Every year, during the month of October, a really great thing happens at Microsoft. Teams of all sizes - from just a few folks, to organizations thousands strong - rally around a common cause. Every year, that rallying cry gets stronger - millions of dollars stronger than just the year…
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In what has become a two-year tradition, the 4th of July weekend found us back in Idaho with Ben and Kirsten, exploring around the central part of the state. This year, we made our way to a few places we'd been before - namely Railroad Ridge (the highest road in…
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In what would become nearly a month in the state of Idaho, we left for our first trip as the calendar ticked over to July. On the schedule were two places I'd had on my list for a while - Indian Hot Springs and Idaho's City of Rocks State Park.…
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...a little over 4 miles after we'd started, we crested the ridge holding back the lake to a view that's worth every minute of the climb. (And - if your knees don't kill you on the way down - descent!)
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After paralleling the road for about 12 miles, Eagle Creek drains into the Salmon River - and we found ourselves at this point after passing several ATVs, UTVs, and dirt bikes, but without running into the rest of our group. Had we gone the wrong way? We were sure we…
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Hell's Canyon straddles the border between Oregon and Idaho, but neither allows easy access to the depths of this great gorge. Carved by the waters of the Snake River, which flows more than a mile below the canyon's west rim on the Oregon side and 7,400 feet below the peaks…
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With all the recent work on the 4Runner, I wasn't the only one who wanted to put it all to the test. Upon seeing the storage/sleeping platform, @mini.turbodb had declared, "We need to go camping right away!" I don't know if she's been well-trained or it was just a wrinkle…
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We've been to the Alvord Playa - and to some extent, the Desert that surrounds it - before, but we've never really done that much exploring of the roads that wind their way through this remote section of Oregon. We planned to change that on this trip, checking out several…
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I've been to Canyonlands National Park before, but only to The Maze District. This, my first trip to The Needles District would be an experience I won't soon forget. We'd spend a week roaming around Utah, running the Elephant Hill trail and making our way into Beef Basin. We'd hike…
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Oh man, was this going to be fun. A trip like no other (so far). A trip with a twist. A trip that was actually two. Over the course of two weeks, we spent eight days in the park, split in half by a 10-day break where we headed back…
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The plan for this trip to Death Valley was to do something completely different than normal - spend the vast majority of our time out of the trucks, hiking some of the beautiful canyons that the desert has to offer. Looking back now, a little over a year since the…
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With Christmas vacation in full swing, we've been having a great time. There are lots of new toys to play with around the house, there are activities to keep us busy during the day, and the newly introduced household chores - and associated weekly allowance - have @mini.turbodb in high…
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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…
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Having never visited the Mojave National Preserve, and being down in the area already to do some work on the Tacoma, the Mojave Road seemed like the perfect place to test out the recent modifications (to the suspension) while seeing some new terrain at the same time. It was quickly…
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"Let's go somewhere." said @mrs.turbodb after I'd been home just a short time from my previous trip. That was of course fine with me, and so we set about finding a place to go. It was going to be cold and rainy on the Washington coast, so we set out…
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Our plan was simple, if long. Start in St. George, Utah, and work our way east - first along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then through Glen Canyon National Monument (Lake Powell), and then through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to Bears Ears National Monument and Natural Bridges National…
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How does that saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ..." If you've been a reader of previous trip reports, you may recall one of the craziest trips to date - The De-Tour - which occurred almost exactly one year ago. That trip was a great one for…
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...this wasn't just any trip - this was a trip to Pop's favorite, secret camp spot - a place that he and his buddies have been going for more than 25 years, and which has remained largely unchanged in that time. This year, it'd be only him and one of…
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As June turned to July, we were headed east. Our destination - Idaho - and a trip to some of the favorite spots of a fellow adventurer. In two-and-a-half days, we'd explore only a small slice of what central Idaho has to offer, but in the process we'd experience some…
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It's not often that we end up on a trip in our own backyard. There are many reasons for that - there are amazing sights far and wide, adventurous friends are located states away, and of course the weather in Washington makes snow-free exploration tough much of the year. But…
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