The last I posted was just before Yosemite.
We spent two nights in the park in the North Pines campground, and the setting was unreal. The massive rocks encompassing the valley we were in were awesome. We did one family hike to the lower Yosemite Falls (aka the lower Yosemite Trickle at this time of year). I did a couple runs, including one to the Vernal Falls which was much more impressive. It was a tough run towards the end with lots of stairs getting steeper all the way. The last couple sets of stairs I had to hike, and then hike them down vice running. One highlight of the trip was going to a Night Skies program where we learned a lot about the constellations, and the dark sky there in the valley was an excellent place to see the night sky. Another was hearing the bears walking through the campsite late at night looking for food! Better have that food in the bear box!! and Katie's car seat on top (so they don't try to get into the van). Camping here in California is a different cultural experience than in VA. It seems to be a much younger venture, more crowded and much louder. Car alarms frequently going off after quiet hours begin and then ensuing arguments about who was the last one to put the keys where become late night entertainment as you lay in your sleeping bag trying to go to sleep.
From Yosemite we drove on west and skirted around the San Francisco and drove up north on 101 all the way to Ukiah, CA. We did nothing eventful besides drive that day (Friday). Saturday morning we woke up and continued north. We pushed hard to make it to Redwood National Park just before the visitor center closed so we could get a stamp in our National Parks Passport book. We continued north to the Prarie Creek State Park campground where I hopped out to do a run to Fern Canyon where the rest of the family picked me up.
This run on the James Irvine Trail was one of the most memorable runs I've ever had...and memorable moments in general. These Redwood trees in many ways are more spectacular than the Giant Sequoias...not as massive at the base, but more densely placed and taller. It was like running in a wonderland with the massive trees, the soft ground (much of it rooty, though), the green fern, and the last bit of sunlight filtering through the tops of the trees. I felt like I was in a fantasy movie or something....this is a MUST see, and I say that above anything else we've done so far. If you want something memorable, stay near or preferably camp IN the Redwoods (there are plenty of places), and take a long hike through the groves.
Last night (Saturday) we stayed in Crescent City, CA, where I'm writing from now. We'll head north this morning along the Oregon coast to Coos Bay, OR, then head east towards Eugene, then up to Portland and finally along the Columbia River to Stevenson, WA.
I really miss having 3DL170 along with me, especially as we passed a Cloud the other day that presumably was also on its way to Skamania. I'm thankful though that the family is here to share all these experiences -- it's one thing to see something alone and then relate the story to others, but to be able to remember it together is way much better! :-)
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday
This morning we woke up in Delta, Utah and headed west into Nevada. I've never seen such a place as what we drove (and what we drove again later in the day on the way to Tonopah, NV). There was just NOTHING there. Desert, sage brush, open range with cattle, and that's it. Nearly 100 miles between gas stations/civilization.
In the middle of it all, we stopped in Baker, Nevada to visit Great Basin National Park. This is a must-visit if you're driving through this area! The 18 mile (one-way) scenic Wheeler Peak drive has outstanding views from as high as over 10,000 feet looking out over the barren desert. At the peak is a wonderful campground that we wished we had time to stay at. The weather was much cooler at this altitude, and the air was clean and crisp. Carter and I did a 3 mile round-trip hike to see the Bristlecone Pines, the oldest living things on earth. You need to see these someday....some look very healthy, but most look like they're hanging onto life, but have a portion of their trunks with healthy bark and some branches still growing needles and cones.
From Baker, we continued west towards Yosemite where we'll be staying Wednesday and Thursday nights in North. We made it by about 8:00PM to Tonopah, Nevada, where I'm typing from the Jim Butler Inn.
Not sure when we'll have internet access again....
In the middle of it all, we stopped in Baker, Nevada to visit Great Basin National Park. This is a must-visit if you're driving through this area! The 18 mile (one-way) scenic Wheeler Peak drive has outstanding views from as high as over 10,000 feet looking out over the barren desert. At the peak is a wonderful campground that we wished we had time to stay at. The weather was much cooler at this altitude, and the air was clean and crisp. Carter and I did a 3 mile round-trip hike to see the Bristlecone Pines, the oldest living things on earth. You need to see these someday....some look very healthy, but most look like they're hanging onto life, but have a portion of their trunks with healthy bark and some branches still growing needles and cones.
From Baker, we continued west towards Yosemite where we'll be staying Wednesday and Thursday nights in North. We made it by about 8:00PM to Tonopah, Nevada, where I'm typing from the Jim Butler Inn.
Not sure when we'll have internet access again....
