sgtrisk
Member
- 213
- 0
- 16
- Location
- Remington VA
Okay folks... I finally got it home! Seemed like it took forever to get the EUC to clear!
But, first, the story of the trip. Sit back and relax, I'm sure you'll get a chuckle out of this!
Rushed home Tuesday afternoon and picked up my buddy's Dodge Ram. He runs the local Line-X franchises, so I got to drive his rolling billboard. I didn't realize before that it was pretty tricked out! I felt guilty for driving such a show-piece! Stopped at the gas station and filled the tank with gas (for $2.19, I think, if anyone is tracking the plunge in prices!), then headed home to load up. About five miles down the road the buddy called to check on me and tell me that I should use Premium in the truck when I filled it! (He wasn't there when I picked it up, and I collected it earlier than I had told him, too!). Oops! Well, I promised to put premium in it when I filled it again.
Got home and had the boys load the spare tire from the M109A3, and helped me load the lug wrenchs, other tools, 12v magnetic lights, etc. Collected my wife and a change of clothes and headed west to catch I-81 north. We got just about up to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains (about 6 miles from home) when I realized that I had forgotten the bottle jack!! Doh!!! AND, I'd forgotten the TomTom to get me to the DRMO lot the next day! So... we turned around and came home to collect those extra items. That wasted almost an hour of daylight by the time we got back to the top of the Blue Ridge and headed down the other side.
I took the scenic route up the east edge of the Shenandoah Valley before cutting back west near Luray (for those of you who might know the area a little). A little slow going, but a beautiful drive. As we turned onto the route to go west to pick up I-81, I swung into the left lane of the two westbound lanes to get around a slow moving truck. Well, someone had decided that THEY wanted to be in my lane, but they were going the OPPOSITE direction!! I saw him in time and darted over to the right enough to let him pass. He even flashed his lights at ME! He then made a right turn onto the road I had just left. BTW, he had to actually get on the left side (HIS left, not mine) of the median which had just started at that intersection to pull this stunt!
Well, the rest of the evening was relatively uneventful, except that about two hours into the trip I realized that I hadn't even brought a tire pressure gauge!!
What next??! Sheesh. (Of course, it WAS election night...)
Got up the next morning and couldn't remember what time my appointment was with Mike at the Mechanicsburg, PA DRMO site. I tried calling him around 07:30, but got no answer. So we went to breakfast. We had just sat down at about 07:55 when I got hold of him and he told me that my appointment was for 0800!! We jumped up and left the restaurant and headed down Carlisle Pike. Luckily the hotel was on the same road as the DRMO site, and only about 7 miles away.
After having to make a left turn (instead of a right turn) at the intersection to get to the site (the TomTom isn't perfect!), and having to drive 3 or 4 miles down the expressway before I could turn around... (the day is going just GREAT so far!!), I pulled up to the guard house, announced my purpose there, and pulled into the visitor's lot to get a pass and badge. He sent me back to the truck to get the registration and insurance papers (Oh YEAH!! I need those!! I KNEW THAT!!). I brought them in to him, only to have him tell me that the insurance card indicated that it had expired in 2006!!! Back to the truck to try to find the current card. I found one... but it expired in 2007. So... call the buddy and ask about the current insurance card. Didn't bother to tell him why I needed it at first, though. Poor guy probaby had a heart attack, but managed to calmly ask me if everything was okay.
"Oh! Yeah, I just need it to get on the base! Sorry. Didn't mean to make you nervous." Turns out he had the insurance with him.
Luckily, the guy at the guard shack let me on base with a lecture, and reminded me that if I was stopped for any reason (even off the base) without proof of current insurance, it would be MY ticket, not my buddy's! Good advice!
Finally met up with Mike back at the lot. He was busy at the moment, so I strolled around a bit and drooled over the trucks. That wrecker that sold last week was there... sure would have liked to take THAT home! Found my trailer, then waited for Mike. He showed up and pulled the trailer out for me. I backed the truck up, got my hitch out with the pintle on it, and bent down to remove my buddy's standard ball hitch. Yup... you guessed it. The pin was one of those locking types. And the key was in the office, 5 hours away.
Believe it or not, I was still calm.
Mike actually told me where there was a locksmith not too far away. So off I went to see about getting the lock off. It took the locksmith all of 23 seconds to get the lock off the pin. He charged me a whole $5.30 for the job! Things were looking up!!
Well, the rest is pretty boring. The trailer towed just great, the tires had plenty of air in them, the cargo cover is in great shape, and I'm very happy to have the trailer.
Sorry about the long-winded story, but it had to be told!! And some of the pictures are very blurry. The camera has a problem with the auto-focus, I guess.
