I feel like I already know the regular contributors, but you don't know me.
I am a mechanical person by nature. Have lived in Southeastern CT since grade school when we moved from SoCal. Been drafting since high school, associate’s degree in mechanical engineering, 13 years in construction support on nuclear subs at General Dynamics and local sub base (civilian, not military), a couple of years in architectural lighting design, couple of years in commercial debris removal equipment (industrial leaf vacuums and lawn mowers), and now 6 years in pharmaceutical manufacturing (sanitary piping design, processing equipment installations, facilities renovation, and maintenance). Graduated to AutoDesk Inventor 3D modeling.
My two seconds of fame came at last year’s Punkin Chunkin event in Delaware when I made it on to the Discovery Channels coverage of the event, standing on the firing line next to MythBuster Kari Byron during an interview with one of our competitors in the Torsion class. If you are very quick on the pause button you can see my mug. If you have a lot of time, look at http://www.siege-engine.com/MistaBallista.shtml the catapult site run by our team captain. I do a lot of the design work for the team and we are in the process of a major redesign, so that will be a time conflict for my teardrop time.
I found my way here while looking for a solution that could get two or three people across country from the New England coast to the Magruder Road in the pan handle of Idaho.
In the late 70's my family camped at the Poet Creek campground where Poet Creek feeds into Bargaman Creek (pronounced "crick" by the ranger). This is up on the Nez Perce Trail in the middle of one of the most beautiful and vast land reserves in these United States. My dad was always on the road working as a job shopper at some power plant or another, this time in the Tri-Cities of southern Washington State (WHOOPS I & II, "The Funny Farm" IIRC). That summer we spent out in Washington with dad we did something great every weekend, camping, trout fishing, Snake River jet boat trip, shooting (or as he would say, "sighting in") visiting the massive dams on the Columbia River, watching the unlimited hydroplane races in Richland, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens (before the blast), Mt. Rainer, a rodeo, a trip to the redwood forests (when you could still drive thru the tree), Yosemite, Devil's Post Pile (where my parents honeymooned/camped), SoCal homestead to visit grandparents, etc. We spent the last two weeks scouting and hunting elk on the Nez Perce. We cooked great food, including a full turkey dinner roasted in a pit in the creek bed lined with stones and covered with coals and wet sand like a Maori Hangi (or a Hawaiian luau; I spent 1982 in New Zealand as an exchange student), and collected mushrooms. My father was a mountain man, of sorts, also a mechanical engineer, and that summer, with that hunting trip was the best time I ever had with my dad. We spent every day hiking through the woods together, him teaching me all manner and nuggets of his outdoor knowledge.
He and mom separated not too long after that, he stayed on the left coast, and we were at home on the right coast; didn't see Dad much after that and only had limited contact over the many years that followed.
When Dad passed away in late 2009 and my sister and I were taking care of his affairs we committed to recreating that trip to Poet Creek. We're going there again to commemorate his life, celebrate with some Black Velvet in our morning coffee (Dad would have), drink a toast with Olympia Gold beer (if they still make it) and distribute his ashes where we know he would much prefer to spend eternity. It was one of his, and is one of my favorite places.
And thus my journey. The wife's idea of roughing it is putting out the "Do Not Disturb" sign for a day and not allowing the hotel maid to make the bed and refresh the towels. The only facility at Poet Creek is an outhouse, and maybe a picnic table. Its 22 miles of two track dirt road off of the pavement out in the middle of nowhere.
Not too rough, but my camper will have certain elements of an off road tear. We need to be self sustaining for at least a week, I have several pieces of CI (some inherited from Dad), and a piece of steel plate that we use as a griddle over the open fire, all of which must come along. There just isn't very much room in an '03 Jeep TJ 4.0 (3k lbs towing cap.) and up until just recently, it was going to be three of use in that Jeep (sister is now traveling separately with a companion). Option for more capacity and comfort is an '08 Ford Escape V6 (3.5k towing), but the Jeep has better off road capability and the top comes off.I tend to be wordy! Years of technical writing, hope you are able to enjoy this and my future ramblings.
Look for my build thread soon, it will be in the Foamie section and will be named "The Poet Creek Express" or TPCE for short.
Added link to build thread here; http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=48630
