[National DML Meet] Guess I should get around to posting!

From: TerribleTom (silvereightynine@aol.com)
Date: Wed Jul 19 2006 - 16:58:38 EDT


   =20 I havn't had time to post anything since I left for Colorado
   friday. Its be= en interesting heh. I didn't leave wisconsin until
   7:10 pm central on frid= ay. I made it as far as Winona, MN where I
   grabbed a room at a best wester= n for the night. After a restless
   night sleep, I hit the road the next day= at about 9 am or so saturday
   morning. The drive was long and mostly uneve= ntful except for
   rendering some roadside assistance. I responded to a truck= driver
   saying that there were two women stranded on the side of I-80 in Io=
   wa, trying to change a flat tire, which turned out to be a woman and
   her 6-= 7 year old daughter. I helped them change their tire and got
   them back on = the road. She was very appreciative of the help and
   thanked me over and ove= r. That was a good feeling :)
   The drive seemed to drag on a ver= y long time and I made it into Lone
   Duck at 2:30 am MST... with approx 1200= miles on the clock. Thats
   about 1050+ miles in a single day over an approx= imate time of 17-18
   hours. I slept in the cab of the truck when I got to th= e campground.
   Woke up at 6:45 sunday morning after no where near enough s= leep. We
   bummed around camp most of the day and went to Seven Falls waterf= all
   later that night and saw some really awesome rock formations and
   waterf= alls.
   Monday was pretty awesome too. We set out for Garden of= the Gods rock
   formations. Adam Jackie and Mike and I went walking around = a few of
   the many trails in the area - seems like every where you turn arou= nd
   here theres one skyline or another thats more awesome than what you
   just= saw. We met up with Jon and Ed afterwards and hit some trails
   for some gr= eat photo ops.
   Tuesday we set out in the morning for Dakota Hill= and other areas
   which I can't remember the names of right now. Dakota hil= l was
   pretty cool actually. The only signs of civilization was the communi=
   cations and cell towers that were posted up there. I was able to get
   some = lightning strikes on video. The trees up at that elevation are
   all very th= ick and stubby and short. There were what Mike guessed to
   be, mining test = holes, dug out and filled in, with 20-some year old
   trees that had taken ro= ot, all over the top of the hill... adding to
   the eery landscape.
   We set out for the highland afterwards and eventually topped well over
   11= ,000 feet elevation. We made it to the top of this particulat
   mountain ran= ge, the name of which escapes me... at the top the wind
   was blowing somethi= ng feirce and it was cold. We were well above the
   tree line and had spotted= a couple herds of elk on the way up. The
   trail was moderate/easy. With lo= ts more bumps than really difficult
   sections. Jason and Norah's stock quadc= ab made it over them just
   fine. The views were more than breathtaking. It= s a sight I will not
   soon forget and one that I hope I'll see again. Every= one remarked
   that they had a wonderful day.
   Wednesday decided to= throw me a curve ball. A sound I was hearing
   tuesday night, turned out to= be both front axleshaft joints on the
   Ram's front DANA axle, grinding thei= r rusted, non-greaseable,
   factory OEM u-joints to peices. After runing aro= und town all morning
   fetching u-joints and having to buy and entire craftsm= an socket set
   just to get a single 1-11/16ths socket for the spindle nut, I= started
   taking stuff apart and saw that the bolts that hold the wheel bear=
   ing units to the spindle, are a funky ass 12 point dealy. A bolt head
   that= I do not have a socket for. I am pondering if I should run all
   over kingd= omcome trying to find that socket, or just have a shop
   change the joints an= d be done with it. As it is I can't get any
   parts. I'll have to put every= thing back together again to go look.
   Everyone else is out in town. I mis= sed the brewery tour this AM and
   unless someone comes back to camp, I'm goi= ng to miss the drag racing
   at Bandamire, to say nothing or participting. S= omthing that I had
   *really* been looking forward to - as I have never done = that before.
   Anyway... I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I t= hink I'll
   make a few phone calls and see what a shop will ream me for to ch=
   ange the joints.
   --
   Posted b= y TerribleTom to National DML Meet at 7/19/2006 02:19:00= PM

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