Don’t you just want to throw something?

It has been a very frustrating day.  We started packing and moving the house this morning and we are still going at it.  It’s almost 10 pm. and we still have to get the trailer and my car over to Buena Vista where they will be stored until we get back.

I keep finding these empty dark holes in this house that have just collected crap over the months… and the moving process seems entirely never ending.  Tyson and I find ourselves overly frustrated at times, and the feeling of wanting to throw something overcomes us. Fortunately, the things that are the most frustrating are far too heavy to throw.

But we are working through it.  Tyson is out in the snow  now putting on wheel spacers so we can tow the trailer.  This means that the tires he got are bigger than stock and have a large load rating. Without the two inch spacers, the duals in the back would eventually rub until they exploded.  He didn’t have the correct tool extension so we had to make a quick trip to Gunnison. We were lucky that Walmart had what we needed!

We’ll be off to B.V. hopefully in the next hour. Then back to C.B. in the morning to get AK stuff and then on the road.  Finally! It has been a hectic week but tomorrow’s the day!

Check out this photo of the late night packing of the trailer/storage unit.

It’s a Blizzard

Well I guess the snow gods don’t want us to leave. It has been snowing with a 30 mph wind for the last 9 hours. We were trying to get the trailer packed to move out of the house but gave up. We packed more things inside and will have to finish tomorrow. Hopefully it is a bit nicer of a day.

I was able to make Meesha some stairs so she can get up and down from the second level on her own. She can’t see out any windows on the floor and I figured that would really suck being stuck down there. This doubles her living space and I think she really digs the steps. Cally carpeted them and they look awesome. She also put carpet over the linoleum and it gives the camper a really nice ambiance.

The house has been a mess now for a few days and it takes me about 10 minutes to find a tool. Cally took all my tools and laid them on the table for easy access. So hopefully next time we right the house will be packed. We need to get on the road already.

 

It’s Snowing

Well woke up this morning to a few inches on the ground and a 20 mph wind. I’m taking the truck to Gunnison to have new U-joints put in along with a brake fluid flush and radiator flush. Laying in the mud the last 2 days has taken a toll on me, I think I’m starting to get a little sick.

Cally has been doing an amazing job in the house. The kitchen is mostly packed up and she’s been doing some organizing. I put her on camper duty so she is packing the whole thing.

Camper Wiring Is In

Spent the day under the truck wiring in the camper plug. I had a test light and figured out which wires were the right turn, left turn, clearance, and reverse. I tapped into those and ran them to the bed of the truck. I then added a solenoid under the truck and ran a wire from the battery to it and from it to the camper plug. Also ran a ground from the camper plug. I went into my fuse box and found a fuse that is a spare and only becomes hot when the the key is turned on. I took a fuse tap from it to the solenoid.

What all this does is ensures I won’t run my truck batteries dead in the middle of Canada by using the camper. When the truck is turned on it closes the circuit in the solenoid and allows the camper is be run off my truck batteries. If I shut the truck off the solenoid opens and power is not able to flow from the batteries to the camper. The camper will then be running off it’s own on board battery.

Cally got under the truck with me and thought she’d give the whole wiring thing a go. She made it about 20 minutes before she couldn’t feel her hands and was too frustrated to continue. It was nice because now she knows how I feel when I come into the house wet, muddy, cold, and ready to throw tools. I spent 5 hours under there tonight and finished up at about 10 pm. We’re suppose to get a foot of snow tonight and I was trying to finish it before tomorrow. I still have 2 lights to hook up but at least I’ll be standing for that.

Mud, Snow, and Broken Tools

I replaced all the brake pads today and it was quite a job. I broke 4 tools and had to run to Gunnison to get replacements. The bolts holding the calipers were all pretty rusty and I had to lay in the mud and snow to do them all. I sure wish my buddy Greg could have been there to enjoy it with me. By the end of the day I was soaked to the bone and covered in mud. The job is done now which is nice.

I also installed a 50 amp circuit breaker under the hood for the camper plug along with a solenoid mounted to the underside of the cab. I drilled a hole through the bed of the pickup and mounted the camper plug wiring. Tomorrow will be tracing the wires and splicing into the correct ones for turn signals and running lights. I also will need to run power from the battery and hook up a ground.

Brake Pads

Tyson put on some new brake pads today. What a smart guy. I am lucky.

Our driveway is either ice or mud — no in between.  He got pretty dirty!

Wiring

Today was pretty productive. I got 2 of the offroad lights wired and the light bar was painted. The lights are tied into my high beams with a 3-way switch. I can either have them on and no other lights on, completely off no matter what position my driving lights are in, or they will come on when I hit my high beam switch. I also finished the bed (except for the struts to hold it up). The mattress sits a little higher but there is still plenty of room up there. I still need to get carpet on the floor along with a rug. The linoleum is pretty slick when there’s snow on it. I’m going to be wiring the camper plug in to the bed of the pickup tomorrow. I really need to show Cally how to wire all this so she can do it on the next pickup. Hopefully this 30 mph wind dies down a little. You’re going to hear it a lot but I need a shop.

Welding and Painting

I got the Bodiak front hitch in for the winch. This is what it looks like normally bolted up with the winch on it. The hitch slides in over the tow hooks on the truck and bolts down. The winch has a multi mount on it which allows it to be inserted into a 2” receiver. I can’t fit a light bar behind the hitch which is normally where they are located so the light bar was welded onto the hitch.

Now the hitch is in the paint booth (living room) getting prepped for paint. I should have it all painted and ready for finally assembly tomorrow.

Shopping Trip

We had a chance to get to Costco yesterday and stocked up on a few of the essential items like a 5 pound bag of peanut M&M’s, 50 fruit roll ups, 5 pounds of taco seasoning, 48 pop tarts, 80 fruit snacks, and 40 cup of noodles. We should be good until Salt Lake, thankfully there is another Costco there and we can stop.

We also had a nice lunch with Cally’s dad and enjoyed a beautiful 60 degree day.

Here’s a shot of the outside. It has a full wall slide so the booth dinette and refrigerator slide out about 2 feet. It adds quite a lot of space to the interior.