Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the tag “Bonneville Salt Flats”

31 Jul 2016
2 Comments

1935 A-Class Motorhome

I was researching something when I stumbled over the video below, which runs for 6:32 minutes. It’s a fairly decent follow-up to my last post, since it gets across the concept of how exaggerating one capability in a product is generally made at the sacrifice of others. It was sponsored by Chevrolet in 1935, so of course the final conclusion of the lesson is that you can have the maximum of safety, power, etc. in perfect balance in a new Chevrolet sedan. Surprise! There are tons of these promotional ancestors of the infomercial around, and I assume that the sponsors paid theaters money for playing them in the lengthy mix of film shorts prior to the main feature. All you get in theaters today is a reminder to turn your cellphone off or shut your yapper, a few previews, and the movie. Then the lights come up as a discreet reminder to get the hell out.

I think this short is worth a gander because it shows little slices of this and that in 1935, but mainly because in the middle somewhere are some impressive seconds of what appears to be a bus converted into a motorhome. Unlike today’s over-upholstered faux Ritz, this interior seems to be Read more…

Posted in Camper Nirvana and tagged , ,
06 Oct 2014
6 Comments

A Tired Tire Day

This thing has been parked by the street since I've been here, for sale.

This thing has been parked by the street since I’ve been here, for sale.

I’ve been passing an old but fine Chevy K-20 pickup each time on my way to the grocery, hardware store or laundromat in West Wendover, NV. So I thought I’d post some pics. No price was posted, and it’s been there quite a while, so either he’s getting nothing but calls offering “$300 an’ my seester”, or he’s unjustifiably high on asking price. Hard to guess, because there just aren’t that many people in Wendover and West Wendover combined. By the way, the title for this post does not refer to its tires, which Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , , , , ,
01 Oct 2014
4 Comments

World of Speed 2014

The call of Bonneville.

The call of Bonneville.

The World of Speed event at Bonneville is run each year by the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, and participants were able to run what looked like their choice of 3 or 5-mile courses laid out on the salt. That’s much shorter than they would like, but current weather conditions dictate how much of the track will be dry enough to run on. Most of the vehicles don’t need any more distance, so only the big boys had a crimp put in their style.

Yes, this mini-belly tank racer is just a toy, and yes, it's cute! Racers of all kinds tend to have a sense of humor.

Yes, this mini-belly tank racer is just a toy, and yes, it’s cute! Racers of all kinds tend to have a sense of humor.

I attended one day when the weather looked most cooperative, though I did have to wade the big Ford s-l-o-w-l-y through nearly a mile of brine to get there. I ferried the Evelo Aurora and trailer across in the front bike carrier, and then broke it out to tour all around the dry pits and racing area. Considering my phobia about splashing salt on the underside of the pickup truck, the decision to attend was no small one. Looking at upcoming weather, I had a gut feeling that this one day might possibly be it for the season, so it was either go, or gamble. The depth of the water between Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Tourista! and tagged , ,
30 Sep 2014

Taking Cheapskate Seriously

Yowza! A customized old Toyota pickup goes streamliner for mileage, not speed.

Yowza! A customized old Toyota pickup goes streamliner for mileage, not speed.

Riding the Aurora e-bike on the way to Wendover, Utah one day, I came across a streamliner of sorts, parked at the Sinclair truck stop at the fringes of the Bonneville Salt Flats. It differs considerably from other streamliners in two respects. First, it is streetable, if impractical. Second, this streamliner is not built for speed, but for fuel mileage.

Based on an older Toyota T100 pickup truck, its owner has made serious modifications to its body. Functionally speaking, it is no longer a pickup truck, but a car. He was at Bonneville to hopefully wade through the brine and make a run on the salt, but that isn’t as exciting as it seems. Its little four-cylinder engine can, given enough distance, push this newly-slippery shape along at just over 100 MPH, if it has to. That may be fast for a stock T100 four-banger. I don’t know, but I assume it is. Pickup trucks are bluff boxes that force

Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, Mod Squad, Tourista! and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
28 Sep 2014

Are We Marooned Yet?

