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Guest · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:17 pm Post subject: Misadventures

Hey Michael, how about setting up a post so POADERS can post their adventures and misadventures. Once POAD gets going I am sure that our members will have some good stories to tell about their trips.-------------

Let me tell you about mine.

My RV had been unused for about 12 months. Battery was good though so I plugged it in so the RV refrigerator would get cold overnight.

Next morning the refrigerator was loaded with goods, beer too, no trip is good without beer. The RV was set up and we were ready to go.

My P/U truck had been geared up with a power booster so my truck torgue and horsepower had an increase in it at about 30%. No mountain to high, no valley to deep.

Our destination was Isabella Lake, East side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. High desert country with the Kern River running through it.

Our first mountain to cross was the "grapevine" North of Los Angeles heading toward Bakerfield. Trucks galore! Big trucks! So much for my booster. I went up those mountains at 10 mph.

Once I got down off the mountains, my truck excelled. It pulled that RV like it wasn't there. So I was going 70 mph when the CHP pulled me over. Speed limit for an auto pulling a trailor is 55mph. I knew that. I just got carried away. The truck was pulling so good.

Passed Bakerfied, the road narrowed to two lanes. The rock mountains arched toward the roadway, up high, but not as high at the top of my RV.
Scraped the top of the RV. No damage. Then slowed down so oncoming traffic would allow me to drive over the double line. Friendly people, lots of them waved with their middle finger.

Got to Isabella Lake. Tried to find our group's campground. Went the wrong way. Ended up in a dead end roadway. Had to make a "U" turn.
Ever tried to make a u turn with an RV behind you?

Did good though. Only busted one level jack when I backed up. Has an audience before I finished. They all clapped, said they had never seen a truck/trailer make a U turn on that road.

Found our group's campside and starting to set up. Found out that the RV has disconnected from the truck's electrical plug. Perishable food was gone, wasted. Has to throw it away.

I travel dry. Not wanting to carry water in the trailor. Wife disagrees. She wants water. I win. Fifteen pounds a gallon is a lot of weight on a trailor that is being pulled.

Campgroup site had water but the water spout was hard to get to and my garden hose did not reach that far. Made several trips back and forth with a gallon jug. Had to "at least" put some water in the toiler tank.

No shower that night. Wife not happy.

Found out stove was not working. Had gas, but the stove top would not light up. Friends and neighbors gathered around. All had ideas but nothing worked. No dinner. Had to eat cereal. Wife was really mad!

Oh, and the battery went dead. RV has been uplugged for a while so the battery was not charged up fully. Had forgotten the generator. No lights, went to bed. No lovie dovie that night.

Got up early. Early to bed, early to rise. Checked the gas for the stove. Found a switch above the gas tank. Turned it. We had gas! The stove worked. We had breakfast. Wife a little happy.

Scouted out the campsite. Found showers. Used them. Wife now happy.

Has made reservations for mountais biking. Kept them. Went up 16 miles into the Sierras. We were outfitted. Bike and helmet.

Saw bikers in the area. All had helmets, knee pads, elbow pads and butt pads and leather protective clothing. Got a little leery.

Our group of about 23 gathered around. All friends, all staying in the same campgroup. Some, like us, that hadn't been on a bicycle for decades.

Started down a path of about 4 feet wide. Said, this ain't bad. Leader then took us into a one track bike trail. The beginning was scary. The trail went through a cut log. Wide enough to allow the pedals of the bike to get through, all uphill.

Then the trail became a roller coaster. Big rocks everywhere. Had to ride over them and next to them. Big dips and big uphill climbs. Dumped the bike 3 times. Scrapes all over my legs. Lost my water bottle. Bike probably had to get new brakes.

Wife stayed upright. Walked a few dangerous spots but stayed upright.
Me? Old fool tried them all. Dangerous? Yea, but may not get to do it again, so I stayed on the saddle. Most times.

After about five miles, leader gave us a choice of easy or hard. Most of us took easy. Scrapes and bruises were adding up. We got off the one track trail, and headed mostly downhill. The four-five foot wide trail curved and bent. Had to stay on the trail as to the left the mountain ended and air was your companion.

