Part 6: Virginia to Long Island, NY

20210715-23

The Trip

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

We spent the night at the RV park associated with Endless Caverns.  It was pricey but nice and clean.  Our site was level (always a plus) and we arrived just in the nick of time to be able to setup and get inside before the nightly thunderstorm hit the area.  There was wind, rain and some downed tree branches, but no damage.  The following morning, we arranged for a tour of Endless Caverns (spoiler: while the full extent of the caverns have yet to be determined, they are not "endless").  Above, Kathleen walks through one of the entrance passages in the cave.

Endless Caverns is a "live cave" that is still evolving.  Water dripping into the cave from the previous night's rain brings with it minerals that are deposited on the rock walls.  The dark colors on the rock are from dust and lint brought into the cave by visitors.

Every crack in the ceiling had draperies of deposited rock formations.

This room was noteworthy due to the damage of vandalism.  Note that many of the formations have been broken off.  Current state law prevents harvesting of geologic formations in caves and is known as the "Cave Preservation Act".  Too little, too late in this case.

Deeper into the cavern the formations became bigger.  Note the flowing-wax nature of the column in the center of the photo above.  Also note the discoloration due to the passage of humans in the cave.

The tour descended some steep passages that were very slippery due to the moisture. Great care, and use of the handrail, was necessary to keep from slipping.

A large room that was used for parties during Prohibition Era.

The newer deposits on the ceiling were not yet discolored by the passage of humans.

These formations were intersesting because they were formed before and after seismic motion.  Columns grow vertically and since these are not vertical, they have been displaced by ground motion.

Longer cracks that allowed water seepage created sets of draperies.

A nice formation with smooth flows.

The discoloration of the formations was tragic, but a nearly-unavoidable consequence of human passage.  In Carlsbad Caverns, some formations are almost black from the dust, lint and bacteria that grow on it.  Lint, it seems, is good eatin' for bacteria and fungus.

Cave milk results from carbonic acid acting on limestone rocks in the cave ceilings.

A very large column with heavy fluting at the base.

The pathways in the cave have been human-engineered to be passable by normal humans.  The route chosen did allow easy viewing of some nice formations.

A "shield" formation.  Note the planar structure at the top of the column.

Dikes developed on the horizontal portions of the floor due to evaporation of rainwater and deposition of the dissolved minerals.

A complex cluster of formations.



A nice column.



A very nice set of columns.  Note the horizontal crack in the left column.









A parting view of the formations in Endless Caverns.  When we ended the tour, we got back in Thor and drove to Chevy Chase, MD to visit Kathleen's cousin and his family for a couple of days.



To position ourselves for the transit of New York City, we chose an RV park in norther New Jersey in the "Pine Barrens".  Plenty of moisture here, note the moss on the sandy ground.



I guess this store is just 2 hours better than a "7-11".



This (very short) portion of the road had no traffic in our direction, but the opposing lanes were at a full stand-still.  We would soon be subjected to 4 hours of intense, dense traffic through Brooklyn, Queens and all the way east to Huntington in the middle of Long Island.  Portions of the road were really, really damaged with huge pot-holes that were unavoidable due to the dense traffic.  One hole in particular set us a-rockin' and something broke the air conditioning.  The balance of the day was "at temperature" which was a miserable 85 degrees and similar humidity.  The temperature and dense traffic set the tone for the balance of the drive.



From the elevated highway we could see a scrap yard in its full glory.  Scrap was loaded onto a river barge visible behind the "Bayside" signage on the fuel tank at the left of the photo above.  I am certain that the Sopranos disposed of bodies in this place.



We finally arrived at our destination in Melville, NY and were greeted by a medical emergency at a neighbor's house; specifics unknown.



After a not-so-quiet night of alcohol therapy with Kathleen's sisters, we attacked our electrical issue.  White Rim Trail, Mojave Trail, Magruder Trail, Book Cliffs, Snake River Canyon, Frenchman's Grade, Laguna Hanson, Guadalupe Canyon, Steens Mountains, Santa Catalina Mountains, Chiracahua Mountains, Kofa Trail, Lolo Trail, Northern Baja — all reasonably tough trails transited flawlessly by Thor over the previous 12 years with no issues whatsoever.  All exceeded by one transit of Brooklyn on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE).  This road was SO fucked up, so rough and so littered with huge pot holes that hitting them was impossible to avoid.  Concrete walls on one side, 18-wheelers on the other, we hit one hole so hard that it caused Thor’s cab to sink to the stop while the frame was twisted, shorting out the power supply posts for the cab against the rear cab body.  The 50A fuse prevented massive damage, but the combination of the excessive excursion of the cab and frame flex did produce some interesting results (in addition to blowing the ANL fuse).  The arc damage is clearly visible on the rear cab body.  The pit is about 1/2 way through the sheet metal.  The hot (+24V) was on the left.  Note that the posts are many inches away in the resting position and that it was the combination of the excessive cab suspension excursion combined with the frame flex that was required for this situation to happen.



The supply lines are #6 AWG marine-grade cable with crimp lugs and Ancor adhesive shrink-wrap insulation.  The cab excursion bent the lug while on the power post and split the insulation at the crimp-joint allowing contact with the cab sheet metal.  The arc melted the #6 wire at the break.



The melted wire can be seen on the lug.






The remediation, necessary assuming I would dare transit the BQE again, was to migrate the power post to the steel fender frame 4 inches aft, install a new crimp lug and insulation and replace the blown 50A ANL fuse.  This is a 24V line that feeds my 24V—>12V converted in the cab that powers all in-cab electronics and air conditioner.  No damage has been detected in the in-cab systems (so far).  The power post was secured to the frame with 1/4" aluminum pop rivets which were set using my air-powered rivet gun driven by Thor's air system.



The mounting pop rivets are clearly visible. 

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2021, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.