Re: Colorado BBQ Convoy

From: Jason Bleazard (dml@bleazard.net)
Date: Thu Apr 27 2006 - 12:05:47 EDT


On Wed, April 26, 2006 7:38 pm, jon@dakota-truck.net said:
>
> The lakes are actually a large moat, dug by Seneca indians in a desperate
> attempt to prevent the inevitable Tim Hortons invasion. Regrettably, they
> were not a deterrent. :-)

There's no stopping Tim Horton's. They're the second most powerful force in
the coffee universe, right below Starbuck's. Resistance is futile. You will
be caffeinated.

> Yep, same thing in NY. They make up for it though by taxing you extra
> hard on everything else. ;-)

Hate to say it, but anything below 10% sales tax doesn't impress me after
living in Ontario.

> Would it be possible or any safer to rig up a mechanism for powering
> the fridge from a camp stove sized propane bottle?

AFAIK, it's "permanently" connected to the gas lines running through the
trailer, so that would entail tapping in to the lines to attach another
fitting. I'm sure it's possible, but it's not something I'd really want to
tackle myself. Aside from the potential danger, and voiding the warranty,
there's probably some legal requirement somewhere about having a licensed
installer do any work on propane lines.

> What is it about
> the propane which is dangerous - a crash where the line breaks and fuels
> a fire?

Yep. It can make the difference between a minor crunch-up and a fireball
that'll make your BBQ bonfire look like a gnat fart. Most tunnels have
requirements that any propane tanks must be turned off right at the tank,
although I don't know how strictly they enforce that.

> If so, maybe a mercury switch and/or accelerometer could be used
> to turn off a gas solenoid? (A tilt of a certain angle or an impact of
> a certain force would trip it and it would have to be manually reset to
> open the line again.)

I suppose it's possible. The same comments from above would still apply to
making modifications to propane lines. To satisfy the bureaucrats, it'd
probably have to be integrated directly in to the regulator on top of the
tank. I've never noticed anything like that, maybe they do make them but
they're just too expensive.

> As far as stuff for myself goes, the only things I can think of are
> a tent and possibly paintball stuff. There are the DML canopies of
> course, and probably the DML banner, but that's for everybody. :-)
> I guess I'll have to start making a list. :-)

I talked to Norah, and she reminded me that we'll probably have some more
shipments to pick up there, so we might as well swing down anyway. We might
think about asking Mike to take stuff back with him so we can head straight
back home without the side trip on the way back. That's still to be
determined. We might be more pressed for time on the return trip. I think my
parents are thinking of heading over for a couple of days after the meet ends.
 They said they don't want to interfere with the meet. I told my dad that he
might get a couple of thrill seekers in the group who would be willing to buy
some airplane gas in return for Super Cub rides, but he didn't seem to be too
interested for some reason.

> I had thought for
> about 2 seconds about asking you to stash my AR-15 and a case of 5.56
> in there somewhere for the shooting range, but quickly dismissed the
> idea; that's probably more potential trouble than its worth. :-)

That shouldn't be a problem. You can put a trigger lock on it and we'll keep
it locked under the tonneau. It'd be cool to have it out there. You may want
to plan on buying ammo in Colorado, I'm not sure what the regs are regarding
transporting that. Probably fine, but transporting your rifle would be that
much more harmless if I didn't even have any ammo for it. Just in case any
fine law enforcement officials decided to question it.

> Oops - I really need to read the whole thread before I start posting.
> I see you already found the alternate route a few days before I described
> it in my message today. :-)

More like hours. :-)

> According to my map though, it actually
> subtracted 18 miles as opposed to adding 45. (Although it did add 18
> minutes.) Either way, probably negligible for a trip of this length.
> If it were me, I'd be taking the I-70 route for sure, for no other
> reason than to avoid the tolls. :-)

Good point. Even though that route avoids Chicago, there are a greater number
of big cities. If we don't stop in any of them it shouldn't be too much of a
hassle. I've set up both scenarios in TripMaker, but haven't gotten too
detailed in terms of stops or specific metro avoidance routes. We'll bring
our laptop on Saturday and compare notes.

-- 
Jason Bleazard  http://drazaelb.blogspot.com  Burlington, Ontario
his:  '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white
hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black

. . .------------------------------------------------------------------. | Make your plans NOW to attend the National DML Meet in Colorado! | | Date: July 15-23, 2006 - More info: http://meet.dakota-truck.net | `------------------------------------------------------------------'



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