Tag: Best Laid Plans

Bad Start to Spring Break Road Trip, March 2021

My oldest son and I have a tradition of taking an annual spring break trip, usually the last week of March.  We had to postpone last year’s trip due to COVID19 concerns.  I got both of my COVID19 vaccinations in February and my son got his vaccinations just in time to make this trip.

We settled upon the Bisti Wilderness in northwestern New Mexico as the most suitable place this year.  The weather forecast for that area was for cold, freezing temperatures at night, but not so cold as to be of great concern and the daytime temps would be in the 50s.

I planned to arrive at Bisti a day prior to my son’s arrival, leaving home on a Thursday, since I was sure I could get a free campsite at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (LMNRA), my usual stop over place along this route, during the week.  The temperatures there during March are mild, so I had no need to reserve a site with electric power for the A/C and I could still use the free showers in the good restroom facilities.  Although, when I showered there on this stop over, the water was only lukewarm.  This was the first time I had experienced anything other than hot water in the showers there.

I later noted a possible problem with the automatic step on the passenger side of my van.  Sometimes the step did not go all the way back up.  I thought maybe there might be some dirt in the mechanism, so I did not worry about that.

I left LMNRA early Friday morning heading to I40 at Amarillo.  I’ve traveled this route a number of times, so I did not use the navigation system for guidance.  However,  I wanted to be sure to navigate around Amarillo, avoiding heavy traffic in the city, intersecting I40 on the western edge of Amarillo, so I stopped momentarily at a vacant parking lot at a church to verify that I was on the best route.  When I got ready to start out again, the engine starter would not engage.  I had not had any warning of a potential battery problem and the battery was not old.  So I was concerned that there might be a more serious problem than the starter.  It occurred to me that the problem with the step might be related.

I thought surely in a city like Amarillo that there would be a Mercedes Benz dealership, but there was not.  I found that the closest MB facility was in Lubbock, 110 miles south of Amarillo and not on my route.

After a phone conversation with my dealership in Plano, Texas, I got connected to the MB roadside assistance.  They dispatched a local service to come out to check the battery as a first step.  The online app said the service would arrive in 18 minutes and gave me a countdown for the arrival.  After 18 minutes, it just said “Arriving Soon” for the next hour or so.  I checked online via my phone and found that the dispatched service had a 1 star, horrible service, rating.

I then called AAA, which dispatched a service that was to arrive within an hour.  The AAA app, similar to the MB app, gave me a countdown, which expired and then it, too, said “Arriving Soon”.

About the time I thought AAA should be arriving, a work type truck, which I thought might be one of the dispatched services, pulled into the parking lot.  But it turned out to be a couple of young local workers that saw my hood up and stopped to ask if I need a boost.  They pulled out booster cables from the truck’s back seat area and we connected the cables.  My vehicle started up with no problem.  So I figured it must be a battery problem.  I drove to a local auto parts store, purchased the best, most expensive battery they had for my vehicle and installed it with help of one of the parts store employees.  But the problem persisted, the starter motor would not engage, even with the new battery.  The auto parts employee brought out a booster battery device, connected it to the positive and ground posts under the hood and my vehicle started normally.  (The engine starter battery is not under the hood.  It is in a compartment beneath the floor in front of the driver’s seat). So now I’m convinced there is a wiring problem.

Via conversations with the MB dealership in Lubbock, I learned that they do not service Sprinter vans.  The nearest Sprinter van service is in Midland, Texas, far to the south and far out of my way.  I did get to talk to a service manager at the MB facility in Midland and got confirmation that the most likely problem would be a wiring issue between the battery and starter and/or alternator.

By now it was mid-afternoon.  I called an MB dealership in Albuquerque, which was about a four hour drive along I40 and along my planned route.  I talked to someone at the dealership, learned that they are open until 5pm during the week and open again at 7:30 Saturday morning.  I was told that I can park on the street beside the dealership, if I get there Friday after they are closed.  So I purchase a fully charged battery booster device in the parts store, figuring that if I have to shut off my engine for any reason, I can boost it.  I hoped that as long as I could keep the engine running, I could drive all the way to Albuquerque.