On the road
In order to get where we're going and then spend time doing things, I've been unable to update the blog, so here's the latest...
We left Fredericksburg, VA at 5PM (EST) on Saturday. We were planning to drive through all night, then drive all of Sunday/until we got tired. I put in the navigation system that our stop would be Moab, UT, since I did have a reservation for Sunday night already paid for there (non-refundable). I knew it was highly unlikely that we'd make it that far, but we decided to keep an eye on when we'd arrive and play it by ear.
The travel time indicated that we'd arrive well into the morning on Monday, but we watched it drop 2 hours when we took a route we knew was faster than the navigation indicated. And we drove.....no traffic, no bad weather, no accidents, no construction. We never stopped to eat (except once for a quick McDonald's breakfast)...just ate along the way. Never drove fast, either...only 5-10mph over the speed limit, which was often 75mph and in no event did I ever go over 80mph. We made it to St. Louis by 5:45am, and forged on....we made it to Moab, Utah at 12:25AM (EST)/10:25PM (local time). Total travel time was 31 hours, 25 minutes, and we covered 1,990 miles. Do the math...63.3 mph including stops. We did an excellent job of sleeping when not driving, and staying alert when driving.
The scenery was really awesome. For those who have considered driving cross country, do it! When the sun came up, we were driving through Kansas, and even there you could see a panoramic view of all the different weather patterns.....three storms spaced across different parts of the horizon, partly cloudy over there, sunny over there. Once west of Denver, the scenery really improved. The mountains there were spectacular, and driving I-70 through them was a great way to see them all. Jennifer even saw a bear (Carter said he was pretty sure he saw another).
By the time we got to Utah, night had fallen again, so when we got off I70 to 191 south to Moab, all we could see was the big "hills" in the darkness. I knew they were the red rocks or something, but really seeing them would have to wait until the next day. I went out for a run from our motel in Moab at about 11:30pm and the weather was nice, a little breezy, and it was neat seeing the nearly full moon casting light over the mountains there.
As far as the travel, everyone did great. Carter enjoyed the scenery and Katie (yes, 2 year old Katie) watched movies or slept or sang...never complained!
Monday morning we woke up, had breakfast, and headed for Arches National Park. We all were awestruck....it's undescribable, and when we download pictures from the camera I'll post some. Spires, arches, mesas, buttes, etc. Carter and I took a short walk to Sandune Arch where we walked between two ribbons of rock, through what looked like reddish-brown beach sand, and ended under the arch (just .25 miles each way). At the Delicate Arch viewpoint hike (100 yards), we brought Katie along who finally began to display here independence (you'll see how she felt in the pictures!).
After Arches, we had lunch in Moab, then headed for Dead Horse Point State Park, as well as Canyonlands National Park - Island in the Sky area. Both were close to Moab and offered OUTSTANDING views of the Colorado River cutting canyons, as well as the Green River doing the same. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to get out much here, but in fact we were initially planning on skipping these spots all together, but decided we needed to at least get a glimpse before leaving Moab.
This trip I have often called an "appetizer sampler" of sorts. A little bit of a lot of different things. What I figured we'd come home with is a little knowledge of a bunch of different places, and perhaps a strong desire to go on a single vacation to one or two of those places again someday for an extended time (as opposed to one or two days). I could see spending nearly a week in Moab!
Now it is Tuesday morning, and we are waking up in a Best Western in Delta, Utah. There's not much here, and in fact our next stop is Great Basin National Park over 100 miles away, and the sign entering Delta, Utah states "Gateway to Great Basin National Park." Just like last night's drive from Moab, which had some awesome picturesque views, I don't expect to see much civilization. Today in the park we plan to spend a little time, and hike to see the Bristlecone Pines, arguably the oldest living things on earth at over 4,900 years of age. Tonight we'll stay somewhere, hopefully close to Yosemite National Park, where we are camping at North Pines campground within the valley section of the park on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
We left Fredericksburg, VA at 5PM (EST) on Saturday. We were planning to drive through all night, then drive all of Sunday/until we got tired. I put in the navigation system that our stop would be Moab, UT, since I did have a reservation for Sunday night already paid for there (non-refundable). I knew it was highly unlikely that we'd make it that far, but we decided to keep an eye on when we'd arrive and play it by ear.
