November 11th, Veteran’s Day, marks my GTI’s ninth anniversary! I wish I could tell you that I’ve added more cool modifications to the car. After all, my car’s early years of adding stereo, software, turbo, and exhaust upgrades played a part in drawing most of you to my website or YouTube channel. The trailers, towing, and cargo content may have been attractive, too. But my car mods ended years ago. I tend to make my cars into what I want and then drive them until they’re worthless. As a result, I haven’t shared any CAR mods with you in a few years. The car is where I want it and it’s been great! Ham radio mods, yes; car mods? Not so much. However, I did mention that I’d share any problems that I may encounter as my GTI ages. So, let me share some things that happened in 2025: Continue reading
Nine Years: Slowing Down?
250,000 Miles: A GTI Health Update
A quarter-million miles or 400,000 kilometers! I didn’t think I’d share this milestone since I only recently shared my “Lunar Landing“ hoax. But this is too big of a milestone to not share! I was on the road participating in various ham radio activities at the time. I had a lot going on in June between the recent work on the car, carrying the micro-tower, regular thunderstorms, and a major foundation project on my home. The foundation work has made a mess of my yard and is ongoing as I type this entry! The extra activity has compelled me to leave my micro-tower mounted longer than usual to protect it from knocks and bumps as workers traverse the yard with heavy equipment. What’s new at the 250,000-mile mark? Continue reading
Keeping Cool: Both the Engine and Myself
I shared in February that I was watching what I suspected to be an oil migration problem. I was finding a sludge in my coolant reservoir. It was not obviously oil, but it certainly was something that didn’t belong there! My primary suspicion was that one or more of the gaskets between the oil cooler, accessory bracket, and engine block had split. My mechanic is very pragmatic and wasn’t convinced that I was seeing oil in the coolant reservoir. You see, oil leaking into the coolant often results in a frothy mess in the reservoir. My leak was slow enough to question what was really happening, perhaps just a few drops per day, and it didn’t present as a froth. I decided to monitor the coolant while I awaited a report from Blackstone Labs. Continue reading
Cargo Organization with Husky Build-Out
I have been a fiercely independent traveler for a very long time, both in vehicles and on my bicycles. I often carry more tools or parts than necessary. I had been carrying cargo in bags, then boxes, and even some stackable cases. Then I discovered the new Build-Out series of tool cases by Husky. I bought my first units in 2024 to support my side job as a bicycle tour mechanic. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the Build-Out boxes are a great fit for my in-car use. I use an extra lid as a mounting base to stack my boxes (click here for an alternative). Husky does not currently sell the lids separately. Instead, I bought a small box, removed the lid, and then saved the base to use as a ¼-height crate. Continue reading
Lunar Lunacy; Plus, Small Problems
I’ve shared common milestones in the past: Every 10,000 miles to the 100,000-mile mark, 150,000 miles, and 200,000 miles. I even shared a metric milestone at 300,000 kilometers or 186,335 miles. Coincidentally, the speed of light is 300,000 kilometers per second. To be more accurate, light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second, but I round up to 300,000 km/sec unless I’m calculating something important such as the number of tire replacements required during a light-year. 😉 I recently celebrated another kooky milestone, something that most drivers overlook: 238,855 miles or 384,556 kilometers. “What kind of nonsense is that?” you ask. That is the average distance to the moon! I shared this photo online about six weeks before reaching the milestone.
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Eight Years!
November 11th, Veteran’s Day, marked my GTI’s eighth anniversary. I delayed sharing this post because I had just had the fuel tank suction pump recall performed and wanted a chance to include comments about it here. With over 233,000 miles on the odometer, my car is not at a mileage milestone, but I’m getting close to an oddball achievement that I will share soon. For now, I’m going to share what’s been happening with the car over the past year. If you’re looking for a complete list of everything that’s gone wrong since the car was new, I’ll refer you to last year’s 200,000-mile post. I list most items there.
