It’s hard to know where to start with this introduction! It’s been a long time coming, as I’ve been on the lookout for the right 60-Series Land Cruiser for years, and in the position to buy one for less than that but plenty long. When I found the right one for sale here on MUD, I finally made the switch from lurker to poster and took the plunge to go pick up my first Cruiser, an ’89 FJ62.
So get ready for me to document the car-guy side of the adventure in this thread as I share my exploits so far and try to stay updated on my near-term plan of heading to Alaska and back from Austin, Texas.
For more life-related musings that don’t feature the truck so heavily (it’s still there, though!), you can check out my personal website: www.johntesi.com . I also just wrote a piece for Petrolicious about my new truck and previously published one on my shenanigans in an old Porsche.
All of that should provide an excessive amount of backstory, so here’s the good stuff.
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I picked up my FJ62 from a fellow MUD guy in the Northeast, which is usually not a great idea. Except, this guy owned his truck for 17 years and was in California until a couple of years ago. Since leaving CA, the truck was repainted, repowered (low mileage 3FE, though I want an LS when my ship comes in), and generally restored before leading a semi-retired life as a summertime lakehouse ride in upstate NY. We met in Manhattan to drink some Guinness on St. Paddy’s Eve and to finalize the title and money transfer on St. Paddy’s Day in the heart of Times Square before my dog, Hank, and I left the city to go pick up the truck from where it was stored.
I transferred my mountain bike and duffel bag from the rental car (a yellow Kia Soul) and shuttled it to the nearest drop-off location, then browsed Google Maps on the way back to the truck. Once you’re in the tangle of states that is the Northeast, everything seems intoxicatingly close. One spot called out to me above all others, and the drive to get there seemed downright reasonable by my Texan math. I jumped in the Cruiser, fired it right up, and away we went to Portland, Maine.
[URL='https://johntesi.com/2017/03/22/cartography/']Here's a link to some writing I did about our experience in a bar in Portland on Saint Paddy’s, but needless to say, chugging along as the sun set and the snow thickened was such an awesome introduction to FJ ownership. Hopping in and out of the truck bundled up in layers and a hat and boots and confidently ambling around town in the snow was such a great feeling. There was no learning curve that first day, just a five hour drive that made me realize I need to upgrade the headlights and a couple of in-town jaunts that culminated in a 2 AM arrival at the Ramada while the outside temperature hovered in the very low teens.
And the second day was more of the same, but man, this thing is a joy to behold in the daylight. And even more of a joy to point due north from the furthest North city I’d visited on the East Coast. We weaved through coastal towns and snow-banked parking lots until we reached Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park.
We blasted down interstates and crawled on muddy snowy backroads. We reconnected with old friends and met new ones from Maine to Connecticut to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and on home to Texas. It’s hard to know where to start for a thread that’s trying to retrospectively cover so much ground and also look forward to a very epic future with the truck. My website should cover a decent amount of our travels, at least some of the major highlights like Centralia, PA and Maine and my absolute favorite, the Ozarks…
Since being back, I’ve baselined the car and found as much gravel and mud and sand as I can to discover new corners of familiar counties and generally test my mettle as I select the right gear for our journey northwest. I plan to hit Utah and much of the West Coast on the way up, drive Al-Can and the Dalton Highway and all kinds of wheelin’ trails and “roads” in the wildest state in our country. The return trek is far away, but hopefully will involve Montana and the Dakotas and lots of other good places.
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[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1050751-2_zpsr5faok0p.jpg.html]
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What I love about this community is that the most common questions I hear, things like “How many miles are on that thing?” and “What kind of gas mileage do you get?” and, worst of all, “Why Alaska?” are givens and unasked here. Every Cruiser person I meet is my kind of person, and I’m still giddy with delight that there are so many people who ‘get it.’
I’m packing up my mountain bike, my dog, and some fly rods and hitting the road in a whole new way—with the possibility for overlanding, rough roads, soft roads, and some serious time off the grid. There will be plenty of urban exploration, too, and always accommodations made to meet up with anyone and everyone who’d like to get a beer along the way.
I’m a writer by trade and by passion, so I tend to get a bit wordy at times. But I am a sucker for a good story, so I’m always game to meet people who want to chat or show me around their neck of the woods. If there’s anything the last year of wild ups and downs has taught me, it’s that there’s nothing more valuable than life-affirming experiences. Wild 4x4 trails, great days on the river, new friends and long lost ones, a Land Cruiser, and a Catahoula riding shotgun… it doesn’t get any better.
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Cheers and glad to meet y’all!