The travel time indicated that we'd arrive well into the morning on Monday, but we watched it drop 2 hours when we took a route we knew was faster than the navigation indicated. And we drove.....no traffic, no bad weather, no accidents, no construction. We never stopped to eat (except once for a quick McDonald's breakfast)...just ate along the way. Never drove fast, either...only 5-10mph over the speed limit, which was often 75mph and in no event did I ever go over 80mph. We made it to St. Louis by 5:45am, and forged on....we made it to Moab, Utah at 12:25AM (EST)/10:25PM (local time). Total travel time was 31 hours, 25 minutes, and we covered 1,990 miles. Do the math...63.3 mph including stops. We did an excellent job of sleeping when not driving, and staying alert when driving.
The scenery was really awesome. For those who have considered driving cross country, do it! When the sun came up, we were driving through Kansas, and even there you could see a panoramic view of all the different weather patterns.....three storms spaced across different parts of the horizon, partly cloudy over there, sunny over there. Once west of Denver, the scenery really improved. The mountains there were spectacular, and driving I-70 through them was a great way to see them all. Jennifer even saw a bear (Carter said he was pretty sure he saw another).
By the time we got to Utah, night had fallen again, so when we got off I70 to 191 south to Moab, all we could see was the big "hills" in the darkness. I knew they were the red rocks or something, but really seeing them would have to wait until the next day. I went out for a run from our motel in Moab at about 11:30pm and the weather was nice, a little breezy, and it was neat seeing the nearly full moon casting light over the mountains there.
As far as the travel, everyone did great. Carter enjoyed the scenery and Katie (yes, 2 year old Katie) watched movies or slept or sang...never complained!
Monday morning we woke up, had breakfast, and headed for Arches National Park. We all were awestruck....it's undescribable, and when we download pictures from the camera I'll post some. Spires, arches, mesas, buttes, etc. Carter and I took a short walk to Sandune Arch where we walked between two ribbons of rock, through what looked like reddish-brown beach sand, and ended under the arch (just .25 miles each way). At the Delicate Arch viewpoint hike (100 yards), we brought Katie along who finally began to display here independence (you'll see how she felt in the pictures!).
After Arches, we had lunch in Moab, then headed for Dead Horse Point State Park, as well as Canyonlands National Park - Island in the Sky area. Both were close to Moab and offered OUTSTANDING views of the Colorado River cutting canyons, as well as the Green River doing the same. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to get out much here, but in fact we were initially planning on skipping these spots all together, but decided we needed to at least get a glimpse before leaving Moab.
This trip I have often called an "appetizer sampler" of sorts. A little bit of a lot of different things. What I figured we'd come home with is a little knowledge of a bunch of different places, and perhaps a strong desire to go on a single vacation to one or two of those places again someday for an extended time (as opposed to one or two days). I could see spending nearly a week in Moab!
Now it is Tuesday morning, and we are waking up in a Best Western in Delta, Utah. There's not much here, and in fact our next stop is Great Basin National Park over 100 miles away, and the sign entering Delta, Utah states "Gateway to Great Basin National Park." Just like last night's drive from Moab, which had some awesome picturesque views, I don't expect to see much civilization. Today in the park we plan to spend a little time, and hike to see the Bristlecone Pines, arguably the oldest living things on earth at over 4,900 years of age. Tonight we'll stay somewhere, hopefully close to Yosemite National Park, where we are camping at North Pines campground within the valley section of the park on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Abort abort!
As I set out from Tim Jayne's shop this afternoon with my newly running great 3DL170, I pondered when I'd next be updating the blog, and what I'd say. Now that I'm two days behind schedule, I didn't want to stop except to rest.
Well, my first stop was one hour into the trip when suddenly the car's performance began degrading quickly. I was on I76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) with about 200 miles left on the turnpike before I was to exit, but the car was losing power quickly. I had to go to the next off-ramp to investigate, and in fact I was very close to Bob Shaffner's office so I thought that pulling into that parking lot might be a friendly place to do a little diagnosis. All I had to do was exit off the turnpike, go south on I83 three miles, and then I'd be in the parking lot.
I got to the tollbooth (barely), and when I went to pull away it stalled and wouldn't restart. The tollbooth guy got out and helped me get started pushing the 6000 pound beast up the slight incline, and once it was rolling he ran back to his booth leaving me to push it across four lanes of EZ Pass traffic zipping through the tollbooths. I didn't even look because I knew they'd have to stop and I couldn't have stopped and started back up again anyhow. No issues....everyone waited for me (and no one beeped).
At this point, even if it was an easy fix, I was resigned that the car is going home and the trip is off....at least with 3DL170. I'm in a flatbed on the way home now. Jennifer was gracious enough to suggest that we bring the minivan.....yes, the minivan.....across country starting tomorrow.