No sense people. We raced down. Good things for brakes. Used them a lot. No one fell.

Sleep that night was good. Hit pillow, zonked out.

The next day was rafting day. Kern River has rapids up to five, when the water is deep. Our rapids went up to three(s).

Four in our raft. First three point rapids we hit, we came sideways on a partially hidden rock. My side. I flew out. I had hooked my right leg beneath the front seat cushion so only my upper body hit the water, and rock. Good thing for the water vest. Saved me when I hit the rock.

Got back in. Second three point rapids we hit, my partner to the left of me flew out. I can still picture her in midair, legs and arms stretched out before she hit the water. Got her back in.

The next rapids were probably close to a four, but they said three. They looked bigger. Bigger waves, bigger dips. Wife flew out. She liked it so much, she flew out three time totaled.

Our fourth partner was sitting, looking smug. Experience he was, as he had rafted before. We hit some more rapids. One second our experience rafter was sitting down, the next second he was in the air. Has to pull him in. Smug no more.

Hit some rapids turning around and around. Since by then we were experience sky drivers, we oped for the wild ride.

All in all we had a great time. Campfire talk was great. Stress was gone, moods were good and laughter was plenty.

Coming back home I only hit one thing on the road. One piece of plastic thinky came off the RV. It must have been a bush, as I kept on using the turnoffs so other cars could pass me. Didn't want them waving anymore.

RV is now ready for anything. Will use it often this summer. Never had lovie dovie in it. Have to christen it.

Would like to hear about your adventures and misadventures.

So Brave, how about that post for our tales?

Jess

Guest · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:55 am Post subject:

That story brightened my gloomy day!

Thanks, Jess!

Becca Very Happy

frank · Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 9

Good story telling Jess. Had me laughing.

I bet other members have a good story to tell also. Let us hear them.
While we wait, let us get to know each other. Story telling is a good way to do that.

I read your Alaskan story last year Jess, and that one made me want to visit Alaska, and this summer I will do so. Mountain bike riding and white water rafting? I have to think about that.

As POAD members, would it not be great if we could going RVing together?
We would have a blast!! Jess, I want to know about your next misadventure.

frank

I want to hear your next tale Jess.
_________________
Success is a step away, but you have to take that step, and continue marching.

Carol · Joined: 31 May 2006 Posts: 12

Hi Jess,

Read your story and it had me laughing. What was the name of that movie? The big trailer? With Lucy?

Dad had a tent trailer and one time we took it up to the mountains, a dry campground that only had two or three other sites. I remember we had to unhitch the trailer because dad could not back it up into the site. We had to push it up on a small hill, under the shade of a tree.

We unfolded the trailer, got the beds ready and then made our fire, to roast marshmallows. Two bears were in the meadow, about 100 yards or so away and of course my brother and I wanted to get closer to them.

Dad kept us away and while we were watching the bears the trailer started rolling down the small hill we had parked it on. Dad had forgotten to put the boards up against the wheels to brake it, and the trailer rolled and hit a tree. The bed at that end of the trailer got crushed and the noise scared the bears.

The bears started running thru the meadow, dad started yelling, mom ran toward the trailer and my brother and I ran toward the bears. My dad ran after us, yelling at us to stop which made the other campers run toward us.

We got to know those other campers real well on that camping trip, as we all got together. First to see if the bed on the trailer could be fixed, and then to roast wieners.

I remember that camping trip more than others because one of those campers was a girl, about my age. We became good friends as they only lived about four miles from us. That friendship has lasted for many years now.

Camping always brings back good memories for me.
------------------------

Dad always said. If something does not go wrong, then it isn't camping!

Carol

Guest · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject: Laugh a little.

While we fret and ponder about plan one or two, (see the lastest update)
it is good to laugh a little. This post has made me laugh. And Carol, a friend made, is a life full of good memories.

