Alaska (Canada) Video Under Way

December 21 2009 by Darrin.

Finally, after 4 months back at home, I’ve started our Alaska 2009 movie.  It was originally going to have voice-over narration and all the bells and whistles (it may still..) but I was really disappointed with not making our anticipated Arctic destination.

Added to my despair were some technical issues with my home-built Avid Liquid 7 video editing computer.  The largest problem was a glitch with her ability to render high definition MPEG files.  I was so looking forward to making “Alaska 2009″ for Blu-Ray, and the thought of creating “just another DVD” made me consider giving up!  But problems got solved, and the show must go on.

Click the photo below for Chapter 01 - Introduction, in WMV format…

While this streaming sample is not hi-def, our computer is digesting HD footage well now, after updating the software.  A Blu-Ray “feature presentation” is on the way!

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Final Mileage and Trip Report

August 26 2009 by Darrin.

It’s time to go through the receipts.  This is mainly for my own record, so will likely be pretty boring for everyone but me.

We left Douglas on the 13th of August, after filling our tanks as full as possible.  We also filled them to the top upon returning Monday.  Mileage was taken from a Garmin GPS 276C, which is far more accurate than the mechanical odometer - known to be reading 10% higher than actual.

• 8/13/09   Billing, MT           323 miles    44.118 gallons       7.321 mpg
• 8/14/09   Shelby, MT          317 miles    40.496 gallons      7.828 mpg
• 8/15/09   Calgary, AB         261 miles     42.860 gallons      6.090 mpg (wicked crosswind)
• 8/20/09   Edmonton, AB    346 miles    45.800 gallons      7.555 mpg
• 8/20/09   Hinton, AB           183 miles    23.613 gallons      7.750 mpg
• 8/22/09   Whitefish, MT     497 miles    69.731 gallons      7.127 mpg
• 8/23/09   Great Falls, MT  247 miles    30.661 gallons      8.056 mpg (nice tailwind)
• 8/23/09   Billings, MT         282 miles   40.604 gallons      6.945 mpg
• 8/24/09   Douglas, WY        322 miles    43.213 gallons      7.451 mpg

Total distance 2778 miles  /  Total fuel 381.096 gallons = Total average consumption of 7.290 mpg

That’s awful, when an identical truck does almost 10 mpg.  Just my luck, eh?  Since the truck starts well, and idles fine, I can only think “turbo”.  This was the initial gut feeling of an old friend from Fuso, and it makes sense.  We were all led astray with the over-full oil sump.  Last night, I ordered a VDO boost gauge, a two-gauge dash pod, and a VDO voltmeter (to fill the second hole.)  I’ll get it all installed next week and take a little trip (maybe to Glendo Lake 40 miles form here) to see how much additional atmosphere is getting pumped into the intake manifold.

Remember the original map of the proposed journey, back in March?

Here’s what we actually did, according to the GPS…

  We really didn’t have to recycle too much country, so that was okay.  Now the question remains:  Will I have this AATREC-FM204 available next summer, for another run, or will she be long gone?

My next trip is to San Diego, to pick up the tools and stuff I took down there last June when we delivered the identical twin to this camper.  I also have to pick up a Toyota 12H-T engine I ordered earlier this year, so I can start the restoration of an Aussie-market HJ-75 Land Cruiser Troopy I bought over fifteen years ago, and have had in storage.  She’s 25 years old now, and finally  legal to drive in the USA.

Thanks to everyone for reading!  I’ll let you know when the movie’s done, or something happens with the truck.

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Home, Baby!

August 25 2009 by Darrin.

Okay, so we didn’t make Alaska.  It’ll be there next year.  (Unless the Norks get their rocketry right….)

But we did get home safely, and we love it here.  True serenity.  Dad, I know you went with us, and you’ll go again next time!

