Blog Update - New Fridge Spring Cleaning & Repairs

First I just love this quote and had to put it on an image!



Since our return from Noxon the focus has been to get all the repairs completed on my trailer for the trip to the North Fork coming up July 16th. Plus I needed to do a little spring cleaning in preparation for the MB to arrive on the 20th of July.

First thing was scrub the floor real good - yes the floor was dirty!



Clean Now!



Next was remove the old fridge...







New Fridge installed!



Getting cold!



Now to make room for Millhoff and get the bed cleaned up and emptied out for two with a bundling board! Lord knows we don't want to touch!!

First - removed the freezer and put the settee back for a spot to sit at the dinette!



Strip the bed and wash all the linens!



Reassemble the whole damn thing and wrestle it back in place...



Bed made and ready to go!



We have also been splitting wood for next winter!



And working on the car!



I spent one whole day fixing my temporary plumbing repair I made in Salt Lake - so spent the day on my belly trying to reach the impossible and put permanent Pex pipe in with Shark Bite fittings - that was a pleasure!

Now this afternoon off to the race track again with numerous good changes made so hopefully we will finish a little better...but supposed to be 100 degrees so it will be hot as shit on the track...

Stay Tuned for updates - a ton happening!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Noxon Reservoir Trip to Findley Flats!

It is hard to put in words the scenery and wonderful places to visit and fish in Montana.

Jim Flinchbaugh and I left Tuesday mid-morning for the 150 mile drive to just North of Thompson Falls, Montana to the same campground and fishing spot we went to last year. He towed his camper and I towed his boat. We were hoping to still find some Walleye on the spawn, there had been a good bite back in late May but we were tied up with the race car....

We were lucky and able to secure our same campsite #14 as we had last year, right across from the boat ramp with a decent shoreline to tie the boat up for the night.

Camp is SET!



Boat ready to launch!



Plenty of Firewood!



The view from our campsite!



Clyde in his spot relaxing!



More of the view!



A little fishing!





The top of the Boat Ramp!







Time for breakfast!



Jim Flinchbaugh with a nice Northern Pike!



Time to clean the fish!



Time for a campfire and the Ancient Indian Fire Starter!





Cold smoke a couple Ribeye Steaks on our last night!







I managed to corner a dragonfly!



Always a wonderful sunset! I love Montana!



The fishing was very slow - we did as well as anyone else,it was pretty frustrating - we put a couple nice sized Northerns in the ice box and released a few small fish...we fished hard and camped hard. Every meal was the most enjoyable...outside in the beautiful scenery just adds to the wonderful tastes!

Next trip later this month is the North Fork - looking forward to it....

Stay Tuned!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Track night and travel plans June 15, 2015

This past week has been busy on two fronts - get ready for Race Night Saturday Night and get ready for a little road trip for fishing.

Saturday Night was night two for the race car and it went well right up until the end. We worked out most of the handling problems with the car and timed well and did OK in the heat race. We made a few minor adjustments before the Main Event and started well, running up into 2nd place for a few laps. Then a series of cautions caused the field to jam up again. Then we had a red flag after running hard for about 15 laps. They had to clear some oil from the track so we stopped dead for about 15 minutes...on the restart the car had a serious miss. We were in 3 rd place and could have moved to 2nd with a little luck, but the miss was so bad we had to fall out. Car would not start to get on the trailer for the trip home so we were all concerned.

Sunday morning up early to find the problem - removed the distributor cap to find the rotor was melted and all distorted. The heat buildup while sitting on the red flag melted the rotor. Replaced the rotor and she fired right up. So we have some heat problems to deal with before the next race which is two weeks away.

A few pics from Race Night!













All in all a good night - car ran well, we expect a few issues with a brand new car. Nothing serious broke and we still finished 4th in the main event...and right behind the leaders until the engine problem.

No racing next week - next race is June 27th which gives Jimbo and I time for a few days on the road for a little fishing!

So we get everything ready in the camper and load up the boat and head South to Noxon Reservoir for a few days of camping and fishing....

Stay Tuned for pics and fish stories by the end of the week. Plans call for leaving tomorrow morning and returning Friday or Saturday - depends on the fishing and weather!!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Race Debut - Great Night at the Track!

OK - Quit with the emails - here is the full rundown.

Loaded the car before noon right after a little car portrait photo op in the yard - just in case it got bent up in the first night of racing!





Off the trailer at the track - Tech inspection all went well. A few practice laps to see if the new springs and sway bar solved the push in the corners...then some tweaks to improve handling. Times on the track kept getting better as we made a few minor adjustments. Changed some tires around and had everything pretty much ready to go within an hour of the time trials.

We were like 5th in line for the time trials and quickly on our 3 lap run moved into 1st place. A car behind us beat our time but it felt real good to end up 2nd in the time trials.

This shows our time when we took the lead in the time trials! But we ended up 2nd



Feeling pretty good now we waited for the first heat race...we got a bad start position behind some slow cars so used it as more learning and set up some more suspension tweeks! Trophy dash was pretty much the same thing, so the team decided to make a push in the Main Event!

First Night Out and finished 4th in the Main Event! Had 3rd right up until a caution flag which closed up the pack with only 10 laps to go!



Lots off supporters for the team!



All in all it was a great night, brand new car and didn't break anything and our times were right up there with the winners, nobody ran away from us. Couple minor issues to check out and as Dustin gets more comfortable in the car and the way it handles...we should be in the hunt all season!!

Thanks for all the support and inquiries!

Stay tuned for more summer adventures in Kalispell - Run again next Saturday Night!

And a beautiful Montana Sunset at the track!



Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!