aGates
spending too much on rocks
Building a silver studio
Member since January 2021
Posts: 460
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Post by aGates on May 6, 2022 8:00:08 GMT -5
Heya everybody, Very excited to write this on the day before my vacation. One more day of work and a sleep (my wife says she's too excited for that hehe) and we will be off for North Dakota. Bucking a long run to butte from Graham, Wa will kick us off. No playing much on the way to Nd, my wife is the best person I've ever found. I'm 32 barely dated stupidly made a name for my self as a good time charlie but no serious prospect. well as the story goes, Christ taught me a better way of living. A real change happened in me, 7 years later I met my wife 3 years later we wed in 2020 plandemmy and so finally we are in 2022 and I'm taking 10 days off. My brides family is closely bonded however my fabulous in laws moved to Minot and thus the first half of the HM is to re unite my love with her loves but after just 4 days we plan on camping home and I do believe we have playdates in Idaho we might skirt the banks of the yellowstone with ok ur spray bottles or dig a few pet wood species(slang for specimens) out at saddle mountain. I'll be posting here with pictures as we go when we can update. Stay tuned if you'd like. God Bless You! Johnny aGates.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on May 6, 2022 9:21:17 GMT -5
Have a great trip and remember to post pictures!
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Post by rockjunquie on May 6, 2022 11:58:40 GMT -5
Sounds like a blast! Congrats on getting the girl of your dreams.
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Post by jasoninsd on May 6, 2022 13:10:31 GMT -5
That sounds like quite the adventure Johnny! Can't wait to see the pics of the odyssey!
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,215
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Post by quartzilla on May 6, 2022 22:45:17 GMT -5
Be safe, have fun, and great to hear you found your soulmate. I found mine and I wouldn’t trade her for anything. No emerald, agate, or amethyst could ever come between my wife and I!
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Post by perkins17 on May 6, 2022 22:54:17 GMT -5
aGates I'm glad to hear everything is going so well for you. You stopping by the Spokane Rock rollers on the way over? *Big grin* Be sure to post some pictures of your finds.
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Post by Pat on May 6, 2022 23:04:43 GMT -5
Congratulations! It’s good to have a soulmate.
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aGates
spending too much on rocks
Building a silver studio
Member since January 2021
Posts: 460
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Post by aGates on May 12, 2022 11:58:09 GMT -5
Hey ya all, Well to be honest the trip hasn't gone as planned but I'm not too worried life is what it is and thus far it's had a mind of its own. Long story short left on the 2nd day after we intended to. Broke down twice but I fixed the small issues one a pulley needed swapped 6 hours strait driving and it gave up the ghost. Than a original plastic t in the radiator hose return from the heater core broke on me from Spokane to butte. Check engine light comes on and the temp gauge pegged 4 miles outside of town turn on heater and make it to motel. I fix that In The morning. And off we go to Mike's city. All's good in the am we head to Minot north Dakota. 77 miles outside of town motor seems to detonate. All sorts of noice and loss of power. We call inlaws they graciously come tow us to thier home. I'm currently trouble shooting the motor it's a 4.0 v6 Ford 1996 ranger and it turns freely but won't start. I think it could be too end failure. Not sure what will be the end solution. Maybe I won't get to rock hound the way back. Maybe I have to settle for a vehicle that won't allow off road journeys even of the 2wd variety. This honey moon has been not what my wife and I thought, but life has given me great opportunity to prove my worth in difficult situations and I'm just going to power through this with the best attitude possible I can have. The smile on my wife's face being around her parents is what it's about. I'm happy even though my expectations are dashed. Time to pull up the big boy overalls and toughen up and due my duty. Prayers please if you would be so kind. I hope to have another update where things are more to the plans we made but first my current conundrum. God Bless, Johnny aGates
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on May 12, 2022 18:56:38 GMT -5
Oof! Sorry it's not going as planned. On the bright side, you'll have an interesting honey moon story to tell. Like a team building exercise, of sorts. Reminds me of when my buddy and I were up in the hills with our 89 and 90 Cherokees, and I saw his lower radiator hose blow out. I couldn't tell you what we were up there for, just the details of how we got him off the mountain and back home with some redneck engineering. Hopefully smoother sailing for you guys.
