Glenda had to work Thursday so we decided to leave at 1000h on Friday for the 215 mile drive to Cedar Camp. Most of this would be on the California freeways, once we left Santa Cruz we were on Hwys 17, 880, 680, 80, 505 where we hit County roads.
Since this was to be my first camping trip in the 109 I started packing on Tuesday because I wasn't sure how all the various sized things would fit. I got what we needed in and had it tied down when we left at 10.
There was a little bit of rain on the way up but the worst was the traffic! I can't remember it being that bad for so long! All the way from when we got on 17 to when we got on 505 it was slow going. Probably in my favor, mentally, though as the 109 did not overheat. Well until we hit the Sunol Grade on the far side of San Jose. As we drove up in 4th gear I watched the needle on the temp gauge climb into the red zone... I was expecting steam any moment and pulled off the freeway at the top of the grade to check things out. When I opened the bonnet there was nothing I feared showing, no leaks, no steam, all looked OK.
I got back in the Rover and went on down the side road until we came to the next on ramp and got back on the freeway. I kept an eye on the gauge the whole trip and the faster I went the higher the needle would go. Running around 58 on the gps would put the needle half in the red, 65 fully in the red.
We got up to the Indian Casino and refueled doing 163mi on 7.35 gal(US) for 21.9mpg.
We left the casino and headed on up to camp by now it was 1500h, the traffic putting us back 2 hours. We drove up to Bear Valley Rd which was blooming and green!
Up next is the water crossing at Bartlett Springs onto the M5. Getting there past Indian Springs Reservoir where we met a couple of guys stranded in a pickup truck. Their alternator had packed it in and 1 of them had taken the battery to a local ranch to try to get a charge so they could get to the road and get a tow. At the water crossing we got out and walked down and checked it out due to the rain I wasn't sure of the depth and condition.
It looked doable so we went for it. I drove Glenda across and kicked her out so she could take the pictures you are about to see,
M5 is the name of the road from the crossing to Cedar Camp and we followed it up the hill the 11+ miles and got to camp around 1700h.
Friday was cold and windy with a brief snow flurry as we set up camp and socialized. A hot dinner was nice and that evening the warm sleeping bags a plus! I let Glenda us my +10deg bag and I used my +40 bag stuffed into a military sleeping bag system. Kept me warm but they had zippers on the opposite sides, 1 right and 1 left. I felt like a caterpillar getting in and out.
Saturday morning we awoke to cold and finding out that I had not packed the oatmeal for the breakfasts......so we had peanut butter and honey sandwiches for breakfast and lunches all weekend. I'm sure we could have mooched breakfast somewhere but.......
We(I) decided to stay in camp all weekend because of the pain in the ass it is to take down and set up the roof top tent(RTT). On my 109 it takes about 15-20 minutes and climbing at least twice up on the front of the roof. Something my older body doesn't want to do anymore. Funny thing that. We ended up sitting around drinking beer and socializing. Glenda had never been around Rovers before so she learned lots. We watched Ike run around in the Halflinger and tried to help Mark with his poor running issue. And checked out Rovers...
As Ike dragged a log thru camp with the Halflinger for the fire everyone started working on potluck dishes and soon a crowd was moving to the picnic table loaded with food and utensils. The meal was amazing, rices, soups, springer rolls, fruit salad, fudge, ham, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. All good! Thanks to all! A few beers and talk and then off to another warm night in the bags.
Sunday was chilly but warmer. Craig from Capitola had us over for quesadillias in the morning as we were wandering around. Peoples were packing up and leaving, generally those with the longest drives left first. Glenda and I took a picnic over to the frog pond where we were able to sit in the warm sunshine for a bit.
We came back after a bit and wandered around saying more goodbyes. At some point during the day a toyota drove into camp and told up Phillip was broken down by the water crossing so we gathered tools and a bunch of up hopped into 2 vehicles and raced off to the rescue. I went with Christofear.
Only to find Phillip and Hendrix coming back up the road. He had hit a bump at speed and knocked his roof rack loose and his alternator wires shorted together with his stop solenoid wire and the block. He had sorted it all out but now it would not shut down. We showed him which wire to pull for the stop solenoid and escorted him to the Goat Mtn Rd turnoff. He had missed it on his way out and went down the M5 instead.
Back at camp our plan was to spend the night and leave on Monday, there were others with that plan too. Once some of the campsites opened up we moved camp to be nearer the other campers and the fire pit.
I hope I never forget the faces of the dirtbikers as they watched me drive across the creek with the tent still deployed...priceless! Another cold night and plenty of talking. The next day, Monday, we all packed up and got ready to go all but Matt and Ingrid going out the M5. As we got ready we lined up to go.
Down the M5 we followed Greg in his Dormobile with Christofear the tail end charlie. Shawn had a parking brake overheat which slowed up down at one point but didn't stop anything. Thankfully.
Reaching the bottom it was the water crossing for all with only the novice driver in the Disco not making it up the other side.
A quick lunch in the windy Indian Valley Reservoir and then off to the casino to refuel where we separated from the rest. I had gone 129 miles on 6.4gal for 21.3 mpg.
It was fun to have Glenda with me for the trip, someone to share it with. A plus that I discovered was that during the packed traffic we could use the carpool lane!
This saved us many minutes both in the Walnut Creek area and San Jose. On the way home we stopped for lunch and I checked on the engine temps with my infrared thermometer. While the needle showed slightly in the red the IR showed the top hose at 190 and the top of the rad at 156 while the bottom hose was 104. The head was reading 210 all within good range for cooling.
My odometer was 4 miles more than the gps showed 444 vs 440mi. My max speed was 68, probably on a downhill somewhere, while I averaged 28 for a moving average and 27 for overall average and my trip miles per gallon(US) was 21.3.
Today I ordered a VDO temp gauge and sender with numbers on it so I can see what I am doing temp wise. Also fixed is the broken fuse holder for the cb, discovered that at the water crossing on the way up. After crawling around and under today I found everything tight, with a slight leak on the underside of the injector pump. I have used too much oil though, I would say from the video It is going out the tailpipe probably the valves......as the head and turbo have already been gone through.
Overall I am well pleased with the 109's performance, The power steering and disc brakes are well worth the time, money and effort! The RTT on the other hand, I am working on putting it on a trailer to make setup and take down easier and be able to set it up and drive away as in having a base camp.
For more pics; https://picasaweb.google.com/113598011542434933721/6277723230215386497?authkey=Gv1sRgCJPwhcK_-tT_bg
and video of the water crossing; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0zrSqHI6A&feature=youtu.be
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