BLRI Summary

Ok so it's been a while... I've been working... a lot. Last trip I think I did around 140 hours in 2 weeks. I wasn't collecting the whole time either.... lots of trouble-shooting. I'm gonna try to do a summary of where I've been, what I've seen, and hopefully not hate on my truck too much.

So I'll start with what was the end of Blue Ridge Parkway. Just a reminder Blue Ridge is a 472.820 mile long parkway (trust me on the mileage), that goes from the Southern end of Shenandoah NP to Great Smoky Mountains NP. It's really a pretty drive, but it rains and it rains a lot. We fought the rain almost every day and the days we didn't, we fought the truck.

We had started BLRI on July 24th and we ended on September 5th. It's a big park, but it definitely shouldn't have taken 6.5 weeks. The last 5 days were tough, but we got something done everyday. We flew in on August 31st, picked up the truck from an alternator shop the next day (had to fix the 275amp alternator) and off to work. I think we collected a couple of routes until we started getting an error with our ultra-sonic sensors (give a profile of the road surface - rutting basically). Thought we got it fixed, but didn't get a chance to find out since it started raining.

Next day it came back, fixed it for the day, but we didn't get a lot done since the roads were still wet. Next day we figured out the problem with the rutbar for good (good is relative since we just spent 10 hours troubleshooting it on Friday and Monday). So the next couple of days were trying, but we got BLRI done by Saturday September 5th. Here are a couple of pics that I took from the last days with BLRI.
We had just driven up from Asheville in this pic. We were pretty worried that the roads were gonna be wet, as Asheville was shrouded in clouds. Turned out to be a perfect day for collection above the clouds.
Can't remember the name of this rock, but it's towards the end of BLRI. Kinda reminded me of the Rockier mountains of the West.

So after Blue Ridge came Great Smoky Mountains. 2 things about GRSM... it's the most visited National Park in the system (9 million a year) = lots of dumb drivers and we started collection on a Saturday (of Labor Day weekend). It was tough... and it rained, rained everyday.

BLRI day 11

Boone, NC

Well another eventful couple of days here along the Parkway... the smoke that we saw on Thursday turned out to not be the air conditioner, sorry Winston-Salem Ford Dealer!... we were wrong, you were right. Did get to tour Wake Forest University while they were checking things out though.... nice campus.

The voltages were still dropping... so we still had to figure something out. We trouble-shot all afternoon in Winston-Salem. Eventually we figured out that one of our isolators had gone bad. An isolator basically takes current from an alternator and disperses it evenly to multiple batteries. All the while not allowing current back to the alternator.

Enough technical stuff... it's important basically. When it's not working, we're not working. This of course is happening on a Friday afternoon. And you can't just walk into a local Napa and ask for a 250amp isolator.

We started calling places that we found online to get it shipped overnight. However we couldn't call anywhere on the East coast since it was now about 430pm EDT (too late for FedEx or UPS to go out). Tried the Central time zone... thought we had one, but she called back... too late. Started calling California... found one after a couple of tries. Got it shipped overnight, Saturday arrival (not cheap). But we got it 9am EDT Saturday morning, after ordering it at 530pm EDT on Friday. Amazing what those shipping companies can do these days. And thank you Jared at Buchanan Auto electric in Oakland, CA.

Installed the isolator by 10am and started working. Got a lot done yesterday, most we could've hoped for.

Today was another pretty good collection day. We have all the routes through about MP 289 on the Parkway (goes to 461). So we're making our way. Doesn't look like I'll get to finish it off though, kinda sad about that. I'm heading back to Denver on Tuesday for a little vacation and to celebrate Megan's 30th birthday... Feel free to send her a Happy Birthday message on Thursday

♫

(mmcgrew19@gmail.com).

Had to go through a couple of construction areas today. Got to one with a huge rock slide... see below.

You can see the van in the back for scale... crazy. Don't think that section is gonna be open for a while.

