Pulling the ripcord. Major life change

I lived in Williams Lake until I was about 5 years old.

We had an acreage, "go play outside" was the dog and I disappearing on the property for hours. 

I think I missed it.

gearheadmb said:

On your suburban if you have the vortec engine with the distributor cap that the plug wires attach horizontally make sure you replace the cap and rotor. They cause the bulk of the misfires on those. And clean the loctite off the new screws that come with the cap, it will cause the plate on the distributor to break.

 

Forget the new screws, for that matter, just use the old ones.

In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :

People sometimes recognize the place is no longer what it was and move on to somewhere such as Qualicum Beach. I live close to 19A and there is traffic noise but by 8pm nothing. I walked the dogs after dark last night and cranked my head back to gaze at far more stars than I used to see. I am content.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

The new screws supplied weren't even the correct thread. Old screws ftw.

Mowed the area where the first of the garden beds will be going.

After our next trip, I'll be pulling a 40' by 100' silage tarp over this spot for a couple weeks to germinate and kill all the weed seeds and start breaking down the turf that was there. Then a pass with a rototiller and hopefully it's the last time we need to till the soil here.

Our seed garlic should be showing up shortly after.

Spent today cleaning out the riding arena. 

P/o used it for junk storage so we raked the whole 60' x 100' area to pick up any loose stuff. We must have hauled half a ton of junk out of there with the tractor and cart.

Tomorrow we will go over it with a magnetic sweeper to find any metal, then a pass with a harrow behind the tractor to smooth things out.

Horses come out on the next trip. The fences here are all in bad shape and there are no paddocks anymore so they're going to live in the arena and be turned out in a temporary pen during the day until we can get paddocks built.

Man I love that new homestead!

The Ford is sweet too!

Heading back to the coast for one last trip to bring the horses and the last of the stuff.

Back on the coast.

Spent today packing the last of my shop and having a garage sale. Dumpster shows up tomorrow.

Saw a couple good friends this afternoon. Had a good visit and a laugh. One of them, I'm fairly sure it will be our last time to sit and talk, there aren't words that can describe how much I hate cancer.  

Seeing our Realtor tomorrow to start the selling process.

We placed an order with our friends handmade soap company to help us have some variety in our booth at the local market when we land.

We made it.

This was our last drive back and the whole week has been crazy 

We spent last week packing the last of our stuff. Then, on Friday I got a call from my dad that he had a bad fall and was waiting for the ambulance to take him to the hospital. 

Turns out he shattered his hip so they got him into surgery and did a full replacement. 

I went to visit him the day after but he was heavily sedated and not able to understand what was going on.

On Sunday my wife and I visited him in the hospital and he was feeling better. Planning to be home in a few days.

Monday morning we set off on our trip with both trucks. Got to the top of the snowshed hill on the Coquihalla and Jenn radios that there is smoke coming out of the steering column area.

The hydroboost in the Suburban has been weeping a bit and looked like it was dripping on the headers and the smoke was coming up through the column boot. No big deal.

We pull into Merritt and the tach, speedo and PRNDL have quit working. Check the fuses and one is burnt. Swap it out, turn the truck on and it pops again. Oh well, guess I know what the smoke was. Her GPS has a speedo so no worries,  just carry on.

I'm behind her pulling the big hill out of town and I start smelling coolant so I radio for her to pull in to the chain up area that's coming up. Pop the hood and she's blown a heater hose. 

Call my friend at the parts store in Merritt, they don't have any of the GM push to connect hoses in stock. Get out my tools, pull the hose and the fitting from the manifold, drop my trailer and take my truck to the parts store.

Bought coolant, an old style GM heater hose fitting and some heater hose. Drive back, screw the truck back together and carry on.

We arrived at a friend's house around 5pm. Only lost an hour. 

We unload the horses, tie the mini under a tree to eat some grass and put the other two into a portable pen, then my friend and I drive in to town to get dinner and leave Jenn with the horses.

We get to town, Subway closed early so I call my wife to see what she wants instead. She answers the phone and all I hear is "getyourassbackherethehorsesareloose!". Get in the truck and race back. 

Our big guy decided to have a roll in the grass, caught his hoof under the portable pen and flipped it over, freeing both of them to run 1/4 mile to the neighbors and visit their horses.

Got our horses back, penned up, ate dinner and went to bed.

Woke up at 5am to a phone call from the hospital, my dad passed away last night. His heart stopped some time in the night and there was nothing they could do. My mom was a nurse for years and I know that seniors frequently have problems after a big fall so it was something I had been thinking about. I thanked the doctor and explained what was going on. We loaded up and got going to our next stop 10 hours away.

We stopped to fuel up outside of Hinton and discovered that the Suburban now had no reverse gear. Crap. Oh well, still has 1,2,3,4 so as long as we don't have to back up, we'll be OK.

We start talking about it and the next place we stop is going to be tight and I probably can't turn the truck around on their property without reverse so we would have to park on the highway,  unload and walk the horses in.

Since it would only be another 5 hours to the farm, we decided to skip the stop and go for a marathon driving session. 

Then my truck starts rattling. 

I'm really heavy this time and it's been working hard and putting out a lot of heat. After some careful observation I figure out that the rattle is the start of a hydraulic lifter going bad.

It only rattles when I'm pushing it hard and getting a lot of heat into it. The oil is thin because I haven't changed it since we started this process and it's been well over 10,000km. If I back off to 90kmh and vary the rpm a little as I drive, I can keep the lifter pumped up.

With gas stops, pee breaks and stops to feed and water the horses, we rolled into the farm 19 hours later.

I've had enough adventure for a little while.

Anyone want to buy a gently used 3/4 ton Suburban?

Glad you guys made it after all of that, I'm sorry that your Dad passed. 

Condolences for the loss of your dad.

I'm sorry about your father and you having such a hard trip this time. Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.

dang, rough trip.  I'm sorry to hear of your Dad's passing.  

Man... that's rough spell.  Condolences for your dad.

I'm also sorry about your dad. It's a fear of mine as my parents get older. Glad he passed peacefully. 

Condolences on your dad's passing. As others have said, at least it was peaceful and you had the chance to talk to him before he went to the hospital. 

Thanks for the kind words everyone. 

I'm actually sort of relieved. 

My dad and I didn't get along so well. I moved out at 17 for reasons. I think they based Ken Titus on my father. They even look alike.

I could see the "you can't drive anymore" conversation coming, followed by the "you need to go into assisted living" conversation.  Now we don't have to go through that.

At least he went in his sleep.

Now I just need to start putting everything in order. I'm getting pretty good at it from dealing with mom a few years back and my aunt two years ago.

I'll start making phone calls tomorrow. 

Got the garden bed tarped today 

Should come off in a couple weeks, just in time to plant some garlic.

Lots of change and sometimes a stressful trip like that can fit the major life change. Best of luck and condolences. 

House was listed for one day and we got a cash deal, no subjects, walk-away offer for more than double what we paid ten years ago.

Signed the deal last night. Let's hope it all completes smoothly.

In reply to ShawnG :

Wow,  great on the offer. 

Late reply but condolences on your father. 

In reply to ShawnG :

Wow, that's a lot to process.  My condolences for your loss, regardless of your relationship.  Best of luck to you on sorting everything out.

At least the house sale seems to be handling itself.

Long day today but we're all unloaded. Time to start unpacking.

We're off to our first market tomorrow. Hope we can make a few bucks.

Made $80 at the market today, not a great day but better than nothing. 

Made some good contacts though, one lady is giving us her booth at a much bigger market because she can't use it in September.

We're going to try a spot at the town flea market tomorrow.