In general, the water running down vast slopes collected and concentrated in flow so that few side trails were left untouched. This shot is taken at a point up Leppy Pass' long upward climb, and was possible for me only because of the bike's electric motor to help me get up there.

In general, the water running down vast slopes collected and concentrated in flow so that few side trails were left untouched. This shot is taken at a point up Leppy Pass’ long upward climb, and was possible for me only because of the bike’s electric motor to help me get up there.

I took the Aurora e-bike out on a trash run this morning to have a look around the area, looking at the end effects when weather has its way with desert that has miserably sparse ground cover.

I'm standing on Leppy Pass Road looking uphill. It's a nice paved two-lane, and I suppose still is, under all the mud and rocks that charged down along it and across it during the rainstorm.

I’m standing on Leppy Pass Road looking uphill. It’s a nice paved two-lane, and I suppose still is, under all the mud and rocks that charged down along it and across it during the rainstorm.

It turns out that the recent rainstorms were about as destructive as they were last year, but Leppy Road’s shoulders were in better shape to start with, and suffered less spectacularly as a result. If you’ve suffered through this blog for long, you’ll recall that last year, a deep new gully did its best to swallow a road grader. There is now one section carved down about four feet deep, but it’s quite short. My trail branches to intersect Leppy Road at two points, and both junctions are damaged enough that a mindless exit would, at best, firmly ground out the low-slung Defiant. At worst, the Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , , | Leave a comment
27 Sep 2014
2 Comments

Learning Comparative Weather

Looking out the port-side living room window while the solar panels are battened down.

Looking out the port-side living room window while the solar panels are battened down.

When we live in houses (assuming that they are sturdily-built houses), we tend to consider weather as something that happens “out there”. I’m still in the process of learning the fact that I’m closer to living “out there” than I used to be. At this camping location near the Bonneville Salt Flats east of Wendover, Utah, weather is quite an issue at times. The paved road I’m near, Leppy Pass Road, had its shoulders severely washed out last year. That’s because this whole area is basically one vast surrounding slope from several low mountain peaks down to the flats. Here, a tenth of an inch of rain is significant, and any gathering runs of rainwater become interesting.

Rains a week ago wiped out any chance of late September or October land speed record attempts. I did manage to attend one such event before that, and will post it soon. But heavy rains became redundant the evening before last, as a cool front moved in. Cool fronts bring high winds here, and they often start banging around in

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Posted in Campsites and tagged ,
28 Aug 2014
2 Comments

A Change in Operating Philosophies

Children tend to see more solutions than problems.

Children tend to see more solutions than problems.

Changing how you approach different events or circumstances in life is never easy. When your livelihood is based on the Marine-style necessity of “improvise, adapt, overcome”, it’s pretty difficult to change mindsets later, in the Autumn of one’s years, so to speak. The saying that “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” applies to the perception of obstacles or problems. But there are times to kick the walls down, and times to go with the flow, and learning to sense which is which can be a vague, touchy-feely puzzle for those unfamiliar with any alternate approach. There’s no imperative to change mindsets of course, but as the physical and emotional energy resources to back up a “kick-the-walls-down” approach begin to gradually drain away, it can become a good idea to learn to discern and prioritize. Persist And Pursue on some things, and let some things percolate out – or not – on their own. As the old country song goes, “know when to hold ’em, and when to fold ’em”.

Many – probably most – people already know these things by rote, and learned early. I never caught on, myself. Child or adult, the only way anything ever seemed to work for me was to take a brute force approach. Brick wall? Push through, find a way over, under, or find a way around and go on to the next. Nothing ever seemed to come easily. Paths choked with difficult obstacles. Persist. Find a way. The needs of food, housing and family merely motivate one to shove harder or pursue more doggedly. As a technique, it can work. At a price.

This approach was magnified by my choosing to Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Navel Gazing and tagged , ,
23 Aug 2014
19 Comments

The Cheapskate’s Dilemma

A pickup truck wades out toward the dry part of the salt flats used as the race course.

A pickup truck wades out toward the dry part of the salt flats used as the race course.

