What's new

Summer Vacation 2009

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
Saturday (27 June): Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon (continued)

IDAHO​

Sorry, folks. I think I've found the streamlined Route to Total Status. A picture is worth 1,000 posts. :D

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 8388608 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 1000 bytes) in /home/forum4/public_html/forum/includes/class_image.php on line 1417

Hopefully I'm allowed to upload more tomorrow.

:goodnight:
mac
 

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
I want to give a huge :thankyou: to Happy Girl, Lynn Fountain Campbell, Bob Adams, dt2000, ThisIsIt, Kathy (ImOut), Bailey's Auto Shop, FoTi (2x for you :) ), James River Steel, Monroe Auto Shop, Wisened One, BobTheSP, and all my friends and family where I stopped and made this such a fun and exciting trip!

And thanks for all you ESMBers for coming along with me!

I have about 50 or 100 more pictures to upload, but I've exceeded my allowed upload limit apparently. (I'm begging for more space now.)

It turned out, I came within a mile or so of the Atlantic Ocean before turning around. So, I would not have been able to deliver Alanzo, were he with me. Maybe next time.

:wave:
Mac
 

clamicide

Gold Meritorious Patron
Was fun watchin you travel Mac. Glad you made it home safe.

Next time......I'm first stop!!!!!!:coolwink:

dammit...quit changing your avatar so much, or at least send me a PM to give me a heads-up, you are confusing the living HELL out of me...and you KNOW I love ya...:D
 

Good twin

Floater
dammit...quit changing your avatar so much, or at least send me a PM to give me a heads-up, you are confusing the living HELL out of me...and you KNOW I love ya...:D

Sorry Clammy. I get really bored really easily. Plus....I don't know who I am. :confused2:
 

Dulloldfart

Squirrel Extraordinaire
It turned out, I came within a mile or so of the Atlantic Ocean before turning around. So, I would not have been able to deliver Alanzo, were he with me. Maybe next time.

:wave:
Mac

Thanks very much, Mac.

Wow — what a resourceful fellow you are. Wonderful road trip stories.

Paul
 

rich

Silver Meritorious Patron
Bump:well I'll be damned if I'll let Paul be the last poster on this thread. Besides I love the silly airplane in meglo's avatar.
 

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
Saturday (27 June): Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon (continued)

Next time......I'm first stop!!!!!!:coolwink:
:confused2: :hug:

Maybe you should change your avatar. It usually makes me feel better. :yes:


...sorry for threadjacking, Mac.
Sorry for Thread Abandonment

Thanks very much, Mac.

Wow — what a resourceful fellow you are. Wonderful road trip stories.

Paul
Thanks for coming along!

Bump:well I'll be damned if I'll let Paul be the last poster on this thread. Besides I love the silly airplane in meglo's avatar.
That's a sailboat.

Ok, I found my upload problem. One photo was 1010 pixels wide. Max width is 1000 pixels. ESMB server gave me a wrong error message. Here we go...

IDAHO (continued)​

Horses
2009_06_27_id_road_07.JPG

Places named after famous people.
2009_06_27_id_road_08_good_twin.JPG2009_06_27_id_road_09_dof_good_twin.JPG

2009_06_27_id_road_10.JPG

Snake River.
2009_06_27_id_road_11_snake_river.JPG2009_06_27_id_road_12_snake_river.JPG2009_06_27_id_road_13_snake_river.JPG

2009_06_27_id_road_14.JPG2009_06_27_id_road_15.JPG


OREGON​
2009_06_27_or_road_01.JPG

I stopped in Boise and saw more friends and family. :happydance: :bighug: Then, I made it just into Oregon before I fell asleep.
 

