That was the last day of Blazer Bash and the last day of our vacation. Now all we had to do was drive 500 miles home...
We got back to the cabin after the trail run and started packing. We hooked up the trailer, loaded the majority of our stuff (we still had to sleep in the cabin) and said our goodbyes to the people that were still there. We crashed for the night so we could get up early and head home.
We got up early, finished our packing and headed out. It was a long drive and we knew we'd have to stop frequently (17 gallon tank and ~10mpg on the highway). We stopped in Bluff to grab some caffeine and fuel, that's when we realized that wheeling on the already weakened frame caused it to twist again. The tailgate had popped open and my drone case was sitting on the tailgate inches from falling off onto the highway with memory cards and everything....
After fueling up we put everything back in the bed of the truck and threw a ratchet strap on to hold the tailgate shut and headed out again. We certainly lucked out on that one...
We stopped again in Kayenta for fuel and food and continued on our way. We decided to power through Bluff and continue on to Flagstaff (I had 10 gallons of fuel in the trailer if we miscalculated fuel mileage). About 20 minutes outside of Tuba City, I pushed in the clutch and tried to shift... It wouldn't go into gear, I pumped the clutch and tried again, nothing... another pump and I felt a "pop" and the clutch went to the floor, at least at this point I new I just had a hydraulic issue. I didn't even stop, I just matched revs and popped it in gear without disengaging the clutch. I told Amber what was going on and that we'd deal with it in Flag.
We stopped in Flag for fuel, I popped the hood and saw the lack of brake fluid so I sent Amber in to get more (and more caffeine). Unfortunately, they were out of brake fluid, but fortunately there was caffeine. I made the decision to power on to Payson (where we planned to stop for food anyways). At this point most people have asked me how I managed to drive without being able to disengage the clutch... If you don't know click here: http://bfy.tw/7xU5
We pulled into Payson and stopped for fuel again, when we pulled in I heard some screaming coming from the truck. We had heard it prior to this on the trail and I just figured it was an idler pully that was pissed off about all the mud and water, however it was much louder now. I decided I'd deal with it if it seized up on the now short journey home, but otherwise I was just going to keep on truckin'. We swung through the Autozone to pick up brake fluid since I was hoping it would be an easy fix so I could use the clutch tho help deal with rush hour traffic in Phoenix. Unfortunately after I added fluid and pumped the clutch, it just spit the fluid out the bellhousing...
We stopped for a late lunch at our favorite restaurant in Payson (Macky's Grill) and headed for home. Somehow, even dealing with rush hour on the 101, I managed to drive from Payson to my driveway while only shutting the truck off twice.