A dear brother of mine, who is an rabid Laughing

climber of mountains, and hiker of high country once asked me if I wanted to go with him to the mountains for a ride. He was going to show me a deep valley where access can only be obtained via a 4/4 veh.

He convinced me and my other brother to go with him. The valley was beautiful, and solitary and rabbits and deer were abundant.

Brother one then asked us if we wanted to walk to a landmark, which was up a steep deer mountain trail. "Not far" my brother said so off we went to see this landmark. No water, no food, as the landmark was not "far"

The trail zig-zagged up the mountain. I think it went straight up but we were determined to see this landmark.

Volcanic lakes were 16 miles from the trail head, so when we saw a sign that said that volcanic lakes were only 8 miles away, I had visions that we had already walked 8 miles.

We huddled, decided to go for the gold, (the lakes) but we needed water. The landmark was forgotten. We must have missed it.

Brother one had those pills, which are placed in water to kill the bacteria. but we had no containers.

Brother one, the survivalist, Question

rigged up some contraption that held about a quart of water, so water was obtained from the many running streams; and we continued.

Life is lived once. Those lakes have been in my memories since then.
So too, has the feel of tired and aching leg muscles. (And the need to get even with my brother, but that passed)

We were so tired that all three of us left our sunglasses by the stream of water, where we got our water, and we did not realized that we were san glasses until our return trip, where we found our sunglasses waiting for us.

The memories, and the laughs we have about that landmark hike brought us three siblings much closer together . We have gone hiking together often, much better prepared, and the vistas we have seen are beyond description.

So yes, we ponder about our future. Should we open door one or two.
Sometimes the door is opened for you. Step through it and go for the gold. Only you can make the memories.

rose

Bev · Joined: 12 Jul 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Canada

Your rving experience had be practically falling off the chair with laughter. Better than a good joke!
Thanks a bunch!
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Cheers,
Bev
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Jess · Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 151

Okay folks, so we hit another bump on the road. Poad is here to stay and no bump on the road is going to keep us from obtaining what we want. POAD is going to succeed and all those who stay with us will succeed with us. Bumps? They can be conquered. Stay focused as no mountain is to high.

Now, talking about mountains!!! Even little ones can test your determination.
Has anyone gone to Zion National Park, in Utah? If you have you might heard of or hiked the trail called Angel's landing. See it here:
http://roz.dudden.com/Utah/Utah2ZionAngelsLanding.shtml

We were in Utah for a week, with my sister and brother in law: not really hikers like my wife and I, but they were gamed on trying a few trails with us.

Zion park is serviced by a shuttle bus system that travels the Zion valley every 15 minutes, so you can get off any time and visit each and every site in the valley. No traffic, except the buses and a few cars that belong to Zion staff personnel.

On our first day there we got on one of the buses and traversed the valley and we got into a conversation with the bus driver. She went on to tell us about Angel's landing and about the beautiful view from atop the mountain.

The wife and I got a gleam in our eyes and my sis and bro. in law groaned.
So we made a deal. We would do whatever they wanted to do on day one, and day two belonged to wife and I.

It was agreed upon, so on day one we went on the river hike, which runs along the river, and then on the river, where one has to walk and swim to get to the "narrows" The river narrows and gushes through the mountains, leaving in its wake some beautiful landscapes.

The hike was fun, refreshing and picture moments were everywhere.
Over dinner and beer and wine that night we made plans for our Angel's landing hike, not particularly paying attention to the weather.

Up and at them early the next morning we took the shuttle bus which dropped us off close to the trail head to Angel' landing. Brother in law was not talking.

Part of the trail is suported by red rocks as the trails weaves its way up a mountain. Part of the trail also weaves between mountains, which shades the trail in the mornings so the beginning of the hike was not bad at all.

My brother in law actually started talking again as he started taking pictures. My sister in law was gamed. She kept on talking to us.

As we hiked and climbed those mountains, the weather started getting hot.
I had taken 12 bottles of water with me. My wife had packed another six bottle in her backpack. We had taken munchies, so we thought we were prepared.

Up and up we went and finally we thought we were getting to the top. The view was spectacular and the picture taking was non-stop.