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
Sunday (28 June): Oregon, Washington, Idaho

OREGON​
Eastern Oregon Mountains
2009_06_28_or_road_02_blue_mountains_cement_factory.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_03.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_04.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_05.JPG
2009_06_28_or_road_06.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_07.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_08.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_09.JPG

Steep downgrade & truck emergency stop ramp.
2009_06_28_or_road_10.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_11.JPG

Then, eastern Oregon gets dry.
2009_06_28_or_road_12.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_13.JPG

The Columbia River, near Umatilla, Oregon
2009_06_28_or_road_14.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_15.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_16.JPG2009_06_28_or_road_17.JPG

WASHINGTON​
Welcome to Washington, the Evergreen State
2009_06_28_wa_road_01.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_02.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_03.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_04.JPG

Columbia River at Pasco, Washington.
2009_06_28_wa_road_05.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_06.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_07.JPG

More Eastern Washington
2009_06_28_wa_road_08.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_09.JPG

Dust devil
2009_06_28_wa_road_10_dust_devil.JPG

More Eastern Washington
2009_06_28_wa_road_11.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_12_sprague_lake.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_13.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_14.JPG

Sprague Lake
2009_06_28_wa_road_15_granite_lake.JPG

Spokane
2009_06_28_wa_road_16_spokane.JPG2009_06_28_wa_road_17_spokane.JPG

Spokane River near Idaho border
2009_06_28_wa_road_18_spokane_river.JPG

IDAHO​
Rathdrum prairie. Rathdrum Bald Mountain. This is where I went to school from 5th grade to 9th grade.
2009_06_28_id_road_01_rathdrum_prairie.JPG2009_06_28_id_road_02.JPG2009_06_28_id_road_03_rathdrum.JPG

I arrived at my Idaho destination. This is my family's shed. It has a hole in the roof. The main purpose for the materials I picked up in Virginia was to repair this roof.
2009_06_28_id_road_04_shed.jpg

With two hours to spare, I made it to my cousin's wedding! :happydance: It was on a boat on Lake Coeur D' Alene.
2009_06_28_id_road_05_cda_lake.JPG2009_06_28_id_road_06_cda_lake.JPG2009_06_28_id_road_07_cda_lake.JPG2009_06_28_id_road_08_cda_lake.JPG
 
Last edited:

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
Tuesday (30 June): Idaho, Washington, Oregon

IDAHO​
My truck, mostly unloaded, I got back on the road west.

WASHINGTON​

Diaper Change/Digital Camera Upload Station at the Sprague Lake rest stop.
2009_06_30_wa_road_01_diaper_change_station_sprague_lake_rest_area.JPG

Sprague Lake
2009_06_30_wa_road_02_sprague_lake_rest_area.JPG2009_06_30_wa_road_03_sprague_lake_rest_area.JPG2009_06_30_wa_road_04_sprague_lake.JPG

Eastern Washington
2009_06_30_wa_road_05.JPG2009_06_30_wa_road_06.JPG2009_06_30_wa_road_07.JPG

Columbia River near Pasco
2009_06_30_wa_road_08_columbia_river_pasco.JPG

Windmill parts
2009_06_30_wa_road_09.JPG2009_06_30_wa_road_10.JPG

Columbia River at Oregon border
2009_06_30_wa_road_11.JPG2009_06_30_wa_road_12.JPG


OREGON​
Last I heard, there were old chemical weapons leaking here. Must have been just a rumor, 'cause I haven't heard anything about it lately. :confused2:
2009_06_30_or_road_01.JPG

Tree Farm
2009_06_30_or_road_02_tree_farm.JPG

Columbia River
2009_06_30_or_road_03.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_04.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_05.JPG

Windmills, Grain Elevator
2009_06_30_or_road_06_windmills_grain_elevator.JPG

Columbia River, John Day Dam
2009_06_30_or_road_07.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_08.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_09_john_day_dam.JPG
2009_06_30_or_road_10_john_day_dam.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_11_john_day_dam.JPG

Biggs Junction. See the trail of diesel fuel I'm leaving? If I had the valve turned one way too far, I lost too much power, too far the other way, I spilled fuel. Must have had it mis-adjusted here. Sorry.
2009_06_30_or_road_12_biggs.JPG

Tugboat pushing a grain barge
2009_06_30_or_road_13_grain_barge.JPG

The Dalles, Mt Hood in the background
2009_06_30_or_road_14_the_dalles.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_15_the_dalles_mt_hood.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_16_the_dalles_mt_hood.jpg2009_06_30_or_road_17_the_dalles.JPG