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Fuel Tank Suction Pump Recall
Over 261,000 Golf, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Sportwagen, Alltrack, and A3 owners received a notice in February 2024 about a possible fire hazard. The notice read, “The suction jet pump inside the fuel tank is designed to purge fuel from the Evaporative Emissions (EVAP) system. If a specific seal inside an affected suction jet pump fails, the fuel may flow directly into the EVAP system. If this happens, fuel could accumulate in the EVAP system and may leak through the charcoal canister filter element. Leaking fuel, in the presence of an ignition source, may result in a fire.” This is an exceedingly rare possibility! Still, Volkswagen elected to replace the entire suction pump part on all affected cars. My car had been exhibiting intermittent symptoms that may have been caused by a malfunctioning suction pump… maybe. Having over 233,000 miles on my car, I was happy enough to receive a free part. There was one major challenge to getting the work done, however. The suction pump is in the fuel tank. Guess where the access cover for the fuel tank is located?
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Thule Force XT Sport Cargo Box
I bought my first-ever cargo box years ago in the form of Yakima’s quickly-discontinued Showcase 15. It fills the roof on my GTI; so, I never thought that I’d consider another box. Fast-forward to 2022 when I started to dive deeper into ham radio, including quite an “antenna farm,” and I found benefits to downsizing my cargo box. Given the extra cargo, refrigerators (yes, sometimes two of them), and tools that I occasionally carry, I need extra space for my luggage, especially if I’m not traveling alone. However, my roof is laden with ham radio antennas, usually five of them, but sometimes as many as nine. There’s not enough room for the antennas and my Showcase. Thule’s narrower 11 cubic-foot Force XT Sport, replaced by the very similar Force XT 3 in 2025, is a great solution for a crowded roof on a small car! Continue reading
“Reverse Rake” Spacers by EMD Auto
I’ve moved most of my ham radio content to its own website. Still, those of you who’ve been here for a while know that I’m carrying a bit of extra weight in the car, probably an additional 200-300 lbs (300-500 kg). That alone can introduce some squat in the rear suspension, especially since most of that weight is behind or near the rear axle. This photo shows how the car has sat for quite a while, with just a touch of squat. The cool kids call this “reverse rake.” There’s a solution to this problem in the form of “Reverse Rake Spacers” by EMD Auto. Continue reading
2024 Solar Eclipse Road Trip
As the sun enters totality, there is a flash called the “Diamond Ring.”
I had loosely planned this trip in 2017 when a partial solar eclipse passed over Virginia. I was at work and got a brief glimpse of the ¾-eclipsed sun through an office window with a set of borrowed safety glasses. I thought it was interesting, but wanted to see if there was an even better opportunity in the future. A web search revealed that the 2024 total eclipse would pass directly over my family’s small town in central Texas. Even better, my brother built a house on 10 acres outside of town in 2018. I knew it would be a perfect location for a private eclipse viewing. But there were a few things that I didn’t know at the time… Continue reading
Stage 2 Endurance by South Bend Clutch
Last week, I gave a long-term review of my outgoing clutch, an RSR clutch kit from HS Tuning. I enjoyed having the RSR clutch on my car and it lasted for over 165,000 miles. However, I needed a stronger clutch to hold the additional power and torque from my IS38 upgrade. HS Tuning has a solution with their RSR Hybrid clutch kit; but it doesn’t solve anything that my first choice of clutch doesn’t. Enter the tried and true Stage 2 Endurance by South Bend Clutch (SBC). Why choose this over the RSR Hybrid? Three factors drove my decision: Reputation, drive-ability, and a benefit of having an authorized distributor install the clutch. If that sounds a bit strange, I’ll explain… Continue reading
7 Years and 200,000 Miles
