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Friday Morning, the 2 eldest kids are off to school, youngest is home with us...........
"I wana go to the cabin, can we go to the cabin, I wana go to the cabin............."
She's been on us every spare moment for the last couple months. Here we go again
. Wife pipes up " The kids don't have any activities this weekend, it would be a good time to go, yada yada....."
<sigh> It's almost -20 degC outside, only about 4" of snow though. Forcast is Cloudy periods, -11 to -15 degC for the weekend............ya riiiiiight.
" I wana go to the cabin, can we go to the cabin"
Daddy CAVES
"OK, it's 10:00, if Mommy can be ready to go by Noon, we can go to the cabin"
(Mommy starts scrambling, Daddy starts scrambling faster.)
I go to hook up the trailer......My hitch is missing from my truck (2 5/16").....
I phone my brother "DID YOU TAKE MY HITCH?"
My brother: "Ya, it's in the back of my truck"
Me: "Where the hell are you?"
Brother: "I'm on the highway, headed to Edmonton for the Gray Cup Game"
Me: "Turn around, I need my hitch"
25 min later, my brothers truck burns around my driveway, hitch flying out the window as he peels out the second entrance. Got my hitch back
Hooked up to my trailer, and see that the lights don't work. Have a look at the wireing, and see the rocks have beat the wires off the lights and the brakes
. Too late to do anything about that now. Sunset is about 3:30, we can make it without lights..........maybe. As for the brakes.......well, we don't have time to stop anyway......unless I'm TOLD to stop by a set of "red and blues", in which case I will deal with it at that time.
I go to load the Argo......Battery is dead. Booster pack is dead. Boost Argo with truck to get it loaded, and put the charger on it while I get ready.
Plug Booster Pack into truck to charge it while we travel.
Go to load the quad.........Tires are flat. I'm off to a hell of a start
I grab the soft top for the Argo..............can't find part of the frame, won't work without the frame, so I toss the top into the corner of the shop and grab a tarp. I figured I could fake a top somehow.
Diane is madly gathering Snowpants, Touques, Mitts, and Scarves. She heads to town to get some food and pull the older kids out of school.
We are all loaded up and ready to go by 11:45
(I even remembered to load up the dogs AND some food for them)
I disconected the battery charger on the argo BEFORE we drive out
2 hours of blowing snow and black ice, and we get to where we park the truck.
A miracle happens...........the Argo starts.............barely. Voltmeter reading about 16.5 Volts (I think my battery is TOAST, but no time to worry about that right now)
I piled our gear high at the back of the Argo, and drape the tarp over, running from the windshield frame back (Frozen Tarp Straps are terrible to work with, but I got it done)
The dogs are still under 1yr of age, and can not run all the way to the cabin (Not to mention freezing their lungs on a run that long), they have to ride in the Argo too (Can you say NOT ENOUGH ROOM EVERYBODY?). Not sure if the dogs were riding on top of the kids, or the other way around but I got everything in there except the wife. She got to freeze half to death on the quad
No time for pics, we have to hurry. The sun is setting, the lights don't work on the quad, the battery is dead on the Argo (no lights), and it's getting COLDER
.
Off we go.
15 minutes down the trail, the kids are HOT. Scarves are coming off, mitts are flying, my youngest has her boots off and chucks them out a hole in the tarp. The dogs are panting and drooling all over everything.
I stopped to grab the boots, the dogs bailed out (Fine, let 'em run a bit
). Fixed the tarp where the dogs made their escape, hands are cold now but off we go again.
Made it too the lake, where Diane promptly drives her quad through a patch of weeds that are sticking up through the snow, and even more promptly drops into about a foot of Slush, sticking the bike and almost sails over the handlebars. No problem, I get the quad out right away but now wife thinks the ice is not thick enough to ride on. We stick close to shore and softfoot it along to our cabin. No more water encounters on the way
Made it to the cabin a little after dark. Spent a few minutes finding the Cabin key and the Argo cools off FAST when it's not moving. Kids are getting cold as I get the door open, there is a mad rush to get inside. Massive total wipeout as snowy boots meet frozen Laminate Flooring, everyone goes down. Diane lights all 5 stove burnners and the oven while I light the wood stove. 20 min later there are winter cloths scattered EVERWHERE. "I'm hot, it's too hot in here, can we open the door, ect" (Wood heat is awesome
)
"I'm thirsty, can I have some water"
Diane looks at me "How come you never reminded me to bring drinks?"
