Sunny Walk and a Trip to Nenana

Friday - Another walk after the morning test session. The loop is 5.11miles and is one that I used to do on a regular basis ten years ago. But for some reason, I just stopped walking as much as I used to. Maybe it's this whole retirement thing. 

I was back in time for the afternoon test session and ended up as the lead. I think people are busy with the weekend coming up, 

Saturday - This morning I rode to Nenana, which is about 50 miles from Fairbanks, to help Bruce get his Ural put back together. He purchased a brand new transmission to replace one that had seized up. Using some new and old parts, we got the transmission installed including the tricky clutch release rod. To install it, we had to move the engine forward in the frame. It was a cold ride out at 40°F but was in the mid-50s for the return trip. We couldn’t find one bolt but it showed up shortly after I headed back to Fairbanks.

The first picture was taken from the Parks Hwy Turnout this afternoon. When I passed by this morning it was clear enough to see Denali but no picture. A wonderful day working on a Ural and a nice ride to Nenana. 

Sunday - I finally purchased my ticket for heading back to the RV. Many areas had their first frost last night and the official NWS temperature was 34°F. Winter is coming. We are flying down to Seattle in a week and after spending a couple days in Washington, we’ll go down to Corvallis for a few days before heading east. Since the Jeep still hasn’t been built yet, we are skipping Yellowstone until another time. 

I’ve ridden the Ural 3,206 miles this summer. Not a lot but enough to need an engine oil change before getting moved into storage. This is about double the original oil change interval as suggested by Mickey with the addition of the spin-on oil filter and the extra capacity from the deep sump pan. Got that done this evening. Thank you Jed for the Ural oil filter. I need to get some ordered up.