I knew we had a big day ahead of us, but I didn’t realize quite how big. I had carefully mapped everything, calculated n overall driving time, and it seemed doable, but would it be? I wasn’t sure, but I was sure we’d need to leave early - we had places to see. With each passing day, there seemed to be more mist and fog, and this morning it felt like the clouds were attempting to touch the ground and stay there, which was not ideal when you want to take pictures of waterfalls with some degree of contrast with…
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We were up early - very early - out by 4am to catch our flight to Keflavik, Iceland. Like everything in Copenhagen, the bus to the train to the airport was a smooth ordered process. They even provided bags for our 3oz liquids! Upon arriving in Iceland, we were famished, and unlike sunny Denmark, Iceland was solidly mid-March Seattle in weather: 50F and raining sideways, with dark, cloudy skies. We gathered our bags and headed to the car rental place outside the airport on foot. How had we gone a week without a car and barely noticed? That was about…
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From Helsingor and Kronborg Castle, it was back on the train to our next stop: Humlbaek and the Louisiana museum of modern art. Named for the three wives of the original owner - who were all named Louise - Louisiana became an art museum in 1955. Modern art enthusiast and cheese wholesaler Knud Jensen bought the place with the aim to create the “appropriate atmosphere" wherein people "...feel obliged [...] to approach the works of art.” He succeeded in my book! The buildings, the grounds, and the art are so interwoven and beautiful as though the whole place is a…
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After waking up a little later than we (I) intended, we got ourselves together and headed out in a new direction - away from the city. But first, we stopped at the Meany grocery store, which was not mean at all and would give Whole Foods a run for their money. Opting for snaegles (a pastry), they were consumed before we reached the end of the block. Yum. We hopped on the F train toward Hillerup, and easily transferred trains to Hillerod and Frederiksborg Castle. The trip had - once again - been so easy (thank you Copenhagen Cards and…
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In Reykjavik, we deplaned outside. Last time I deplaned in Iceland on my way to Norway, it was February, and the weather was very different. Windmills in Oresund - Denmark, you are so efficient! (left) | Danish flag on Radhuspladsen - city hall. (right) After a blessedly uneventful flight, we arrived in Copenhagen, a little groggy, but excited for our adventure to begin! Having purchased the Copenhagen Card in advance, we now activated them, which gave us 72 hours of all-inclusive train and bus travel, access to every museum and castle we could think of, and even a boat tour!…
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Having thoroughly enjoyed our downtime along the gurgling banks of the Bruneau River, found ourselves racing north along Rowland Road shortly before 11:00am. Our plan for the remainder of the day was to visit several homesteads that I'd marked - but that we hadn't been able to see due to time - on our first adventure to the Idaho-side of Owyhee. Oh, and there was a possible hike down to another of the canyonlands rivers, should we feel as though we hadn't had enough of the start-sweating-as-soon-as-the-Tacoma-door-is-opened temperatures outside. Our first of several visits to Sheep Creek throughout the morning.…
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Working our way south from Cave Draw involved a series of long, slow, dusty, bumpy, and all-around miserable roads between the lip of Bruneau Canyon and Rowland Rd. These are roads we've traveled before - usually to access the sketchy descent to Indian Hot Springs - making the misery even more miserable given that we knew how long it would last. To break up the bouncing, we stopped to admire the afternoon clouds gathering overhead. Usually in the Owyhee, graded gravel county roads are in reasonable condition - capable of supporting speeds upwards of 40mph - but it's the ranchers…
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Last year, we didn't get to Owyhee at all. This was entirely due to the fact that the Tacoma didn't come home to the Pacific Northwest - from Las Vegas - until early July. By that time, we'd missed prime Owyhee time - a short period of weeks right around Memorial Day - when the grass in the high desert is green, the rains (and resulting mud) are largely done for the year, and the temperatures haven't yet climbed into the unbearably hot range. Missing the undulating grass, we are trying our best to make up for the lack of…
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TL;DR - I tried to swap back to my OEM Tacoma seats because I wanted their functionality, but it only lasted one trip; the scheel-mann are way more comfortable.
Original TL;DR - I'm swapping out my scheel-mann seats and going back to the originals. Their functionality (sliding, folding) is better, and they weren't that much less comfortable.
Back to stock seats.
Nevermind.
