February 13, 2005

February 13, 2005

Hondo to Fort Stockton, Texas

DAY 240

 

Well ... what an interesting day, to say the least ! I stopped on the highway to provide assistance to an Ontario couple whose roof ripped and blew off their truck camper, and I ran out of gas in the desert ... twice ! ! !

Today was sunny and warm. Finally ... blue sky !

We left Lone Star Corral SKP Park this morning, heading west on Hwy. 90. At Sabinal we turned northwest onto Hwy. 127. At Concan we turned north onto Hwy. 83. At the town of Junction, we filled up with diesel and turned west onto Interstate 10. Shortly after leaving Hondo, the landscape changed from desert prairie to desert mountains. The ground changed from red, sandy soil, to ... well ... gravel ! Yesterday I was looking through some ranch land real estate guides I had picked up in Bandera, and noticed that most of the ranches in the area that are for sale are in excess of 10,000 acres. Now I understand why. There's not much for the cattle to graze on, on these desert gravel lands. I guess it takes a lot of land to earn a living as a rancher. As we continued west on I-10, the mountains changed, from typical mountains to rolling hills, with large, high, flat top outcroppings. I'm not certain of the terminology, but I think these flat top mountains are called buttes, and the flat tops are called mesas. The only things in these hills are gravel ... and oil. Lots of oil wells. Lots and lots of dead deer on the side of the road. Cattle grazing. Some goats. Some horses. More gravel and cacti ! It's very lovely scenery. I took some good photos. I think the landscape is going to look like this through the rest of West Texas, and across New Mexico and Arizona. This part of West Texas is very windy, with the winds blowing from the west, so we were driving into a head wind all day.

Mid-afternoon, we passed an entire camper roof on the side of the road, and a half mile later there was a truck with a roofless camper, parked on the shoulder. I stopped as quickly as I could, which still covers a lot of distance, and walked back to offer assistance. It was a couple from Barrie, Ontario, and the wind had peeled their camper roof back like the top of a sardine can. I gave the man some rope, and helped him tie the rope from one side of the truck, over the remains of the camper, to the other side of the truck, to try to prevent the walls of the camper from falling apart, and off. This whole exercise took about 45 minutes. Joanne waited in our truck with Bo, with the engine running, and the air conditioner on. This, along with the head wind, factored into me running out of gas, I guess. I followed the roofless truck camper slowly along the road to the next rest area, about ten miles further, to make sure everything was as okay as it could be.

We left them in the rest area, and continued west along I-10. We passed a lot of huge windmill farms. The winds were really strong. My fuel was running low. There were no towns for a long way. Finally, 25 miles out of Fort Stockton, while climbing a steep hill, Dee-Dee ran out of gas.

I knew from reading the truck owner's manual when I bought Dee-Dee that starting a diesel after running out of fuel is difficult. I poured in my 2 gallon emergency can of diesel, and opened the manual to the section on running out of gas. It explained that on a level surface, pouring in 2 gallons of gas should get the truck started, but on a slope, it may take as much as 5 gallons. Great ! We were halfway up a long, steep hill. The manual said to open the air bleed valve on top of the fuel filter, and crank the engine until all the air is expelled and fuel starts to spray out of the bleed valve. Fine. Where the hell is the fuel filter ? ? ? I had to flip through the manual, and try to figure out where to find the fuel filter, and bleed valve. I finally figured out that it's underneath the turbocharger shroud. I had to fish around in my tools to find the right size socket to fit the 4 bolts on the turbocharger shroud. When I finally got the right socket, I loosened the bolts part way, then tried to finish removing them by hand. I grabbed the first bolt, and burned the tips of my thumb and index finger enough to blister them both. Story of my life ! Once I got the shroud off, I found the air bleed valve, opened it, and cranked the engine until fuel sprayed out. Close the valve, continue cranking until the truck starts. BUT ... only crank the engine for 15 seconds, then let the starter cool for a minute, then repeat, and repeat, and repeat, until the engine finally starts. OK ... done !

I guess Dee-Dee gets 10 miles to the gallon while towing Harvey into a strong headwind, mostly uphill. Five miles from Fort Stockton, I ran out of gas again. It was just beginning to get dark. Joanne went inside the trailer to feed the animals, while I stood beside the rig, waving a gas can, hitchhiking. I didn't think it was worth calling emergency roadside service and waiting an hour or two for a tow truck to bring me fuel, when I was so close to a city. After about 10 minutes, and maybe 50 vehicles passed by without stopping ( assholes ! ) a beat up old car with Florida plates stopped. Driving it was a down on his luck, unemployed drifter by the name of DJ, heading to Las Vegas for a job that had been promised to him. A real scruffy dude ! He drove me the 5 miles to Fort Stockton, to the first gas station. I offered him supper if he would drive me back to the rig. He said he'd rather have $5.00 worth of gas. Fine ! I filled my gas can with 2 gallons of diesel, and bought him $5.00 worth of gas. He drove me back. While I was gone, a State Trooper had stopped at the rig, to check if everything was okay. Joanne told him we were just out of fuel, and I was gone to buy some. While he was standing at the door of the trailer, talking to Joanne, who was inside holding Bo, Teddy decided to leave ! Stupid ****ing cat ! The State Trooper caught him.

Once DJ and I were back at the rig, I poured the 2 gallons of diesel in, and worked on restarting Dee-Dee, while Joanne fed DJ a sandwich, and a beer, and gave him a bag of muffins and cookies to go. I think this guy is sleeping in his car, and probably not eating much. He said he was down to $60.00 to last him until Vegas. Good luck !

Once Dee-Dee was started, we drove the 5 miles into Fort Stockton, and to the same gas station. The attendant said that the State Trooper had stopped by to check on me. I filled the emergency fuel can again, and Dee-Dee, and we drove another few miles to a Wal-Mart. We're boondocked for the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We just ate a very late supper, and Joanne has gone to replenish groceries and supplies, while I work on today's journal.

HEY ... life's an adventure. I thought the day was quite interesting. And coping isn't too hard when the sun is shining brightly. Too bad Joanne is so pissed off at me for running out of fuel. Too bad my burned fingers hurt so much when I type.

DSK