I get asked - not infrequently - whether I carry gun(s) with me on my numerous outdoor adventures. So without further ado, here is what might be my most controversial post ever. You've been warned. First a few ground rules: I want to try to stay non-political. I recognize that…
16 CommentsYear: 2020
The day started off like so many others in the last several weeks - we woke up in our own beds. We didn't wake up early... or late, it was just the normal time. And, we knew - or at least, I thought we knew - what we were going…
2 CommentsOn our last trip to the Eastern Mojave, one of the things I noted early in the trip - actually, before the trip even started really - was that the battery in the cab seemed low. I chalked it up to an error on my side and figured that the…
3 CommentsMarch 17, 2020 Back from the eastern Mojave, it's time for another look at how the truck performed over the course of the last 5 day's adventures. If you haven't read those - and want to - go right ahead, I'll wait. Removed from previous Rig Reviews The…
Leave a CommentEven with earplugs, sleep was hard to come by with 20mph winds buffeting the tent and shaking the truck. That meant that as the light outside started to change, we were both already awake and it was no trouble at all to hop out of the tent to capture what…
5 CommentsAs you may recall, we'd just cancelled our flight home due to the unknowns of Covid-19, but were still in exploration mode as we entered the Valley of Fire State Park in southeastern Nevada. Our trip to the Valley of Fire was somewhat opportunistic to say the least. A year…
Leave a CommentWhile camping in a wash less than 12 hours after the national weather service issued a series of storm warnings for the area may seem foolish to any normal person, it actually turned out to be one of our most pleasant nights of the trip. Of course, I was reasonably…
5 CommentsThe rain that had started just as we crawled into bed persisted throughout the night - a consistent patter on the tent, its rhythm never letting up. This was no surprise, really - near enough to town that we had cell service, we'd seen that several flash flood warnings were…
Leave a CommentPreface You'll note pretty quickly that this trip took place right near the beginning of what has become a worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. At the time of the trip, there had been approximately 600 cases and 24 deaths across the USA. 18 of those deaths were from the Life Care assisted…
5 CommentsI've been putting off rear brake shoe replacement on the 4Runner for quite a while. In fact, it's been almost six months to the day since I replaced the rear axle seals, and I've needed to do the job since then - the gear oil that leaked out through the…
Leave a CommentI was going to title this story Our Snowy Adventures in the Cascades, but our last day in the mountains changed all that. So, let's get right down to it. Day 1 Our adventures started out early one morning - probably way too early - as we packed into the…
2 CommentsIf you missed the first part of this story, you may want to read 4Runner Accident, and the Saga of Repair when you're done reading this. It was a Monday morning when we showed up at Jim's Body Shop in Seattle. Arriving a few minutes after they opened, they were…
2 CommentsOver the last couple years, I've learned - mostly from others experience - that it's a good idea to keep an eye on 1st gen Tacoma lower ball joints (LBJs). If you do lots of bumpy, off-road style driving, every 30-50,000 miles is a reasonable interval to change this part…
3 CommentsTL;DR - My APRS stopped working, because my Mobilinkd TNC 2 died early in the trip. The Mobilinkd TNC 2 has been a great little APRS TNC and I highly recommend it. Its weak spot - like so many battery powered devices - lies in its battery. I leave it…
Leave a CommentTL;DR - It's time to get a new 1lb propane bottle; the current one has a slow leak through the valve. I've been using the same 1lb propane bottle for something like 15 years. For the first 12 of those, I used it in my shop for my propane torch…
Leave a CommentTL;DR - Even with relatively cool days and nights, something was wrong with my house battery. Need to investigate. I have a confession to make - a few days before departure, I left the ignition on in the truck overnight, and that meant that the radio, clock, and maybe a…
Leave a CommentTL;DR - I think I need to replace the spherical bearings again. Already. They are squeaky and I've only put 14K miles on the new set. From the moment we set out on this trip, I could hear the front suspension. In the past, I've thought this might be the…
Leave a CommentIf you own vehicles long enough, it's a safe bet that one will be in an accident. Luckily for us, when the 4Runner was hit, no one was in it. This is the story of what happened, and the saga that followed. So, it was the first Friday in December…
4 CommentsAnyone who owns a 4WD Toyota and has dealt with the drain and fill plugs on the IFS front diff knows that they generally suck. They use either a 10mm or 12mm hex key, and that can be a problem for many reasons: The recess that the key fits into…
20 CommentsIt had been 9:00pm or so by the time I'd finally climbed up into the tent to head to bed, and I'd hoped that my second connection of the trip would show up as I slept - the plan, to spend the following day (today) together exploring a few interesting…
2 Comments