Dispatches
Fragments of the journey—quick glimpses, fleeting moments, and raw impressions captured before they drift away. Snapshots from the river, in words, images, and sound.
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First Snow, New Glass
First real snow of the season—the heavy, wet kind that sticks to your boots and reminds you this isn’t a drill. Yesterday I finally pulled the cardboard out of a broken window, glazed in new glass, and swapped the fried outlet my little heater murdered. Now it’s 20°F outside and a balmy 60° inside, which…
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Midwinter Repairs
Now why is the circuit breaker tripped? Oh! Now that’s not ideal. Midwinter shantyboat repairs.
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Riding Out a Bug
Cozy night on the river, laying low and riding out this bug. Grateful for a warm little corner to hide in.
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Rain on a Tin Roof
A cozy rainy morning after a cozy stormy night in the shantyboat loft, snug in fresh sheets and two quilts, with the rain pounding against the tin roof.
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Morning on the Little Miami
Anchored out on the Little Miami River and woke up to a misty morning and still water. Made coffee and breakfast just as the sky cleared.
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Free Concert from the Anchor
There’s an outdoor stadium music venue along the river down past the bridge. I heard you could anchor out and get a free concert. I didn’t know the country singer but thought it might be fun. So I’m bobbing out here. There has to be 50 boats out here as the moon rises. Sorry I…
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The Artist’s Walk-In Closet
What DOES an artist living in a shantyboat in a marina in a new city do with all their clothes? Dotty’s art gallery and head becomes a temporary walk-in closet.
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First Movie in the New Home
First movie aboard the shantyboat in my new Cincinnati home. Seemed… appropriate.
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Works on Water Opens August 28
24 artists from around the world will transform the at @governorsisland into a hub for water-based art and climate action. Each artist is deeply engaged with specific bodies of water and the communities connected to them. Through site-specific installations, performances, workshops, and participatory projects, 2025 Triennial invites you to wade into urgent conversations about climate…
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Back on the Ohio
Back on the Ohio for the first time since 2019.Sure, the marina in my new home of Cincinnati technically counts — but it’s not the same. This afternoon I said fuck it, slipped the lines, and let Dotty nose out onto the wide, rolling water. Late light on the river, big sky opening up. Felt…
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Works on Water 2025
Thrilled to be part of the Works on Water 2025 Triennial on Governors Island, NYC (Aug 28–Oct 26), curated by Emily Blumenfeld and Kendal Henry with the Works on Water team. I’ll be showing People’s River Stories alongside brilliant artists like Mary Mattingly, Sarah Cameron Sunde, Nancy Nowacek, Marie Lorenz, Eve Mosher, and many more…
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Back on the Water in Cincinnati
Back on the water, finally, at my new Cincinnati marina.The day started like a blur: first faculty meetings, rushing across town, unloading the U-Haul in stupid heat, sweat running down my back. By late afternoon we were easing the shantyboat into the river just as the sky cracked open—lightning, thunder, sheets of rain. Now I’m…
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Kentucky Breakdown: Truck-Stop Angels (3/3)
About 12 miles up the road I turn into a truck stop. Next door: a big-rig shop. Maybe they’ll recommend a mobile mechanic. The tech says, “Oh, we can go get it and fix it here. Lemme call the boss.” After a cigar and a little rye, the boss—Bobby—crunches into the lot at speed and…
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Kentucky Breakdown: The Hinge Breaks (2/3)
If your tires are where the rubber meets the road, your hubs—the things you’ve probably never thought about—are where your vehicle meets the spinny bits. Inside are steel bearings carrying the whole rig while the wheel spins. Big job, big heat, so they live in a bath of heavy grease to keep them happy. What…
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Kentucky Breakdown: Smoke Signals (1/3)
This is a tragi-comic story that begins in King City, California in 2019 and ends with me alone and desperately stranded on the shoulder of a busy-yet-remote Kentucky highway, less than an hour from Cincy, with smoke pouring from a sizzling, popping trailer wheel hub. But let’s back up. After 35 years I’m leaving my…
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A love letter to New Orleans on the hour of my departure
From the moment I stepped off the boat, you tangled me up in your rhythms. You overwhelmed me with trumpet blasts and pot liquor, with the way your air clings sweet and heavy, like a whispered secret you don’t want to forget. You fed me oysters and red beans and offered up chance meetings like…
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The Last Second Line Before the Storm
I caught the tail end of a protest by second line organizers pushing back against proposed NOPD crackdowns on parading. Wouldn’t have known about it at all if not for my photographer buddy Sophia Germer, who mentioned she was covering it. I’d all but given up hope of seeing a second line this trip—turns out…
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Al Sunseri and the Oldest Oysters in America
Yesterday I talked to Al Sunseri, third-generation owner of P&J Oyster Company, the oldest continually operating oyster dealer in the U.S., in business since 1876 and shucking oysters in the Quarter since 1921. We talked about the full arc of New Orleans’ oyster story—from 19th century canals to seasonal availability, to the shift in class…