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aGates
spending too much on rocks
Building a silver studio
Member since January 2021
Posts: 460
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Post by aGates on May 12, 2022 21:08:44 GMT -5
Oh do tell! Turns out the flex plate due hickey that engages when the starter throws over failed. It's more time than money as the part isn't too bad in price but the tranny must be dropped. Looks like my vacation won't be including rock hounding just some time spent with family.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on May 12, 2022 22:05:00 GMT -5
Sorry about the car problems. You have a good attitude and being with family is what counts -- especially if it makes your bride smile. Send you some good juju and prayers for an uneventful rest of your trip!
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Post by catmandewe on May 12, 2022 23:39:32 GMT -5
I hate having to fix stuff on the road. Hope you get it fixed good, safe travels.
Tony
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Benathema
has rocks in the head
God chased me down and made sure I knew He was real June 20, 2022. I've been on a Divine Mission.
Member since November 2019
Posts: 703
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Post by Benathema on May 13, 2022 0:53:01 GMT -5
Okay, you asked for it! We were pretty fresh out of high school, 19-20 years old. In school he spent a fair bit of time in the welding shop and made it through regionals and to state competitions. I didn't make it past welding regionals, not exactly the right place to try aluminum for the first time as part of a competition, horizontal pipe to vertical plate no less! He eventually became an electrician. I spent a few years in auto shop, making it to state in that. We had complementary skill sets. I set my eyes on getting a Jeep Cherokee, like the one my grandfather taught me to drive in. Basically a box of windows, lots of cargo space, and decent power. Well my buddy gets one too, and we swap stories on issues we've had and what we did to keep them going. We were into stereos for a while too, so the jeeps got decked out. 12 inch Alpine type R subs. Mirrors were useless at that point, but we were having a blast. These jeeps though, for as bomb proof as they were, had horrible cooling system problems. No real radiator cap or overflow tank, just this plastic expansion tank up by the firewall with a plastic radiator cap. Had to be careful about not stripping the threads when tightening it. It'd swell, lose pressure, all sorts of problems because of that. Guy I bought mine from failed to mention the engine had a cracked head (I got it off craigslist for $600, and ALL IT NEEDED -- har har -- was a new starter), so I found that out the hard way. Sister, her friend, and I were up past Sunset falls on the 42 road when I notice my engine running funny, see the temp gauge spiked, and the thing dies. I try to restart it, damn near seized. I kept turning it over every few minutes until it sounded better. I had one of those pay-as-you-go cell phones, could barely get ahold of my dad's cousin, parents were out of town. We had to spend the night up there. I babied that thing out of the mountains. Ran it for a few minutes to get up and over a hill, pop it in neutral and kill it, coasting as far as I could. Stop, wait for it to cool down some more, keep doing it. Eventually got us back down to civilization, and to the house. Went to go start the jeep up the next day and after a few minutes the radiator cap explodes off. Combustion gases in the cooling system. That was about a $2000 engine rebuild (mostly because the guy who did the work only knew how to use brand new parts - so yeah, it ran great afterwards - it better, it's all new parts!).So my buddy and I go up to the woods. Drifting around on gravel roads. We come up on a bit of a hill climb. As we're getting near the top I start looking at my gauges, noting to myself I need to pull over once we get to the top. I was following him, and no sooner than I had that thought there's a huge blast of steam coming from under his jeep. Pull over, kill it, he's tripping out. I started coming up with a plan. He crawled under and found that the lower radiator hose blew right next to where it connects to the engine block. But it had one of those stupid spring clips on it and it broke when he tried to take it off. He had a 5 gallon bucket full of tools in the back - dumped that out. I had just spotted a gear clamp rattling around in his back floorboards a few days prior, so I dug until I found it. I had spotted a waterfall off the side of the road a few miles back, so we jumped in mine and headed to it. Cleaned that bucket out and got the cleanest water we could. Back to his jeep, where we let it cool off until he could touch the block without burning himself. He cut off the end of the hose, had enough wiggle room to still make the connection, gear clamped on. We slowly filled the system with the creek water, burped it, and got him home after dark. He flushed the system when he got home, and bought me a new set of headlights as a thankyou. I don't know which was the chicken and egg here, but he built a new expansion tank for his cooling system. He made it out of diamond plate, fitted it with a real radiator cap and an overflow port. Since it was solid metal, he put in a few more nipples with some clear tubing between them so he could visually check the coolant levels. It did wonders for his cooling system. Years later I'm in Florida and I'm on my 3rd expansion tank and 3rd radiator, second set of hoses since they turn into jello, and just about sick of it. Turns out Macs Radiator down here in Vancouver sells the metal ones like my buddy's (quick search looks like the Vancouver location is closed now). I'm not sure if he got the idea from them or the other way around, but I got mine from Macs and it basically fixed my cooling system. My overflow tank was a coke bottle zip tied in place. I kept mine running for 13 years. The dealership gave me $400 for trade in value, but it's probably been turned into refrigerators at this point.