So for the technical details, if you're interested....
As posted earlier, the car has been running extremely rich. The specifications on float bowl level is that the float should be set such that the fuel level is 5/8" (.625") below the top of the float bowl. Even with the float set so the fuel level was .880" (a full quarter inch lower than spec), it was running too rich. We looked for vacuum leaks in the fuel drainoff system (there's a little ball held up by vacuum that sometimes gets stuck), that wasn't it. Looked for intake manifold leaks...none. The jets were bigger than we'd hoped, but Frawley couldn't get one of them out to put in the more reasonable .057" jets (as it turned out the carb had .062" jets). One last thing that Frawley wanted to do was to replace the checkvalve beneath the accelerator pump (the N6 valve for those in the know...). He did not have one, so we couldn't try that.
Today at Tim's shop, he was able to pull both jets out (but the tough one was so hard to get out that it affected the threads and had to be chased with a tap). Luckily Tim had an N6 valve. In fact, that valve on my car appears to have been the "smoking gun." Before you start the car up, you let the fuel pumps build pressure and fill the carb bowl. Once the carb bowl is full, the pumps stop clicking. If you look inside the carb bowl (the top would have to be off), everything holds until the car is running. With the N6 checkvalve I originally had under the accelerator pump, some fuel was leaking out of the float bowl. When we pulled the N6 valve out and compared it to another N6 checkvalve Tim had, the spring pressure on mine was MUCH less than on Tim's. After putting Tim's checkvalve in there was no leakage like with mine.
So now what we'd done is put in new smaller jets, put in a new (used) N6 valve, and readjusted the float up to .625" (factory spec). Now the car ran much better, but under load seemed to backfire (implying a lean mixture under load). Tim adjusted the length of the rod on the side of the carb which actuates the accerator pump and we went out for another test run up hill, from start, putting the car through its paces under load and it performed GREAT. This, even after NOT cleaning the fouled up plugs. Just driving it around had cleaned them up.
I've already written above what happened, and I did a little troubleshooting while waiting for the flatbed. I finally was able to get the car started again, but it didn't take long to realize that it was running only off intake plugs. I pulled the cap off the exhaust side distributor and those points were fully closed. That alone certainly shouldn't have shut down the car, and in fact at a higher idle I could tell the car was very uncomfortable. I didn't check the point gap on the intake plug side cap, but it looked too small. I'll check it next month when we get back. I'm probably prepared enough to have fixed it alongside the road, but I've lost enough confidence in the car that I just need to bring her home.
Perhaps I'll keep blogging the trip and change the title to "Toyota Sienna Cross Country" instead...
Well, my first stop was one hour into the trip when suddenly the car's performance began degrading quickly. I was on I76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) with about 200 miles left on the turnpike before I was to exit, but the car was losing power quickly. I had to go to the next off-ramp to investigate, and in fact I was very close to Bob Shaffner's office so I thought that pulling into that parking lot might be a friendly place to do a little diagnosis. All I had to do was exit off the turnpike, go south on I83 three miles, and then I'd be in the parking lot.
I got to the tollbooth (barely), and when I went to pull away it stalled and wouldn't restart. The tollbooth guy got out and helped me get started pushing the 6000 pound beast up the slight incline, and once it was rolling he ran back to his booth leaving me to push it across four lanes of EZ Pass traffic zipping through the tollbooths. I didn't even look because I knew they'd have to stop and I couldn't have stopped and started back up again anyhow. No issues....everyone waited for me (and no one beeped).
At this point, even if it was an easy fix, I was resigned that the car is going home and the trip is off....at least with 3DL170. I'm in a flatbed on the way home now. Jennifer was gracious enough to suggest that we bring the minivan.....yes, the minivan.....across country starting tomorrow.
So for the technical details, if you're interested....
As posted earlier, the car has been running extremely rich. The specifications on float bowl level is that the float should be set such that the fuel level is 5/8" (.625") below the top of the float bowl. Even with the float set so the fuel level was .880" (a full quarter inch lower than spec), it was running too rich. We looked for vacuum leaks in the fuel drainoff system (there's a little ball held up by vacuum that sometimes gets stuck), that wasn't it. Looked for intake manifold leaks...none. The jets were bigger than we'd hoped, but Frawley couldn't get one of them out to put in the more reasonable .057" jets (as it turned out the carb had .062" jets). One last thing that Frawley wanted to do was to replace the checkvalve beneath the accelerator pump (the N6 valve for those in the know...). He did not have one, so we couldn't try that.
Today at Tim's shop, he was able to pull both jets out (but the tough one was so hard to get out that it affected the threads and had to be chased with a tap). Luckily Tim had an N6 valve. In fact, that valve on my car appears to have been the "smoking gun." Before you start the car up, you let the fuel pumps build pressure and fill the carb bowl. Once the carb bowl is full, the pumps stop clicking. If you look inside the carb bowl (the top would have to be off), everything holds until the car is running. With the N6 checkvalve I originally had under the accelerator pump, some fuel was leaking out of the float bowl. When we pulled the N6 valve out and compared it to another N6 checkvalve Tim had, the spring pressure on mine was MUCH less than on Tim's. After putting Tim's checkvalve in there was no leakage like with mine.
So now what we'd done is put in new smaller jets, put in a new (used) N6 valve, and readjusted the float up to .625" (factory spec). Now the car ran much better, but under load seemed to backfire (implying a lean mixture under load). Tim adjusted the length of the rod on the side of the carb which actuates the accerator pump and we went out for another test run up hill, from start, putting the car through its paces under load and it performed GREAT. This, even after NOT cleaning the fouled up plugs. Just driving it around had cleaned them up.
I've already written above what happened, and I did a little troubleshooting while waiting for the flatbed. I finally was able to get the car started again, but it didn't take long to realize that it was running only off intake plugs. I pulled the cap off the exhaust side distributor and those points were fully closed. That alone certainly shouldn't have shut down the car, and in fact at a higher idle I could tell the car was very uncomfortable. I didn't check the point gap on the intake plug side cap, but it looked too small. I'll check it next month when we get back. I'm probably prepared enough to have fixed it alongside the road, but I've lost enough confidence in the car that I just need to bring her home.
Perhaps I'll keep blogging the trip and change the title to "Toyota Sienna Cross Country" instead...
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Still stalled
I wasn't sure if I wanted to post tonight, but what the heck. My notion of this trip included nightly blog updates in the back of 3DL170. Tonight, I'm waiting to go to Tim Jayne's shop, another mechanic in the area, and the one who installed my carb bowl a couple years ago. Frawley has ruled out nearly anything else besides the carbeurator, so tomorrow Tim has agreed to swap out the jets as well as a checkvalve beneath the accelerator pump in the carb. Beyond that, the issue is a mystery. Unless these experiments miraculously solve the problem, 3DL170 returns home to Virginia tomorrow.
I wondered where to stay tonight near Tim's shop (West Chester, PA). With my state of mind and tiredness level, I resigned myself to not be a cheapskate and went to the Holiday Inn Express. I don't care what it costs, I just want a good night sleep. Well....the AAA discount rate is over $140 (plus tax), and those that know me know I'm too much of a cheapskate to do that. So now I'm in the back of 3DL170 typing away in a campground. Tent is all set up, and I'll sleep soon.
Meanwhile, in the likely event that 3DL170 goes home, Jennifer has implored me that the trip is *not* off. In fact, she's considering taking an extra week off from work to drive out with me and Carter in the minivan. Wouldn't that be a fitting thing I'll be teased about for the foreseeable future.....:-O
I'm not sure if there will be any future updates to this blog if I don't get going in 3DL170, but we'll see.
I wondered where to stay tonight near Tim's shop (West Chester, PA). With my state of mind and tiredness level, I resigned myself to not be a cheapskate and went to the Holiday Inn Express. I don't care what it costs, I just want a good night sleep. Well....the AAA discount rate is over $140 (plus tax), and those that know me know I'm too much of a cheapskate to do that. So now I'm in the back of 3DL170 typing away in a campground. Tent is all set up, and I'll sleep soon.
Meanwhile, in the likely event that 3DL170 goes home, Jennifer has implored me that the trip is *not* off. In fact, she's considering taking an extra week off from work to drive out with me and Carter in the minivan. Wouldn't that be a fitting thing I'll be teased about for the foreseeable future.....:-O
I'm not sure if there will be any future updates to this blog if I don't get going in 3DL170, but we'll see.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Not started yet
Well, the schedule says I'm 11 hours along the way now, but reality is that I haven't started yet. This past weekend the car started running very rich, and I'm now in Pennsylvania at Frawley's (my mechanic) for the second time in three days. Monday we lowered the float bowl, and today we sifted through all things to consider in the carburator. We found a few things, but no smoking gun, and after three hours of driving tonight I'm back in Lancaster, PA to return to Frawley's tomorrow.
Not sure what is next, but I can't proceed with the car running as it is.
Not sure what is next, but I can't proceed with the car running as it is.
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