We're staying in Boone, NC... nice town. I mostly like it because it's a small college town, home of the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Well ok, the only reason I'm fond of them is because they pulled off the biggest upset in college football history... beating Michigan in the Big House a couple of years back. Still brings a smile to my face... Town really is nice though, would definitely recommend it for anyone thinking of visiting the area.

Ok, good enough for now. Last day of collection for me tomorrow. Don't think I'll have time to post, but maybe is something cool happens.

BLRI day 8

Hillsville, VA

Well it didn't start out too bad... but it ended with another delay. We were having an average day of collection, good amount of errors, couple of computer restarts... then we started smelling smoke. Then we saw smoke... voltages started dropping.

Pulled over, shut everything off. Van was running fine, belts were ok, smell kinda went away. We decided to drive to a Ford dealer to have them check things out.

Got there and per usual, were a little intimidated by the van. So after talking on the phone with our support and describing the situation, they suggested checking the air conditioning or more specifically the auxiliary air conditioning. We did and that was definitely the culprit. Our condenser has likely gone bad and now we need to find a new one.

So not really sure what we breathed in when the condenser conked out, but it wasn't good.

And I'm still sick... have to pack and get up early tomorrow to drive to Winston-Salem and hopefully get this thing fixed ASAP.

BLRI Day ?

Hillsville, VA

Well I haven't put a post up in a while... been too discouraged. Went back to Denver on 7/31, then back out on the road on 8/10. Long day on Monday too... Had to get up at 3:45 to make my 6:15am flight. I cut it way too close at check-in too. Probably had 1 or 2 minutes before they did the 45 min cutoff. Walked to the gate and walked right onto the plane pretty much.

Flew to Dulles and then caught a flight to Richmond an hour later. Got to Richmond about 2pm local time and then drove 4 hours to Hillsville, VA... Here's map.


View Larger Map

Needless to say it was a long day. And it was like a 100 degrees in Richmond again...

Yesterday we started collecting, but then we got an error with our roughness laser system. The same error for which we had driven to Richmond at the end of our last trip. The same error that we were supposed to have gotten fixed. Frustration is pretty much part of the job description for me.

Turned out to be an issue with one of our timing cards in the roughness computer. We had spares but they didn't work with the cable we had. So we had to get a cable overnighted from Canada to Hillsville. Got this afternoon at about 230pm and started working immediately.

Got a good amount done for only working about 4 hours. Low sun glare only stopped us at about 645pm.

Bad news from today is that I've gotten sick. Head cold, sore throat, achy... Speaking of achy... Saw a sweet poster of Mr. Achy Breaky himself at the restaurant we went to. Wasn't this one, but this one is sweet.

Went and bought some meds today for my sickness. Didn't realize I bought Ibuprofen PM until after I had popped 2 of them at noon. It was a sleepy afternoon, hopefully I'll be able to sleep, but that's not usually an issue for me.

Last thing from today... After I got out of the shower this morning, I noticed I have a message on my mirror which only shows up when it's fogged up. "I'm watching you!" I mean I guess it's kinda freaky, but not really... funny more than anything. Tried to take a photo with of it, but the bathroom fogginess didn't work out so well.

BLRI day 3

Roanoke, VA

Another day of collection... although we didn't quite fill it up... rain stopped us at about 1:30. Collected to MP 169 of the parkway though. We still have a lot of the OPP lane to collect and a lot of smaller routes but we're making progress.

Also got a nice sulfur smell in the van today. One of our batteries is over-heating and it's not making for the greatest ride. It's over-heating because it's over-charging; it's not leaking anything, but it's not good. We think it could be an isolator that's bad, but we're not totally sure.

Good thing is that it only overheats when the systems are OFF; so we can work without the smell or the worry of a battery exploding (don't think that's possible).

Forgot my camera today; but the parkway is pretty unassuming around Roanoke. Maybe some more tomorrow.

BLRI Day 2

Roanoke, VA

Collected more of the Parkway today.... pretty busy day. Here's a map of what we drove...


