"You should get a 4Runner." is what I tell just about anyone with kids who asks what kind of car they should get. Of course, nothing generally comes of that - people opt for something more racy - a Tesla, or an Audi, those kinds of things. So, you can imagine my surprise when Dave and Joe - a couple guys I worked with - each came home with a 4Runner and reached out to go "offroading"! Now that's cool. Naturally, I wanted their first dirt in their new trucks to be fun - how else would I get them…
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All the trips - because every trip is an adventure!
April 14, 15, 2018. A couple hours after falling asleep just north of Saline Valley Warm Springs, I was awoken by what I initially thought was a gunshot in my dream. But, with the valley still echoing, I soon realized it was no dream. Unsure what was going on, I looked back towards the springs, to see how others were reacting. I saw no real reaction, but then a few minutes later, I heard a "thump-thump-thump" and saw streaks of light heading into the moonless sky. And then, light and explosions. Fireworks continued intermittently for the next 10-15 minutes. Ultimately,…
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Having hit the sack relatively early (a drawback of being solo and not chatting into the evening around a fire), I was well-rested as I awoke to catch the sun chasing the moon on the eastern horizon. One of my favorite times of day, I climbed out of the tent and sent a mental message to the burros to shut the hell up. There were approximately 20 of them in the valley, and they'd been going at it all night. I found myself yearning for the last trip - where we'd not seen a single burro - clearly a blessing…
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A Struggle from the Start If our first trip to Death Valley taught us anything, it was that our adventures there were far from complete. The three days of exploration had just scratched the surface of the vast wilderness before us. So, when I found out that @mrs.turbodb was headed out of town for a week, I was quick to make plans for a return trip. Going solo, my route did include a few of our favorite spots (Butte Valley and Goler Wash), but focused on several new areas as well - most outside of Death Valley proper (West Side…
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March 18, 2018. To say it was one of the more blustery nights we've spent in the tent would be an understatement. Perched on the edge of the canyon wall, the rain fly was getting whipped around, and the tent was acting like a sail in the bed of the truck - shaking the entire truck to and fro. @mrs.turbodb asked if there was any chance we might roll backwards. "Not really," I said. (and then I proceeded to put my clothes back on and get out to chock the tires - you know, "just in case." We slept soundly…
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March 17, 2018. Our night at the Doll House was the calmest of the trip. We all slept soundly and though we each awoke a different times, we all experienced a beautiful morning. Having nearly missed the orange horizon the morning before, I refrained from hitting the snooze button on my alarm, and I crawled out of the tent about half an hour before sunrise. Being up so early allowed me time to scout a reasonably good position to capture the magic light of morning, since I could see exactly where it was going to come over the horizon, and…
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March 15, 2018. Day 0. As we pulled out of the parking lot in Idaho Falls, we were already late. See, the plan had been to show up at @cbi offroad fab when they opened at 8:00am, and have the new bumper install done by 10:00am so we'd have our choice of routes down to Hanksville, UT where we were meeting Ben @m3bassman and Zane @Speedytech7 for a three-day adventure into The Maze District in Canyonlands National Park. My hope was that we'd choose the scenic route, down 191 through Wyoming to get to our meet-up and first nights camp…
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January 21-22, 2018. It was a clear, snowless night - a big chilly out, but cozy under the down comforters in the tent. Morning light gave us a chance to explore our site a bit more - a big cave carved into the sandstone that had clearly been used by previous campers as well. The sky was clear of all clouds, so there was no dramatic sunrise, but after a bit, the sun was still low enough to paint the far wall of the canyon a brilliant orange. We set about making breakfast, packing up camp, and exploring the cave…
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We were glad to have battened down the hatches on the tent, because the heavy winds continued all night, literally shaking the entire truck as though we were in a series of mini-accidents. Needless to say, our sleep wasn’t as great as it'd been the previous night when we were sheltered in Racetrack Valley. And then, around 1:00am, the wind got significantly colder, and we started to feel moisture in the air. We didn't realize it at the time as we zipped up the remaining windows, but the moisture we were feeling was snow. By the time I rolled out…
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We slept soundly through the night - it was the perfect night really - quiet, a bit of a breeze, and chilly but not too cold. I'd set my alarm for 6:30am, since I wanted to catch the sunrise. The atmosphere over Death Valley makes for stunning shots and though I knew I wouldn't get anything like @DVExile, or even Ben (@m3bassman) had a few weeks earlier, I really wanted to try to get something! I wasn't disappointed. Sunrise seemed to pick up just where sunset left off - amazing pinks and purples, mixed with a cool blue sky and…