We finally got to the top of this hill, which we thought was the "top" of the hill and as we stood there we saw that the trail continued. Up and UP and UP.

We could see that people were climbing and coming off the mountain. They looked small. We also noticed that they were using a chain to guide them up and down the mountain.

Brother in law looked at us and said "Nope, ain't going up"

As we stood there, trying to get our senses back, a couple, man and wife, on their way down stopped near us so we went up and spoke with them.

Man said that they were celebrating. Wife had had cancer and she said that she had promised herself that if she ever got her strength back she would climb Angel's landing. Cancer was in remission, and now that she had been given a second change she was ready for bigger and tougher hikes.

What more motivation did we need?? Brother in law said "let"s go up!"
And up we went.

The temperature had been climbing steadily. It was hot! The chain which we had to grab to climb was noticeably warm. Not hot enough to burn, but uncomfortable to touch.

But the chain was a necessity so we used it. In some spots of the trail, the chain is right along the edge of the mountain. Sheer drop off on each side: about a 1400 foot drop.

No picture taking here as the camera had gone into the pocket. Needed both hands to pull up on, but at one spot I wrapped my left arm around the chain and pulled out my camera.

I wear a 13 size shoe and as I was standing on the trail I saw that my toes were off the trail, in the air, and the sheer drop off was right below my toes. Had to take a picture of that!

The mountain took its price. When we got to the top we were dead tired. The sun was beating on us. Water was not enough to keep up our nutrients. Found out that night that the temperature had been 113 Fahrenheit.

But the view from the top was fantastic. Brother in law was actually excited. We ate, rested and took tons of pictures.

We started down. Chain was now hot. Grab, let go and grab again.
Sister in law lost her step, fell, but hung on with her arm around the chain.

I was right behind her. Helped her up. She had hurt her ankle.
Thinking. How in the heck will a helicopter pick her up? No place to land. I could see her being lifted in a sling, but she is a gamed gal, she shook it off and kept on walking down. Arm was also troubling her. Not a bad burn, but bad enough to hurt.

We finally made it off the chain portion of the mountain.

But wife was dizzy. Water did not help. She could not walk a straight line.
Sheer determination had gotten her off the chain portion of the mountain. And she needed to go to the bathroom! Bathroom?? Up here!! Where??

But those two sisters are made from the same stock. She walked up, she would walk down! We formed a guard perimeter, up and down trail, and offered her some privacy.

With all the sweating I was doing, I had no excess water in my system, but she had to go to the bathroom!

I held her as we walked down and finally we got to a semi hollow hole in the mountain which offered some shade. We sat down.

Two young gals had passed us on the way up, and on top we had spoken with them. They were local girls and hiking Angel's landing was something they did on a regular basis.

They caught up with us on the way down and upon seeing my wife they immediately offered her some gatoraid. The gatoraid did the trick. My wife felt better after a few minutes and down we went.

We made it all the way down, ran to the river and jumped in, clothes and all and splashed around like kids for a while.

I had taken my camera out of my pocket but I had forgotten that I had placed some money in another pocket. Had to lay it out to dry later.

My sister in law went looking for a stick, to use as a cane. My wife went and stocked up on gatoraid and the next day we were off to Bryce canyon,
to walk down to the hoodoos.

Another 113 F day, but we were better prepared. A cane and gatoraid, what more can we ask for?

Now some "bought" pictures of Angel's landing hang on my brother in laws home office. He is proud of that hike.

So the analogy? As the wife with cancer said. "God gave me a second chance and I am not one to waste it"

POAD? We are not going to stop. Throw bricks on the roadway, throw boulders if you will, but we shall persevere. We (POAD members) come from solid stock and nothing will stop us.
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Okay folks, I know that I am not the only one who travels. I want to hear about your adventures. They don't have to be funny, they don't have to be misadventures. Might give me an idea as to what to do next.
Let's get to know each other, as members of POAD and as members of this POAD family.

WRITE!!!!!!!

_________________

To quit before the finish line negates starting the race.