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Liz Williams on Food as Story
Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Liz Williams—founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum and someone who thinks about food not just as sustenance, but as story, culture, power, and identity. We talked about the rich tangle of foodways in Louisiana—the contributions of Indigenous, Black, Spanish, French, and Acadian communities—and the way race,…
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New Orleans Folds Space
Today started out ordinary and veered straight into uncanny. I sat down at Honey’s, a neighborhood café I picked more or less at random, and barely had time to sip my coffee when Hayden—yes, that Hayden—walked in like it was the most natural thing in the world. We met over a month ago, hundreds of…
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Laura Mattingly at the R Bar
New Orleans magic. Laura Mattingly has been giving haircuts at R Bar in the Marigny every Monday night for 14 years. I knew Laura back in the day as one of the wild punk kids who floated a damn pedal raft from Kansas City down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. That’s a…
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JusTini’s and the Bywater
JusTini’s is a Black woman-owned cocktail and brunch bar in the rapidly gentrifying Bywater. From the moment we stepped in, it was clear this was a special place. An elegant space dripping with chandeliers and glassware, filled entirely with stylish Black women and men (but mostly women), holding court with confidence and joy. This isn’t…
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Breaking the Quarter Rule
I swore I wouldn’t go into the Quarter–especially not Bourbon, with all its touristy kitsch. But promises can either be helpful or they can be chains. So we break the rules. Woke up, slammed a coffee, and got right to it: trailering Dotty for her trip to Cincinnati. After that, we owed ourselves something good.…
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Outside the Candlelight
On Friday we stopped by the Candlelight Lounge after Kermit’s, but no live music at either place that night. But outside the Candlelight, there was a lively scene—JJ serving food straight from the streetside fryer, people from the neighborhood loosely gathered around, shooting the shit and getting dinner. We fell into talking to Wayne and…
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RJ Molinere, Houma Nation Elder
In the swirl of New Orleans, I forgot to tell you about one of the more surreal meetups from the journey so far. Just outside Bourg, Louisiana, we caught up with RJ Molinere—Houma Nation elder, hunter, trapper, fisherman, four-time world champion arm wrestler, and star of Swamp People. A man with hands like tree trunks…
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Under the I-10
Coming out of Kermit Ruffin’s Mother-In-Law Lounge (no live music that night), we stumbled into a full-blown sidewalk revival under the I-10. Gas burners roaring, steam billowing out of cauldrons the size of bathtubs, and Dr. Round 2—decked in scrubs, stethoscope dangling—shouting his signature holler while ladling his “Shakeback Sauce” like a man on fire.…
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Windell Curole Knows the Coast
We rolled back into Thibodaux the other day to interview Windell Curole, the now-retired longtime general manager of the South Lafourche Levee District—and a literal lifesaver for coastal Louisiana. Windell grew up fishing and trapping along Bayou Lafourche, learning its rhythms before levees even existed. In 1980 he took the helm of the Levee District;…
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First Night on Frenchmen
First night in New Orleans and we did what any sensible person would do—headed straight for Frenchmen Street. The brass was loud, the crowd was sweaty, and the music was everything. We caught sets at d.b.a., Spotted Cat, and Blue Nile—three flavors of New Orleans magic, from tight trad jazz to full-blast brass chaos. No…
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JoJo and the Bistro
Way back when we were in Morgan City, we had the chance to talk with Jo Ann Blanchard, aka JoJo, who owns The Bistro and JoJo’s, two side-by-side restaurants on Front Street. She grew up right there and has seen many decades of changes, back to when the floodwall was small enough for kids to…
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The Harvey Canal at Sunset
The sunset coming into New Orleans via the Harvey Canal didn’t quit. Every time we rounded a bend, it gave us something new—industrial cranes in silhouette, sugar mills turned to shadow, bridges tipped to the sky. The water lit up like neon oil, and even the rust looked holy. This is how the river delivers…
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What Happened in Simmesport
Well, the case has been heard and I can finally tell the full story—a tale of white supremacy, weaponized power, and small-town corruption. June 26, 2025. Simmesport, Louisiana. We tied up at an unmarked patch of riverbank. No signage. No fences. No purple paint. Just a strip of land beside the water, quiet and ordinary.…
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Houma and Thibodaux Had a Kind of Magic
Houma and Thibodaux had a kind of magic we’re still trying to untangle. It began with a sunset beer at the canal bar. On our way back to the marina, we met Shannon—jazz saxophonist, teacher, local historian, Mardi Gras parade organizer, down-bayou girl, and pure Fuck Yeah energy. What followed felt like a dream with…
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Finding the Delta Queen
In a weird bit of serendipity, we ran into our old friend the Delta Queen tucked away in an obscure side channel off the Intracoastal Waterway. Last time we saw her was in Chattanooga during Tennessee River fieldwork back in 2016. Now she’s looking a little sad and lonely, but still unmistakably herself.