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The alarm woke us at 6:00am. We were cozy under the covers but it was cold. It hadn't rained or snowed overnight, but dew had covered the tent and frozen, so the tent went away wet - not ideal, but we had places to be and weren't about to wait a few hours for the sun to come up and dry things out. We decided to forego breakfast for the time being, and were on the road by 6:38am, heading south. After a quick breakfast stop in Luning, NV - a town of nothing except the Wild Kat brothel, and…
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Death Valley: Intro and Day 1 - A Day of Driving Winters in the Pacific Northwest, (but perhaps especially this one) are tough to swallow when you like to get outdoors to explore and experience new adventures. The weather gets cool and wet, and it often takes a multi-state trip south to escape the gray. No different from a weather perspective, this year is different for @mrs.turbodb and I from a availability perspective. And, because of that, when we heard that Ben (@m3bassman) and Zane (@Speedytech7) headed to Death Valley for New Years, we were immediately jealous. We'd been wanting…
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Before leaving JT's Parts & Accessories, I'd gotten the rundown from Jared and Chris on how to best break in the gears they'd just installed. Essentially, it boiled down to what gear manufacturers recommended as well... Break in Procedure New gear sets MUST be broken in correctly to prevent damage. Not following proper break-in procedures will lead to overloading and overheating the ring and pinion as well as breaking down and ruining the gear oil. Not following proper break-in procedures can be determined during inspection and will void the warranty. Please follow the below guidelines to ensure a proper break-in…
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Last year's hunt for a Christmas tree hunt went nothing like we planned it, so this year we were itching to get out and see what the adventure would bring. It turns out, everything went exactly as planned, perhaps making up for last year. We headed out around 10am, with three goals in mind: Test out the APRS setup. Check the clearance of the new tires as the rear of the truck flexed. Get a Christmas tree. Of course, there was a fourth goal as well - try to do all the above without @mini.turbodb asking "are we there yet?"…
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With a long trip ahead of us, we were up early - everyone climbing down ladders around 8:00am, and ready to head down the mountain by 8:30am. We'd survived the night without getting hit by lightning, and even the rain had stopped sometime in the wee hours of the morning, making it easier to put everything away (still wet, but at least not in the rain). As we headed down Rimrock Road towards Fruita where we'd refuel and part ways, there was only one more obstacle for us to maneuver - the ticket station at the entrance to Colorado National…
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We slept soundly through the night, but when I woke up in the morning, I was immediately out of bed to take advantage of what I knew would be some very cool light before the sun got too high in the sky. As it turned out, I'd be extra glad to have gotten up, because the early morning light was soon going to be a torrential lightning storm. But, for now, it was purples. And oranges. I don't know what we did to deserve this, but whatever it was, I'm sure we'd all sign up again. And then, as the…
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Parked at the head of Gemini Bridges, we expected to be woken early by Jeepers, but we weren't. The first set headed up around 9:00am, moving slowly. For good reason too - they were Jeeps, and so a bit fragile. As usual, we'd ended up in a beautiful spot. Out on a ledge, it was hard to spot even from the trail, but was flat with great views and morning sun. Having gotten in late the night before, we hadn't aired down yet, so in addition to putting away the tents, we took a few minutes to complete a task…
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During the night, the rain stopped, and by morning, though the ground was still wet, the sun was doing it's best to paint the landscape a brilliant orange. In combination with some straggling dark clouds, it made for cool light - perfect for adventure. Our camp site really was amazing - as was my view out my tent door. I'd won the tent-positioning jackpot! With motivation like that, I was out of the tent in a hurry. It's not often that you can climb up, directly above your rigs to get a view from above, which is what we had…
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It was a wonderful night. There was no rain, no snow, and no ice on our tents as the sun rose into the sky. Having seen our campsite the night before, this morning was more about getting new perspectives and enjoying the sounds of the world waking up around us. I headed up onto the rock outcropping south east of our camp and waited for Mike, Monte, and Devin to get up and meet the day. Mike was first out to make his hearty breakfast - two cups of coffee, followed shortly by Monte and Devin who munched on a…
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Derp would never see the sand dunes, even though it turned out we were camped at the base of one nearly 200-feet high. Having set three sequential alarms "just in case," when his first alarm went off at 4:00am, he bucked his usual trend and got up and out of camp relatively quickly. It was still dark, but we could hear him reving along the muddy roads for a good 20-30 minutes, so we were pretty sure he made it out alright. Back to sleep for a few hours, when I woke again at 7:00am, it was cold. 24-degrees cold.…
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