Sleeping - at an elevation of 8,000 feet - below the summit of Merritt Mountain was the most pleasant night of sleep we've had in a long time, even nicer than the previous night, perched on the canyon edge, overlooking the South Fork Owyhee River. And, like the previous night, I'd set my alarm for a time of day no one should be awake, ensuring that - at the very least - I'd capture the Earth's shadow as the sun climbed into the sky behind us. It was fabulous to watch the Belt of Venus fade across the horizon, the…
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With a late sunset, it'd been 11:00pm by the time the last of the light faded from the sky and we finally fell asleep, but not before I'd set my alarm for 4:45am so I could catch what I hoped would be a dramatic sunrise on the edge of the serpentine canyon carved by the Owyhee River. Wishing that the darkness had lasted just a little longer, I pulled on my clothes and climbed out of the tent, grabbing every bit of camera gear I could muster. My hope was that that I'd timed the light perfectly - allowing me…
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We've been going to the Owyhee for ages. Or at least, "ages" when taken in context of the time that we've been adventuring around the western United States (and Canada). In fact, our very first trip was to Owyhee, a trip that @mrs.turbodb planned on the same weekend in May, nine years ago. In that time - as we've traversed many thousands of miles of road - we've learned much about this wonderland in southeast Oregon, including the fact that it's not limited to Oregon! The Owyhee extend into southwest Idaho and even into northern Nevada. For the first time,…
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TL;DR - I replaced my greaseable SPC upper ball joints with the "lifetime" variant that SPC now offers. I'm not sure I believe that it's a lifetime part, but time will tell.
How can a ball joint never go bad?
Six years ago, when I initially installed my house battery, it allowed me an entirely new sense of calm when I was in camp at night. No longer did I need to worry about my fridge - or the other small electronics I might turn on or charge - draining my starting battery overnight, thus leaving me stranded. Plus, the whole system of linking the two Northstar AGM 24F using a Blue Sea Systems ML-ACR (automatic charging relay) meant that I could easily - either manually or automatically - link my two batteries for charging or more power, and unlink…
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In the first part of this series, I outlined the components necessary for adding a 12v house electrical system to a Tacoma (or any other vehicle). This time, we'll walk through the specifics on how to do the actual installation of those components in a way that will stand up to the abuse of truck used for adventure. Just a Bit of Background This is my second take at a house electrical battery system installation in the Tacoma. My first system was based around a 12v AGM battery and worked well for more than 6 years. In fact, it worked…
Leave a CommentSix years ago, when I initially installed my house battery, it allowed me an entirely new sense of calm when I was in camp at night. No longer did I need to worry about my fridge - or the other small electronics I might turn on or charge - draining my starting battery overnight, thus leaving me stranded. Plus, the whole system of linking the two Northstar AGM 24F using a Blue Sea Systems ML-ACR (automatic charging relay) meant that I could easily - either manually or automatically - link my two batteries for charging or more power, and unlink…
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It's hard to believe that another several months have passed since the last rig review! Since then, there've been several more trips, including a couple that were more hiking than driving and one that was our first time backpacking, for 5 days, through Upper Grand Gulch. That trip spawned a whole new kind of "rig" (equipment) review, so if you haven't had a chance to check those out and are curious, please do: The remainder of the trips were of the more traditional type, exercising the Tacoma in addition to our legs, and putting the gear we use to the…
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TL;DR - I continue to get better gas mileage with the new 5th gear. Still collecting data.
Every tank lasts longer than it used to. Barely.
Racing east at speeds that'd rival those we'd hit on the highway, Monte @Blackdawg and I left Capitol Reef in our rear-view mirrors as we set our sights on the San Rafael Swell. We were pretty sure that by now - nearly an hour after we'd heard that Ben @m3bassman had a flat on the van - there wouldn't be any need for our help, but we kept our eyes peeled for the big silver beast as we covered the wide-open ground. Cedar Mountain filled our view as we wound our way through the badlands. Climbing out of a wash,…
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Even with a big breakfast to make, no one was up early to get started on their contribution to the group breakfast. I'm not complaining at all - I hadn't brought anything to contribute except my growling stomach - simply noting the anomaly. Perhaps on this trip - one where we spent more time in camp than ever before - it was to be expected that we would get a slow start on our last morning together. Whatever the reason, I took a few minutes to backup the photos I'd take so far onto my laptop, and snap a few…
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