Francine Part 3 — Let's Go Camping!
Let's Go Camping!
Having bought our beater, we deemed it necessary to take it for a little spin in the woods. So as Monday rolled around we got all of our camping necessities. But Francine wasn't ready yet. Somehow it ran fine all the way to Brad's driveway, but then, 10 minutes later, wouldn't start. After much pushing and clutch popping, we found out the battery had a bad connection. We played with it for a little bit and then we were off! We headed toward Detroit Lake.
The weather that day had started out to be decent, but as night fell, so did the rain. Finally we found a place to stay. It was campground that was not used at this time of the year — that means it was free! So in the wet and cold, we attempted to set up Brad's hugely gigantic tent. It took way too long but we eventually got it up. Meanwhile Nick tried his best to make a fire in the pouring down rain to get us warmed up.
Fire = Heat
We charred some hot dogs or something and then slipped into our wet selfs into our sleeping bags. The next day we woke up (it happens) and then plotted what the day would hold. After doing normal camping things — which coincidentally does not encompass ingesting flammable, rotten liquids (aka alcohol) — we decided it was time to take Francine for a spin ... literally.
Spin, spin, spin!
We found a little graveled opening that was about 3/4 mile off the main road. Here we let Francine loose! After all the rain there was substantial mud and muddles (even for gravel) so we 'tested' them by driving through them. Needless to say, the ride was anything but 'smooth.' But this only made things more fun :-)
During the 20-25 minutes of playing in the gravel pit, we burned almost twice as much gas as we did on the 50mile drive to the camp site. But it was fun!
The Inevitable "Whoops"
Now, at this point, it would be nice to think that we stopped for the day, having done our damage to the environment — but instead we continued. Before long Nick decided to try scale a large (10-15ft high) pile of gravel.
Against all odds, Francine would not climb the hill. Instead, she sputtered, idling at a ridiculously low rpm (like under 150rpm) until she died. Somehow, Nick's uphill adventure killed the engine and made it refuse to even turn it over. Probably that darn battery again, or we think the alternator may be for the birds... So anyway, Nick tried fruitlessly to at least get some spark in the cylinders, but to no avail.
What's next? Push it down a hill! For once, we made the right decision. Since this truck has a manual tranny, we just roll it down the hill, pop the clutch and there she goes!
Moments later (with Nick in the driver's seat) the wondrous flatulencesque exhaust sound came from bottom of the hill - she runs! Yeah!
At this point it was pretty much agreed that we should no longer take our chances for that day. So after burning 1/2 tank of gas, killing and reviving the truck, leaking some oil, and shoving the truck downhill — all within a few-hundred yard radius — we returned to camp.
The rest of the day was probably uneventful, cold, wet, and generally miserable. Thankfully, this trip was much more fun in hindsight. We beat each other with 'lightsabers' and went home the next day when we awoke to a few inches of snow. Brr!!
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