Wandering Sagebrush

I took Roadrunner in to Les Schwab’s tire shop in Baker City to have the bearings packed. While I was waiting at the local breakfast spot, the service tech called and told me that the grease looked brand new, even though the previous owner told me there were between three and four thousand miles on them. Kudos to the tech and Les Schwab! I went ahead and had them packed again to establish a baseline. Here comes the question… I asked to have the suspension lubed and was surprised to learn they no longer did that, so I did it myself today, except for two zerk fittings that wouldn’t take grease. I pulled the one that was easy to get to, and cleaned it to no avail. I didn’t probe the grease in the spring bolt, but don’t suspect it was dried solid, so I’ll pick up a few zerks and replace the bad ones… does anyone have a good way of keeping them protected and clean/free of road dirt?

Another secret incantation to remember! I would not have thought of that, thanks for sharing!

I haven’t yet removed the box from our Ollie, but I’m estimating it to be under 50 pounds. It mounts to the two receivers shown in your photo with the bike rack.

Here’s the back of our Ollie.

John, I sent you a PM with the solution that the previous owner devised for our Oliver.

I did a quick pop up truck camper trip into Succor Creek and Leslie Gulch on the east side of the Owyhee river in Oregon, and was surprised to see this trailer camped on a pullout between those locations. Not a place I would have picked because of the steep slope behind the truck and trailer. To be honest, until I saw the Bowlus up there, I wouldn’t have considered taking the Oliver on roads like that. They’re bumpy, rocky, with flying gravel and some washboard. BTW, their top model starts at $319,000.😳 Would you take your Oliver on those kinds of roads?

Kate Wolf left us far too soon. Note the great guitar work of Nina Gerber.

I was getting ready to order another camera or two that works with my existing Voyager system, only to find out the system is obsolete, and there are caveats about using the same part number camera on obsolete monitors. I’m thinking of buying a complete system, with several cameras for the truck, popup camper, and the Ollie. Does anyone have recommendations for good systems, or for systems to avoid? Thanks in advance!

Plastic chisels are also handy. Here’s a set similar to the one I bought.

Another beautiful tune by Molly and Jay…

IMO, that is normal for a lead acid or AGM battery (batteries). I don’t have experience with lithium batteries, so can’t opine.

One of the most beautiful, yet sad tunes ever written. Ashokan Farewell, the haunting melody in Ken Burns’ The Civil War.

A bit of Dutch Country

If I were to buy another camp stove, which I am not going to do, it would be a Partner Stove, probably their 18” two burner. The REI aluminum roll up table works well. I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up with a collection of backpacking and camping stoves, including the Coleman white gas stove my parents had when I was a little guy.

Tonight’s Yard Art

Snow Foxes

I’ve experienced excellent customer service from Garmin. Give them a call and talk through the issues you’re having.