John
[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1050784-2_zps7eai8dp3.jpg.html]
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So get ready for me to document the car-guy side of the adventure in this thread as I share my exploits so far and try to stay updated on my near-term plan of heading to Alaska and back from Austin, Texas.
For more life-related musings that don’t feature the truck so heavily (it’s still there, though!), you can check out my personal website: www.johntesi.com . I also just wrote a piece for Petrolicious about my new truck and previously published one on my shenanigans in an old Porsche.
All of that should provide an excessive amount of backstory, so here’s the good stuff.
[/URL]
I picked up my FJ62 from a fellow MUD guy in the Northeast, which is usually not a great idea. Except, this guy owned his truck for 17 years and was in California until a couple of years ago. Since leaving CA, the truck was repainted, repowered (low mileage 3FE, though I want an LS when my ship comes in), and generally restored before leading a semi-retired life as a summertime lakehouse ride in upstate NY. We met in Manhattan to drink some Guinness on St. Paddy’s Eve and to finalize the title and money transfer on St. Paddy’s Day in the heart of Times Square before my dog, Hank, and I left the city to go pick up the truck from where it was stored.
I transferred my mountain bike and duffel bag from the rental car (a yellow Kia Soul) and shuttled it to the nearest drop-off location, then browsed Google Maps on the way back to the truck. Once you’re in the tangle of states that is the Northeast, everything seems intoxicatingly close. One spot called out to me above all others, and the drive to get there seemed downright reasonable by my Texan math. I jumped in the Cruiser, fired it right up, and away we went to Portland, Maine.
[URL='https://johntesi.com/2017/03/22/cartography/']Here's a link to some writing I did about our experience in a bar in Portland on Saint Paddy’s, but needless to say, chugging along as the sun set and the snow thickened was such an awesome introduction to FJ ownership. Hopping in and out of the truck bundled up in layers and a hat and boots and confidently ambling around town in the snow was such a great feeling. There was no learning curve that first day, just a five hour drive that made me realize I need to upgrade the headlights and a couple of in-town jaunts that culminated in a 2 AM arrival at the Ramada while the outside temperature hovered in the very low teens.
And the second day was more of the same, but man, this thing is a joy to behold in the daylight. And even more of a joy to point due north from the furthest North city I’d visited on the East Coast. We weaved through coastal towns and snow-banked parking lots until we reached Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park.
We blasted down interstates and crawled on muddy snowy backroads. We reconnected with old friends and met new ones from Maine to Connecticut to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and on home to Texas. It’s hard to know where to start for a thread that’s trying to retrospectively cover so much ground and also look forward to a very epic future with the truck. My website should cover a decent amount of our travels, at least some of the major highlights like Centralia, PA and Maine and my absolute favorite, the Ozarks…
Since being back, I’ve baselined the car and found as much gravel and mud and sand as I can to discover new corners of familiar counties and generally test my mettle as I select the right gear for our journey northwest. I plan to hit Utah and much of the West Coast on the way up, drive Al-Can and the Dalton Highway and all kinds of wheelin’ trails and “roads” in the wildest state in our country. The return trek is far away, but hopefully will involve Montana and the Dakotas and lots of other good places.
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[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1050751-2_zpsr5faok0p.jpg.html]
[/URL]
What I love about this community is that the most common questions I hear, things like “How many miles are on that thing?” and “What kind of gas mileage do you get?” and, worst of all, “Why Alaska?” are givens and unasked here. Every Cruiser person I meet is my kind of person, and I’m still giddy with delight that there are so many people who ‘get it.’
I’m packing up my mountain bike, my dog, and some fly rods and hitting the road in a whole new way—with the possibility for overlanding, rough roads, soft roads, and some serious time off the grid. There will be plenty of urban exploration, too, and always accommodations made to meet up with anyone and everyone who’d like to get a beer along the way.
I’m a writer by trade and by passion, so I tend to get a bit wordy at times. But I am a sucker for a good story, so I’m always game to meet people who want to chat or show me around their neck of the woods. If there’s anything the last year of wild ups and downs has taught me, it’s that there’s nothing more valuable than life-affirming experiences. Wild 4x4 trails, great days on the river, new friends and long lost ones, a Land Cruiser, and a Catahoula riding shotgun… it doesn’t get any better.
[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1060452_zpszhqb5sfu.jpg.html]
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[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1060295_zpsuxrn9wlu.jpg.html]
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[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1060261_zpslyuf0qn5.jpg.html]
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[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1060262_zpskitxwvpn.jpg.html]
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Cheers and glad to meet y’all!
John
[URL=http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/johntesiwrites/media/L1050784-2_zps7eai8dp3.jpg.html]
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