I’ve done it, two milestones within 30 days of one another: My GTI’s 7th birthday and over 200,000 miles of driving it! When I bought the car on Veteran’s Day 2016, my driving schedule suggested that I might reach 200,000 miles by the end of 2022. I drove far less from 2020 to 2022 (I wonder why?), even with back-to-back drives to California. I didn’t think I’d reach 200k until 2024. But a few road trips in 2023 to various ham radio conventions for exhibitions, as well as trips to St. Louis and Nashville to support bicycle tours, put me past the milestone earlier than expected. Continue reading
RSR Clutch by HS Tuning: Long-Term Review
I recently replaced my RSR clutch by HS Tuning and thought it would be good to provide a long-term review. If you’ve seen my initial review of the clutch, then you know that I had been very happy with it. It was advertised to hold 480 lb-ft when I bought it. Later, the spec was revised to say “Mk5/6 – 480” and “MQB – 380.” Having APR Stage 2 at the time, I was at that 380 lb-ft limit, but the setup was still recommended by HS Tuning. I “downgraded” my APR tune to a 91 AKI file due to a coast to coast trip where 93 AKI is unavailable. The new tune reduced my engine torque to 371 lb-ft (old file), which is just barely within the specs of the RSR clutch. Continue reading
HamCation 2023 and Raleigh Car Shows
January and February were busy months for my car and mobile ham station! My previous post detailed the completion of a “micro tower” on the roof. Next, I worked on my amplifier and feed line installation. I shared that project on my new ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. I had hoped to finish prior to the VHF Contest in late-January. Supply delays kept that from happening. The pressure to finish the job was eased, but only a little. I was invited to take my mobile station to HamCation in Orlando, FL in early-February to display it with Emergency Communications (EmComm) vehicles. I still needed to finish the overhaul to be show-ready. HamCation is not a car show, but I still wanted to present a good exhibition! Continue reading
Rooftop Antenna Tower w/Rotator!
I now have a dedicated ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. See this article and more, starting HERE.
If you’ve been watching my site, then you’re aware that I’ve been slowly building a VHF contest Rover. I’m documenting my process on my new “Rover” page. My coverage there is brief; so, this entry will share more details about the project. “What is a rotator?,” you ask. Most are familiar with vertical whip antennas, which have omnidirectional radiation patterns. Directional beams allow operators to focus their emissions in a specific direction. Some Rovers use a temporary mast that’s set up at each operating position and then pointed by hand; others mount a permanent mast and then steer their vehicle to point the beam. A more sophisticated approach that’s adapted from home equipment includes the use of a rotator, which is a motorized device which points the antenna array in the direction that’s chosen by the operator. They can even be used while the vehicle is in motion. Continue reading
Daughter’s Car is Fixed!
My daughter’s car is fixed and on the road! The repair happened before my daughter came home for Thanksgiving, which gave me time to take the car for a few test drives and to shoot a video (link below). In short, the car looks and sounds great, is running with more power and a younger engine, and has a slew of new parts that should enhance its lifespan. Best yet, she was able to drive it back to North Carolina after spending Thanksgiving with us. The end! Or keep reading for more details! 😉
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Dometic CFX3-35 12V Cooler
I’ve mentioned my Dometic CFX3-35 12-volt cooler a few times during the two years that I’ve had it, starting with the kick-off for a coast-to-coast road trip. I’ve even published videos dedicated to it. But I had not shared an article here until now. Our coast-to-coast road trip took place during the height of lock-downs and restaurant closures. With that, combined with my wife’s diet restrictions, we knew that we needed to carry our own food as much as possible. Dometic is a popular brand among some of the overlanding YouTubers whose videos I enjoy. So, I started my search there and quickly settled on the CFX3-35, their largest cooler that would fit beneath my car’s parcel shelf for concealment in the trunk. Continue reading
Electronics Overhaul!
I now have a dedicated ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. See this article and more, starting HERE.