Here’s one last photo of the camper, taken this morning next to the dumpsters at the rest area…

 How’d the camper do, overall?  I’m really pleased with it in general.  Here are some key observations:

 

• It’s comfortable to drive, and easy to maneuver, even lost in Calgary
• There’s plenty of elbow room inside for two people and a 55-lb. dog
• There’s ample storage space for clothes
• The extra freezer means you can really take a lot of food along
• Electrically, it’s just perfect.  260W of solar feeding a 600 AHr battery works great.  Overnight, even with TV running off the inverter for an hour or two, the morning voltage is 12.55 to 12.60 VDC under load.  That’s around 85% to 90% state of charge
• We never needed the halogen lighting, as the new LED lights worked really well.  They’re warm in color, and low in consumption - a tenth of an amp each
• The shower, though small, works fine and is always refreshing.
• There’s plenty of hot water too, all from engine heat.  We never ran out, and only let coolant circulate through the camper for an hour or two each morning
• While heating water, the coolant also passes through three heat exchangers.  This feature kept the camper nice and toasty when Anna wanted heat back there
• The auxiliary lighting from Hella is extremely good.  I always use them, so it’s no surprise.  I would never be without them.  On this vehicle, I added side work lights and they’re really handy for finding late-night campsites

We were approached by many people.  Surprisingly, even some who noticed my Palin sticker and wanted to say how much they thought “America” was currently going wrong!  I was really amazed, and didn’t expect that in Canada.  I guess Hugo Chavez ain’t the only person who thinks he and Castro could be more right wing than Obama.  (read it yourself at Reuters if you only watch mindless mainstream media and think I’m nuts)

 And if you think I’m cynical, or even anti-social with some of my comments about “crowded campgrounds” and too many people on holiday, here’s my special camper keyring, which Anna found in a shop and Douglas and couldn’t resist…

To close out this story, I’ll attach two more photos of those Bighorn Sheep we saw on the way into Jasper…

Now it’s time to get some stuff done around here, like fall painting, cleaning, staining, and firewood prep.  It’ll actually be nice to have the extra ~3 weeks available.

 

Thanks to everyone who read the blog!

 

- Darrin and Anna

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I-90, east of Billings, Montana

August 23 2009 by Darrin.

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009, 2145

We’re at an interstate rest area east of Billings, hoping to catch some sleep before making the final ~300 mile drive back to Douglas.

This morning, we opened the camper door to Lion Lake and were surprised by its beauty.  We didn’t get a good look on the way by last night, and when we returned to camp here it was already dark.  At 0700, the water was mirror smooth and the sun lighting up the trees…

During breakfast, what appeared to be a grandpa, dad, and his two young boys drove up and put a small aluminum boat in the water.  Their electric trolling motor silently moved them out of sight as they began their family fishing excursion.  I would have loved to ask them how they did!  I heard stuff jumping out there in the dark last night, tho’ at that point we were thinking “swamp creature”.

  After a good meal of “Canadian rubber sausage” and eggs, we took off for Glacier and soon discovered that the vehicle length limit was 21′.  I thought it was 25′, but we’re 26′ with the spare tires.  We still couldn’t have gone had my memory been correct.  The woman at the gate suggested we go in, park the AATREC,  and take the free shuttles along the road.  We did consider it, but Charlis-dog had been such a good pup on the trip and he didn’t deserve to be left for hours.  (Anna’s doggy-dug sleeping bag was still repairable at this point, too!)

So we headed home.  We had about 840 miles to go, and there was no time like the present to start putting those miles behind us.  Instead of the interstate, we took US 89 down through Great Falls and then the Lewis and Clark National Forest.  Mileage between the two routes only differs by a few tenths, so we went “the back way”.  There’s lots of good camping there, for the next time!  US 89 is a rural 65 MPH two-lane that meanders through small ag towns.  Much of it is typical wide-open western space…

And here we sit, ready to shut the LED lighting off and catch some Zs.  More pavement pounting tomorrow, but our oasis of solitude and freedom will reward us at the early end to this journey.

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Canadian Rockies, Part II

August 22 2009 by Darrin.

Saturday, August 22^nd  2009, 2325, small dark Lion Lake lake near Hungry Horse Dam, Montana

 

 We’re back in the USA!  We crossed the border easily, at Roosville, Montana, and I even gave a couple business cards to the US CBP agents.  They loved the camper, and one of them said he’d send my contact info to his brother, an avid world-traveling hunter.  This is a nice quiet 24/7 border crossing, and we’ll likely use it for future trips.