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Word of Mouth in Houma
Great pop-up exhibition this morning in Houma, Louisiana. No museum, no press, no institution behind it—just word of mouth and the power of the socials. And yet… a couple dozen folks showed up, curious and full of stories. They packed into the little boat, asked thoughtful questions, lingered on the dock to chat. A reminder…
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The Dubuque Visit
Today’s pop-up exhibition in Houma has me thinking of past visits, especially one that’s stuck with me for nearly a decade. Back in 2015, while docked in Dubuque, Iowa, we had a visit from a big family—five kids, I think—but it was two sisters, Lexie and Gracie, who stole the show. They were so curious,…
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Two Voices from Thibodaux
Today we had the great pleasure of interviewing two incredible folks in Thibodaux: Quenton Fontenot, fisheries biologist and professor at Nicholls, who spoke about the health of our waterways—from phytoplankton to redfish—and how Cajun culture is inseparable from the water it grew up beside. Misty McElroy, photographer and storyteller, shared memories of growing up on…
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It Rains Pretty Hard Down Here
Did you know that it rains pretty hard in Southern Louisiana? Anyone have a few 8′ pieces of bamboo?
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Summer Reading: Shanty Boat Girl
Three covers. One torrid tale.Shanty Boat Girl by Kirk Westley: my summer reading, theoretically. When we first started the project, I assumed we’d have nothing but time—while floating, while docked, between interviews and cooking. In reality, there’s barely space for pure leisure. The demands of the boat, the work, and just basic survival keep us…
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Secret History Pop-Up: Houma, July 26
Secret History Pop-Up in Houma – Sat July 26, 9AM–Noon📍Terrebonne Parish Marina Park, Bayou Terrebonne We’ve floated and trailered our way down rivers and bayous all summer, and now the Secret History shantyboat lands in Houma. For one morning only, we’re throwing open the doors to the public. Come aboard, meet the crew, hear what…
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Seeking Houma Hosts
Hey friends, Who can we find in Houma Louisiana who’d like to adopt us in order for us to get showers, maybe wash some clothes, or borrow a little get around vehicle. But mostly, we want stories of people who’ve lived on the river, particularly from marginalized communities. Wes & Adrian
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Dwayne Crawford and Bayou Chêne
Unexpectedly met Dwayne Crawford cruising by on the Intracoastal, checking his fish and crab traps.We talked about where he was born and raised—Bayou Chêne.He brought us several big catfish for dinner and, being a generous, full-service sort of fellow, even offered to fillet them for us.
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Dotty’s Mark on a Barge in Amelia
Maritime graffiti on a barge in Amelia.Not sure who left this.Looks familiar, though.Dotty, doing her best to be remembered.
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Catfish and Cheesy Grits
“But what do you eat?” One of the questions we get a lot. Tonight, fresh caught catfish and cheesy grits.
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Scenes from Morgan City
Salt air, shrimp boats, and history. Scenes from around Morgan City with our pal Angela.
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Greig Chauvin Knows Morgan City
We were visited by the warm and wickedly smart Greig Chauvin, historian about town in Morgan City. Among her talents: author of a local Black history book, designer of walking tours and historical brochures, and a scintillating conversationalist. She dropped by Dotty bearing stories and unexpected truths—like the fact that in the 1870s, Morgan City…
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What Came Up with the Anchor
Sometimes you pull up the anchor…And sometimes you pull up the anchor and a transatlantic telecommunication cable.