I receive a lot of compliments regarding the level of detail and workmanship on my electronics panel. However, something interesting happens over the course of time as equipment is either added or changed, in this car as well as two previous cars: The addition of new power feeds, control cables, and coaxial feed lines often winds up detracting from my clean installation and can eventually contribute to a convoluted mess, especially in areas that are hidden from plain view. For example, the compartments under my “rear seat delete“ have become catch-all spaces for leftover cable that I didn’t take the time to organize. Over time, that area has become a bit of a rat’s nest. It’s long past-due for an overhaul. Continue reading
Six Year Anniversary – Still Adding Stuff
My GTI recently saw its six year anniversary. I bought my car new on Veteran’s Day in 2016 and it’s been really good to me. Yes, I did have an injector problem and a few minor issues over the years, but I still consider it to be a great car! I drove 29,000 miles over the past year, which puts the car at almost 172,000 miles. I’m pretty much done with performance mods, although I did make one more exhaust change in 2022. Instead of vehicle performance, I’ve been working more on my ham/amateur radio performance. I’ve gone a bit nuts and have blown my “stealth” appearance. Continue reading
Is an Old Mk7 Golf Worth an Engine?
The official diagnosis, confirmed by a shop that I trust, is that my daughter’s 2015 Launch Edition Golf needs an engine. Compression and leakdown testing confirms a major leak in the block. So, this isn’t a problem with the head gasket, a ring, valve, or anything minor. Could the engine be rebuilt? Probably. Is it something we want to tackle? Certainly not! There’s a lot of labor rate involved with a rebuild. Plus, no mechanic wants to risk finding a problem after it’s put together and reinstalled in the car. There’s a valid argument that the parts and labor to rebuild an engine is similar to the parts and labor to replace the engine with a used engine. For a little more, one could even replace the entire long block and have a mostly-new engine from the manufacturer. At least that used to be the case. So, is an old Mk7 Golf worth the cost of an engine? Let’s consider some options: Continue reading
Needs an Engine?!
My daughter’s 2015 Launch Edition Golf recently had the dreaded Cylinder #3 misfire. She’s recovering from shoulder surgery; so, she couldn’t do much. Unfamiliar with any European specialists in her area, I suggested going to the dealer for what could have been an easy visit that ended with a new injector. They troubleshot and concluded that the #3 injector was faulty. The service advisor suggested an intake cleaning. We concurred with both. “The car will be ready for pickup tomorrow,” she said. BTW, this dealership did EVERYTHING via text. They don’t answer their phones at all. Continue reading
Eurofest Maggie Valley with Growing Comms Exhibit
I now have a dedicated ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. See this article and more, starting HERE.
A few weeks ago, I shared an update which shared recent amateur radio activity as well as my plan to attend more car shows with my communications exhibit. Eurofest at Maggie Valley, NC was easily the largest VW show on my schedule. Its distance from my home was far enough to warrant extending the trip to add other destinations along the way. I added a run on the Tail of the Dragon as well as three Parks on the Air (POTA) activations. My only concern about this trip was a weekend forecast with rain and thunderstorms. I decided to take a chance! Continue reading
Ham Radio Updates
I now have a dedicated ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. See this article and more, starting HERE.
I’ve been neglectful, but busy. I’ve enjoyed making YouTube videos and publishing every week. However, spending so much time making videos meant that the writing on my website had fallen behind; plus, the more time I spend creating, the less time I spend actually DOING the things that inspire content. So, I took a break from publishing so that I could actually DO some things. I’ve said it before: My content will follow my interests. Since 2020, I’ve taken a deeper dive into ham radio than I ever imagined for myself. I’ve shared some details on a dedicated page, but my subscribers are only informed when I publish “posts,” not “pages.” So, here’s an update… Continue reading
Volkswagen Show Catch-Up!