2009_06_30_or_road_18.JPG

At rest stop, dogs are :banned: . Squirrels are :thumbsup: .
2009_06_30_or_road_19.jpg

Hood River. There were windsurfers, but I missed them on camera.
2009_06_30_or_road_20_hood_river.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_21_hood_river.JPG

2009_06_30_or_road_22.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_23.JPG

Bonneville Dam
2009_06_30_or_road_24_bonneville_dam.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_25_bonneville_dam.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_26_bonneville_dam.JPG

2009_06_30_or_road_27.JPG

Multnomah Falls and another little waterfall
2009_06_30_or_road_28_multnomah_falls.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_29_multnomah_falls.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_30_falls.jpg2009_06_30_or_road_31_falls.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_32.JPG

Picking up the last of my load at Northstar Steel. (Fuel valve adjusted for NO LEAKS in the Northstar parking lot :whistling: )
2009_06_30_or_road_33_northstar.JPG

Driving around Portland, skipping the downtown.
2009_06_30_or_road_34_portland.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_35_portland.JPG

Oregon City, the Willamete Valley, the end of the Oregon Trail. Almost home. I stopped to see more family in Molalla.
2009_06_30_or_road_36_oregon_city.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_37.JPG2009_06_30_or_road_38.JPG

Getting late. I'm tired.
2009_06_30_or_road_39.JPG
By this time, the jerry-rigged fuel system was both losing power and leaking and there was no sweet spot in between. Stopping every twenty minutes, monitoring the situation, I made it home early the next morning.


End of Summer Vacation story. Almost.
 

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
The rest of this story does not happen all in summer, but it's related. So it goes in this thread.

One thing that I have trouble talking about, :no: :bigcry: is that I took a precious friend, tried to make something more, and then went back on my promises. The result is that I am regarded as deceptive scum by someone dear. I don't know what more I should say here. It's just related, that's all. It happened. Sorry. If there are gaps and delays in my posts, well, that's a reason why. :duh: :bigcry:

Ok, so on with the good part of this story ...
 

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
The Roof

So why all the fuss? Why go all the way to Virginia?

I had to fix the roof in Idaho. I needed a shed in the backyard. I wanted to try out some ideas I've had for a while. If it worked, I might use it on a bigger project. The idea was to make a roof out of stainless steel, and bolt it on. Apparently, the only place in the U.S.A. that makes stainless steel in a shape called N-Deck, is in Virginia. :confused2: I'm not sure if that's because China seems to make most things or stainless steel is not that commonly needed or what.

So this is stainless steel N Deck. cost: $15/sq ft = $150/sq meter (plus delivery :coolwink: ) Add to that a custom sheet metal piece to make the overlap more weathertight, and add the bolts, and the total material cost is around $20/sq ft = $200/sq meter. :ohmy:
2009_11_garage_01.JPG2009_11_garage_02.jpg

This is galvanized steel N Deck, which I used to make a floor in my garage. cost: $2/sq ft = $20/sq meter. Most bean counters would consider this a more sensible choice of material. I'll explain my reasons for stainless more in a little bit. Anyways, N Deck replaces plywood and joists the way I used it here for this floor, making a floor that's 4 inches (10 cm) thick, spanning 6 feet (2 meters). Attaching the floorboards was a bit tricky and not done to house standards. In, other words, this floor squeaks. But I think I could improve my construction technique to avoid that.
2009_11_garage_03.JPG2009_11_garage_04.JPG

I welded on tabs for a stronger bolted connection.
2009_11_garage_05.JPG

Here's a home-made brake, which is a tool consisting of a hinge, with the purpose of bending sheet metal. I'm not sure how the pro's do it. This is my amateur job.
2009_11_garage_06.JPG

In spare time over many weeks, I prepared 2x4s with bolts to be installed in the roof in Idaho. I hired my cousin to help, too.
2009_11_basement_01.JPG

It looked the bolting scheme would work.
2009_11_basement_02.JPG2009_11_basement_03.JPG2009_11_basement_04.JPG
 
Last edited:

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
Thanksgiving Vacation 2009

I also got my truck to a mechanic. He found the reason for the slow fuel line. He also replaced hoses that can withstand biodiesel. And I bought some biodiesel. :thumbsup: I don't know if all this bio-stuff is just bio-bullshit. :confused2: But I want to push in that direction. We don't need an army to get the stuff, anyways. Whatever. Truck works now.

