Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Barbecue

We started a little late, but we are finally off on our journey! Three days in, and we are camping about 40 miles south of Olympia. Haven't gotten too far from home, yet.

We set out late on Monday; arriving at Fort Worden in Port Townsend around 9:00p.m. We stayed the night there, of course, before taking the ferry to Whidbey Island to bid farewell to some of my family in Oak Harbor.

While camping at Fort Worden, I decided to test the water heater on the trailer. Since the water pump was one of the last things we figured out on our test run, I hadn't had the chance to try it before.

Now, it's propane operated, so I grab the lighter and walk around to the back side of the trailer. I open up the hatch and start reading the directions. I get the pilot light lit and turn the knob to adjust the temperature and "foof."

The pilot light went out.

I scan through the directions again, but it makes it seem so simple and doesn't mention what to do if the pilot light goes out while adjusting the temperature, so I think to myself, "Maybe it'll work if I just re-light the pilot light?"

So, I take my lighter and reach in to reignite the pilot, and "BOOM!"

For a split second, the pilot burner turned the tube-thingy into a jet engine and barbecued my facial hair. The heat melted parts of my beard, eyelashes, eyebrows and even part of my bangs.

However, the pilot light stayed lit.

Meredith, my wife, heard the noise and thought our youngest boy had fallen off the sofa or something. I walked back around the trailer, laughing slightly at my stupidity, and she scolded me, "It's not funny, he might've been hurt!"

I told her that, no, I was the source of the noise, and I at least thought I was okay. She then noticed my melted beard hairs, and I explained myself.


Here's a picture of the ancient propane water heater.

I was able to trim off most of the melted facial hair--except for my eyebrows and eyelashes--and after a quick shower (at least the water heater works!), my wife said I no longer smelled of burnt hairs. Though, I could still smell it for the remainder of the day and occassionally I still get a wiff of it, even now (I'm assuming it must've burnt my nose hairs, too).

The rest of the trip has been great. We stayed in Deception Pass on the island the following night, and had campfire-cooked barbecue chicken and burgers, with baked beans, followed by hot dogs and s'mores with my family.

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