This entry is a bit late. I find it difficult to take the time to write articles when I’m focusing on creating YouTube videos. Coincidentally, I find it difficult to DO the things worth sharing if I’m making YouTube videos. It’s all quite time-consuming! I’ve taken a break from video creation so that I can do more things with the car. My current project is a ham radio contest rover build. Read about my progress HERE. I’m getting ahead of myself. This entry about a few VW and European car shows that I attended recently. Still, the shows and my communications build are somewhat related… Continue reading
My First POTA Road Trip
I now have a dedicated ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. See this article and more, starting HERE.
My website has fallen behind. I hope to do some catch-up work in the coming weeks. While this site has been primarily automotive-related, my content has always followed my interests. I’ve been doing a lot of upgrades to my amateur radio (ham) setup. The year 2020 drove many social changes. In my case, I dove more deeply into ham radio. I’ve been building a contesting “Rover” setup for occasional VHF contesting. But one pursuit that I’ve been enjoying on a small scale is Parks on the Air, or POTA. Continue reading
Orion-Tr Smart 12|12-30 360-Watt DC-DC Charger
I now have a dedicated ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. See this article and more, including details about an upgraded charger, starting HERE.
A car’s alternator is NOT appropriate for charging LiFePo4 batteries. First, it’s output voltage is not quite correct; nor, is it intended to charge two batteries (starter and aux) with differing chemistries at the same time. Next, and perhaps more important, lithium batteries will charge at far higher currents than a standard alternator should supply. My particular LiFePo4 BMS will gladly take as much as 120 amps of charge current; others can take 200 amps or more. That can lead to overburdening the alternator and even starting a fire under the hood! My goal was to find a solution that would adjust the charge voltage, limit charging current, and isolate the lithium battery from my starter battery. Continue reading
100-Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Secondary Battery
NOTE: I now have a dedicated ham radio website, KE4WMF.com. See this article and more starting HERE.
This year is the first time in many years that I spent a lot of time using my ham radios. As much as I like to drive, operating on the HF bands often requires log work, especially during contests or “Worked All States” network sessions. Logging while driving is unsafe, especially at night when most HF nets occur. Spending an hour or two on the radio while parked is taxing on the starter battery; plus, I don’t like to idle the engine for extended periods to maintain the battery charge. What’s worse is that I had wired-in a bypass switch to activate my electronics panel while parked. I’ve had a few occasions where I accidentally left that switch in its “bypass” position and drained the starter battery overnight. I needed a better solution! Continue reading
Deep Discharge – Get Restarted Fast!
Own a car for long enough and you’ll eventually find yourself with a weak starter battery. If the battery is just old, then maybe it will turn-on all of your accessories, but lack the grunt to turn the starter motor. If you’ve left something energized overnight, something more than just an interior dome light, then you may come out to a DEAD battery, one that is so low that nothing works at all. Either way, I’ve found a tool that can help recover from such an event, even if no one else is around to help. Continue reading
Five Years in a Mk7 GTI! More Mods or Time to Sell?
I can’t believe it’s been five years in my Mk7 GTI already! Is it too late to add more mods to this geriatric GTI or should I sell it? According to some, I’m way overdue for ditching this car! I had plenty of comments on my 3-year video saying that 93,000 miles was too much and that I should get rid of the car while I still could. Of course, I didn’t listen. The car now has over 143,000 miles! So, what’s next? Continue reading
Rear Seat Delete: New and Improved
This entry may seem like déjà vu if you’ve been following my site for a while. Yes, I had created and installed a rear seat delete in 2019. I removed it after a couple months of use because I felt that it wasn’t practical. It added to the cabin noise and anything that I had placed in the trunk would inevitably wind up on the floor behind one of the front seats. Fast-forward two years (I can’t believe it’s been over two years already) and I have a newfound use for a rear seat delete, both as a cargo option and for new ventilation wants. I’ll explain; plus, I’ll include some measurements and specs… Continue reading