 

Now we’re parked just south-west of Glacier National Park.  We’ve staged ourselves for a visit tomorrow, but I know there’s a vehicular size limit on the Going to the Sun Highway that runs through the park.  I’m certain we’re over that limit, but we intend to check on it in person on the way by in the morning.

 

This particular place was marked on the Garmin GPS as “North Lion Lake Campground” but it’s just a gravel lot we passed on the way to Hungry Horse Reservoir, with hopes of finding some related campgrounds there.  We found ‘em, but they were all chock-o-block with campers, so we returned here for the night.  There’s a rock fire ring with some beer cans in it, but nothing else is around.  It is as dark as it gets, too.  The stars are out in force, but no moon.  Without “protection”, I’m wondering about the axe murderers in the area.  This is a prime location to watch “Friday the 13th”. 

 

 Last night, you know that we also camped late, next to the road in Jasper N.P.  At about 0700, the sun was up and I went out to see just where the heck we had camped.  We were surrounded by mountains, and this is what appeared as the sun shed her light on things.  (I think that’s Snowbird Glacier on Mount Patterson behind the trees.)

 

 

 Looking back north on the highway we’d just come down, the gorgeous terrain was just barely visible through the morning fog and fire smoke.  (As best we could tell, there were controlled burns taking place on the road to Red Deer, Alberta.)

 

 

We skipped breakfast and headed straight for Lake Louise.  On the way, we stopped at Bow Lake for another photo op.  The glacier you see on the left is Crowfoot Glacier…

 

 

 

 It was a fairly quick drive of maybe 30 minutes to the lake, and we arrived to find a mostly empty RV parking lot with just a few vehicles ahead of us.  We parked in a prime spot for easy departure and then had breakfast, as there was substantial fog in the area.  Walking to Lake Louise would have been pointless.  Around 0800, the fog began to burn off and I walked down to the building crowd of tourists, all with the same delusions of photographic grandeur.  Honestly, it’s not too tough to get a good shot of the lake, and Victoria Glacier in the background…

 

 As the fog lifted, the tranquility of the near glass-smooth glacial lake was disturbed by canoes.  I snapped this photo just before ripples covered the surface…

Folks were coming in by the hundreds, so Anna and I took Charlis for a hike to Fairview Lookout, an easy 1.6 km up the side of Fairview Mountain.  (Anna may point out that I was covered in sweat near the top…  Too much spam and eggs, I guess.)  From the top, we were rewarded with a nice view of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, which has existed in various forms since the 19th century…

A gracious fellow tourist took a photo for us before we headed back down…

By the time we returned, the RV parking area was full of RV and cars, with many people circling the lot looking for a parking place.  Clearly, the earlier the better!  We’d done well.  We easily exited the lot and headed out for Montana, via Radium Hot Springs.  Charlis was simply exhausted after his little hike.  Anna pointed out that he was pretty excited all day, every day, and not getting his required 20 hours per day of canine dream-time.  She took this through the crawl-through, as we headed south…

Now in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia for the last bit of our Canadian Adventure, we took in the mountains around us, occasionally getting some video footage.    We had to stop after noticing a particularly pretty creek that had been working the rocks for millenia…

 

Anna suggested we try a tripod-less self portrait with the camcorder’s still function…

And that’s how you’ll remember us if Freddie, Jason, or Michael gets us tonight!

 

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Breathtaking Canadian Rockies, Part I

August 21 2009 by Darrin.

Friday, August 21^st, 2250, secluded gravel pull-out, Jasper National Park

 

 

After passing many full campgrounds on the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93), we finally tried one with no “FULL” sign posted.  It too was packed and nothing we were interested in.  We reluctantly decided to camp at a little gravel parking lot next to the road.  We’re less than an hour from Lake Louise here, so we hope to get there early when the sun’s coming up.