The last couple of pictures are of a little something I picked up on the way back. I WISH!!! Two of them were being transported south on I-81. And also someone's big crane (3-color camo scheme) being transported, too!
But, first, the story of the trip. Sit back and relax, I'm sure you'll get a chuckle out of this!
Rushed home Tuesday afternoon and picked up my buddy's Dodge Ram. He runs the local Line-X franchises, so I got to drive his rolling billboard. I didn't realize before that it was pretty tricked out! I felt guilty for driving such a show-piece! Stopped at the gas station and filled the tank with gas (for $2.19, I think, if anyone is tracking the plunge in prices!), then headed home to load up. About five miles down the road the buddy called to check on me and tell me that I should use Premium in the truck when I filled it! (He wasn't there when I picked it up, and I collected it earlier than I had told him, too!). Oops! Well, I promised to put premium in it when I filled it again.
Got home and had the boys load the spare tire from the M109A3, and helped me load the lug wrenchs, other tools, 12v magnetic lights, etc. Collected my wife and a change of clothes and headed west to catch I-81 north. We got just about up to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains (about 6 miles from home) when I realized that I had forgotten the bottle jack!! Doh!!! AND, I'd forgotten the TomTom to get me to the DRMO lot the next day! So... we turned around and came home to collect those extra items. That wasted almost an hour of daylight by the time we got back to the top of the Blue Ridge and headed down the other side.
I took the scenic route up the east edge of the Shenandoah Valley before cutting back west near Luray (for those of you who might know the area a little). A little slow going, but a beautiful drive. As we turned onto the route to go west to pick up I-81, I swung into the left lane of the two westbound lanes to get around a slow moving truck. Well, someone had decided that THEY wanted to be in my lane, but they were going the OPPOSITE direction!! I saw him in time and darted over to the right enough to let him pass. He even flashed his lights at ME! He then made a right turn onto the road I had just left. BTW, he had to actually get on the left side (HIS left, not mine) of the median which had just started at that intersection to pull this stunt!
Well, the rest of the evening was relatively uneventful, except that about two hours into the trip I realized that I hadn't even brought a tire pressure gauge!!
What next??! Sheesh. (Of course, it WAS election night...)Got up the next morning and couldn't remember what time my appointment was with Mike at the Mechanicsburg, PA DRMO site. I tried calling him around 07:30, but got no answer. So we went to breakfast. We had just sat down at about 07:55 when I got hold of him and he told me that my appointment was for 0800!! We jumped up and left the restaurant and headed down Carlisle Pike. Luckily the hotel was on the same road as the DRMO site, and only about 7 miles away.
After having to make a left turn (instead of a right turn) at the intersection to get to the site (the TomTom isn't perfect!), and having to drive 3 or 4 miles down the expressway before I could turn around... (the day is going just GREAT so far!!), I pulled up to the guard house, announced my purpose there, and pulled into the visitor's lot to get a pass and badge. He sent me back to the truck to get the registration and insurance papers (Oh YEAH!! I need those!! I KNEW THAT!!). I brought them in to him, only to have him tell me that the insurance card indicated that it had expired in 2006!!! Back to the truck to try to find the current card. I found one... but it expired in 2007. So... call the buddy and ask about the current insurance card. Didn't bother to tell him why I needed it at first, though. Poor guy probaby had a heart attack, but managed to calmly ask me if everything was okay.
"Oh! Yeah, I just need it to get on the base! Sorry. Didn't mean to make you nervous." Turns out he had the insurance with him. Luckily, the guy at the guard shack let me on base with a lecture, and reminded me that if I was stopped for any reason (even off the base) without proof of current insurance, it would be MY ticket, not my buddy's! Good advice!
Finally met up with Mike back at the lot. He was busy at the moment, so I strolled around a bit and drooled over the trucks. That wrecker that sold last week was there... sure would have liked to take THAT home! Found my trailer, then waited for Mike. He showed up and pulled the trailer out for me. I backed the truck up, got my hitch out with the pintle on it, and bent down to remove my buddy's standard ball hitch. Yup... you guessed it. The pin was one of those locking types. And the key was in the office, 5 hours away.
Believe it or not, I was still calm.
Mike actually told me where there was a locksmith not too far away. So off I went to see about getting the lock off. It took the locksmith all of 23 seconds to get the lock off the pin. He charged me a whole $5.30 for the job! Things were looking up!!Well, the rest is pretty boring. The trailer towed just great, the tires had plenty of air in them, the cargo cover is in great shape, and I'm very happy to have the trailer.
Sorry about the long-winded story, but it had to be told!! And some of the pictures are very blurry. The camera has a problem with the auto-focus, I guess.
The last couple of pictures are of a little something I picked up on the way back. I WISH!!! Two of them were being transported south on I-81. And also someone's big crane (3-color camo scheme) being transported, too!
