Boondocking again near Truth or Consequences

 I'm back to my preferred boondocking spot about 14 miles north of the New Mexico town of Truth or Consequences.  Yep, a town which renamed itself after a TV Game Show.....google it.

Here's a picture of the site I spent the night at, last night:

Got here around 1PM after having refilled the propane tank and taken on water in the fresh water tank now that I'm south enough to not worry about freezing temperatures.

Most of the other obvious boondocking spots nearby are occupied as well.  I guess this spot is becoming known and popular?

Spent the afternoon cleaning out the tubing related to Mariko's PCV valve; cleaning them out in preparation to replacing the valve once I manage to get hold of one.  I'm hoping it'll help with the occasional smoke I'm getting on cold start up.

I drove Mariko over to the highway overpass nearby and posed her for sunset pictures.

First though, some telephoto views of nearby towers shortly after the sun set:

The weather is supposed to be in the low 70s the next few days so I'm planning to hang out here to enjoy it.  I'm going to some some extended explorations as well using Mariko.

Now in New Mexico

Saturday, JAN 29

The sunrise for today wasn't too bad:

Penrose Sunrise

Found out the hard way that a 40 acre plot of land I was curious about was within the confines of a gated community.  So, no way to get in and wasn't interested in waiting on the offering realtor.  Still, it was a nice drive out with Mariko.

Did some errands in the town of Cañon City and managed to get a view of their Castle Rock which seems to lie within one of the prisons' land; so not easy to get closer to it:

 In the afternoon, I aired down Mariko's tires from the usual 30 PSI for street driving to 20 PSI for off-road conditions.  I'm happy to confirm it seemed to make taking on the rocky bits of the trails less bouncy and a bit more comfortable on my kidneys!

Rest of the afternoon was quite cool even though the sun was out, so no riding done with Yagi, my Yamaha TW200...I might as well have left her tied up on the URRV's front rack.  Oh well.

Decided tonight to start headed on south, today was forecast to be cooler than yesterday  so no point in waiting till Monday as previously planned.

Sunday, JAN 30

Woke up early and packed things up while waiting for daylight to break so I could see.  Took a bit of time to air up the tires on Mariko so she could be towed on the highway.  I also decided to top off a couple of the URRV's tires that were a bit lower than all the others.

A bit before 9AM, I was headed out towards CO Hwy 115 which I would take to US 50 East towards Pueblo, CO and points south.

The drive was boringly without issues, which I'll take anytime!  By 3PM I had unsuccessfully tried to find a Santa Fe National Forest camping area reported by freeroam.app.  Got the URRV turned around and though I did find some likely sites, no cell signal.

Kept retracing my route back towards Bernal, NM and settled in a spot right at the edge of the Santa Fe National Forest, just off of Cty Road B28A.  It's only for one night so it's all good, I didn't unhook Mariko or dismount Yagi.

In the Santa Fe National Forest, near Bernal, NM

The current plan is to set up for a few days of boondocking near the town of Truth or Consequences.  I hope to fill up the propane tank in the URRV somewhere in Albuquerque as I pass through it tomorrow morning.

Boondocking again in Penrose, with Mariko and Yagi

 Packed up the URRV this morning and by 10:30 AM I was heading out of my home neighborhood and headed South/Southwest towards Penrose, CO.

About three hours later, made it to the Penrose Commons BLM area next to the small town of Penrose off of CO Highway 115, no issues, a couple of stops to check out the towing bits that were pulling Mariko the Suzuki Samurai along as a dingy/toad behind Umarang.

I got my preferred spot, and though it did take a few light hammer blows, didn't have any real issues unhooking Mariko from the Blue Ox Tow bar. I think it was because she was slightly down slope from Umarang so there was slight binding.

Got camp set up for the next few days:

It had been quite windy and gusty all the way from south of the Metro Denver area and it remained quite breezy in the Penrose area.  No big deal though as I had doors, windows and a roof to keep things nice and warm within Mariko.

Took her out for a brief scout of the area to the north where several of the dirt trails are located.  It took me a few minutes to figure out when to go into 4WD and also how to keep the engine from stalling when encountering the rockier/rougher portions of the trails.  No problem, just something to re-learn from my days of 4x4 driving in a 1977 Jeep CJ-7 Renegade; the first car I ever bought with my own money.

Mariko and I wandered along for a bit, some parts of the trails were quite muddy due to recently melted snow.  I experienced her behavior both in high and low range 4x4 mode and it was quite enlightening.

Because she came with the True Twin Sticks mod for the transmission, it was easy to shift from high to low range depending on the terrain.  I will say, 4WD Low is very low geared with the aftermarket 6.4:1 gearing in the transfer case!  It's so low geared, I basically had to go into second gear even from standing stops to get going!  I suppose the low-geared first gear will come in handy in really bad road conditions!

Went up and down rock-strewn hills with no issues using 4WD Low, just powering up them and slowly descending them using the low gearing and engine braking made it very easy.

Mariko's short wheelbase however, produced a very bumpy ride when things got rocky but I guess I knew to expect that.  It helps a lot to lean forward a bit and not have contact with the seat's back in order to negotiate the rock-induced rocking motions.

