Summer 2018, Day 38

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Ben

Another great day at Glendive:

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The horses wouldn’t come down today:

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We got in a little over our heads today:

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We packed up and headed east into North Dakota:

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We stopped at the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Last year we visited the North Unit.

We visited Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Cabin. Roosevelt moved here from New York after the death of his wife and mother:

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The Maltese Cross carved into the cabin:

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In the visitor center, this display listed the lands conserved by Roosevelt:

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We went to an overlook for the Park’s badlands:

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We continued east. Approaching Bismarck, I felt an odd shuddering in the steering wheel. We pulled off the interstate into a gravel parking lot and discovered most of the lug nuts on the front passenger wheel had broken off:

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I had M check the lugs on the other wheels:

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The remaining lugs sheared off when I tried to unscrew the lug nuts:

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Broken pieces:

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I removed the brake caliper and brake disc:

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I was then able to remove the brake pad holder and pound out the broken studs:

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Not a bad spot to be stuck:

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We took down one of the motorcycles so I can drive into Bismarck tomorrow to buy replacement studs:

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I’ll be taking this frontage road to get to Bismarck:

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See the alternating yellow line on the trip map for today’s drive.

Summer 2018, Day 37

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Ben

We discovered this place by accident on our Summer 2017 trip on Day 10. Now that we have motorcycles, this should be a lot more fun:

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We had a great time exploring the 2,000 acres of grasslands:

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We saw a cave in the distance so we walked over to take a look:

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Here’s a video of our rides:

Trish and I walked over to the edge of the OHV area to visit these horses:

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The horses came over to see us:

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B did some drawing today:

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We will be moving on tomorrow.

Summer 2018, Day 31

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Ben

We woke up to a clear day on the Alvord Desert:

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Time to do some flying:

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Flight #121:

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This video has both flights from today and tomorrow’s flight:

We unloaded the motorcycles:

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Oreo keeps an eye on things:

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M and I went exploring:

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We checked out Borax Lake:

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It’s getting warm out there, we fired up the generators:

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B agreed to give driving a try. I sat behind her:

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Sporting our shade tarp:

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B learns fast, she went for a ride with M:

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Time for a night flight:

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Flight #122:

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Visiting the neighbors:

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After the flight, I hooked B into the harness and pushed her into the air:

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We had a great day on the Alvord!

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Summer 2018, Day 22

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Ben

It was 117 degrees here over Shabbos, but with all three air conditioners running, we made it through.

It was windy this morning, so Ryan and I didn’t break out the PPGs:

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Trish and I went for a ride:

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We poked around this abandoned mine:

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It’s a hardrock mine, so we went in a little ways:

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On the way back, we visited China Ranch:

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We packed up the RV and drove west. Our next stop was Legacy Park at Mojave Air and Space Port:

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The park houses the Roton Rotary Rocket:

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…as well as a replica of SpaceShipOne:

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We continued west through the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm:

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We next visited Cesar E. Chavez National Monument. It was closed by the time we arrived, unfortunately:

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We continued on to overnight at Sequoia Field. See the alternating yellow line on the trip map for today’s drive.

Summer 2018, Day 20

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Ben

Were being hosted at the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground by PPG pilot Ryan. We went for a flight this morning, but unfortunately my helmet camera was dead. The scenery was beautiful, and we had a great flight:

After landing, M and I went for a ride:

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We stopped by a local hot spring:

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It’s really hot here just outside of Death Valley. It was in the 90s at dawn.

We picked up this portable grill in Las Vegas. I boiled up lunch outside since it was already approaching 115 degrees. We had all three air conditioners plugged in, hence the group of extension cords in the photo:

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