Diverting Course from Lake Powell to Lake Roosevelt!

Pat Anderson":izvauf8o said:
. . . if all goes well, . . .

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Pat, you are an inspiration to us all! That stiff upper lip of yours would have made Winston Churchill look like a cry baby.

Really, man, eat the pickles, and I say, when life hands you lemons, drink some beer. Let someone else go get the truck and the boat.
 
Wow what a story! It puts some of the minor hassles of everyday living into perspective. I hope that your next trip goes without a hitch. You've earned a decade of hassle free vacations.
 
Nissan North America - U.S. Manufacturing

Nissan has three production plants in the United States - in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi. Production at Nissan's Smyrna Plant began in June 1983. The vehicle assembly plant has an annual production capacity of 550,000 vehicles and represents a capital investment of $2.5 billion. The plant produces the Nissan Altima, Nissan Maxima, Nissan Xterra, Nissan Frontier and Nissan Pathfinder.

The vehicle assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi, began producing vehicles in May 2003. The $1.4 billion plant now produces the Nissan Altima, Nissan Quest, Nissan Armada, Nissan Titan and Infiniti QX56. The plant has an annual production capacity of 400,000 vehicles.

Nissan's powertrain assembly plant in Decherd, Tennessee, began production in May 1997. Today the plant manufactures all the engines for the complete lineup of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles produced in the U.S. The plant also forges crankshafts, and cylinder block casting operations will begin in the spring of 2008.
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built in America by Americans, designed in San Diego by other Americans.

Never buy used unless you have a grade A mechanic look at it first. with pats problem even a good mechanic may not have found the slices. I would think that this truck was a salvage but thats just guesting.
 
The U-Haul option did occur to me, later rather than earlier. In fact I had rented the truck on Thursday, only to realize it has a 2" ball welded on the hitch, while the boat requires a 2-5/16" ball. There is a second hole for another ball, but it is too small to accept the shaft of a 2-5/16" ball, so I was able to return the truck and cancel the contract, all happened within about half an hour.

The second story thing was indeed nerve wracking for me, terrified of heights as I am. It is actually the third floor on the back of the house due to the daylight basement, and I was up on a little bump-out section of roof over the bathroom - it I had slipped, I would not have landed on the deck but on the ground.

TyBoo":xb6b7q06 said:
Whoa. Raining...pouring. How come you didn't just rent a U-Haul and tow the boat home at the start of it all? Sorry to hear about all the hassle. But it is a good sign that nobody fell from the second story of the house! Things will get better from here.
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Pat who lost the coin toss to go in the second story window and is there video?

if we had time travel i would go back to see the rising of Christ, Jerry lee playing a burning piano to up stage rick berry and my 285 lb little brother trying to jump in to his work truck window as it rolled in neutral down a steep grade. Now I can add one more moment in history at pats house. :wink:
 
The Titan is a 2004 model purchased in 2007 from Dwayne Lane in Everett with only 40K miles. It was an "internet special" (how we tend to buy everything). New Titans were just north of $35K, we paid $20K. The salesman who gave us our test drive said it belonged to the Dwayne Lane service manager (or something like that). I do not believe any mechanic inspecting a vehicle for potential purchase is going to go that deep to see even the first wiring harness, let alone the one under the ECM. It looked and ran great for three years, and it now has 61K miles, so even if it had been new in 2007, it would have been out of the warranty period I think. The speculation at Valley Ford (only speculation) was perhaps damage by a mouse that got the cheap fix instead of the property fix. No way to know if Dwayne Lane the dealership had any knowledge of this hidden problem. Even with the repair bill, assuming it runs as well after these repairs as it did before, it still represents a pretty good value overall for hauling our CD25 around.

starcrafttom":1cvjiqva said:
Never buy used unless you have a grade A mechanic look at it first. with pats problem even a good mechanic may not have found the slices. I would think that this truck was a salvage but thats just guesting.
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Hi Pat,
What an ordeal. I'm sorry we were traveling. We just got back this weekend. If we would have been home we could have made your time in the Yakima Valley a little easier. We were pretty much off the grid on the boat and I didn't know the extent of your issues and schedule until I checked the C-Brats this morning.

Your itinerary made me laugh out loud. You really "did the valley". I've always wondered who stayed at the Yakama Nation R.V. Park besides oldsters that like to frequent the casino. I grew up in Wapato many years ago but haven't been to a Harvest Festival in 45 years.