View Larger Map

Had to drive to the top of Sharp Top Mountain in the Otter Peaks area. It was hairy to say the least. It's closed to the public, but we had some keys to get us in. They have a short bus that shuttles people to the top. So we had to time our run with the driver so we didn't get pushed off the side of the mountain. I'm not really sure I'd want to ride in a bus on this road though... pretty much straight down with no guard rail.

We made it as far as the pavement went. The rest of the way would have to be by foot. We were a little worried that we'd run into the bus on the way down if we took to long... so we ran. It wasn't too far, but it got me breathin' pretty hard. Actually nice to get some exercise in the middle of the day. Probably helped me make it until 6.

Another long week, put in 69 hours last week and I'm on my way to 75 this week. Nice paycheck, but I'm missing home.

I'll post some pics tomorrow...

forgot to post this last night...

SHEN & BLRI

Waynesboro, VA

Well I'm back to civilization... it's nice to have my cell phone work again, but I do miss my view. We started in SHEN on Monday (I think, days are running together). Collected a lot that first day, saw a bear cub too... just hangin out on the side of the road. Could've reached out the window and picked him up, did not seem to care about anyone but the ants he was eating, looks like he needs them.
SHEN is a beautiful park, it's major asset is the Skyline Drive. Here is a map of it... The road basically goes along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mtns for about 105.730 miles (actually that's exact, we drove it). It was created in 1931 as part of the Works Progress Administration (largest New Deal organization).

I was expecting it to be pretty, but the pictures I'm posting really don't do it nearly enough justice. Vistas were at every corner and it was hard to keep my eyes glued to the road or the computer screen.

That last one is a view from our lodge deck at around 830 at night. That's the Shenandoah Valley, and it was one of the only looks I got from the lodge. Clouds and mist plagued us a lot of the week, luckily not keeping us from working though (46 hours in 4 days).

First time we got to stay at a park lodge, Big Meadows Lodge was the place. They usually won't offer a Government rate, but we worked out something with the park. Although getting the bill right was somewhat of a haggle, it was worth it though.

My room didn't have a phone or internet, and my cell didn't get coverage. So I was disconnected, pretty uncommon for me. I even sent a postcard, pretty old-school.

The lodge offered nightly entertainment at their "tap room" (bar). I went a couple of nights and it was.... interesting... They advertised it as family friendly, and that it was. Here is the list of entertainment, I think I saw Charlie Maddux on Monday. It was a dad and his 16 year old who seemed oddly happy to be there (when I was 16 I was not hanging out with my parents... ever). The dad played the hammer dulcimer amongst other instruments and the son played the obo... need I go on?

I had a bad feeling about it when I heard the waitress say to another couple "um yeah, I kinda dread these nights when he plays." I wish I had a video camera... oh god, I love you, you tube... I couldn't take more than 2 beers worth...

Here's some more pics from SHEN....

The fog got a little crazy sometimes. And yes I took this while I was driving... it's straight for a while I was going about 25mph... ok?

I saw this bear right outside of the lodge, just cruising towards the campground...
This guy was right next to the road... a couple of miles down the road.
The rest of SHEN was slightly a blur... finished up yesterday. 4 days to collect about 160 miles worth of routes. It took a toll, and that's only a 1/4 of what Blue Ridge Parkway brings us.


We started BLRI today. 466 miles from the end of SHEN down to Great Smoky Mountains NP. And it's not a straight shot... winding road up and down ridges and valleys. Plus we have to drive everything twice since we collect both directions. So you can go ahead and double that mileage, and we can't go much faster than 30mph. Long days are in my future that's for sure.

BLRI is pretty though, just like SHEN, but the terrain varies a little more. No bears today but a couple of pics... I like that last one... sums up a lot of the views pretty good (hazy, rolling mountains)

Collected 75 miles of the parkway only 391 miles left... ugh... Here's a map of what we collected today...


View Larger Map

Hopefully I'll have internet the next couple of days, I know so many of you missed my updates...