Day 4 , back on th road

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Back on the Road
For Annie, and for Donner

The tires hum low on the blacktop hymn,
a rhythm I've known, a trail grown dim.
But now it sings anew once more—
with a brindle shadow at my door.

Annie sniffs the morning breeze,
a wag, a leap, a dance with trees.
She doesn't know the ghost that stays
in quiet corners of the days.

We've come again to Shenandoah's bend,
where river, sky, and pines transcend.
Where once a noble shepherd lay
beside this fire at close of day.

Donner, bold and wise and true,
each path I take still carries you.
Your prints, though faded, lead me still
past silent peaks and over hill.

And now this pup with eager grace
runs headlong into your old place.
She doesn't fill your space—not quite—
but brings her own new kind of light.

So here we are: a man, a pup,
a trail once traveled, now re-struck.
The road rolls out, the stars lean in—
old friend, new heart, and wheels that spin.

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Day three, Shenandoah River State Park, Virginia

A lazy day for a tired dog. It didn't take her long to figure out all my previous dogs habit of retreating to the tent at the very first opportunity to do so. I would say that by now Annie is completely acclimated to life on the road.


One of the things that I also wanted to watch very carefully on this trip was how I would fare by staying in one place for two or more days. I've done it before, but that was only to rest and stock up after pretty intensive legs of the trips. So far, if two days is any indication, I've learned how to not only appreciate it, but to exploit it. The problem is, if I try this on one of my 45 day adventure, that automatically turns into at least 90 days. And then, there's always the 2016 trip during which, after one episode after another, a 45 day trip turned into 120 days. But I have to remember that, while I might have concerned myself about that with the Defender, I'm not too worried if that happens with the Grenadier.

Ed and Annie, on the road.

On the road 25, day 2…staying put

I am posting these entries to my 2024 OTR blog, but only for the time being until I change its name. You see, our trip last year was nipped in the bud and never occurred due to a pesky lawsuit that has plagued my condominium, and me as the former president, for seven years. As good luck would have it, we won all four matches in this 26 round saga, one in 2019, one in 2023, and two this year, a double header, so to speak, the last one with a knock out. But I say that, always mindful of Louis "Mountain" Rivera .

As voracious consumers of my blogs know, my road trips usually consist of moving on every day. These trips I am taking now are not really road trips, just short getaways in one place, essentially getting me ready for a real road trip. So far, after one day, I think I can conclude the following:

1- The 30-month lapse since the last trip has not affected my ability to handle the overland life.

2- Annie is handling tent life quite well, in fact, better than I. For instance, she prefers to sleep on the gravel ground and in the sun. She is tethered by a 15-foot leash, which gives her plenty of roaming space, but if she does not give me ample warning that she is about to roam, her leash will get snagged on one of the guy lines securing my pleasant shelter, and there goes my hard labor in setting up that shelter.

3- the Grenadier is working out spendidly. First of all, I can load it long before I depart since I had to load the Defender outside of my garage as I was getting ready to depart, due to need to use the roof rack. Second, with the rear seat removed, I can store everything in the rear, and I have three, no, four, doors to use to do so. Third, there is less stuff I have to take since I do not need a "Garage" container, I do not need a backup tent anymore, Annie requires less food to carry, and the list goes on.

So, on the basis of just one day's experience, I think it is time to get back on the road, for the first time since that fateful trip in 2019.

Photo of Annie resting and relaxing in the breeze .

On the road day 1 view from my back yard

Annie and I started our first road trip this year, her first ever. For my first camping trip in more than two years, meaning I am that much older, I expected this to be my rubicon, and not the Shenandoah. Well, as it turns out, except for pulling together the contents of 20 different containers and bags for the first time in two years (a chore made for hell) , setting up camp turned out to be quite, well, pleasant. The weather cooperated, after driving through three different storms on the way here. From home to finishing setting up camp took just four hours.

We are camping at Shenandoah River State Park just down the road from front Royal Virginia. There are only a few primitive campsites, my preference, and only one directly on the river, which I am in. I had to reserve this almost a year ago. This will be our home for the next three days.

Inasmuch as this is Annie's first trip, she really doesn't know what to make of it. She is constantly on guard, and her nose is constantly crimping.

This trip is really a test, to see how I might be able to handle an extensive one on the road trip. I will take a few of them in the next several weeks, and then start planning for this year's trip if all goes well. Right now, anywhere in North America is on the table.

Speaking of on the table, as you can see, the table is all set for dinner on the terrace at five, so I have to go and put on my chef hat.

On The Road-24 is Off....

OTR-24 is off. Today was the last day that I could leave, that is, if I wanted to avoid the ugly weather where I was to be headed. Although the rear seat delete for the Grenadier is ready to go in, and the Defender is now running just fine, that unrelated issue back here at home that I briefly referred to earlier has interfered, and I have a deadline for it of October 23.  This is unfortunate since there are indications that this might have been my last long road trip, one that I have been planning for four years (On the Donner Party Trail).  In fact, I decided to buy the Grenadier just so I could take this one last trip.  But I will deal with this as I have every other problem in my life.  My plan is to take some relatively boring local trips over the next few months, not only to get away for the first time in years, but to put the Grenadier to its full use.