If you don’t travel with an InReach or similar device, the following incident that occurred here in Northeast Oregon is a great example of why you should consider doing so. In addition to reporting an emergency, family and friends can also alert you to emergencies at home. — TREE FALLING ON CAMPERS’ TENTS LEADS TO FATALITY AND SIGNIFICANT INTERAGENCY RESCUE EFFORT UNION & WALLOWA COUNTIES — (Release from Union County Search and Rescue) In the early morning hours of Wednesday, June 14th, 2023, a party of eight rafters was camped along the bank of the Grande Ronde River approximately 5 miles downstream of the confluence of Wallowa and Grande Ronde Rivers in Union County when the top of a large dead tree fell and landed on two occupied tents, impacting and injuring three people. The tree was approximately 14 inches in diameter and broke some distance off the ground, impacting the occupants of the tents with extreme force as it fell and broke into pieces. One of the campers, a 61-year-old male, sustained very severe injuries, with a 54-year-old woman in the same tent sustaining injuries to her legs. A 23- year-old woman in an adjacent tent sustained a head injury that was likely prevented from being fatal only by a camp chair near her head that was crushed and reduced the force of impact. Despite valiant lifesaving efforts immediately initiated by the other members in the party, the male’s injuries ultimately proved to be fatal. While members of the group delivered first aid to the three injured parties, they also activated the emergency function of a Garmin InReach device, which resulted in a notification being sent to the Union County 911 Dispatch Center. The Garmin Emergency Response Center passed messages between the reporting party on scene and 911 dispatchers, and also provided the precise location of the incident. As information about the incident was progressively gathered and relayed to 911 dispatchers, Union County SAR was activated, and the La Grande and Elgin fire departments were notified of the medical emergency. Due to the remoteness of the accident site, which is most easily accessed by 15 miles of river travel by boat, the Union County SAR incident commander immediately requested a hoist-capable helicopter from the Oregon Army National Guard through the Oregon Emergency Management SAR Coordinator, and also requested mutual aid from the Wallowa County SAR swiftwater rescue team. During this time the La Grande Fire Department (LGFD), in coordination with SAR, arranged for an over-flight of the area with Life Flight Network. A local Life Flight helicopter immediately responded and attempted to transport LGFD paramedics to near the patients, but could not find a suitable landing zone near enough to the incident and had to return. While the Life Flight helicopter was performing its initial recon flight, a combined team of Union County and Wallowa County SAR swiftwater rescue technicians and LGFD paramedics responded to deploy down the Wallowa River from Highway 82 at Minam. This team then floated the 15 miles down the Wallowa and Grande Ronde Rivers to access the patients, reaching them approximately 2 hours after entering the river. At approximately the same time as the arrival of the SAR team on-scene, the Life Flight helicopter was able to return to the area and identify a suitable landing zone approximately 1.5 miles downstream from the accident location at an area known as Pine Bar. Due to tree canopy too dense to hoist patients by National Guard helicopter directly from the scene, the SAR initiated transport of the two surviving patients by boat to the landing zone at Pine Bar, and during this time the National Guard Blackhawk medivac helicopter also arrived on-scene from Salem. At approximately 11:30 am, both patients were transferred from a SAR raft to the two medivac helicopters and subsequently transported to hospitals in Lewiston, ID and Walla Walla, WA, with LGFD personnel flying with both helicopter crews to the destination hospitals. The interagency water rescue team then escorted the remaining members of the camping party and the body of the deceased approximately 22 miles down the Grande Ronde River to the nearest take-out at Powwatka Bridge in Wallowa County, where they were met by additional SAR team personnel and funeral home staff. This remote incident presented a tremendous amount of logistical challenges that were mitigated and overcome only due to the professional competence of those responding and the excellent interagency cooperation that we benefit from in Union County. The La Grande Fire Department, Union and Wallowa County SAR teams, Life Flight Network, Elgin Fire Department, sheriff’s office patrol deputies, and the Oregon National Guard personnel all integrated seamlessly to effect a rapid deployment of resources and efficient rescue on the ground, but at the same time many other agencies were assisting behind the scenes. Throughout the incident, a sheriff’s office patrol sergeant was positioned on a ridge above the river to function as a contingency communications relay, a Bureau of Land Management river ranger was in frequent contact with the incident commander (IC) providing detailed descriptions of the area and photos, and several U.S. Forest Service staff were also maintaining contact with the IC and assisting with preparations for contingency rescue plans if that became necessary. Sheriff Bowen and the management staff of Union County SAR offer our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased, wish a speedy recovery to those injured, and express our incredible gratitude to our partner agencies and dedicated SAR volunteers who leave their homes, jobs, and families to respond to incidents.

Fire Owl

Herd Bull

Airborne

I mentioned that I was an aircraft electrician in an earlier life. I too prefer a master switch on the negative side. Here’s why… In my first squadron, right out of AE A school, I was sent out my very first job, to change a torn terminal cover on a battery bus bar (24VDC). I removed the rubber terminal cover and proceeded to apply wrench to nut so I could slip the cover over the cable. Suddenly… there was a bright flash of light, accompanied by the sound of a stick welder. The wrench touched the airframe and became a wonderful conductor of 24VDC straight to ground. Luckily, the wrench didn’t stick to that rib, but it did leave a very small divot, and I needed a change of skivie drawers. I don’t remember if we were taught to always disconnect the power source before working on power systems, but we probably were, and common sense should have made me do so. I suspect I was just an excited 19 year old LCpl who was elated to get his first solo job, and didn’t stop to think. To this day, I always pull the negative lead before turning a wrench on a DC system. The chances of grounding a wrench are real.

It actually was my bride’s hair dryer, although I wish I also had a heat gun. Thanks for the kind words! Without humor we’d all go insane.

Bill, thank you! I had not seen that style of switch, I was thinking along the lines of the big red Perko style.

Mike, thank you. Location is exactly why I’m being lazy. Plus the Ollie is so new (and elegant) to me that I’m hesitant to drill holes for cable routing and mounting screws. I don’t understand why RV builders don’t provide a master switch for all circuits. Even my Northern Lite has one parasitic circuit with the switch off. The Airstream has several.