Oregon, Sunday, 22 November 2009​
Back at Biggs Junction, heading east. See? No trail of diesel fuel. Well, take my word for it.
2009_11_22_or_01.JPG

Idaho, Monday, 23 November 2009​

Rathdrum Prairie, Rathdrum Bald Mountain
2009_11_23_id_01.JPG2009_11_23_id_02.JPG

I have to shovel and sweep the snow off the roof.
2009_11_23_id_03.JPG2009_11_23_id_04.JPG

This hole was covered with plywood and a tarp. But there were more soft spots that the plywood didn't cover. Last winter there was a lot of snow. My cousin had to shovel off the roof to avoid a total collapse. Dangerous. My goal was to finally fix the roof so that wouldn't be necessary. A metal roof should shed the snow. The N Deck should support more load, too.
2009_11_23_id_05.jpg

I was able to burn a pile of junk wood that I seem to never get the chance to do in summer.
2009_11_23_id_06.JPG


Idaho, Tuesday, 23 November 2009​
Next day, more snow.
2009_11_24_id_01.JPG

I worked till late at night every day. Most of the time was spent cutting and installing the 2x's and puncing holes in the N Deck. I have a hand punch that would go through the galvanized without too much effort. But to get through the same thickness of stainless steel, I had to extend the handles with "cheater bars" and squeeze really hard to BANG! punch the holes.
2009_11_24_id_02.JPG

Idaho, Wednesday, 24 November 2009​
Thanks to help from two uncles, I got it done Wednesday, just in time to get back for Thanksgiving with family. Three-sevenths of the roof is stainless N-Deck. Four-sevenths is galvanized N-Deck. I got the bolts fairly accurately placed, which was pretty important to getting the roofing to fit on.
2009_11_25_id_01.JPG2009_11_25_id_02.JPG2009_11_25_id_03.JPG
2009_11_25_id_04.JPG2009_11_25_id_05.JPG2009_11_25_id_06.JPG
2009_11_25_id_07.JPG2009_11_25_id_08.JPG2009_11_25_id_09.JPG

I didn't quite finish with all the trim. I didn't have time to weld on all the tabs, so it's not as strong as it could be. But the main work is done and it's ready for winter. :)

Here's my list of advantages and disadvantages for this style of roofing.

N-Deck + Bolts
Advantages
Strong
Safe to walk on (lots of bolts to prevent slipping off. Ribs to hold onto. This turned out well.)
Many bolts on which things can be installed, without damaging the roof: solar panels, wind generators, antennas.
Relatively fewer points to seal (the bolt holes) Shouldn't leak -- we'll see.

Disadvantages
cost
more difficult to seal roof penetrations
difficult to deal with a complicated roof shape


Stainless Steel
Advantages
Weather resistance
Wear resistance
Collects rain water with minimal contamination
Maintains value (I expect this material to always be an asset to whoever owns it)

Disadvantages
cost
difficulty to work with (tough material!)
higher potential for theft

So, there you go. I know this is something only the rich can afford. But, long term (200+ years? :confused2: ) I actually think stainless comes out cheaper. I won't be around to find out :no: . But in the meantime, I expect it to never be a problem and always an asset. I think there's a huge advantage in having something you don't have to worry about. If only I could avoid being a problem in other areas. :duh:

END
 

Megalomaniac

Silver Meritorious Patron
Metric!

I forgot to say:

The (12mm) bolts are spaced at 600mm horizontally and 1200mm on the slope. So to all you Imperial inch people and all you pseudo-metric people (you know who you are, you with the wall studs spaced at 406.4mm) I just have to say :neener: :bleh:

When your feet & inch measuring tapes are rust, the holes in the stainless will still be at 1200mm spacing. Deal with it. Neh!
 
Top