71DeuceAK
Well-known member
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- Location
- Fairbanks, Alaska
Was visiting fellow Steel Soldiers member 98G a few weeks ago in preparation for going to deal with my M928 project others have kindly nicknamed the "Banana Wagon".
First I flew into Sitka, Alaska and visited with a childhood friend for a few days in preparation for flying out. Flew to Kansas City and was picked up at the airport by 98G as previously arranged. I was exhausted by this point and three hours in an M998 on I-70 was enough to make me definitely tired.
Got back to his place of residence at something like 4AM central time. Circadian rhythm FUBAR by this point. Text a fellow member of Steel Soldiers (19Kilo) who rented me their spare bedroom for like six months while I was attending University of Alaska Fairbanks (They got me out of the dorms) that it hit me I was sleeping in the spare bedroom of yet another member of the Steel Soldiers community. Slept it off hard, woke up at the crack of 1PM, bodily clock still three hours behind. I wake up to 98G on the phone with another member mentioning how Andy from Alaska flew in last night. Conversation is on speaker phone and I hear "Yeah, isn't that the guy who has the 928 that's not running?" It was one of those defining moments where it hit me like a 23,500 lb truck that I was indeed that well-known idiot who has the non running heap in another state. We both laugh hysterically. Drive out to his property, an hour away at M998 speed and do the rear hubs.
Next day we got rained out. Neighbor in the apartment directly above has a dog that WILL NOT stop barking. We floated theories of the owner going to work leaving their furry friend with separation anxiety. Mr. Cuddles seriously needed to cut it out. I would joke with John “What are the odds we wake up tomorrow to a barking dog?” Slept in, talked trucks pretty much the rest of the time.
Next few days involved working on his trucks. M998 hubs and diffs, loading his M925 for the upcoming trip, and dealing with an M936A2 which had been the subject of large amounts of deferred maintenance and "inexpert civilian tampering". Needless to say both of us had a major learning experience going through this thing and playing with the crane. T
At some point (Had to have been the third day) we took his M925 to Walmart in Marysville, KS for groceries after day of dealing with trucks. I think I made some crack about "The People of Walmart" including us two, covered in grease and 80/90 gear oil, grocery shopping hungry and exhausted. (At least I was).
At some point I also made the unfortunate discovery that I am evidently allergic to cat litter. Don't ask. Needless to say whenever I so much as see a Purina TidyCats bucket, even re-purposed for other uses such as holding random fasteners, I cringe a little. Moral of the story: Absolutely do NOT, EVER, under ANY circumstances, disturb the cat boxes at other people’s homes.
Finally the day of departure arrived. Six hours riding shotgun in an M925 with your left arm on two cases of bottled water on the passenger seat next to you, some of it crawling up hills on I-70, actually wasn't that bad. I was thinking of Glen/91W350 passing some of the destination signs mentioning Salina, KS (Read: BFR Metals). Oh yeah and did I mention this was in an M925 that came from Ft. Riley? Go figure, small world. A few years ago, the first member of Steel Soldiers I ever met face to face ended up being my first college roommate; pretty much everyone else has turned out to be a friend of a friend of a friend of an umpteenth friend of his. I texted a couple but was never able to arrange any meet-ups while I was in-state.
Got to Fredonia, KS and holed up in an America’s Best Value Inn for the night, sleeping it off. 200-some miles in an M925 wasn’t that terrible. Next morning, off to go see my truck. Had a wrong turn (missed exit), another hassle I won’t mention publicly, and GPS trying to take us bizarre places. Did I mention the roads in rural Oklahoma absolutely suck in an M925 pulling an M989? Big, tall, wide vehicles and tiny one-lane roads don’t always mix too well.
Got to a fellow member’s place where my M928 is stored. Spent a few hours throwing trash out of the cab, inspecting the truck, and stuffing a used soft top on. Special thanks to 98G for, in addition to hosting me for two weeks, supplying a top and a set of extra hands for the installation thereof, too! It wouldn’t be possible without you.
That place was like being a kid in a candy store if you’re an MV enthusiast such as myself. Deuces and 5 tons and parts thereof all over. It was built into a hill and every nook and cranny was full of some sort of military or fire truck. It was paradise if you like old army trucks, but almost drove you crazy seeing how many months could be spent working on each and every one of them nonstop. Stood there talking army trucks when not working on mine.
Get back on the road. Drive to Vinita, Oklahoma and hole up in a Super 8 for the night. If you
“Motel it” and take frequent pee/fuel/food breaks, a long-distance trip in a 5 ton actually isn’t that bad.