So I began the journey.  Before I got out of Amarillo, the dash displayed an “Alternator/Battery” error message; but the vehicle continued to run as normal.  So I continued.

Just after passing an exit to San Jon, New Mexico, all kinds of warning messages began to show up on the dash, then the vehicle began to lose power.  The engine continued to run and the vehicle continued moving down the highway, but at a much slower speed.  I soon realized that it was highly likely that the engine would die.  So I coasted off of the highway onto the shoulder in the shadow of an overpass.  As soon as I stopped, the engine died and the dash display blanked out.

Sportsmobile dead along I40, just past mile marker 353 in New Mexico, iPhone Photo

I called the MB roadside assist again, having to be on hold for 20-30 minutes.  After I explained the problem, a tow truck was dispatched from Albuquerque, 213 miles away.

The tow truck driver called a couple of times to get details about my vehicle and my location.  The tow truck arrived after dark, sometime between 8 and 9PM.

The tow truck driver assured me that he knew exactly where to drop me off at the MB dealership, since he had done this many times.  We arrived at the dealership after midnight.  I got up early Saturday morning and went into the dealership as soon as it opened.  I found the service manager, who had already seen my vehicle parked on the drive entrance behind the service area.  He informed me that I’m at the wrong place.  The Sprinter service had been moved to another location about a mile away and they are not open on Saturday!

The service manager said I needed to call roadside assistance for a tow, as they are not allowed to call on my behalf.  Remembering how long it took to get through on the telephone to MB’s roadside assistance, I decided to call AAA.  I was told a tow truck would be there in about an hour.  The towing service called to ask for a photograph of my vehicle, which I sent right away.  The tow service called to tell me they dropped me off there last night and I’m at the correct location.  I had to inform them of their error, referring to signs posted on the building just behind my van with the address for dropping off Sprinter vans.

The tow truck showed up around 9AM and it was the same truck and driver that dropped me off last night.  He had just gotten home, barely gotten into bed, when he was called out again.

When the tow truck driver dropped me off alongside a city street, adjacent to the cement block wall around the MB Sprinter service center, he told me this might not be a good place to leave my vehicle unattended.  So I decided it best to stay in the van, rather than have my son drive down from the Great Sand Dunes, where he was currently.  (We had talked earlier and our tentative plan, so I would not waste all of two or more days, was for him to pick me up and we would go to the Great Sand Dunes.  I would call the Sprinter service on Monday morning to figure out what to do after that.  There could be more days of delay, depending upon when the service center began looking at my vehicle and if parts had to be ordered, etc.).

So I mounted my solar panels on the roof to keep the house batteries charged and stayed with the van Saturday and Sunday nights, leaving a light on to make it obvious that the vehicle was occupied.

I was tired from not getting much sleep the previous night, but I decided I might as well find a place nearby to grab lunch, since I was stuck here anyway.  I consulted my iPhone and found a food court place called Tin Can Alley a few blocks away.

After calling home to update my wife on my status, I went out looking for the Tin Can Alley.  I actually got all the way there and realized that I had forgotten to bring a mask, which was required to enter.  So I had to walk back to my vehicle, retrieve a mask and walk back to the food court.

Now really tired, I ordered a BBQ slider and coleslaw from one place, then took my order across the food court to a beer place.  I figured I had earned at least one or two beers.  Ironically, they had a pale ale on draft called “Happy Camper”, so I had one with my meal and a second one for desert before hiking back to my vehicle, where I crashed on the bed for a few hours.

To be continued,

Ken

Bluejay Blues

A few years ago, tired of the unending job of trimming large Ligustrum trees in a back corner of our yard, I decided to take out those trees and create a tropical landscape, that would look more appropriate behind our large pool.

I had already taken out a number of large Crepe Myrtles that were a year round nuisance, requiring severe pruning several times a year, clogging the pool skimmer with blooms, staining the pool apron, dropping leaves and seed pods, putting out shoots and trying to take over the neighborhood.