Me <facepalm> "You forgot water?"
Diane "I didn't bring anything to drink"
Out I go, chainsaw and buckets in hand. Ice on the lake is about 16" thick, and I have an 18" bar on my saw, just made it through.
When I get back with water, Diane has 2 chickens roasting in the oven. Mmmmm......Roasted Chicken, my favorite.
That first evening was filled with a fantastic supper, coloring, Yatzee, and window art on the frosted windows.
Sleep was fast in coming that night.
Had to get up 2 times to stoke the stove. Here's a tip to get you up to stoke the stove BEFORE it burns out at night. BEER (or water I guess), drink enough of it and it will get you up every few hours for a pee. Works like a charm
Day 2, -20 degC.
I'm up first and have "Ham and Eggers" ready for the family
Argo is DEAD
Had to fire up my frozen Honda Generator and put the battery charger on the Argo.
Quad fires up but complains and whines about it the whole time.
I hear Snowmobiles in the distance, A few friends are also stupid enough to be out here. I take the quad over and say hi. One of them flipped his snowmobile 3 times on the way in to the lake (Trail is brutally rough, rutted up, frozen with little snow on it).
I never did go fishing this day, but time was spent making snow angles, exploring places we can't go in the summer, walking, playing on the ice (found a "Pressure Crack" that ran all the way around the lake, about 100 to 150 yrds out from shore, very cool). Fresh "Homemade" Chicken Soup for lunch. My friend brought me some of the fish they caught.
Night comes early up here in the winter, so back in the cabin for more games, winter gear hanging EVERYWHERE to dry out.
Youngest was asleep on the couch by 6:00 (Pooped right out), the rest of us were not far behind. I was "lucky" and got to get up every few hours to stoke the stove again.
Day 3 -21 degC
I bolted the bext morning (Well, not really, the Argo was dead AGAIN. Had to use the generator AND the Booster Pack to get it going). Time to catch some fish. Took Generator and Booster Pack with me. I brought in 3 Walleye, 4 Whitefish, and an (UGH) Sucker. Planned to Smoke the Whitefish and the Sucker when I got home (actually doing that right now as I write this). By this time, it's time to get ready to go home. Keeping in mind that we need to get home in the light, I figured we would have to leave the lake no later than Noon.
I built a frame out of Willows to support the tarp Top for the trip out (after warming them up in hthe cabin so I could bend them without them breaking)
Argo won't start AGAIN. Finally get everything loaded and started by 1:00 and we're OFF...............kinda. Argo is running bad, no power, sputterng and coughing (Piece of JUNK
). We are limping our way home, and have only made it about 300yrds when I've had enough. Pop the hood again thinking I might have skipped a Pushrod out from under the rocker arm on one head. Carefully feel the exhaust manifold at the front cylinder............DAMN that ones HOT (Suck on fingers for a few seconds). Even more carefully feel the Manifold for the back cylinder.........It's warm (Still feels hot on burnt fingers). Pull SP cap on back cylinder.....nothing (Keep in mind that my battery is TOAST, and I am not willing to shut the engine off at this point). I push the cap back on, wondering as I did, whether I had any spares that I could easily get to....ZAP, ZAP,ZAP.........Wholy CRAP <Steps back gently shaking tingling hand>, it seems to have fixed itself. (Argo's are such GREAT machines
)
Off we go again, and make it back to the truck with no issues. My youngest sleeps most of the way on the 10 mile ride.
Back at the truck, I'm wondering if here at the end is where we will have our biggest trial yet. My truck has an Oil Burner under the hood, and as everyone knows, Diesel engines don't like to start in the cold. Thermometer is showing -21 degC and I still have summer oil in the engine (15W40). I hit the Pre-heater twice, crossed my fingers and tried to fire it up. WOW, I never heard an engine make noises like that before. Rattle, Clank, Bang, Clank, Clank, Clank...........I covered my face with my hands waiting for a Conecting Rod to fly out the side of the engine block (Note to self "Change the fricken oil to 0W30 BEFORE parking the truck out in the bush for the weekend in the winter")
Loaded the kids in the truck, Loaded up the machines, Loaded up the dogs (After calling them for 15 minutes.......They took off after a Rabbit or something whike I was strapping down.