 

Ed and Annie

 

Update

Just learned from my outfitter in Philly that the Rear Seat Delete for my Grenadier (GRSD) will arrive tomorrow.  When I learned in late August that it would not be here until late September, once I concluded that that check engine light problem on my Defender had been resolved, I was thinking of loading up the Defender and getting on the road in it on schedule as soon as possible after Labor Day to avoid the predictable and dangerous winter conditions in the Sierras at the end of the Donner Party Trail, but I was too preoccupied with an unrelated problem here at home to make that happen. So, I decided to wait out the GRSD and scale back my plans somewhat. If I can get it installed Friday or early next week, I will try to get on the road, unless that unrelated problem here at home throws a monkey wrench into my plans.  That, needless to say, would be unfortunate, as I have been planning this trip for several years, and the Grenadier had just arrived in time after the Baltimore bridge collapse delayed it to make that happen. Regardless, and as I usually do, I will figure out some solution to this problem.   In the meantime, the spare gas can and its attachment for the rear spare tire will also arrive this week, and I will get that installed.  It holds a meager two gallons to increase my normal driving distance to 375 miles, which should be enough for the longest stretches between gas stations that I expect to encounter.  The longest stretches I had to travel between stations in the past were between Coldfoot and Deadhouse, Alaska, 259 miles on the Dalton Highway (think, Ice Road Truckers), and Labrador City, Labrador, and Baie Comeau, Quebec (269 miles), but I got only 12 miles to a gallon on those roads and not the usual 15, which consumed 22 or my 23-gallon tank, without a spare can.  Not a good thing, especially since that does not account for running the engine for anything other than driving for things like getting warm.

 

In the meantime, I will continue with a few abbreviated local prep-trips, just to make sure I can still do this stuff.

 

 

A wise decision to detour

Just got back from Virginia yesterday.  Glad I decided to forgo camping out. Most all of those who opted to camp slept in their lavishly outfitted vehicles. And the ground was saturated with water and mud after having been inundated with the tail-end of Helene that had just passed thru.

 

Of note at the expedition exhibit was that I stopped off at the Goose Gear exhibit. They are the ones who make the rear seat delete for the Grenadier.  I ordered mine the first week in July, for delivery in 6 to 8 weeks, but that was 13 weeks ago.  Had it arrived on time, my plan was to be on the road by or right after September 5^th. As it turns out, it seems that my order fell below their radar screen. Brian from Goose Gear promised to get it out the door today to the outfitter near Philly that will install it. Hopefully, it will arrive this week.  As soon as it arrives, I am off to Pennsylvania for a few days to get it installed. I cannot hit the road without it, especially with the cold weather already hitting the Sierra Nevada area., where we are headed.

 

I also stopped at the exhibit of GP Factor, the fabricator that makes the only brush (AKA bull) bar made in America for the Grenadier. They just announced the first lot of 50 that day, and I immediately placed my order.  (See below photo of it on another Grenadier).  When the company rep asked me why I wanted on, I told him the three reasons. First, there are some trails I want to take that require crashing through overhanging branches to get to the camp sites (e.g., wonderful Lake Bukemega in northern Ontario). Second, there's one bison reserve I camp in in Manitoba where I have to gently nudge the bison out of my path. (Yellowstone, too.) Third, when I revisit Newfoundland, a brush bar is well-advised in case you suddenly come upon some humongous moose jumping out of the woods as you are going 50 miles an hour at night. Ironically, two days later, an article appeared in the NY Times on encounters in Newfoundland with the moose. (Click here.) There are as many "Watch out for Moose" signs in Newfoundland as there are "Watch out for Politicians" signs in D.C.

 

 

 

I also picked up a number of other ideas for things I have to do to outfit the Grenadier. For instance, I cannot store my extra fuel jerry can on the roof rack (as I do in my Defender), so I found out that GP factor also makes an accessory to attach one to the spare tire on the rear door. (See below photo.) I can get 345 miles on a tank of gas on good roads, much less off-road, so this attachment will increase that range by 45 miles. I have run out of gas twice on all my road trips (when I had a spare jerry can), so this spare can is not something you want to be without.

 

 

At the exhibition, mine was the only Grenadier among the thousand or so attendees. But many of the exhibitors had brought along specially outfitted Grenadiers, adding testament to the belief that the Grenadier is now the preferred off-road vehicle, that is, if you have the bucks to spare to get one.

 

All in all, it was a wise decision to detour to this exhibit. Months ago, before I knew about this exhibit, I was planning to see the new Adam Driver play off-Broadway in NYC on Thursday night, but am glad now that I never finalized those plans.

 

ED and Annie