass, it's 50 miles away. Oh, well, I head into Elko and the Kmart and get a couple of pillows and pillow cases. Great! Now back to Wells, but I don't want to try to rest at that Flying J again.

"Y'know," I think to myself,"There's going to be a rest area or something a few miles out of Wells, right? I'll just rest there." Guess what, NOPE. Seems Nevada isn't too keen on rest areas. Finally about 3 hours later, during which time I should not have been driving because I was really tired, having to keep agitating myself to assure I was awake, I came upon a big gravelly area where a couple of trucks were parked pulled in and managed to get a couple hours of shut eye. GREAT! I needed it.

After that and a PB&J for dinner, I hit the road, take a wrong turn and though I am headed to Las Vegas, I'm on the scenic route. That would've been less of a screw up if it wasn't already pitch dark, so I saw none of the scenery.

Like I said, some minor set backs, but I made it. I have very little video yet, since most of my traveling has been at night or I've been trying to find a place to get some shut eye. I'll get video of the trailer/car set up after I've removed the trailer branding next week in LA. I'm still working on a name for this trek so I can set up a youtube channel and the blog. Also I'm accustomed to technical, aerial and mast photography. Which will work very well for most of the planned trek to see the disgraces that our current national situation has put so many into, but for just story telling about a trip from here to there, and on ground level, and and, well, have patience. I'm getting there. As I drive I am evaluating, testing as were, on my test run.

I'm going to go heat up some water for a cup of instant coffee, shortly my friend will be here and we'll be going to a convention/expo type thing for the afternoon. I'll try to check in later or tomorrow.

[Better Today]

1. BTW I know someone from Las Vegas area posted on one of the

earlier journal posts. I've browsed through real quick and can't find your post. I'll check again later, but if you happen to read this, please PM me so that perhaps tomorrow I can be pointed in the direction of some politically or socially interesting issues in the area before I leave late tomorrow.

Of course, anyone in the Las Vegas area is welcome to PM me regarding the same.

As internet access is not certain, I'll probably not be able to be online again until evening, so if you'd put a phone number to reach you or a direct email. That would be great, PM tag will be a bit more difficult.

[mike_c]

2. I love that country....

When I'm out there, I just look for some BLM land way off the road and park out in the desert at night. Sounds like that might not be a great option with your rig, though. Give a shout if you need a place to stay or just dinner company when you pass through the North Coast!

[Buns_of_Fire]

3. So far, so good! :thumbsup:

P.S. Can't wait to see the pictures and/or videos!:-)

[Suich]

4. K&R!

:kick:

[Lugnut]

5. FYI....

We used to go camping in a travel trailer until the early 90s. We learned the hard way that several states don't allow overnight parking in rest areas. Truck stops offer overnight parking but you have to find a spot away from the trucks and RVs that are constantly running. This is no easy task since most places are very crowded. Most Walmarts - yeah, I know - allow overnight parking for both trucks and RVs and are much less crowded.

[B Calm]

6. Had a mechanic tell me if the check engine light flashes on and off,

then you better get it checked. If it comes on and stays on chances are it's nothing.