Off we go, homeward bound. A happy ending to a most excellent trip
RD
"I wana go to the cabin, can we go to the cabin, I wana go to the cabin............."
She's been on us every spare moment for the last couple months. Here we go again
. Wife pipes up " The kids don't have any activities this weekend, it would be a good time to go, yada yada....."<sigh> It's almost -20 degC outside, only about 4" of snow though. Forcast is Cloudy periods, -11 to -15 degC for the weekend............ya riiiiiight.
" I wana go to the cabin, can we go to the cabin"
Daddy CAVES
"OK, it's 10:00, if Mommy can be ready to go by Noon, we can go to the cabin"
(Mommy starts scrambling, Daddy starts scrambling faster.)
I go to hook up the trailer......My hitch is missing from my truck (2 5/16").....
I phone my brother "DID YOU TAKE MY HITCH?"
My brother: "Ya, it's in the back of my truck"
Me: "Where the hell are you?"
Brother: "I'm on the highway, headed to Edmonton for the Gray Cup Game"
Me: "Turn around, I need my hitch"
25 min later, my brothers truck burns around my driveway, hitch flying out the window as he peels out the second entrance. Got my hitch back
Hooked up to my trailer, and see that the lights don't work. Have a look at the wireing, and see the rocks have beat the wires off the lights and the brakes
. Too late to do anything about that now. Sunset is about 3:30, we can make it without lights..........maybe. As for the brakes.......well, we don't have time to stop anyway......unless I'm TOLD to stop by a set of "red and blues", in which case I will deal with it at that time.I go to load the Argo......Battery is dead. Booster pack is dead. Boost Argo with truck to get it loaded, and put the charger on it while I get ready.
Plug Booster Pack into truck to charge it while we travel.
Go to load the quad.........Tires are flat
. I'm off to a hell of a startI grab the soft top for the Argo..............can't find part of the frame, won't work without the frame
, so I toss the top into the corner of the shop and grab a tarp. I figured I could fake a top somehow.Diane is madly gathering Snowpants, Touques, Mitts, and Scarves. She heads to town to get some food and pull the older kids out of school.
We are all loaded up and ready to go by 11:45
(I even remembered to load up the dogs AND some food for them)I disconected the battery charger on the argo BEFORE we drive out
2 hours of blowing snow and black ice, and we get to where we park the truck.
A miracle happens...........the Argo starts.............barely. Voltmeter reading about 16.5 Volts (I think my battery is TOAST, but no time to worry about that right now)
I piled our gear high at the back of the Argo, and drape the tarp over, running from the windshield frame back (Frozen Tarp Straps are terrible to work with, but I got it done)
The dogs are still under 1yr of age, and can not run all the way to the cabin (Not to mention freezing their lungs on a run that long), they have to ride in the Argo too (Can you say NOT ENOUGH ROOM EVERYBODY?). Not sure if the dogs were riding on top of the kids, or the other way around but I got everything in there except the wife. She got to freeze half to death on the quad
No time for pics, we have to hurry. The sun is setting, the lights don't work on the quad, the battery is dead on the Argo (no lights), and it's getting COLDER
.Off we go.
15 minutes down the trail, the kids are HOT. Scarves are coming off, mitts are flying, my youngest has her boots off and chucks them out a hole in the tarp. The dogs are panting and drooling all over everything.
I stopped to grab the boots, the dogs bailed out (Fine, let 'em run a bit
). Fixed the tarp where the dogs made their escape, hands are cold now but off we go again.Made it too the lake, where Diane promptly drives her quad through a patch of weeds that are sticking up through the snow, and even more promptly drops into about a foot of Slush, sticking the bike and almost sails over the handlebars. No problem, I get the quad out right away but now wife thinks the ice is not thick enough to ride on. We stick close to shore and softfoot it along to our cabin. No more water encounters on the way
Made it to the cabin a little after dark. Spent a few minutes finding the Cabin key and the Argo cools off FAST when it's not moving. Kids are getting cold as I get the door open, there is a mad rush to get inside. Massive total wipeout as snowy boots meet frozen Laminate Flooring, everyone goes down
. Diane lights all 5 stove burnners and the oven while I light the wood stove. 20 min later there are winter cloths scattered EVERWHERE. "I'm hot, it's too hot in here, can we open the door, ect" (Wood heat is awesome)"I'm thirsty, can I have some water"
Diane looks at me "How come you never reminded me to bring drinks?"
