Where the hell is Dred?

[Tango]

Do you plan on making any stops in the Big Bend area in Texas? Fantastic skies out there.

[dredman]

Originally Posted by Tango

Do you plan on making any stops in the Big Bend area in Texas? Fantastic skies out there.

As a matter of fact - yes!!
They also have the Rio Grande there, so I might spend a week or more paddling and riding around

I had an interesting day today. As I am getting ready to vacate my dry lakebed camping spot, that is about to become a lake..... I noticed an inner rear tire has a bald spot - time to get new tires I guess?

Lucky for me there is a Tire & Feed Store 2 miles away (I guess that is a common thing in California desert towns?

They only have 2 tires in my size, so I get both on that side replaced, and tell them I will pick another 2 up on the way back thru next week.



When I ask how long the balding tire would have lasted, my guy responded "maybe 1,000 miles?", After removing the outer tire he realized the tire was actually flat.



Wonder how long I was riding around like this?



So they changed both tires in less than an hour, and I got some premium dogfood, all for less than $700, feeling pretty good about what could have been a really bad day.



The actual stay was fun too.
3 days in Joshua Tree

[drew78634]

Originally Posted by dredman

As a matter of fact - yes!!
They also have the Rio Grande there, so I might spend a week or more paddling and riding around

I had an interesting day today. As I am getting ready to vacate my dry lakebed camping spot, that is about to become a lake..... I noticed an inner rear tire has a bald spot - time to get new tires I guess?

Lucky for me there is a Tire & Feed Store 2 miles away (I guess that is a common thing in California desert towns?

They only have 2 tires in my size, so I get both on that side replaced, and tell them I will pick another 2 up on the way back thru next week.



When I ask how long the balding tire would have lasted, my guy responded "maybe 1,000 miles?", After removing the outer tire he realized the tire was actually flat.



Wonder how long I was riding around like this?



So they changed both tires in less than an hour, and I got some premium dogfood, all for less than $700, feeling pretty good about what could have been a really bad day.



The actual stay was fun too.
3 days in Joshua Tree

Be careful on the Rio Grande. Lots of cartel runs to and fro on that river! By the looks of your pics you've played with fire before on an old impact area!!!

[dredman]

2 days in Malibu, shockingly easy parking, unloading, and overnighting - I figured it would be much more difficult, like San Francisco?

[Tango]

Good to hear. I would have guessed the same regarding parking & overnighting.

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by dredman

THE (NOT SO) GRAND CANYON



Shortly after I got this pic, I filled my water tank, and hauled ass south again, rolling down just south of Sedona, dropping 3,000 feet, and gaining 20 degrees. Found a nice spot with some sucky, multi-colored hills that look as tho they need exploring.



After I parked, I realized I was sharing my view with a neighbor. She seemed a little pissed.



She kept giving me “that look”.



The moonrise last night gave me the feeling that this was all too good to be true. I am much more excited about riding around here than I was about the Grand Canyon.

Looks more like a bull than a cow, but that is a guess.

[dredman]

San Berdoo....I guess I need to look into this whole "snow chain" thing?

[dredman]

I knew the wind was coming, just thought it was coming Sunday, not the day before. The wind picked up around midnight Christmas, and never slowed. I like storms, and I like wind, especially when I am inside a structure with windows. The irony is the windows are the cause of all my suffering. The sand grains and dried mud are small enough to fit into grooves in the vertical sliding windows.


Calm before the storm


Garage area under windows

Seeing and feeling the rush of wind and sand an rocks banging against the bus was a delight, until my sinuses came apart. When I could not get the snot-flow under control, I also realized there was a cloud of dust inside the bus. I know the bus was NOT airtight, but I had no idea how much material could actually penetrate the bus. I finished day 2 of cleaning, an that was really only the left side, as the right side is mostly drifting dust – still dirty, just no piles of sand like the ENTIRE LEFT SIDE of the bus.


First (of 2) bucket of sand

After emptying the vacuum from the day before, and replacing the filter, I emptied the entire back of the bus so I could vacuum the sand from the rear. It took another four hours to do that, ten I had to go back up front, and redo the windows from yesterday. I did not realize the sills were retaining sand on top, and sucking them thru when driving. It has been a long 2 days.


Xmas Day Ride

It’s all good, I needed to clean anyway, just wanted to wait till spring But I did get to ride some awesome desert, and hope to finish riding here this week

**WARNING**

The video below contains excessive profanity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DRn0m08yZE

[Tango]

Hmmmm...for some reason I keep having Burning Man flashbacks.

[dredman]

Always want to do a Burn, but if that is part of it, gonna have to pass it up

[M1031A1]

Dred,

You may want to check/clean your intake filters to the engine on the bus and bike.

Just a thought.......

M1031

[gbstewart]

nice pics looks like your a great adventure.
what make of tires did you get?
gbstewart

[dredman]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

Dred,

You may want to check/clean your intake filters to the engine on the bus and bike.

Just a thought.......

M1031

the sand went everywhere else, why would it NOT blow into the intakes?

[dredman]

Originally Posted by gbstewart

nice pics looks like your a great adventure.
what make of tires did you get?
gbstewart

Hercules?

Never heard of them, but that is all they had in stock, and I am VERY pleased so far

[dredman]

Anyone know the mass of a bus, moving at 1 mph? After trying to stop mine by holding onto the mirror, I think it might be just a bit more than my mass + strength x determination/fear. Pretty funny, I knew this was gonna happen eventually – I forget to set the air-brake(there is no position – Park), walk away, and do not notice the bus moving. Well it happened today. I park, walk in to check out the coin laundry, walk thru and return to see the bus moving………..




In fact, it moved about half the distance you see to the nice, new, white pickup. I ran, and after realizing I was NOT superhuman, I jumped inside and stomped the brakes. Pretty funny after all was said and done, but very scary during.

The Moral:

Always pull this lever before exiting the vehicle.



Now, back to my laundry. What are YOU doing today?

[Tango]

E=mc2 --- Good thing the "c" was so low cause there was enough "m" there to do some damage. Glad to hear it turned out OK. Hope the laundry did too.

Keep on Bussin'!

[ol trunt]

So what kind of laundry detergent did you use to clean your shorts?

[crazycal]

Good thing he was next to the laundromat, eh?

[BurlKing]

nice save! wow. had to hold my breath even reading it.

[dredman]

I guarantee anyone witnessing this would have laughed. Bonehead move started it, and another bonehead move, almost ended it poorly. Luckily the wind was not blowing really hard, and the truck was 60 feet away - always good to have big margins for error.