Next morning...Drive to Walmart, spot a Deuce on static display in an American Legion parking lot across the street. Stop at an Atwood’s when we realize we have grossly inadequate clothing. Bought jackets and hit the road again.
Funniest story of the trip coming up. Wait for it. Pictures or it didn’t happen and all that. Had some faulty GPS directions and even a confused human lead us astray. Ended up at the end of somebody’s mile-long dirt driveway in an M925 pulling an M989. Took three and a half hours to get out of that mess. Those trailers simply do not back. The incident would have been hilarious at the time if it wasn’t on someone else’s private road.
Finally made it to D-Day Adventure Park in Wyandotte, OK. Dropped the trailer, unloaded the truck and set up camp.
Shortly thereafter we encountered David/MwMules. I’d talked to him on Steel Soldiers a bit after relating the story of meeting Russell/RKrug. I’ll spare rehashing that story here; you can go find it in my old threads if you want to read the most bizarre small world story. Within minutes of meeting, it became apparent that I might be going to the Georgia rally with him the following week.
Met several people, did some trail riding in Humvees. Had another member (Who I’d been corresponding with for quite some time and who helped guide us into where my truck is stored) call me at one point, stranded in a Humvee on the side of the turnpike with a blown radiator hose. I had ignored the call at first but when I saw a voicemail from a number with a 918 area code (local to the area) I knew it must be someone local...sure enough it was. Was trying to call/text him back for an hour before I did hear back he was back on the road.
The turnout was small this year. We were the last to leave. Packed up camp and drove to Baxter Springs, KS for a motel. We were both exhausted by then. Called Dad and informed him I might be finding myself in Georgia next week.
Slept until almost checkout time, packed up, hit a McDonald’s for breakfast, and hit the road. Got back to his place the same day just before dark; unloaded and called it a night. Woke up the next morning way too early to call work about going to Georgia (More time off) so had some time to lounge around....and work on 400-level online college courses.
Finally got plans in order and knew I’d be going to Georgia. Worked on another one of 98G’s trucks for the rest of the day, an M936A2. We had been starting to go through some of the deferred maintenance items from a couple previous owners. I learned 40,000 lbs of information working on that beast; I have to have one as of now...I am “hooked”, no pun intended.
Next morning was driven to Junction City, KS to meet up with Dave/MwMules. That trip wasn’t in an MV, so I’ll do a write up on that in the “Conversations” section.
First I flew into Sitka, Alaska and visited with a childhood friend for a few days in preparation for flying out. Flew to Kansas City and was picked up at the airport by 98G as previously arranged. I was exhausted by this point and three hours in an M998 on I-70 was enough to make me definitely tired.
Got back to his place of residence at something like 4AM central time. Circadian rhythm FUBAR by this point. Text a fellow member of Steel Soldiers (19Kilo) who rented me their spare bedroom for like six months while I was attending University of Alaska Fairbanks (They got me out of the dorms) that it hit me I was sleeping in the spare bedroom of yet another member of the Steel Soldiers community. Slept it off hard, woke up at the crack of 1PM, bodily clock still three hours behind. I wake up to 98G on the phone with another member mentioning how Andy from Alaska flew in last night. Conversation is on speaker phone and I hear "Yeah, isn't that the guy who has the 928 that's not running?" It was one of those defining moments where it hit me like a 23,500 lb truck that I was indeed that well-known idiot who has the non running heap in another state. We both laugh hysterically. Drive out to his property, an hour away at M998 speed and do the rear hubs.
Next day we got rained out. Neighbor in the apartment directly above has a dog that WILL NOT stop barking. We floated theories of the owner going to work leaving their furry friend with separation anxiety. Mr. Cuddles seriously needed to cut it out. I would joke with John “What are the odds we wake up tomorrow to a barking dog?” Slept in, talked trucks pretty much the rest of the time.
Next few days involved working on his trucks. M998 hubs and diffs, loading his M925 for the upcoming trip, and dealing with an M936A2 which had been the subject of large amounts of deferred maintenance and "inexpert civilian tampering". Needless to say both of us had a major learning experience going through this thing and playing with the crane. T
At some point (Had to have been the third day) we took his M925 to Walmart in Marysville, KS for groceries after day of dealing with trucks. I think I made some crack about "The People of Walmart" including us two, covered in grease and 80/90 gear oil, grocery shopping hungry and exhausted. (At least I was).