Coast to Coast: Fault Diagnosis and Lessons Learned
This report is LONG overdue! I had drafted it, then forgot about it. Oops! What follows is my recollection of a engine fault that my GTI suffered while pulling a trailer on its first Coast-to-Coast trip. I have a series of entries about that trip, starting with this entry. We wound up on the side of the road during a night time mountain climb about 2500 miles into the trip. The roadside stop was very brief. We were climbing a mountain pass and probably should have been in a lower gear. We had experienced a check engine light a day or two earlier, also while in a climb at only 2500 rpm. However, this time the EPC light came on, the Check Engine Lamp (CEL) was flashing, and the car’s behavior was terrible. I was certain that I could restart the car and drive gently. After pulling-over and restarting, I decided to stay in a lower gear with the trailer in the mountains. I pulled codes with my OBDEleven app and found cylinder #3 misfire and “hide cylinder” DTCs. I cleared the codes and continued west. Continue reading
Fuel Economy with IS38
One look at that title must have you wondering – “What kind of lunatic tracks fuel economy in a modified GTI?” THIS GUY does. HAHA! Coming from a Volkswagen turbodiesel background and having a lifetime of fuel economy testing under my belt, you KNOW I took the car on a road circuit to see how the IS38 affected my fuel economy. I got 39.6 mpg when the car was stock and descending from Tennessee to the coast during its first trip to Tail of the Dragon. Later, I developed this 200-mile road circuit (see photo) where I could make consistent drives to test fuel economy at efficient highway speeds in support of this article about how different loads affect fuel economy. I drove the circuit again after upgrading to APR Stage 2 and achieved 38 mpg. I had hoped to do better with APR’s high-flow catalytic converter. Unfortunately, I didn’t test fuel economy after upgrading to the Baun Performance cat-back exhaust. I wish that I had. Continue reading
APR Stage 3 with OEM IS38
This is the upgrade I thought I’d never do because it increases maintenance needs and removes some of the low-end torque that I really enjoy… and it’s expensive. Still, I would have instinctively seen an IS38 as a good upgrade if my original turbo had failed. Well, with 128,730 miles on the odometer, I got bored and decided to make a leap to greater power! I took the car to my APR dealer, Euro Pros in Yorktown, VA, and had them install an IS38 turbo and update the software. The IS38 is the factory turbo found on the Golf R and Audi S3. In fact, we acquired my turbo from a local Audi dealer to insure that we sourced the latest revision. Also, APR recommends NGK-R7437-9 spark plugs, which have been backordered for a while. Instead, Euro Pros installed OEM spark plugs for an Audi RS5, P/N: 06M905606F, also acquired from a local Audi dealer. The RS5 plugs work great, are half the price of the NGK racing spark plugs, and have a longer service life. Continue reading
VA to CA and Back: Full Trip Wrap-Up
Being a former TDI owner, I still love to track fuel economy and other technical stuff. Come to think of it, I’ve tracked MPGs from the day I got my first car, a 1973 Beetle in 1986. Overall for this trip, I drove 7668 miles and burned 352 gallons of premium unleaded. That puts the trip’s average fuel economy at 21.7 mpg, which is 1.3 mpg less than on my previous trip to CA. I had hoped that the cargo trailer would be more aerodynamic than the top-loaded utility trailer. However, the cargo trailer is heavier, wider, and taller; plus, I think my speeds were consistently higher along the way. I suspect I-80 may be slightly more mountainous than I-40, too. I haven’t scrutinized the costs of hotels, fuel, and food separately. I don’t want to! But I do know that this trip was an expensive way to get a small amount of my mother’s stuff. Regardless, this was more about the journey than the economical acquisition of goods. Continue reading
Return to VA: Part 3
As I was digging in my suitcase and deciding what to wear, I saw a strange color that surely was not my normal thing. “What’s this?” A kid somewhere is upset! I guess finding someone else’s clothing mixed-in with my own is an aspect of laundromat-life that I had forgotten about. I don’t think I had this happen before, even when I was a regular at laundromats, and certainly not 1000 miles after the fact. Live and learn, them more than me this time, I guess. 😀 I left Columbia just after sunrise and planned to drive 500 miles to Springfield, OH. Why the turn north? I saw an opportunity to enter Pennsylvania for another “Been There” mug. Coincidentally, someone had commented on my tiny cargo trailer conversion in Instagram about a month before I left on this trip. He’s near Pittsburgh. So, I offered to meet him and show him the trailer in person. Some of you may recognize him. More on that later… Continue reading
Return to VA: Part 2
I left Rawlins, WY bright and early. The drivers of the pickup trucks that had parked around me were early birds! They were already gone long before sunrise. I was certain that I-80 would be endless miles of boredom; that’s what I was hoping for, at least. There are a lot of mountain passes and opportunities to find closed gates if unexpected snow came. I didn’t see anything in the forecast, but that didn’t preclude the possibility of a mountain pass being closed. Other than avoiding snow and ice, my only priority on this day was to get more “Been There” mugs for my wife. Continue reading
Return to VA: Part 1
My wife got up around 3:30am to pack her bags. I slept until about 10 minutes before we needed to leave. The hotel was just five minutes from the departure terminal; so, I had the luxury of kicking her out the door and then going back to the hotel to pack. We said our goodbyes and I returned to the hotel. Traveling with her, even for just a weekend, often results in A LOT of extra stuff in the car. She loves to pack plenty of snacks and drinks. My back seat had just a jacket and a suitcase for my outbound trip. I buy food and drinks as I travel. Here’s the car after a weekend with my wife and for the trip home… Continue reading
Return to CA: Packing and Sequoia National Park, Round 2
After a good night’s rest, we went to my mother’s storage unit to unpack and decide what was coming home with us. I nearly had a heart attack every time I heard my wife say, “Awww…” It seemed like a potential signal of each additional thing she’d want to load into the trailer. HAHA! I had made it clear that I was bringing home “just” 500 lbs, nothing more. Thankfully, many of the things that gave her moments of pause were also things that she was able to put back into their box and move on. Later, she said that it was 1:00pm and that she was hungry. “WOW! Has it been that long already?” We had leftover pizza in the car’s refrigerator and took a lunch break. While eating, I opened my Instagram page and discovered that it wasn’t 1:00pm. Her FitBit was still on east coast time; it was only 10:00am. “Early lunch for us!” HAHA! Continue reading
Return to CA: Sequoia National Park, The Giant Forest
In my previous entry, I had left my trailer in a pull-out just below the snow-line on the mountain climb to General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park. I didn’t want to spend too much time away from it since I was paranoid about it being stolen or towed (small trailers are easier to snag). It wasn’t about the cost of replacing it. Instead, its disappearance would have put a huge dent in my timeline for getting my mother’s stuff. I was burning PTO (paid time off) in the hole (negative balance) and wanted to minimize any disruptions. Realistically, had anything happened to it there or elsewhere, I was prepared to just buy another trailer and get my mission completed. Still, the park ranger assured me that it would be fine. My first stop along my way farther up the mountain was to shoot the “small” Sequoia in my previous update (shown here). From there, I went to the Fallen Tree Tunnel. The road was closed because it is unmaintained during the off-season since the plows cannot fit. I could have hiked and saw the tree. But shooting it without the car was not part of my plan. Plus, I was on a tight schedule because I needed to pick up my wife from the airport soon. Continue reading
Return to CA: Sequoia National Park, The Ascent
I awoke nice and early because I wanted to beat the crowds to Sequoia National Park. My goal was to photograph the car with some Sequoias and to get a photo with the car/trailer in the fallen tree tunnel. The road had been indicated “closed” on Google Maps, but appeared to be open now. I called the road conditions hotline: “Roads open… Chains not required.” I’m gone! My hotel was at around 350 feet above sea level. The Sequoias are in the mountains where there is no fuel stations or cellular service. It was no place to take a trailer without a full tank of fuel. I refueled about halfway there to avoid any surprises. Then came the entrance… all to myself…