 

Today was spectacular, but we did get off to a rough start.  The first park gate attendant told us we might not be able to go with our “truck” down the Icefields Parkway.  There’s a 4500 kg limit for trucks, but RVs are supposed to be exempt.  All the guys at Nortrux told us it was no problem, and the signs even said “recreational vehicles exempt”.  Missing the Icefields Parkway would have taken away our last chance at some nice Canadian scenery, AND routed us farther west before being able to drop down to Kamloops north of Washington.  Along Hwy 16 to Jasper, with me still worrying like crazy, we stopped for this family photo…

 

 

After rolling through Jasper, we headed south and entered the park.  This guard was a Lisa Loeb-listening college hippie who asked, “So, um, like, um, what’s the poooooint of something like this?”  I told her our camper was extra heavy duty for world travels, but was well insulated, could burn biodiesel, and incorporated solar power too.  She was all for it when I outright lied and said, “Yeah, and our futons are made from organic walnut shells.”  We were in.  Anna told me not to worry, but I’m a worrier.  What can I say?

 

A few miles into the park, we stopped at a random scenic overlook.  I heard a familiar German engine sound and noticed something pull up on the other side of our camper…

 

 

There we met Elke and Alex, from Germany.  They’d been traveling since 2006 in this old Mercedes 1017.  They even knew my last camper customer by name!  It felt good to say, “I don’t just know that camper, I built that camper!”

 

 Yeah – a tale of two trucks…  Brand new on the left, a relic on the right.  Their truck is 28 years old, and it gets 15 mpg.  They’ve had virtually ZERO problems with it, short of a weak door release latch spring, and a control wire off the starter.  And as we can predict, the simple mechanically injected MBz product is far superior in reliability AND economy – and is nearly three decades old.  This reminds me of my 5.0L 1986 Mustang.  With her five speed manual, she returned 30 mpg on the highway, 28 with the A/C on, and had the balls to put me in jail if I wasn’t careful.  Try that with one of the new modular multi-cam pieces of unserviceable crap.  And on the subject of deomstic vehicles, do we REALLY have to regress to a point of taking the cab OFF of a new pickup to service the motor???  Engineers are losing it, as am I.

 

Anyway, shortly after meeting Elke and Alex, we arrived at the crowded Athabasca Falls.  Here are a few couple photos of it…

 

 

When we returned to the parking lot, we saw this familiar sight…

 

 

Of course, it’s not fair to criticize, as we (Darrin, really) took many opportunities to photographs our own truck…

 

 

 

Heading south from the falls, the Icefields Parkway meanders along the Athabasca River, and it’s gorgeous!

 

 

 

 This shot was taken right off of Highway 93 as we approached Icefields Centre…

 

 

And here is the Athabasca Glacier, after a short hike up to it…

 

 

And a couple shots of Anna and Charlis-dog standing on it!  (Dangerous, and forbidden, but everyone else did it, so we did too.)  The big hole behind Anna and Charlis is a melted and collapsed opening in the ice, with the glacial river flowing under it.  Fall in and you’ll likely not come up before you’re long frozen!

 

 

Back at the trailhead, I’d parked the camper in a spot that had cleared out by the time we hiked back down.  That made for this shot of the AATREC in a really remote atmosphere…

 

 

Tomorrow, we hope to make Lake Louise early, as the sun’s at a good angle!  And tonight, we hope we don’t get kicked out of here.  It did NOT say “No Overnight Camping” here, so we think we’re okay.  A few miles behind us, there’s a guy with a fifth wheel trailer parked on a paved turn-out, satellite dish set up, and a fire going – on the bitumen!

 

We should be fine…

 

 

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Maskuta Creek Campground (SW of Hinton, AB)

August 20 2009 by Darrin.

Thursday, August 20, 2009, 2217, Maskuta Creek Campground

 

 

Whew…  A real campground.  We are almost to Jasper.  How’s the truck?  Well, mileage is up…  To 7.75 MPG.  Whoopie.  However, the truck has a different feel.  It seems to shift easier, and coming into the mountains this evening, I never ONCE shifted the overdrive out.  Also, the engine is no longer heating to the top of the “operating range” but is staying around halfway between the cold and warm tick marks.  Something’s better anyway!  The “feel” and shifting are pretty subjective, and influenced by my own desire to see something different.  The temperature is quite objective, though, and it IS much cooler on the gauge.