At some point I also made the unfortunate discovery that I am evidently allergic to cat litter. Don't ask. Needless to say whenever I so much as see a Purina TidyCats bucket, even re-purposed for other uses such as holding random fasteners, I cringe a little. Moral of the story: Absolutely do NOT, EVER, under ANY circumstances, disturb the cat boxes at other people’s homes.
Finally the day of departure arrived. Six hours riding shotgun in an M925 with your left arm on two cases of bottled water on the passenger seat next to you, some of it crawling up hills on I-70, actually wasn't that bad. I was thinking of Glen/91W350 passing some of the destination signs mentioning Salina, KS (Read: BFR Metals). Oh yeah and did I mention this was in an M925 that came from Ft. Riley? Go figure, small world. A few years ago, the first member of Steel Soldiers I ever met face to face ended up being my first college roommate; pretty much everyone else has turned out to be a friend of a friend of a friend of an umpteenth friend of his. I texted a couple but was never able to arrange any meet-ups while I was in-state.
Got to Fredonia, KS and holed up in an America’s Best Value Inn for the night, sleeping it off. 200-some miles in an M925 wasn’t that terrible. Next morning, off to go see my truck. Had a wrong turn (missed exit), another hassle I won’t mention publicly, and GPS trying to take us bizarre places. Did I mention the roads in rural Oklahoma absolutely suck in an M925 pulling an M989? Big, tall, wide vehicles and tiny one-lane roads don’t always mix too well.
Got to a fellow member’s place where my M928 is stored. Spent a few hours throwing trash out of the cab, inspecting the truck, and stuffing a used soft top on. Special thanks to 98G for, in addition to hosting me for two weeks, supplying a top and a set of extra hands for the installation thereof, too! It wouldn’t be possible without you.
That place was like being a kid in a candy store if you’re an MV enthusiast such as myself. Deuces and 5 tons and parts thereof all over. It was built into a hill and every nook and cranny was full of some sort of military or fire truck. It was paradise if you like old army trucks, but almost drove you crazy seeing how many months could be spent working on each and every one of them nonstop. Stood there talking army trucks when not working on mine.
Get back on the road. Drive to Vinita, Oklahoma and hole up in a Super 8 for the night. If you
“Motel it” and take frequent pee/fuel/food breaks, a long-distance trip in a 5 ton actually isn’t that bad.
Next morning...Drive to Walmart, spot a Deuce on static display in an American Legion parking lot across the street. Stop at an Atwood’s when we realize we have grossly inadequate clothing. Bought jackets and hit the road again.
Funniest story of the trip coming up. Wait for it. Pictures or it didn’t happen and all that. Had some faulty GPS directions and even a confused human lead us astray. Ended up at the end of somebody’s mile-long dirt driveway in an M925 pulling an M989. Took three and a half hours to get out of that mess. Those trailers simply do not back. The incident would have been hilarious at the time if it wasn’t on someone else’s private road.
Finally made it to D-Day Adventure Park in Wyandotte, OK. Dropped the trailer, unloaded the truck and set up camp.
Shortly thereafter we encountered David/MwMules. I’d talked to him on Steel Soldiers a bit after relating the story of meeting Russell/RKrug. I’ll spare rehashing that story here; you can go find it in my old threads if you want to read the most bizarre small world story. Within minutes of meeting, it became apparent that I might be going to the Georgia rally with him the following week.
Met several people, did some trail riding in Humvees. Had another member (Who I’d been corresponding with for quite some time and who helped guide us into where my truck is stored) call me at one point, stranded in a Humvee on the side of the turnpike with a blown radiator hose. I had ignored the call at first but when I saw a voicemail from a number with a 918 area code (local to the area) I knew it must be someone local...sure enough it was. Was trying to call/text him back for an hour before I did hear back he was back on the road.
The turnout was small this year. We were the last to leave. Packed up camp and drove to Baxter Springs, KS for a motel. We were both exhausted by then. Called Dad and informed him I might be finding myself in Georgia next week.
Slept until almost checkout time, packed up, hit a McDonald’s for breakfast, and hit the road. Got back to his place the same day just before dark; unloaded and called it a night. Woke up the next morning way too early to call work about going to Georgia (More time off) so had some time to lounge around....and work on 400-level online college courses.
Finally got plans in order and knew I’d be going to Georgia. Worked on another one of 98G’s trucks for the rest of the day, an M936A2. We had been starting to go through some of the deferred maintenance items from a couple previous owners. I learned 40,000 lbs of information working on that beast; I have to have one as of now...I am “hooked”, no pun intended.
Next morning was driven to Junction City, KS to meet up with Dave/MwMules. That trip wasn’t in an MV, so I’ll do a write up on that in the “Conversations” section.