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Angela and the Fishing Life
Pro fisher Angela (@swissarmieknife) is teaching Age and me a few things about the fishing life, anchored here at the Berwick lock. She’s got curiosity, skills, and a tackle bucket full of secrets. We’re just trying to keep up.
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That Franklin Alligator
This is a big one and he was *very* interested in me as I sat on the back porch right in downtown Franklin. They say they are very shy, but maybe this one just wanted a cuddle.
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Lucinda Williams on the Radio
Bayou Teche near Centerville with @lucinda_williams bumpin on the radio nearing the Centerville Bridge to meet Age in the truck to take out and drop back in on the other side of the Atchafalaya Cut.
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The Gingerbread Factory
St Mary’s Sugar Coop in Sorel along Bayou Teche, the source of all of our gingerbread fantasies while floating by.
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Growing Roots in Franklin
I was gonna make a joke that we’ve been in Franklin so long we’ve established a garden around the boat, but the reality is maybe we have a lawn of water hyacinth now, but in the next hour the river’s clear. The current is somewhat inexplicable due to the floodgates at Calumet being closed and…
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Tiger Verdin Is an Unstoppable Force
This guy, Tiger Verdin, is an unstoppable force in beautiful Franklin Louisiana. Here’s a guy who is the public relations director for the city, but also plays an important role in the community theater, is an advocate for Main Streets, is a purveyor of public pocket parks, is a mama hen to local businesses—I don’t…
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Dixieland and Rain
It’s intensely pleasurable sitting in a crowded café while Dixieland jazz plays, rain falling steadily outside. A rare pause in the relentless heat and humidity of southern Louisiana. People coming and going, dishes clinking, the buzz of conversations blending with the horns. A simple moment of crowded solitude, deeply satisfying — moments before the storm…
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Freddie DeCourt, Mayor Who Builds Things
The other day I interviewed the mayor of New Iberia, Freddie DeCourt. Freddie was an interesting guy and an atypical mayor. I don’t usually have a whole lotta interest in politicians—I’m usually much more drawn to tradespeople, engineers, construction folk, builders, artists—people who do stuff with their hands. Freddie feels more like the cut-up class…
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Breakfast After the Battle
To celebrate our survival from last night’s Battle of Fausse Pointe—in which hundreds of mosquitoes gave their lives and our side suffered only deep psychological trauma—Age and I made a breakfast fit for battle-hardened swamp goblins: fresh-caught drum and Gulf shrimp over dirty rice. Also, hooray! We weren’t eaten by the murmuration? shiver? menace? bureaucracy?…
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Lake Fausse Pointe
Floating on Lake Fausse Pointe, ringed by ancient cypress and draped in stillness. The light shifts, the moss sways, and the whole world slows down to the rhythm of water.
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Scenes from the Arnaudville Pop-Up
Left over photos from our pop-up in Arnaudville. Photos by Lynda Frese.
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Shantyboat Hooch
Apple and grape. Lalvin 71B. Saran Wrap and a rubber band for a bubbler. Shantyboat hooch is underway. It’s not our first batch, and it probably won’t be our finest—but there’s something satisfying about getting a little fermentation going with the simplest means. Juice, yeast, patience, and a little swamp air magic. Give it a…
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Best Red Beans in Louisiana
I had another incredible meal at Roc Star Café in New Iberia—this time with Age. The red beans and rice might’ve been the best I’ve had in Louisiana. Mace Broussard built Roc Star from a food truck into a beloved downtown spot, serving up food with heart and heat. Downtown New Iberia—once known as “White…
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Cribbage under the Moon
An enjoyable evening playing cribbage with Age while the moon was showing off over Bayou Teche at New Iberia.
