Road Trip Report

[DickensCPA]

I live in middle TN about 25 miles East of Nashville. We planned on taking my wife's GMC SUV with 3rd row seats and AWD. on 1/3 we got a surprise snow of 4" about 10PM and we planned on leaving at midnight. TN doesn't get much snow and I tested my wife's vehicle and it had trouble in the snow so last minute we threw a week's packing in the back of the Avy and took off at 2AM. Luckily I'd changed the oil in both and had the tranny fluid serviced two days prior in both.

I'm glad we took the Avy because in New Mexico and northern AZ we encountered BIG snow I'm not used to driving in. We drove in snow in the wee hours of the morning thru all of TN and it broke leaving AR into OK. First leg of the trip we had reservations at a hotel in Amarillo, TX. 2 miles from our hotel at about 8PM I see shiny things bouncing around, guess a truck lost a box of screws/nails. I woke up to three flats. Discount Tire was .4 miles down the road and brand new shoes.

We saw Palo Duro Canyon in TX, White Sands Dunes in NM, Seguaro National Park in AZ, Mission San Xavier Del Bac in AZ, Lost Dutchman/Superstition Mtns in AZ, Chapel of the Holy Cross in AZ, rented sideXside and did Coconino National Forest offroad and then to the Grand Canyon and came home. After the Grand Canyon I had my oil changed for the leg home and we spent the night in OK and drove the rest of the way.

The only hiccups were the three flats (I'd already ordered new tires to be put on when I got back at Discount Tire, they just got put on in TX instead and a couple $100 cheaper there,) my 12 yr old daughter stepped on a cholla cactus at Sequaro and we pulled needles out of her foot a while and at Lost Dutchman Mtn I got bit by a western diamond back - that was a small ordeal. After getting bit I fell off a 10' cliff.

The Avy performed fine. Son and daughter in the back and me and wife up front. Sometimes my son up front, he's 6'2" and wife is 5'4" LOL!

Gremlins:
1) Dash is cracked so it rattled a bit. Weight on the dash helped quite a bit. New dash "supposed" to be delivered today.
2) At times rear driver's side passenger could roll window down but not back up. Sometimes it was fine.
3) Front door pulls both sides were already broken. On the trip excessive use the rubber coating started coming off.
4) Drove around with blinker on quite a bit on soft turns because it doesn't click or warn you. Park assist doesn't make a noise either.
5) Did go down one tire size and no more rub and it rode MUCH better.

Mechanically for engine, tranny, etc it was flawless. Total trip was 4259.9 miles. Speed limit in TN is 70 mph and AR thru AZ it was 75 mph. Obviously mostly interstate but a LOT of traffic and city driving as well. 246.8 gal measured at the pump. Glad we took the Avy with a 31.5 gal tank as opposed to my wife's 19.1 gal tank. In some spots gas stations were far apart and got a bit scary. My wife's SUV gets a bit better gas mileage but not 12 gal tank better. Avy has a bit over 130k on the odo now but ext warranty up to 151k or 11/27/23 whichever comes first. Got 17.26 mpg at the pump, computer said 19.1 and the gallons used on the DIC seemed to run 1.5-2 gal less than what it took to fill up each time so I guess there's your difference in mpg.

Since I've been back I'm not sure if the tranny is shifting weird or I'm hyper sensitive looking to make sure no problems. Otherwise in no worse shape than when we left. Even with all the snow and melting on the bed cover all luggage remained bone dry. Actually my bed cover never leaks except at the car wash when that HIGH pressure spray is about a foot above the bed cover, it will leak between panel 2 and 3. I have went thru car wash with midgate down and seen it.

I plan to take the dash off closest to the windshield and put small slices of pool noodle in to take care of some internal rattle and install my new dash. I ordered an extra tube of sealer and then plan to remove the stripping on my bed panels, clean and reinstall. In the middle of tax season so even if the dash comes today it may be Saturday before it gets done.

2013 Black Diamond LT Z71 in black

 

[Auto Parts Guy]

That is a cool story but I'm stuck at being bit by a diamond back!!
What!?!! Small ordeal what?? Then fell off a 10' cliff and finished the trip? No anti-venom or anything? Maybe they're different than the eastern diamond back..

Cactus needles are no joke either but rattlesnakes kill.