Something I hadn’t banked on from last year’s all-or-nothing weather at the Bonneville Speedway was that part of the salt flats could be dry and usable for speed events, while the rest could be terminally underwater. It’s a fairly common situation, as it turns out. The endpoint of the access road to get there is nicknamed the “boat ramp” for just that reason. Right now, it’s under what I’m guessing is 9″-12″ of water, depending on the path you take. It was much shallower on Friday morning before a passing thunderstorm dumped more water on it. The track area apparently survived, while the entrance did not.

The two techniques used: on the left is the wader, rolling slowly through so as to limit splashing of the saltwater. On the right is the impatient hard charger, who must have a rental or leased car, because no one would do this to a personally-owned vehicle, would they?

The two techniques used: on the left is the wader, rolling slowly through so as to limit splashing of the saltwater. On the right is the impatient hard charger, who must have a rental or leased car, because no one would do this to a personally-owned vehicle, would they?

Beginning this weekend and running through Thursday, the Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials are taking place. The water entrance hasn’t proven a problem at all for the racers and hangers-on. They just dive right on in with whatever they have.

I find this impressive, but less so after I think about it. These guys make

Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Tourista! and tagged , , ,
22 Aug 2014
2 Comments

Damage Control! Report!

Solar panel #4 safely on the ground after being found hanging on one hook.

Solar panel #4 safely on the ground after being found hanging on one hook.

RVs are heavy – ask anyone at a fuel stop. But they also have a very large sail area, a trait which rarely works in their favor. They are highly subject to bad weather and, out west, there’s plenty of that to go around in the late summer.

A couple of nights ago, a very high wind came up in camp, one that wasn’t in any forecast. The forecasts said current wind was and would remain at 6 MPH. Night winds haven’t been unusual here in Wendover, blowing in well after sunset and rotating around in all directions for an hour or so. Often, it’s like throwing a switch on a fan.

Well, this one was a doozy. The good news was that it decided to blow in pretty much straight from the nose of the trailer, which poses the least threat to the Kleenex box aerodynamics of the Defiant. Wheel locks between each pair of trailer tires work quite well to resist any movement.

The wind had started in as usual, but didn’t let up this time, and I stayed up just short of midnight just to Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, Mod Squad and tagged , , , ,
13 Aug 2014
18 Comments

When Your Eyes Are Bigger Than Your Bike Trailer

The Pack Mule still looks wonky, but at least is more at home in the outlands.

The Pack Mule still looks wonky, but at least is more at home in the outlands.

I did a grocery run into town yesterday, a trip taking an hour each way, not including the dawdling and looping around in the store to locate things. I found everything I needed though, and then some. Meat, produce, fruits, eggs, etc. Of course, I needed to replenish my supply of Carlo Rossi’s Paisano Fine Table Wine. I’m not sure what vintage it is, since it’s $13 for a glass 4-liter jug of the stuff. Red wine. Good for the heart, you know, unless of course you drink all of it in just a few sittings. I even found some sunscreen rated at 100, just the thing for if one of the scheduled Bonneville Speedway events isn’t rained out. Unfortunately, they had a sale on Coca-Cola. If you bought six 1-liter bottles, the price dropped to $1 a bottle. I was helpless to resist.

In the store, I quickly stumbled into three people wearing “Venturi Buckeye Bullet” T-shirts, who have their racing vehicle parked in one of the hangers of the defunct WWII airport at the fringes of downtown Wendover. They said they were waiting out the weather for a bit to see if an FIA-certified land speed record attempt could/would be made. What’s notable is that their narrow four-wheeler is entirely electric, and in a previous incarnation has topped 320 MPH in the past. They sounded like they were sitting on an updated design, and had their hearts set on 400 MPH. These guys (and gal) are obviously packing some serious watts. Personally, I am very optimistic for electric-powered vehicles in this setting, since short bursts of extreme power levels is their forte, much more so than long-distance runs. By the way, they mentioned the special race events for electric motorcycles at the Isle of Mann, so they apparently get around. This is an interesting place, come August!

Once I was back out in the hard reality of the parking lot with my e-bike and trailer, it became apparent that Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , , , ,

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