The Ligustrum trees were a similar maintenance problem.  Knowing that birds frequently built their nest in these trees, I looked for nests before beginning the removal process, finding nothing but old, abandoned nests.  So with my electric chain saw and pruning tools, I began removing limbs, working my way towards taking down the main trunks.

This process took some time, as I removed limbs, trimmed them to manageable size and dragged the trimmings to the front curb for pickup by our trash service.  I was feeling quite satisfied, when I got to the point of removing the top of the last tree.  My feeling of progress and accomplishment, as the tree top crashed to the ground, was quickly dampened, when I heard the frantic cries of baby birds and spotted their nest from which they had just been ejected.  The babies were very young and did not yet have feathers.  Feeling guilty and responsible for their plight, I gathered them and placed them back into the nest, while wondering how I was going to make amends.

There was a main trunk of one tree still standing with a stub of a branch, to which I managed to secure the nest.  Realizing that the babies were totally exposed to the sun and elements with no tree foliage for protection, I retrieved an old umbrella and fastened it, with zip ties and twine, to the tree stub to provide some shade and protection of the nest.

Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/250s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.

I’m sure my neighbors, who could only see the top of the umbrella above the fence line, wondered what craziness I was up to, cutting off the top of a tree and replacing it with a dilapidated  umbrella.  Had the umbrella been visible from the street, I’m sure my aggressive HOA would have demanded that I take the umbrella down.

I waited and observed from a distance to see if the parents would return to the nest.  The parents soon returned, but were very cautious, spending much time watching from a perch on the privacy fence near the tree stub, fluttering near the nest, but not landing.  After an extended period of caution,  the parents finally accepted the new location of the nest and resumed caring for the baby chicks.

Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/250s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.

As the chicks grew, I began to take a few photos, documenting their progress.  The photos are not great, but serve to illustrate this event.

Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.

The chicks developed, growing feathers, becoming more vociferous in their demands for food and beginning to venture just outside the confines of the nest.

Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.
Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.
Bluejay Parent and Chick in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.
Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 220mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.

One day, I found one of the young birds on the ground.  I could not leave it there for fear of neighbors’ cats, that frequented our yard, finding and making a meal of the young bird.  I picked up the foundling, which complained loudly, as I tried to place it back into the nest, while being attacked by the parents, with all the baby birds screaming for help.  While I managed to get the one bird back into the nest, another one was frightened out of the nest and onto the ground.

Bluejay Chick, prematurely out of its nest. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.

Realizing that any attempt to put the second baby bluejay back into the nest would probably result in another one jumping out, I decided that I had to put those that left the nest into something other than the nest, from which they could not easily escape and hope that the parents would still take care of them.

I had several plastic bins supplied by a recycling service, so I decided one of those would by suitable.  I could not leave the bin on the ground, where the baby birds would be easily accessible to the neighbors’ cats, so I secured the bin to the tree trunk.  This arrangement worked – for awhile.

Bluejay Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 145mm, 1/250s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.
Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.
Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/200s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.
Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 300mm, 1/250s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.
Bluejay Parent and Chicks in their relocated nest with an umbrella for shelter. Nikon D70, Nikon 70-300mm at 130mm, 1/250s, f/9, ISO 200, edited in Nik Color Efex Pro4.

Eventually, all of the chicks ended up in the recycle bin.

We lived in an area subject to heavy rains and tropical storms.  Late one night one of those strong thunderstorms blew in and I knew the baby birds were getting pounded by the rain.  The next morning I went out to check on the birds.  Much to my dismay, they had all perished in the storm.  There was standing water in the recycle bin, which did not have drainage holes in the bottom.  There was not much water, but apparently enough that the exposure was fatal for the young birds that could not escape from the death trap that I had unwittingly made.

This was a great disappointment.  Those babies were so close to being ready to take flight on their own and my stupid mistakes had resulted in their deaths.

Such a simple experience, but it  remains with me, in a Bluejay purgatory.

I am reminded of the words of the poet, Robert Burns:

“The  best laid schemes of mice and men go often awry, and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!”

Ken