 

[DickensCPA]

That is a cool story but I'm stuck at being bit by a diamond back!!
What!?!! Small ordeal what?? Then fell off a 10' cliff and finished the trip? No anti-venom or anything? Maybe they're different than the eastern diamond back..

Cactus needles are no joke either but rattlesnakes kill.

"Small ordeal" was a bit tongue in cheek, LOL! The soil there is obviously very sandy so the trails and the "rain runoff" creates what looks EXACTLY like the trails and it's very easy to get off course. We did and hit a dead end. My wife panicked but I'm not one to get overly excited. We were off course but we were still in flats and as the crow flies I could see my Avy in the parking lot way off in the distance. I told her we weren't spending the night, worst case scenario we would bee line back to the truck. I decided that we would stand there until we saw other hikers, I would make a mental marker and we would cut straight line to the actual trail with people on it.

Within 10 min I saw two guys and a dog. We cut across flat land but covered in scrub oak and smaller rocks and get to them. They tell us to take the trail they were coming back from and it would take us to the 4600' peak. About 150 yds down the trail there was maybe an 8' dip in the trail that was 2-2 1/2' wide. On my left was a rock wall 10' straight up and on my right a 10' drop. I was in front and had my head on a swivel (it was 72* and they told us they come out to feed in winter months between 70&90). At the bottom of the dip I'm bee bopping along and it felt like someone hit me in the shin with a pipe. I thought I'd been Nancy Kerrigan'd.

I'm 50 but a life long martial artist and still train BJJ twice a week. I can still do the splits and stand on one leg all day. I lift my left leg up and I had a purple "egg" on my shin starting to form (still have a small knot tender to the touch) and I look down and a rattler as big around as my wrist and 3' long is coiled up, tail shaking and in striker formation.

I hopped on one foot back a smidge and apparently hopped onto a small rock and fell onto the trail flat on my chest. The snake was about a 1 1/2 from my face in striker pose. I backhand slapped the snake up against that rock wall and didn't take a fang to the hand. I saw belly and he flipped and flopped and was MAD. I got to my feet and he half struck at me and I took a step back and stepped off the cliff. It felt like I hit every rock on the way down. I had my wife's camera around my neck and landed on my chest and the camera. My first thought was "Oh crap! I broke her camera!" The camera didn't have a scratch though.

From the fall I was tender in the lower left ribs, front right upper quad must've hit a big rock it was SORE, both knees were really banged, I apparently hit a sharp rock on the way down and it cut me from the base of my left palm down the forearm to the elbow and I had cuts and small rocks in both hands.

I stand up and this thing is coming down after me. It looked like the best way out was thru him - I found another way out. I get to the top and back on the trail and my wife and two kids are at the top of the little 8' rise and they're all crying and my wife is hysterical. I thought one or all of them were bitten. They didn't know I got bit, they saw me fall off and thought it killed me. They said when I was face down on the trail I yelled "I gotta a snake! Get back! Run" I don't remember saying that or anything at all but they all three agreed I yelled that.

Coming up behind us on the trail happened to be an ER nurse who took the day off to hike. She had a first aid kit but said an extractor and such was not a good idea. She had already called someone and within a few minutes an ATV come and picked me up. I did go to the ER and found out that you can only get antivenom from a live snake and it was only good for 1-2 days and they have to continually refresh it. I was told a vile of antivenom was $10k and you needed 3 viles. They deemed I had a light strike but I'm not sure how much they gave me. After the hospital was over I didn't really have a lot of residual effects. My main problem was I was sore from the fall. They gave me pain meds but I never took them.

I got bit on a Wednesday and we got back about 1AM the next Tuesday and my Dad was getting my mail. The bill from the hospital and all of that beat me home.

We have copperheads here and rattle snakes but not a lot of rattlers in the mid TN area and I've never seen one in the wild. Red clay soil and pine needles everywhere, copperheads are pretty invisible. I've been bit 6 times total now but never by a venomous snake. All but one of the previous were banded water snakes and one black racer. It's AMAZING how invisible these snakes are in their natural habitat.

The reason I've had 4 Avys is if I'm not working, I'm in a tree with a bow, kayak bass tournament fishing, hiking or camping. The Av is the best outdoor truck ever. I have never been afraid of snakes, just respect them but I may invest in some snake gaiters for early bow season.

 

[07AVSS]

Glad you guys are all good.

Remind me never to take a trip with you!

 

[DickensCPA]

You wouldn’t be the first to tell us that! LOL!