You also described Rimrock Lake very well. It is beautiful but does drain like a bathtub once they start taking irrigation water out in the fall. The one fortunate part of your stay was the lack of wind. That lake is in a wind tunnel and we have used it as a place for training in dealing with high winds before sea kayaking trips. We have surfed all the way back down the lake in a kayak with 25 mph winds at our backs. I hope next week goes better for you.
Lyle
 
No coin toss, I just sucked it up. Sorry, no video - but it would have been entertaining watching me go head first through the stupid little bathroom window!

starcrafttom":ydf2x64k said:
Pat who lost the coin toss to go in the second story window and is there video?
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Pat Anderson":19fwifp6 said:
No coin toss, I just sucked it up. Sorry, no video - but it would have been entertaining watching me go head first through the stupid little bathroom window!

starcrafttom":19fwifp6 said:
Pat who lost the coin toss to go in the second story window and is there video?
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Could not have been as entertaining as watching Willie going feet first through Jake's dog door when we were locked out of our house. Both extremely funny!!
 
Pat,

I am sorry for all your trouble. You have gone way above and beyond, and your story has been great. A way to pass on the frustration and do it in a way that has helped some of us see some things in perspective, and life sometimes just does not seem fair. You have taken it in stride and even made light, at times, of a really obnoxious situation. Thank you for sharing.

Here's wishing you a much better, and rapid resolution, and a good nights sleep.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Update 9-26-11, the part Valley Nissan in Yakima needs to fix the Titan STILL has not come in...so no truck, no Daydream. Went out this last weekend to Sucia on Crabby Lou, the CD16, a very hairy return on Sunday when the weather turned on us Saturday night, NOAA had a gale warning in effect, supposed to last until Tuesday a.m., fortunately there was a calm period between 2 and 5 p.m. on Sunday and we made a run for it back to Bellingham. Crossing Bellingham Bay in a 16 foot boat was like being inside a washing machine. People at the dock at Squalicum could not believe we made it in from Sucia in that little boat, "The Little Boat That Could"!
 
Wow! Sunday was a beast. I did not even think about taking the tomcat out. The bay was looking very nasty. When we had our 16 a ride in that bay would have made us very sore the next day.....and more than a bit nervous.
 
Pat Anderson":jef35vxq said:
Duramax...Powerstroke...Cummins....Duramax...Powerstroke...Cummins!
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Say AMEN!

Pat, if you do go with a diesel, you can get some good deals on used vehicles. The 7.3L Powerstokes have wonderful reputations. Same can be said for some of the Cummins and Duramax engines. We just got back from a 5000 mile jaunt to NE Iowa, pulling the Airstream. I think my overall average for fuel consumption is going to be near 15 mpg. We try to tow at just over 60 mph.

As important as the engine is, the transmission is equally important. The Duramax/Allison combination has an awesome reputation.

Good luck in the search!
 
Is the end of this story near?

The Titan is, allegedly, finally ready. The repair bill is about 2.5 times what we paid for our first new car (for the record, a 1972 Vega).

We are in Couer d'Alene for a city attorney conference (and had a wonderful dinner Wednesday with Jim and Marti from C-Idaho, thanks, guys!), and will be heading out at noon, with a side trip down to Yakima to retrieve the Titan from the dealer and Daydream from storage.

On the one hand, Michelle, the service writer at Valley Nissan, has been great, and she and her boyfriend stored the boat at no cost, on the other hand, seems there sure ought to be an inconvenience discount for a broken system of ordering and shipping parts that has kept our truck in Yakima from September 2nd to October 7th...

Oh well, as Patty says, it's only money...
 
Pat Anderson":ob2w2d6r said:
Is the end of this story near?

The Titan is, allegedly, finally ready. The repair bill is about 2.5 times what we paid for our first new car (for the record, a 1972 Vega).

...

Oh well, as Patty says, it's only money...
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Sorry to hear about the time and troubles. Probably not a good time to say how that $$ would have been a nice down payment on a diesel pickup. :cry: Every conveyance is going to take some $$ to maintain, but this is a BIG bite. And five weeks? Goodness - what if you had been on a cross-country trip, a long ways from home? Hope it's all smooth sailing from here.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
So sorry to here about all of your mechanical problems but I appreciate your optimistic outlook and willingness to keep the C brats informed. I know it's probably a bad word but I hope you enjoyed parts of eastern Washington
 
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