Judy and I concluded the next to last round trip from our personal "Gulch" to WA. state a few days ago... How's that song go: What a long strange trip it's been? LOL! Indeed it was! This was the leg of our move that we brought out our motorcycles along with the next to last large cargo load.
Everything was going along swimmingly... Sammy, my adopted son rode Judy's bike, I on the hawg... Judy and her sister took turns playing truck driver and "chase" car, which to those of you not in the know, is for being behind the bikes in case of a breakdown on the run.
Yep! good thing we planned it that way! My 'Lil girl (the Harley) decided she needed me to upgrade her charging system about 300 miles into the trip (of 1745 miles)! We were about 120 miles short of Spokane, on new construction grooved payment I heard what sounded like the whole bottom primary go BANG! Sam heard it too, but yelled back at me it was just the loose gravel kicking up...
Oops! She ran fine for another 80 miles, then just lost all power, I could tell it was electrical just from experience in such things... the battery was drained... 20 or so miles from town. I sent Sammy into town to get a new battery at Walmart (HD stores are closed on Sundays and Mondays), replaced it, and down the road we go! Err... for another 90 miles... Damn! Drained battery again!
Well dang it! Where in Hades do you get a voltage regulator for a Harley on a Sunday night? You don't! So I put on my thinking cap (need that more than often these days) and decided to keep this train on time by sending Sammy to the next town and pick up a digital charging unit (I love Walmart!) so we could use the ac/dc convertor that I use for the laptop computer on trips... that way we could go charge one battery in the truck, and scamper down the boulevard until that battery went dead, and change out back and forth! That plan worked for 6 change outs...
Rolling to the edge of Missoula Montana I spied their new HD shop at the edge of town... IT WAS OPEN! On a Monday even! I led our 'Lil caravan down the off ramp and pulled right into their service center where the Manager put her right onto the bike lift to do what needed to be done!
Granny, I be one lucky man! We pulled the primary case and Lord all Mighty! The rotor and stator had exploded like a hand grenade in there... large chunk of magnets and iron casing filled the case... That was the Bang I heard... all that shrapnel could have froze the gears, or seized the belt and flopped me down on the pavement at anytime! Lucky lucky lucky! Thank You Lord!
We cleaned the case out, and repaired what had to be replaced and made it home to the gulch with no further incidents all in 3 and a half days!
BTW DelaWhere... I milled some wild rice, peanuts, corn, coffee, on that grinder we discussed... it's a first rate mill! I'm ordering some wheat and other commodities this week for our stash, and am confident I purchased the right grinder for the job!
The "Gulch" is taking good shape... still haven't found a way to kill off the wood ticks that are having a prolific year here, getting real good at knowing when they climb on board! The native folks tuck their pant legs into their socks to prevent them from crawling up your legs, but them suckers drop off the trees and vegetation onto everything else however! I could become a very rich man if I could find a way to eradicate them... no one here knows of a method to do that! Wish I had a source for DDT!
The Tribe gave out seed packets, and, starter plants to everyone who wanted them yesterday, we are still having occasional freezes so it is just now that we can plant without fear of losing everything... Judy's nephew is bringing his tractor out this week to bust up the plot I set aside (and busted a gut trying to do by hand...LOL!). I purchased a honda cadet cub rototiller to refine that with... excellent unit! Better than a troybilt, who btw has started using honda engines as well! The model I bought should really help do what must be done... with relative ease...
They had a gun show here this weekend, some components but no primers. Some ammunition but ridiculous prices... I DID however score some silver rounds and one ounce ingots at 14 per Z... not bad considering the spot...
Some of you have asked me when I thought it might be the time to go all in at the bottom of the deflation cycle... I have priced commodities between here in NE MN to the West Coast, and have, as I'm sure all of you have, seen a BIG increase in food prices just in the past few months. I have heard from others that gas prices will increase as much as 30-40% by July... It's looking to me like that time is here, I'm jumping in for the big buys on things I believe we will need for the next few years now. There's just too damn much money chasing the goods now, that hyperinflation on the horizon is getting close, and this 'ol cowboy can smell a storm coming...
For those who have been looking and looking, and for whom the different grinder mills are running together in their heads, JDoutrider is reporting on this previous post.
>>>The best I could find for the money came from Walton Feed...
The Grinder-Wonder Junior (Deluxe) at $219.95.<<<
From his trials so far.....
>>>I milled some wild rice, peanuts, corn, coffee, on that grinder we discussed... it’s a first rate mill! I’m ordering some wheat and other commodities this week for our stash, and am confident I purchased the right grinder for the job!<<<
Sounds great to me... Particularly being able to do the hard right down to the oily tasks...
Thanks for the report... Know which one I’m getting now.
Hmmmm, maybe I should order mine before I post this so they won’t be out of stock... 8^)
Granny, I be one lucky man! We pulled the primary case and Lord all Mighty! The rotor and stator had exploded like a hand grenade in there... large chunk of magnets and iron casing filled the case... That was the Bang I heard... all that shrapnel could have froze the gears, or seized the belt and flopped me down on the pavement at anytime! Lucky lucky lucky! Thank You Lord!<<<
That is worth saying a prayer of thanks for.
I am so glad that God kept an eye on you and your travels, as we all prayed he would.
I sounds like you are moving along at a good pace and that is worth being proud of.
Thanks for the update on the grinder, so many wanted to know and I am glad it worked for you, as you wanted it to do.
Your Gulch sounds like a dream we have all had and many still do....Wish I could come and help you.
Yes, on the increase in food prices, they are really raising the prices out here.
I suspect that Walton’s and others like them will be having increased orders and soon.
Take care, keep reporting in, have fun and stay safe.
Hug Judy an extra time for me.
Thanks for the update on your gulch adventures. It’s always interesting to hear about.
I didn’t realize the grain mill you got has both steel and stone grinding thingies (yes, not a truly technical term). Pretty neat!
Thanks for the grinder report. I’ve been waiting to hear how it worked. I’m thinking that’s my next big purchase come payday.
Glad to hear you made it safely and got the problem solved with your motorcycle.