Saving most of the other trails for tomorrow or another day, I then drove Mariko over to the nearby Brush Hollow Reservoir for pics.

Southern side of the reservoir

Northern side of the reservoir

The winds were picking up by 4:30 PM so I headed on back onto BLM land and the campsite.  I was surprised to see other campers out here, I'd figured it was too "cold" for so many to show up.  Still, not to crowded and I can't see any of them from my campsite.

It's supposed to get down to 32°F (0°C) tonight so I shouldn't need to turn on the Catalytic Propane Heater until I wake in the morning.  We'll see.

I hope to check out one or two nearby properties that are on sale, not really seriously looking but as long as I'm in the area.....

Mariko did very well, once I figure out the right combination of accelerator, clutch and high/low range modes to keep her from stalling!

Mariko is back and running....finally!

A recap of the last two weeks or so.

Last week:

I got Mariko back with a new fuel filter, the mechanic thought the old one had caused the issues which had prompted me to return the Sami to them for another look.  Basically, symptoms reflecting haphazard fuel flow.

Some maintenance related items were done, such are replacing the spark plugs it came with.

These same plugs had been black with soot!

You'll note the above old plugs look pretty good in terms of color.  Before, when the engine had been running with the thermal choke stuck in the open position, they'd been black, covered in soot!

I also installed a generic battery hold-down bracker.

The Same had come with the rubber bungie strap holding

it down!  I put it back on as a "belt and suspenders" mechanism.

Here's the carburetor bits that were replaced by the mechanic.  That is one sad looking main gasket eh?  The rubber bits in the upper right functioned as dust jacket for the accelerator pump in the lower left next to the float needle.

The O-rings and tiny bits that were replaced, the ruler is used to ensure the float is mounted correctly within the carburetor's fuel bowl.

Let's see, also replaced both of the two headlights as they'd been both cracked when I bought her.

On Jan 21, I drove her to the DMV to get her permanent license plates.  She ran beautifully all the way there.  I ran into a snag at the DMV however, now it seems its not enough to have a current passing emission test but the test has to be done while in one's ownership!

Dammit.

So, after arranging to return to the DMV clerk after getting an emissions test, I left the DMV and started heading out to the nearby testing station.

Mariko was hard to start and was once again experiencing fuel delivery issues!  I had to push heavily at the accelerator pedal, get the engine wound up and then let out the clutch to get her going!  Quite embarrassing and the situation didn't improve as the engine warmed up.

More embarrassment at the emission testing location, barely got her in position and the tech voiced doubts as to Mariko being able to pass the emissions testing.

Still, perhaps 15 nail-biting minutes later, he'd put her through the most thorough inspection I'd ever seen done on one of my cars and she passed!  I was amazed.

Clutching the emissions certificate, I drove her back to the DMV, having fuel issues the whole way and got her plates without further drama from the DMV.  Then I drove her, still not getting fuel well, back to the mechanic's shop in Parker and demonstrated the behavior to the head mechanic.

He finally agreed that yes, there was an issue and most likely fuel delivery so I left the Samurai with him and got a ride home in the owner's truck.  It's a small shop so the owner is also the head mechanic.

I thought a fuel pump installation being relatively simple, I figured I'd get her back the next day but no word and then I had to wait for the weekend as they're not open then.

Monday, was told the mechanic was at the doctors but that he was expected to begin working on the fuel pump.  Monday passed, nothing from the shop on Tuesday....so I called them at 5PM and only then was told the mechanic had managed to get a concussion and no one had been available to work on Mariko!

Wednesday the 27th, was told the mechanic was expected back late morning but that they'd also try and get one of the other mechanics to put the pump in.  They called me near 5PM to advise the pump was in and things seem good but the head mechanic wanted to do another test drive in the morning after she sat all night.

Thursday, the 28th.  The morning test drive involved them coming out to the house in the Sami and picking me up.  I then drove the service manager, Adam, back to the shop to pay the bill.  The electric fuel pump makes a constant tapping noise but it's not too bad, I'll take that over fuel delivery issues when using the failing mechanical fuel pump Mariko was equipped with at the factory, over 33 years ago!

Note: after consulting RichardM, will try installing a rubber mount between the fuel pump and the floor board near the gas tank where it's currently mounted.

She now drives just fine, no problems getting her going from a standing stop and no need to force the revs up before letting out the clutch!  Hopefully, that's it for mechanical issues for a while.  Fingers crossed.

I then went to retrieve the URRV, hooked Mariko up to her and drove both vehicles home.  I learned its easier to unhook the towed vehicle from the Blue Ox tow bar if both vehicles are lined up directly behind each other!  No curves allowed!

I installed the brake assist mechanism in the afternoon and got it adjusted so it pulls on the brake pedal inside Mariko when I push the brakes on the URRV.  We'll see how it works out, I don't really need it when towing the Sami but once in a while I do feel a slight "klunk" in the URRV's suspension when stopping so I figured I'd try the brake assist setup.

We had us a pretty good post-sunset display of color along the Front Range: