El Fuego Soberanes

On July 22nd, near Soberanes Creek in the Garrapata State park just south of Monterey, someone decided to ignore the prohibition on campfires. After kindling their illegal fire, they then failed to put it out, and thus started the most expensive wildfire in US history.

The Operations Chief updates the camp on the
current situation at the morning briefing.

Cal Fire (our state wild land fire agency) was responsible for the initial attack, and worked for several weeks to put the fire out. during that time, 57 homes were lost, and a bull dozer operator was killed. Management of the fire transitioned to a federal incident management team after a month. That team eventually handed it off to another team (a federal team from Alaska). Then, on September 10th, I was notified that my team (California Team 4) would be taking over on the 12th.

The Incident Commander ponders the situation
as the Operations Chief (right) explains current
tactics.

The first 10 days have been interesting, and exhausting. My position, as Team Liaison Officer, is relatively new to me and therefore invigorating. The job is to be the contact between the team and local agencies and other cooperating entities that have a stake in effectively managing the fire, as in putting it out!

Leading our daily cooperators meeting is
a key part of my job.

Examples of "cooperators" are the county sheriff (evacuation and re-population), CHP (road closures and traffic control), power companies, Red Cross, local politicians, landowners, etc.

Preparing for a public meeting in the
threatened community of Arroyo Seco

So, I am their point of contact, and help them get connected with the right people on my team to achieve success. Every day I lead a working meeting of all the cooperators. The objective is to keep them informed on progress and suppression activities, and also to surface points of interaction and discuss how they can be dealt with together. Probably the biggest benefit of all is the relationships that develop as we work together to achieve mutual objectives. Ultimately, we will leave but they will be here dealing with the aftermath of the incident. Leaving having established, maintained, and improved the relationships between the local National Forest and the agencies and entities they deal with on a regular basis, indicates our ultimate success.

One of the good parts of the job is that I spend
much of my time with the Incident Commander

Sometimes, you can do a great job of fighting the fire, but ultimately it is how the locals THINK you fought the fire that counts. By being truthful, open, and engaging we are building the relationships that will continue to pay off long after we go home.

That's All!

Houston...We Have a Problem!

It was hot, very hot; and as muggy as a shower room. The sun was beginning to beat into the open garage door. Somewhere a radio was playing classic rock 'n roll. My brother Mike and I had been working on his inherited generator for a while. What started out as an easy hour and a half task, was becoming a grueling test of patience and endurance.

"That's It!' Mike shouted (after we had reassembled the generator's carburetor for the third or fourth time with no successful starts). "I've had enough of this F__KING thing.

"Easy dude! We can do this." I said

"Screw it, I'm gonna put it out on the curb with a sign that says 'FREE' on it!"

"Come on bro, take it easy, this is a pretty nice generator, we can make it work!"

It took a little more persuasion than that, but Mike finally agreed to give it one more shot. We got back at it.

The previous day he had mentioned that he had a generator that one of his neighbors had essentially abandoned after Hurricane Ike several years before. He said that it had never run great, and had been sitting (with fuel in it) for at least six years. Sounded like a fun and rewarding project...it wasn't turning out that way.

Mike smokes a good sausage, while I photo bomb him as
Teri looks on!

We started in the 80 degree relative cool of morning by draining the old gas out of the tank and carburetor, wiping things down, and cleaning it up a bit. With fresh gas, we attempted to start it. Several pulls on the starting rope indicated that that wasn't going to be enough. So we partially disassembled the carburetor and used a small brush and some carb cleaner to get the gummed up fuel off. After we got things clean, we put it all back together. It was getting warmer, and we both opened a chilled Coors Light Silver Bullet.

No luck after 15 or 20 pulls on the starter in the sauna heat, so we tried some starting fluid. Vrooom! The thing fired right up... then died after about 2 seconds. We did this several times, and then decided to check the fuel line. It was clogged with gummed up fuel, easy to clean though.

Once again we reassembled the machine, and once again.. no luck starting it. We did notice that it was getting easier and easier to take it apart and put it together. We tried the starting fluid again, same deal. Time for another "Bullet".

We tore it down again, and this time disassembled the carburetor as much as we thought prudent. We found a few more gummed up parts, cleaned them up and reassembled it (it was a snap this time).

By now it was probably in the mid 90's and about 70 percent humidity. Another beer, and several pulls on the starter didn't get us any closer to fixing the damn thing.

One of Mike's neighbors suggested spraying a product called "Sea Foam" into it after we got it started (with starting fluid). It is purported to be the miracle cure for all ailments automotive. Doing this made the engine run for as long as we continued to spray the stuff into it, while creating huge clouds of stinky white smoke, that billowed out into the alley. I'm sure it was doing some good inside the engine, but I was worried someone would call the fire department. It got so bad we stopped and beat a hasty retreat from the garage. This didn't help our mood as the the blazing Houston sun beat down on us..

That was when Mike lost it. After he calmed down, we decided to take a trip to the parts store for some carburetor dip. I had used it successfully in cleaning my old truck's carb years ago, and convinced my bro to give it one last try. At the store, we collected all the stuff we needed and were standing at the counter ringing it up when it occurred to me that perhaps a new carburetor could be found for a reasonable price online.

As the thought struck me, I realized I could check by Googling on my phone.  I typed in the make and model of the generator, and added the word "parts" at the end. Bingo! The first hit I got was "new carburetors". so I checked the price as mike signed the credit card slip for $32. A new carb delivered to Mike's front door was $24 with $10 shipping.

Mickey Moose!

This put a whole new light on the situation. Baby Bro and I talked it over on the way home and decided to do some more checking on the internet when we got home. Sure enough, it turned out a brand new carburetor cost only a couple of bucks more than the stuff we bought to "maybe" fix the old one. We had the receipt from our recent purchase and decided to return it. Mickey placed the order, and we celebrated with another silver bullet! Isn't it wonderful when life delivers up a real "no-brainer".

Kim and I took off for home before the carb arrived. However, the report from mi hermano was muy bueno: "Put it together and it purrs like a kitten!"

So it was a successful and rewarding project after all (a little short on the fun however). A final note" Mike did mention that taking the old carburetor off, and installing the new one was so easy he probably could have done it blindfolded. Hmmm...I guess practice does pay off!

That's All!

On the Road Again

Last May and Early June I started this post as we were traveling. Wireless was very spotty, so I never finished it. Hope you enjoy it, better late than never.

When we purchased our monster 5th wheel a few years ago, Kim and I promised ourselves that we would schedule a minimum of a three week trip annually. We have beaten that commitment every year. This year, we decided to use our time to make our way east to Texas and visit Mike and Teri. Being so far apart, we just don't get to see them enough.

It was a busy "Rotary Spring" this year, and we had scheduled to leave on May 16th. After a truck check up in the shop, we had hauled the trailer down to Lake Don Pedro for a shakedown on Mother's Day. While hauling, we heard what might only be described as an "expensive" engine noise. So, I wasn't going to leave until we had it diagnosed and repaired if necessary.

Celebrating relaxing with each other at Don Pedro.
John needs a hair cut, otherwise he looks great!

Bad news. The shop couldn't look at the truck until the 17th! It turned out to be a major problem (the turbocharger was going bad) and wasn't fixed until the 19th. It's a looooong way to Texas so we  left the Thursday evening we got the truck out of the shop. We only made a little over 200 miles before pulling over at a rest stop north of Tonopah.

Look at the sand and dust blowing across the road. It was
Very difficult driving.

Next morning, we awoke to a very strong and gusty crosswind (gusts predicted up to 30 miles an hour). We hung out in the rest stop (in Mina Nevada) for an hour or two, but finally decided to proceed with caution. My top speed was about 45 miles an hour that day. It took constant effort to keep the rig straight and on the road. We drove like that for 12 hours, and ended up in a BLM camp ground near Wickiup Arizona. It was a very nice spot that we found using an App that a fellow RVer recommended. We slept hard.

Burrow Creek Campground.
This Saguaro was in bloom.

Next day we took a short stroll around the campground, checking out the cacti, and looking out for rattlesnakes. Pretty quick we were back in the saddle, steaming for Texas. Rest breaks were no problem since we had to stop for fuel every 2 or three hours. Fortunately diesel is cheaper the further east you go, and we paid just a little above $2 a gallon on average.

At the end of another 12 hours or so, we had made it to New Mexico. and found a pretty little place called Rock Hound State Park. It was up a hill and had a  tremendous view of the surrounding desert country. We happened to catch the Park Ranger as he was leaving for home. It was dark, so he was VERY helpful in getting us into an appropriate site. We got level with minimal fuss, and settled in to a beautiful view of the lights of Deming below us in the inky darkness of the desert night.

In the morning we hit the road again with the Texas border nearly in sight. (at least in our minds). At El Paso we stopped for fuel, and drove parallel to the border (the Rio Grande) for a while. It was amazing to contrast the development on the Mexican side of the border. I can certainly see why the U.S. is the "promised  land" to so many Mexican people seeking a better life.

Big Red fueling up with the big boys!

We decided to make for a Texas State Park called Mt. Davis. It was about a 45 mile detour to the south of  Interstate 10. Piece of cake...right? We should have been tipped off when we saw the sign that we were heading for Mt. Davis State Park 47 miles (good), AND Univ of Texas Observatory (as in a telescope on top of a mountain) 30 miles (not good). We ended up going over the highest peak in Texas, on a road built in the '30s by the CCC. Those boys had no problem with 15+ percent grades. What the heck, Model T's were geared plenty low, and nobody was hauling 6 ton 5th wheels around! Needless to say we spent a lot of time in low gear, and were glad to finally see the observatory. It was an easy (not on the brakes) 17 miles to the  park from there.

After wandering in the park looking for a site for a bit, a friendly ranger helped us find a beauty.  We nestled into some trees, and got set up. We decided that we had caught up with the late start, and could  afford to spend an extra day camping there and visiting the nearby National Historic Monument: Fort Davis. It is a restored frontier fort that housed the famous "Buffalo Soldiers" cavalry. More on this in another post.

Kim next to an old freight wagon located at the old Fort.

After our second night at Mt. Davis, we decided to try another Texas State Park at Pedernales Falls. It would put us within an easy day of League City. It was another beautiful park. We wound down the hill and took the campground loop road to nestle our big rig into the trees of the river bottom. It was muggy and hot outside, but as night was already falling we just got hooked up and turned on the air in our little deluxe portable hotel suite. We decided that this might be a great place to spend a few days if we ever got the opportunity.

Wonderful to relax at our destination "on the water".

Next day it was on to League City and Mike and Teri's place "on the water". It was a simple and relatively short drive before we pulled into the Willow Lake RV Park only about 5 miles from their place at "The Wharf". It was Wednesday, and they had just gotten off work with four days off ahead of us. I'll do a separate post for some of our activities, but it was just nice that Wednesday evening to sit around and visit after a 2,000 plus mile journey.