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aGates
spending too much on rocks
Building a silver studio
Member since January 2021
Posts: 460
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Post by aGates on May 14, 2022 13:20:40 GMT -5
Went to the garage to pull the tranny this morning. Hope to get on the road by next Wednesday. Still gotta drive 1800 miles home by the 22nd. Taking a lunch break and a regroup. Biggest problem so far has been exhaust bolts. Going to need a bigger wrench..er...rosebud torch hehe. After a stop at cherry redsville it might loosen up. All's well that ends well no matter what it takes. I just get starting to feel good when it's the worse case scenario 😉,only up from thier. Not the honey moon we planned but our attitude is great. My wife's a blessing. God bless ya all, we are still blessed even when plans are dashed and ect. The truck is going to be fixed and we will be back in time all indications reason. Healthy and happy. Johnny aGates.
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Post by rockpickerforever on May 14, 2022 15:34:52 GMT -5
Went to the garage to pull the tranny this morning. Hope to get on the road by next Wednesday. Still gotta drive 1800 miles home by the 22nd. Taking a lunch break and a regroup. Biggest problem so far has been exhaust bolts. Going to need a bigger wrench..er...rosebud torch hehe. After a stop at cherry redsville it might loosen up. All's well that ends well no matter what it takes. I just get starting to feel good when it's the worse case scenario 😉,only up from thier. Not the honey moon we planned but our attitude is great. My wife's a blessing. God bless ya all, we are still blessed even when plans are dashed and ect. The truck is going to be fixed and we will be back in time all indications reason. Healthy and happy. Johnny aGates. Man makes plans... God Laughs. - Michael Chabon
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,154
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Post by jamesp on May 15, 2022 6:03:23 GMT -5
Get that Ford fixed and hit that road ! Plenty of next times. Meantime practice on those honeymoon duties !
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aGates
spending too much on rocks
Building a silver studio
Member since January 2021
Posts: 460
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Post by aGates on May 16, 2022 7:32:02 GMT -5
Alright trans is ready to unpair with the motor. The new part comes in today. Than assembly. And maybe I can get on the road by thursday. Decided to call a mulligan on the honey moon. Yes we are away from home but I cant say it's a vacation. Oh well I might be able to see @catmandew on the return trip. For some parkin' lot rock hounding. It's okay though that's the update. Johnny aGates
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aGates
spending too much on rocks
Building a silver studio
Member since January 2021
Posts: 460
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Post by aGates on May 20, 2022 20:56:59 GMT -5
Everything went great with the repairs drove from glendive to st Regis today everything looking good. Best thing about this trip I got to spend 3 hours hand selecting Montana agate nodules at 4lbs a pound my wife was such a trooper and got out and looked for the floating speckles in the rocks. 60lbs of high grade yum! Might stop on at saddle mountain for some pet wood tomorrow afternoon/ Sunday. Thanks for the well wishes and prayers, been doing me real good. GOD BLESS. Johnny aGates
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2022 23:27:27 GMT -5
aGatesThose trials are for your sanctification brother Johnny! Glad you guys made the best of it and congratulations on your marriage! Where’s the pictures of your rocks?!
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aGates
spending too much on rocks
Building a silver studio
Member since January 2021
Posts: 460
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Post by aGates on May 28, 2022 8:34:42 GMT -5
Haha good call it is for sanctification we get through trials. Your right! It feels like I passed my test. I didn't make it about me or my plans I let it roll how it was going to roll and controlled what I could, I.e my attitude. As for the rocks they are coming. It's all rough so I could show you the rough for sure. The slabbing will come once I make an apparatus to hold these aGates at just the right angle of the dangle! God Bless you and Yours ashley
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