Bryce Canyon National Park

September 30, 2009
Today we spent most of the day working on the truck. This morning the battery was dead because we left the small fridge plugged in. Usually it is OK but when it gets cold outside we can't do it. Last night was pretty cold so this morning we tried to jump it but our booster pac wasn't charged so we just swapped out the battery with our spare. We drove to Bryce, Utah. We turned on the computer systems and realized there was a problem with the auto iris on the pavement cameras. That is not a common issue. We ended up having to take apart a computer. We got that fixed and then I said "next we will have roughness issues" as a joke. Well, about an hour later the roughness computer randomly shuts off. I should have known better. We've learn in the truck to not say anything because as soon as we mention it, it is sure to happen. Today I forgot that "rule" and I learned my lesson again. We spent most of the day fixing various issues and only collected about 18 miles, 2 routes in the park. This is a pretty small park so we still have a good chance of finishing tomorrow if the truck cooperates.

A couple of people asked us about the truck today. One guy was cleaver. When Jeff said "we inventory the roads" the guy said "why do people steal roads or something?". Funny guy ha?

Oh, and just to put it out there I'm at 40 hours for the week already and it is only Wednesday!

Great Basin National Park

September 29, 2009

Today started at 7:30am in Grand Junction, CO and ended at 10:30pm in Beaver, UT. The truck hit a bit of a milestone today and reached 250,000 miles! We drove to Great Basin National Park and stopped by the first visitor center to see if our package of parts had arrived yet. We were told it would be going to the other visitor center so we headed up there and after a few minutes of "where is the package" we finally got it...whew. We installed the new boards and went to work at 2:00pm. The truck was definitely not on it's best behavior which seems very typical especially when we are in a time crunch. We got just about all collection software bugs possible. Around 6:00pm we had 4 campground routes left but the sun was low and was making our images go black so we had to sit and wait for the sun to go down...sounds like fun but not really when you know you have a 2 hour drive to the hotel ahead of you still. We ended up leaving the park around 7:30pm. There was one gas station/restaurant/motel/casino right by the park. We stopped there and filled up and decided to eat quick. We drove on a road for 2 hours only to see 2 cars during that 2 hour drive...middle of nowhere! We rolled into Beaver, checked into the hotel and called it a day. Another 15 hour day today...after working 14 hours yesterday I'll probably hit 40 hours today (in 3 days) gotta love it!

We didn't get to really enjoy the park or see anything other than what we saw from the truck so I took a couple of photos from the truck.

In Route To Great Basin Naitonal Park

September 28, 2009
After what felt like a very, very short week at home I'm back on the road. The day started with a full 9 hours in Denver and ended with driving across I-70. Needless to say we didn't make it the 10.5 hours to our destination but only made it 4.5 hours to Grand Junction, CO. Our troubles started last week. Early last week the truck was at an electrical shop to fix the bad regulator. The guy said we needed a new regulator but it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get one in...yeah right. We made a few phone calls and had one overnighted to them. After we got the truck back on Wednesday we decided to do some testing and soon found out that our rutting sensors were not working. We thought we figured out what part we needed so we took the truck to Ford for an oil change on Thursday. Friday morning I hadn't heard back from Ford so I called them to check on the status and the guy said "I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone to approve the work" I said "what we took it in for an oil change". I can't even remember what they fixed at this point but it had something to do with the tie rod(s)...are there more than one, who knows. Anyway, we went to pick it up at 4pm Friday so we could do some work on our broken smartbar (rutting sensors) and the cashier said "no work has been done on your truck, you can just take it"...really, was she trying to be funny? The manager said their phone lines were down and the parts didn't show up...our typical luck kicking right in. We worked on the truck for 2 hours in the Ford parking lot (a great 12 hour day for me) and at 6pm we had to call it a day without fixing the sensor problem. We left the truck there so it could be fixed on Saturday. We picked the truck up this morning and spent the next 8 hours figuring out why our rutting sensors were still not working. Some how 9 controller boards got fried! Don't ask me. We only had 4 spares to we had to order more and we should have them tomorrow. After that we had to head over to an auto parts store to get a yellow top battery, another $200.00 down the drain. One that we had under our computer rack kept smelling up the truck (yes, they really do smell) and that took us about 1/2 hour to swap out. At 9:00pm we finally pulled into the hotel. If I calculate right that would be a 14 hour day....and it is only Monday!

A couple of people stories for today...
While we were working on the truck some FHWA guy came over to look at the truck and chat a bit. There was little conversation because we were pretty busy but he said something like we had an "easy" job getting to see the country. I looked at him and said "uh, not really". Easy...what part of my job is easy? Is it the long 12 to 14 hour days or fixing the truck every day???

When we walked into dinner a guy said "well, that is a different van, is it a sleeper van?" I left most of the explaining up to Jeff so I could go into get something to eat :). I'll take the next one :)

The Long Drive Home

September 17, 2009
Today we survived the long 11 hour drive from Tulsa to Denver. Nothing real exciting happened except one of the batteries started to overheat again so the sulphur smell was "real nice". We turned on our computer systems to help drain some juice and it worked. I think we will have to replace the battery under the computer rack, it is probably about time anyway. Since July 14 I've only been home for 12 days. That is not normal for this job and I'm glad to be back at home so I can exercise and eat better...even if it is just for one week.

Meeting in Tulsa

September 16, 2009
Today we had another productive day. After lunch we took the truck out to try and do some test runs. While in the parking lot I noticed that the voltages on the computer batteries were low and they were not being charged. We looked at the regulator and it didn't appear to be working. We plugged in our spare and the thing started smoking!!!! I couldn't believe it. I have never seen a regulator smoke in 5 years on the job. So to sum up the last month we have had an 2 alternators replaced, an isolator fry/smoke and need to be replaced, an inverter go bad and now a regulator. That just about sums it up for all power issues we could have in the truck and it all happened in the past month! The only thing left would be to buy 4 new batteries for the truck. I am pretty sure there is a black cloud hanging over my head. We ended up being able to collect but it was not with ease. It is always something.

After the meeting I called a specialty shop in Denver that we have taken our truck to in the past for alternator repair and electrical work. I called and said "I have a regulator that is going bad and it needs to be replaced when do you think you can get it in?" Like always people need to hear the problem more than once and he said "what is wrong again" so I tried to change it up a little and said I have a regulator that is going bad and there might be a short in it because when we hooked it up it started smoking" and he said "well if there is a short in it then you need to get it fixed." REALLY...why did he think I was calling???? I said "I know, that is why I am calling. When do you think you can look at it?" Uhhhh I don' t get it but maybe it is because I'm a girl...I wonder if he would have said such a dumb thing to a guy.

After the quick phone call we went to downtown Tulsa for dinner...we basically found nothing! It was a really sad place. The streets were empty with only a few people around the arts center for the show Mamma Mia. We found a little bar to eat at that had a special $3.00 burgers and the place was packed. It turned out to be pretty good because the meat was ground and not a frozen patty.

Tomorrow is the long haul driving through Kansas to get to Denver...that is one of the most boring drives ever. I hope the truck doesn't break down.