Here I sit in the mountains of Colorado reopening the trip blog again. Many things have changed over the past year. Those familiar with my trip blogs know of my musings of life and direction. These trips are often a time for myself and the family to regrouped ourselves in life and it's truths. I often remark about the stress of my work and how easy it is to lose oneself and ones humanity in such work. It is one of my biggest fears. Luckily I was smart enough to realize it. The company I have been with for ten years went through a merger and restructure. The demands and stress became great. In my competitive nature, I was determined to stick it out and somehow "change" things. Such change was not possible, would never be possible. In the process I began to do what I feared. I began to lose myself in the work. This happens slowly, one does not realize what is happening until those you trust around you draw attention to it. It was as if I was thrown of the company ship with an anvil around my legs. As the weight of that anvil drew me into the depths of the ocean, I struggled mightily to swim back up the the surface. The anvil was too heavy. Finally I realized the simple steps to take toward my mental freedom, drew my knife and cut myself free of this piece of iron that aimed to destroy who I was. I resigned my position in May. This in some ways felt like I was giving up, but that is the rub, there is nothing left there for me. Not really.
There is, of course, a new job. There will always be new jobs. This change however gave us the opportunity for true time off. I could leave with the family for a longer period and make our way as far as Montana. There is always that draw for me, the frontier, or what is left of it. There is something about the raw open of the American West that draws me in like a beacon when I lose my way. The mountains have a way of clearing the head and realigning thoughts. You see the mountains are old and tell the truth. Always.
The setup that started it all with the original Alaskan adventure still lives. On this trip we will be meeting up with Amy's brother and his family in Yellowstone. They too share similar ideas about adventure and living. We decided to borrow an idea from them and name the rig. After all, most vessels that carry those in pursuit of adventure and exploration have a name. After some thought we decided on the name The Endeavor. This name was drawn from the flagship HMS Endeavor of the British Explorer Captain James Cook. It seemed a fitting name for the beast that has carried us to the ends of North America. As an aged ship she required some refitting. Loose seams, insect nests, rusted bolts and many other problems had to be addressed. Final preparations made her as road worthy as she would ever be.
The packing has become easier as we become more experienced travelers. We loaded up and set out. Our first day would take us to Amarillo. Unfortunately a stifling heat wave had taken residence in Central Texas and it made for a hot drive. We made our way to Sweetwater Texas and stopped at a park to allow to children to eat and play. This did not last long as they quickly tired from the heat. We then pressed on to our campsite in Palo Duro Canyon. It was again hot, however a problem emerged. Most heavy trailers are equipped with electric brakes to assist the tow vehicle in stopping such a heavy load. The trailer probably weighs 7000 pounds loaded. As we pulled into the Canyon the brake controller began to flash error messages that it was overloaded and detected a short circuit. As we descended into the canyon, the trailer brakes failed completely and the Sequoia had to stop that tremendous weight coming down a 10% grade. Fortunately the vehicle allows manual shifting of the transmission and thus I was able to slow the Endeavor down some with engine power. With white knuckles I finally reached the bottom of the canyon and we could smell the unmistakeable burning smell of overheated brakes. This would be a serious problem as our route involves many mountain. I began to worry about potential serious repairs. Smart phones are both a blessing and a curse. Folks, get addicted to them but they sure come in handy in these situations. I was able to search RV forums and find a troubleshooting list. It was likely a frayed wire, bad ground, or a bad connection at the wire harness. I tried to forget about the problem and we went on a short family hike and did some rock shambling. The kids were happy to do it as they had been cooped up all day.
After a very hot night sleeping in the trailer, we woke up and performed inspections. I could not find any frayed wires. I took Grant under the trailer and explained how the 12 volt battery system works and we removed and cleaned the ground wire. We decided to set out and see if this fixed the problem. The brakes worked for about 10 minutes and then stopped again. It had to be the connection. I diverted the Endeavor to an auto parts store where I obtained form electrical contact cleaner, dielectric grease, and sandpaper. There was a nearby Wal mart and I dropped Amy to get some provisions while I set to work. I removed the harness and looked closely, the once shiny electrical connections looked sad and worn, dark with oxidation. I sprayed the cleaner and then set to work with the sandpaper, tearing it into little cleaning strips. I peered into the connection and the shiny brass color of a healthy electrical connection was showing though. I reconnected the harness and we set out again. Success! Everything worked.
A long and desolate drive through Northern New Mexico took us to Albuquerqe. We found a nice park in the suburbs that had a swimming pool. We went for a swim and made sanwhiches for the road. The road Northwest of town took us to the Colorado border. Almost immediately after crossing it as if there is a whole new land. Rocks gave way to green lush fields with snow capped peaks in the background. We made our way to the National Forest North of town where we had a wonderful spot near a lake. As the children wind down for bed I sit and I absorb the peace and serenity here. Another adventure begins.
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