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History Is a Contested Space
History is a contested space. The stories we tell—and who we center in them—matter. There’s a reason so many political fights hinge on historical narrative in this moment. Omission and erasure are still as much a part of history-making as revision and recentering. Or maybe someone just didn’t prep the wall right in a few…
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90° at Midnight in New Iberia
Last night docked in New Iberia, it was hotter than a stolen tamale in the devil’s lunchbox. 90° at midnight, 250% humidity, and air as still as a corpse. Even with a fan pointed straight at me, my cozy loft bed felt like punishment. Around 5 AM, I gave up. Came down, took a sponge…
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Pop-Up in New Iberia, July 12
Pop-Up Exhibition: A Secret History of American River PeopleSaturday, July 12 | 9 AM – NoonFélicité’s Landing, near the Veterans Memorial | New Iberia Come visit the Secret History shantyboat, a floating art and oral history project traveling down Bayou Teche. Step aboard the hand-built vessel, meet the crew, and share your stories about life…
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The Bridge That Wouldn’t Open
Let’s say you arrive at this glorious beast of a bridge,and they tell you they can’t open it, something’s busted, the electricians are on their way, might be hours, might be more, and so you shrug and make tea and kick your feet up and stare out the wide-open doorway where the swamp crowds in…
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The Invisible Object
I hit my first invisible mystery object in the middle of the channel of the Bayou hard enough that it stopped the engine. While everything looks okay, once bitten twice shy: now I’m traveling around with my prop half out of the water afraid I’ll hit another snag, or old pick up truck, or Huey…
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What It Takes to Open a Swing Bridge
What’s it take to open a seldom-used swing bridge for a shantyboat? Turns out, it takes a skid steer, a hydraulic auger, a custom-fabbed attachment, a couple police cars, and a utility boat. Oh, and one absolute hero named Andre from the Louisiana Department of Transportation. We radioed ahead thinking it might be a button…
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Dotty Back on the Teche
Shantyboat Dotty back on the water in Bayou Teche. Prepping and launching are definitely harder solo, but I’ve learned to just be slow and methodical. Slightly complicated by a date with a bridge tender at 8 AM requiring special equipment.
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George Arnaud has been pushing water—and community—for decades.
We interviewed George, a descendant of Arnaudville’s namesake, who spent over fifty years working the rivers, pushing long rafts of barges up and down the Mississippi and beyond. A career built on current, steel, and river-smarts. When he finally came ashore, George started as a volunteer dishwasher at NUNU Arts & Culture Collective. These days,…
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An Evening at NUNU in Arnaudville
We had the honor of bringing Dotty to the remarkable NUNU Arts & Culture Collective in Arnaudville earlier this week. The night unfolded in true Louisiana fashion: a community potluck, incredible live music from Maya Kamaty, and an open invitation for folks to climb aboard the shantyboat, share stories, or just hang out. And hang…
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Big Yella County Fixins in Grand Coteau
Oh man. The food is Louisiana is great, but the flavors that Shantelle whips up are special. I don’t have enough data points to know if this is the difference between Creole and Cajun cooking or just Shantelle’s special style.
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Joe Billiot knows rivers
We sat down today for a wide-ranging conversation that covered his 54 years running tugs all over the country, his childhood on Bayou Lafourche, his Chitimacha and Cajun French heritage, and a lifetime of stories anchored in the water. Joe speaks with the clarity of someone who’s spent decades reading currents, both literal and cultural.…
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Lynda Frese is out here making art like the Earth is watching
We sat down with her this week—painter, collage artist, professor emeritus from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lynda grew up in Rhode Island, but her work is soaked through with bayou light and Louisiana mysticism. Her collages pull together satellite scans, saucers, sacred forests, and pigment ground from the literal dirt of this place. She…
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“Patriarchs in Stately Rows”
“The trees along the stream’s course are seen first and remembered longest. The live oak makes here its greatest stand in Louisiana: patriarchs in stately rows, long files for several miles; double avenues, with branches arching high above the heads of passers-by, leaves mingling with leaves; clumps at the banks, hanging over the water. At…
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A Sitdown with George Marks in Arnaudville, Louisiana
We sat down with George Marks in Arnaudville—artist, organizer, instigator of the offbeat and unexpected. George helped launch the NUNU Collective, an arts and culture space tucked in rural Louisiana that somehow radiates like a beacon. Every time we meet someone here who knows George, they light up. Then they tell us how he changed…
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Paddlers Welcome!
All along Bayou Teche there are a series of kayak and canoe launch sites (more than 16!) from way up at Point Barre all the way down to Morgan City, providing paddlers with an easy and convenient way to hop off the water and access services. This is a continuation of the network of waterways…
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A Fourth of July Salvage Operation
I took a walk this morning and scouted out the bridges across Bayou Teche. Okay, so maybe some of the bridges on the bayou are less passable for the shantyboat. Later we connected with some folks in Arnaudville—the weirdos and freaks, as George affectionately described them—and soon found ourselves invited to a neighborly gathering at…
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The Reality of Piloting
Somewhere between careful piloting and gentle persuasion, we keep this shantyboat pointed downstream. Sure, there’s an engine back there doing about 30% of the work—but mostly it’s sheer charisma holding us on course. That gets tougher on long afternoons when the humidity is high and the moods get grumbly. But we do our best.