 

There’s not much to say tonight, other than it’s shower time, and we are very close to entering Jasper National Park.  It’s going to be quite a drive tomorrow.  Tonight, at the campground, we have seen for the first time MOUNTAINS in our vicinity.  Here they are, looming over the two-holer…

 

 

To our friends, don’t worry about us!  We’re posting this from Safeway in Whitefish, Montana.  It’s really August 22nd, even though I back-dated the blog entry.  It’s really nice here.  Reminds us of home, but more trees.  We’re heading home, though, via Glacier NP.  Not sure where we’re camping tonight, yet.  Might as well enjoy the drive back.  Prolly get home Monday night.  We have some great photos from the Icefields Parkway.  We walked on a glacier, watched the fog lift off of Lake Louise, got some great shots of, oh hell…  Here’s a teaser…

 

 

More later, in order of course.  I hope to write of our previous tales tonight, if we find a campground early enough.  Oh, and fuel..  The 450 mile journey from Hinton used almost 3/4 of our tanks!

 

 

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Waiting at Nortrux, Edmonton, Alberta

August 20 2009 by Darrin.

Thursday, August 20, 2009, 1256, Inside Nortrux Garage getting service

 

Got here at 0750 this morning, and the guys were ready for us.  Tyler, the Fuso tech, was looking to get started so I pulled right into a service bay and let ‘em at it.  Here’s the view outside…

 

 

We have access to a decent waiting room too, with TV, but no WiFi.  It’s in the building, but encrypted.  They didn’t volunteer the password after our inquirey, so Anna’s reading email from her mom and dad on the Treo smartphone.  (It works here…  Can’t wait to see THAT bill.  I was told that if I could connect, I was in a partner system.  I will believe that when I see it.  I even get voicemail alerts here, so what.)

 

 

In the shop, the valve cover is off our engine for access to the fuel injectors.  You can see an overhead cam in the photo below…

 

 

There’s not much else to report here while we wait.  It’s now 1315, so we’ve been here almost 5.5 hours.  No complaints.  We just want it done, and the problem solved.  One little niggle…  Some o-rings were missing from the order (or forgot to get ordered) so the old ones will be going back in.  That’s not great news, because if it doesn’t fix the problem, I’m going to wonder about that.   A faulty o-ring was one potential cause for our problems.  If we order them, we’re stuck in the shop for another three days – no, four or five days since the weekend falls into play.   We’ll take the gamble and see how this shakes out.

 

We’ve been asked for more photos, but there’s not much worthy of the bits.  Here are a few for pix for kix.  Anna killing time at Wal*Mart last night…

 

 

DiggerDog’s Damage…

 

 

…and another wonderful home-cooked meal in a parking lot, consisting of Wyoming buffalo stew Anna made at home (and brought frozen) and fresh finger potatoes we picked just west of Red Deer, Alberta at that U-Pick farm last Saturday night.

 

 

Since I have nothing else to do here, I’ll rant some more.  To all you guys who think cars have come a long way with the advent of computers to control everything, you’re horribly mistaken.  When you rely on a vehicle or engine or transmission and don’t live near a service center, you’re pretty well pooched.  “But Darrin,” you’ll whine, “cars are much more reliable.  And diesels don’t smoke anymore because of new fuels and computer controls.”

 

Bulls**t.  Cars are NOT more reliable, and they are definitely 1/10^th as serviceable.  And diesels don’t smoke because of turbochargers and a little MECHANICAL DEVICE installed decades ago, called an aneroid, or fuel-enrichment-valve.  More boost, more fuel.  No more overfueling, resulting in no black smoke.

 

If you don’t believe me, befriend a mechanic.  Buy him a beer , or a flat of beers as they say up here, and get him talking.  You’ll see.  We are taking steps backwards, especially in serviceability, longevity and most importantly, independence.  I’ve been asked here by THREE different mechanics, “Is that a DPF truck?”  (Diesel Particulate Filter – the thing that mandates ULSD fuel and kills any new chassis for operation in developing countries.  Ours is NOT DPF equipped, as she has a 2006 engine.  And just wait until the urea tanks are mandated - the stuff freezes, and needs to be HEATED to flow!  Good grief.)

 

That’s their first line of defense for an increasing oil level.  It seems the new systems allow fuel to contaminate the oil, and oil changes are now mandated early due to contamination that factories call “normal”.   Forget those 10,000 mile oil change intervals with the new stuff.

I wonder if the big diesels in the maritime fleets are computerized?  I’d say there’s no chance, and if there IS, the fishermen and their families are gonna riot as soon as boats go down.  You think the ECU on a computerized Cat or MAN marine engine wants to be anywhere near lightning in the sea?

 

Improvements, my ass.  As soon as I’m home, I’m happily pointing my pickup and trailer down to San Diego to get a low-mile mechanically-injected Toyota 12H-T engine I ordered from Japan back in February.  You see, I’m really good at predicting this crap, and I think we’re all going to want non-electronic stuff in the future.

 

Don’t ask me for a ride.

 

Boy, that felt good. 

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Injectors Delivered but Not Installed (Day 5 of the Setback)

August 19 2009 by Darrin.

Yes, the injectors made it!  Unfortunately, the mechanics are all tied up until tomorrow at 0800, so we’re here for yet another night at Wal*Mart, St. Albert, (usually) Sunny Alberta…

I think this was pretty much our “make or break” day.  Any possibility of leisurely making the goal (Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean and Denali N.P.) and getting back to the ferry on time are likely gone now.  We did leave 2 days early, but we’ve eaten up Saturday through Wednesday at this point and with luck (which we’re not having at the moment) we’ll get out of Edmonton around 1400 Thursday.  That means we can’t make Mt. Robson Provincial Park on time that night, so we’ll have to stop somewhere along 16, on the way to Jasper, technically delaying us another day.  As best we can tell, our only option now is to scrub the mission, even if the fuel mileage is up to normal after the repair.  There’s just no way to make it work, and get the one dog-friendly ferry available home.

What a disappointment.  I’ve been building these campers for almost a decade now - more if you count the first Unimog 404 I started in 1998, then sold in 1999.  I’ve been dreaming of this trip for quite some time.  I always believe in the reward at the END of the work.  Instant gratification should be avoided.  Dad taught me that, along with alternative cost analysis.  Save your money and buy a car.  Don’t buy a car and pay for it long after the novelty is gone.  (In fact, you’ll often find you don’t even want to spend your money on something AFTER you have saved for it, when you see the alternatives!)  Now I’m second-guessing this concept.  Nah, not really…  I’ll never change.  The easy route is seldom the most rewarding.

Anyway, with every new day, there are new things to cheer us up…

1) Last night, our shower sump quit pumping, after the third work session.  I showered and Anna noticed water running out from under the camper.  It had dumped a couple gallons into the under-body box it’s located in.  This device is the third type I’ve used in these campers, and its job is to pump waste water from the shower into the holding tank.  The sump’s impeller has evidently decided to come off the motor shaft, because the motor runs but no water pumps.  (Maybe I’ll look into that today…)

2) The dog decided to destroy Anna’s sleeping bag this morning.  Digger dog is back.  Great.  He must be too cooped up and getting stressed out.

3) My debit card has stopped working.  I purposefully told my bank that I’d be in Alberta, British Columbia, and Alaska for a month and they supposedly cleared it for those locations.  Now, I can’t get money from any ATM or use my cards at registers.  Transaction Denied.  And what’s better yet, my bank says they have no record of any denials so can’t help.  Sweet!  We have half a tank of fuel, and about CA$35 left. At least the fridge and freezers are still mostly full.

 Oh well.  Life could be worse, I guess.  Or problems are pretty petty.  We have a wonderful home, and get to “go camping” every day without a yard light in sight, and no other people for miles.  Wanna paint something outside with methyl-ethyl-badshit?  Spray it.  Wanna build a root cellar, or put up a radio tower?  Fire up the backhoe, call the ready-mix plant.  Wanna light off some .308s at rocks or cans, at 0-dark-thirty?  Blast away.  It’s home, and it’s rare.  We love it.  Currently, we miss it.  We see more wildlife in the morning at our home than we’ve seen on this trip so far.

To put things in perspective, yesterday Anna and I met a really nice guy up here, who approached us at Safeway when he liked the camper and approved of the Palin sticker on the back.  He even found us again at Wal*Mart this morning.  He’s a California transplant, and he and his wife did missionary work in Taiwan for a big part of their lives.  His wife of 48 years (3 kids, 23 or 24 grandkids) is in hospital here in St. Albert.  She’s never been sick before, so this is new for them.  If you’re of the mind, please put Dick’s wife Carolyn in your prayers.

 I’m going to eat.  Anna’s made me some wonderful sandwiches with turkey and that Old Cheese my father in law just brought over.  Fantastic!  And our Wal*Mart parking lot meals are great too with Anna in the galley.  Here’s last night…

 

 Can’t complain about that, anyway…  The meals and companionship are spot on.  Let’s just hope Anna doesn’t start diggin’ up the seats!

 

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Wal-Mart Parking Lot, St. Albert, Alberta

August 18 2009 by Darrin.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 0756, St. Albert, Alberta

 

 Here we sit at the side of Wal-Mart, next to a four-lane highway.  We’re waiting here around Edmonton, because MFTA gave the authorization for Nortrux to install six new fuel injectors.  The new injectors have to be airfreighted in and should show up by noon on Wednesday, so we have time to kill.

 

We’re not completely sure what’s going on, but have been told that they’ve seen some isolated problems with O-rings rolling and not sealing when the injectors are installed.  That could cause the increasing oil level, as fuel leaks by and winds up in the pan.  However, that’s on the return side of the fuel injection, so should in no way compromise engine performance. 

Something like a cracked injector nozzle COULD be causing the fuel consumption problem we’re experiencing, but you’d think there would be exhaust smoke with that, and a steady miss.  Not so.  The engine is kinda stumbly and extra rattley between around 1500 and 2200.  Maybe it’s a combination of a leaky o-ring, and a bad injector nozzle.  If an injector was faulty with a strange spray pattern, it might be able to deliver a combustible atomization at idle, cause the poor performance as the RPMs increase, and then not be noticeable at higher speeds, even though it’s not delivering enough fuel to allow proper combustion in the cylinder below it.  As you can see, I’ve been pondering this for a week now, and dreaming of it at night.  No kidding.  Last night, I dreamt I was watching the tech drive our camper away, and noticed lots of smoke from the stack.  (There’s no stack, but hey, dreams are screwy…)

 No matter the cause, the symptoms are real – 60% to 70% of normal efficiency, and an engine oil level going up.  The oil level certainly isn’t going up at the rate we’re using excess fuel!  We’re up maybe a couple litres.  We’ve driven 1250 miles or so, using about 186 gallons.  We should have used about 130 gallons for that distance, and the engine sure ain’t 56 gallons over full.  We’re not leaking anything either.

Enough truck stuff.  It’s no so bad here at Wally World, Canada.  There are a couple of trees next to the camper.  We’re pretty level, no one bothered us last night, there are other campers a hundred yards away in the parking lot, and we’re crossing our fingers that we can squeeze another night out of this place.  It IS pretty handy living in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  They do pick up business.

For what it’s worth, prices are high in Canada – especially considering the exchange rate.  The same Chinese toilet brushes we buy in Wyoming for US$2.87 are freakin’ CA$7.87 here.  And the little Black & Decker hand vacuum we bought for US$27.88 in Casper on the way out of town is CA$39.83 here. 

Anna swears the fruits and vegetables are substantially less, but I wouldn’t know about that stuff.  Big Macs are not too much more.    I did get some really nice looking chipotle sausages back on Devon, Alberta, but they were a big let down.  Rubber.  Still have 8 to eat.  Might be dog treats, though I can’t image we can bear being in the camper with the Charles after he eats one.

Today, we’re damned well going to find an internet café, and maybe a laundromat.  Actually, there’s supposed to be a Safeway just down the road a ways that has a Starbucks with WiFi.  That’ll work perfectly.  There’s also a dog park near here that we must have missed yesterday.  We’ll look it up online, and maybe spend a few hours there before coming home to the Walton’s front yard.

To close, here are a couple shots of what I’ll always remember about Alberta.  Driving up from Calgary to Edmonton on Saturday, we routed ourselves off of the main highway and took the Range and Township rural roads.  It was 50% dirt, and most of it was well- maintained dirt.  The sky was gorgeous, and the driving easy.  It was a bit of lemonade from our sack of lemons…

 

Alberta is a beautiful place - especially the agricultural stuff, which is most of it.  The canola was in bloom for so much of our trip, and the fields were a fire with bright yellow…

 

 

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