Me <facepalm> "You forgot water?"
Diane "I didn't bring anything to drink"
Out I go, chainsaw and buckets in hand. Ice on the lake is about 16" thick, and I have an 18" bar on my saw, just made it through.
When I get back with water, Diane has 2 chickens roasting in the oven. Mmmmm......Roasted Chicken, my favorite.
That first evening was filled with a fantastic supper, coloring, Yatzee, and window art on the frosted windows.
Sleep was fast in coming that night.
Had to get up 2 times to stoke the stove. Here's a tip to get you up to stoke the stove BEFORE it burns out at night. BEER (or water I guess), drink enough of it and it will get you up every few hours for a pee. Works like a charm
Day 2, -20 degC.
I'm up first and have "Ham and Eggers" ready for the family
Argo is DEAD
Had to fire up my frozen Honda Generator and put the battery charger on the Argo.
Quad fires up but complains and whines about it the whole time.
I hear Snowmobiles in the distance, A few friends are also stupid enough to be out here. I take the quad over and say hi. One of them flipped his snowmobile 3 times on the way in to the lake (Trail is brutally rough, rutted up, frozen with little snow on it).
I never did go fishing this day, but time was spent making snow angles, exploring places we can't go in the summer, walking, playing on the ice (found a "Pressure Crack" that ran all the way around the lake, about 100 to 150 yrds out from shore, very cool). Fresh "Homemade" Chicken Soup for lunch. My friend brought me some of the fish they caught.
Night comes early up here in the winter, so back in the cabin for more games, winter gear hanging EVERYWHERE to dry out.
Youngest was asleep on the couch by 6:00 (Pooped right out), the rest of us were not far behind. I was "lucky" and got to get up every few hours to stoke the stove again
.Day 3 -21 degC
I bolted the bext morning (Well, not really, the Argo was dead AGAIN. Had to use the generator AND the Booster Pack to get it going
). Time to catch some fish. Took Generator and Booster Pack with me. I brought in 3 Walleye, 4 Whitefish, and an (UGH) Sucker. Planned to Smoke the Whitefish and the Sucker when I got home (actually doing that right now as I write this). By this time, it's time to get ready to go home. Keeping in mind that we need to get home in the light, I figured we would have to leave the lake no later than Noon.I built a frame out of Willows to support the tarp Top for the trip out (after warming them up in hthe cabin so I could bend them without them breaking)
Argo won't start AGAIN
. Finally get everything loaded and started by 1:00 and we're OFF...............kinda. Argo is running bad, no power, sputterng and coughing (Piece of JUNK). We are limping our way home, and have only made it about 300yrds when I've had enough. Pop the hood again thinking I might have skipped a Pushrod out from under the rocker arm on one head. Carefully feel the exhaust manifold at the front cylinder............DAMN that ones HOT (Suck on fingers for a few seconds). Even more carefully feel the Manifold for the back cylinder.........It's warm (Still feels hot on burnt fingers). Pull SP cap on back cylinder.....nothing (Keep in mind that my battery is TOAST, and I am not willing to shut the engine off at this point). I push the cap back on, wondering as I did, whether I had any spares that I could easily get to....ZAP, ZAP,ZAP.........Wholy CRAP <Steps back gently shaking tingling hand>, it seems to have fixed itself. (Argo's are such GREAT machines)Off we go again, and make it back to the truck with no issues. My youngest sleeps most of the way on the 10 mile ride.
Back at the truck, I'm wondering if here at the end is where we will have our biggest trial yet. My truck has an Oil Burner under the hood, and as everyone knows, Diesel engines don't like to start in the cold. Thermometer is showing -21 degC and I still have summer oil in the engine (15W40). I hit the Pre-heater twice, crossed my fingers and tried to fire it up. WOW, I never heard an engine make noises like that before. Rattle, Clank, Bang, Clank, Clank, Clank...........I covered my face with my hands waiting for a Conecting Rod to fly out the side of the engine block (Note to self "Change the fricken oil to 0W30 BEFORE parking the truck out in the bush for the weekend in the winter")
Loaded the kids in the truck, Loaded up the machines, Loaded up the dogs (After calling them for 15 minutes.......They took off after a Rabbit or something whike I was strapping down.
Off we go, homeward bound. A happy ending to a most excellent trip
RD
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