The story of Tru Blue starts in late August 2020. My buddy and I, both of us retired, were looking for a project to tackle during the pandemic. What we found was a 1973 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser listed for sale in a neighboring town. While neither of us had any experience with working on FJ’s, we are both car enthusiasts and went to have a look. What we found was pretty rough looking. We learned from the seller that it had been sitting for several years and that it would start with a jump, but it possibly needed a clutch because it wouldn’t move. We got it started and had a mechanic friend check it out. He thought the motor ran surprisingly well, but the car itself needed “a lot of work”. We had no idea what a “lot of work” would really entail but we were surely about to find out. We made an offer and on September 1, 2020. We had Tru Blue towed to my shed, and the retiree project that turned into “Mission Creep” began.