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Trip Angels Just As We Needed It
Sometimes, right when you think the river’s turned against you—people indifferent, hospitality scarce—you land somewhere that feels immediately like home. That’s exactly what happened when we drifted ashore at Riverview RV Park, just outside Krotz Springs. Blake and Alexa welcomed us without hesitation. Within minutes, we had rusted tin charm, reclaimed wood aesthetics, and genuine…
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A Freight Train Running Through the Middle of my Head
Shantyboat Dotty posted up under the Krotz Springs RR bridge with raucous freight trains rolling over our heads by just a few feet all night. Both jarring and surprisingly comforting.
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It’s really fucking raining
We’re beached on a remote sandbar just as it begins to rain real good, complete with thunder and lightning. People ask us all the time what do we do when it rains. We make tea!
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The Cats of Krotz (Katz?) Springs
We didn’t see many people in Krotz Springs. But we did see cats. On porches, in tall grass, under trailers. Lounging in the shade or darting behind cars. For every cat we photographed, another vanished the moment we made eye contact—like shadows with whiskers. They weren’t strays. They belonged here. Not to anyone, necessarily, but…
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Gray Man Feels
Gray Man has been a little down lately. We’re trying to talk it out. Late afternoon, feeling more relaxed at nap-thirty.
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Trespassing by boat
Surreal moments in shantyboating: with the high water, we had to boat far inland into someone’s back forty dodging submerged trees to beach Dotty to access a road for a resupply at a Dollar General. Shantyboat Dotty pulled up in someone’s flooded field on our mission to get ice (success!), gas (success!), and sandwiches (unsuccessful).…
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A Storm Gathers
From the Colfax Boat Launch, where the light fades and the clouds build like a slow exhale. Storms feel different on the water—closer, heavier, like the sky’s trying to tell you something. Dotty doesn’t flinch. She’s been through worse.
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Busy busy natures
The nature is very busy here. This is a non-venomous Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifer) about 4 foot long, harmless to us, but less so to the fish it has caught. We watched it evade a juvenile American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) which continued to hunt for it long after the snake had cleverly gone underwater…
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First night afloat
After days of chaos—repairs, road miles, dust—we finally got quiet. A river bath, a hot meal, a cigar at sunset. The boat, at last, feels like home again.
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Dotty touches water at last
This is it. After a thousand miles of road mishaps, truck breakdowns, gas station meditations, and desert detours, Dotty finally tastes Louisiana water just above Alexandria. Colfax welcomed us quietly, a gentle entry into the slow-moving story of the river. From here, the miles will unwind differently—no pavement beneath, just current, cypress, and whatever waits…
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A Jury-Rigged Solution
Probably not the best fix, a plug bypassing the sensor altogether, but no diesel spraying all over the engine is better than before. Kudos to Kevin and K & P 24 Hour Towing and Auto Repair for hours of attempting to find us the right sensor and his willingness to do a jury-rigged repair at…
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The timelessness of being on hold
You don’t really choose timelessness. It chooses you. Breakdowns and delays are like that: enforced pauses, unavoidable stillness. Out here, waiting is its own quiet adventure, a slow-motion moment suspended amid the everyday chaos. Like trainhopping—more wait than action, more dreaming than doing. But maybe that’s the secret: life happens in these pauses, in the…
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A Cool Swim in a Dry River
Jeremiah and I hiked the 3 miles in the noonday sun through the wastelands for a refreshing swim in the cool desert waters of the Little Colorado River. Worth every minute. Quoth Jeremiah: “It seemed a little bluer on the map.”
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Roadside Bivouac
A little roadside bivouac in Holbrook, AZ. Engine threw a tantrum outside Winslow, so we limped into town and settled in for the night. The shantyboat may not be fast, but damn if she isn’t homey under the glow of a gas station sign. Tomorrow: diagnostics, prayers, and probably gas station burritos.
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Truck Breakdown
2011 Ford F-250 Super Duty6.7L Power Stroke V8 Turbo DieselFailure: Fuel rail pressure sensor (approx. 1”x1”x2”)Symptom: External diesel leak through vertical housing crackPressure loss: Low-side return circuitECM response: Fuel pressure fault triggered, dash warning activeConditions: 96°F ambient, sustained 60 MPH, towing 7000 lb loadLeak vector: Direct ejection from sensor body, not injector or return fittingMitigation:…
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Bumpy Roads and Inproper Tongue Weight
Bumpy roads, a bit of wind, a shantyboat trailer with incorrect tongue weight all mean our terror index hovers around 7.
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