I was coming home from BRC on Monday late afternoon when about 20 miles before Kramer Junction I passed a pretty seasoned looking RV that was at the beginning of one of the bigger grades on that stretch of 395 sitting in the slow lane and not moving. I could tell from the bikes they were coming back from BM and thought they might be out of gas or overheating.
I have a 27' toyhauler with plenty of fuel and water in it so I managed to find a spot to turn around and came back to see what was what.
Turns out they were Lamplighters on there way home to San Diego and though they thought there water pump was just acting up, I think this poor old RV (about 20 years old 20') was just over matched against the grade, age and its own weight (though the inside look stunningly comfortable in a chaotic hippie sorta way).
They said they were confident that if they could get to flat ground and mild grades, there little trooper of an RV would get them home.
After some brainstorming we decided I would try to pull them up the grade with my rig (2006 chevy 2500hd).
They came up with what turned out to be pretty bad ass rope and after tying there RV to the back of my trailer, my truck, an 8000lb toyhauler and there RV started crawling up the grade. I'll bet we were longer then most semi's and it must've looked pretty damn funny. I should've taken a pic.
Surprisingly, my truck managed to pull us up pretty easily and though I kept us at around 5 to 10 mph I probably could've done more if I was'nt worried about the ropes breaking.
So after about 2 1/2 miles of climb, we reached the peak.
It turned out there was a bit of confusion about how long the grade was and to my shock, 3 ppl who stepped off the RV to reduce weight during the initial pull and thought they would be able to just walk along next to us, got left at the bottom of the grade. My mirrors were not wide enough to see all the way back there and the RV driver had no way to signal me to stop.
So we disconnected there RV and I went back down the hill to find them. Turns out they got picked up by a local sheriff and were dropped off at the RV. Upon my return up the hill they were all re-united and pretty happy to be at the top.
I followed them into Kramer jct and then stayed behind them all the way to the 15 and 91 interchange where I turned off to Orange County and they disappeared into the traffic toward SD.
A stunningly strange experiance to say the least !!
Anyway, I was just curious if anyone knows who they might be and if they made it safely to San Diego.
That's it.
Looking for info on the RV full of Lamplighters on 395
Looking for info on the RV full of Lamplighters on 395
"God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh".
Voltaire
Voltaire
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queen_o_sheba
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:08 am
that was us
Ah, so GOOD to see your post Karma!
Thanks to your help we made it back to San Diego with no more issues (other than some slowness). Your help was a lifesaver that day!
This is one of the reasons we love our fellow Burners - they are people willing to step up and help out when needed, even for total strangers. Thank you so much for gifting your time and self!
Look us up at Lamplighters next year - Sheba and MagicMan. We will definitely think of a special gift for you - as you're a special person!!
Playa Hugs!
Sheba
Thanks to your help we made it back to San Diego with no more issues (other than some slowness). Your help was a lifesaver that day!
This is one of the reasons we love our fellow Burners - they are people willing to step up and help out when needed, even for total strangers. Thank you so much for gifting your time and self!
Look us up at Lamplighters next year - Sheba and MagicMan. We will definitely think of a special gift for you - as you're a special person!!
Playa Hugs!
Sheba
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oneeyeddick
- Posts: 5589
- Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:08 pm
- Burning Since: 1996
- Location: Probably in your pants
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oneeyeddick
- Posts: 5589
- Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:08 pm
- Burning Since: 1996
- Location: Probably in your pants