Well my numbers are going to be a bit off, as I thought I wrote down my starting mileage but apparently not...
I left home on the Saturday morning at 8 am to meet the Chilliwack crew at the Bellingham Costco for 9:30. I was on empty when I left and my fuel light was on when I first topped up after crossing the border. The border crossing was quite painless, and I even got a laugh out of the guard when he asked if I had any alcohol or tobacco and I replied "not yet".
Our Moab convoy consisted of myself in my HDJ81, Jason ('Cruisin here on 'mud) with his 4 year old daughter Julia, his brother Darryl, and there father Ellsemere in Jason's HDJ81, with Paul and his son Aiden in their white Tacoma pickup.
Unbeknownst to me, the Chilliwack crew did not need anything at Costco, so after some delays there we were on the road bright and early at 11 am......
Our plan was to make Boise, Idaho that night and crash at Jason's Uncles house. It was a pretty long drive, but we made it as planned and pulled in at around 11 pm pacific time.
Breakfast at the local Ihop, and then off again for another long drive. We took a somewhat scenic route down, going through
Thousand Falls Idaho, and then into Nevada and down into the salt flats. As we crested the hill and the salt flats came into view, it was quite breathtaking. I had no idea how immense that area is. It was quite neat driving along it, with the constant mirage on the horizon, but it quickly became quite boring, with many signs warning about driving drowsy, and the occasional tire tracks going off the road into some sinkhole.
We made it to the Slickrock campground in Moab at around 11 pm local time, where we quickly set up and went to bed. It was quite cold that night, and I woke up several times to duck my head into my sleeping bag. This would be the only cold night, as the weather was spectacular for the rest of the trip, up to 90 degrees one day I heard.
Our first day in Moab we decided to take it easy, as we were all quite tired from the long days of driving, and decided a short hike in Arches National Park, up to the famed Delicate Arch, would be a good stretch for our legs. It is a pretty fantastic place, with something like 2000 arches in the parks area. Then it was back to camp and have a splash in the pool.
Day 2 we decided to do a trail called "Hells Revenge" which was fairly challenging in some spots, and didn't break you in gently, as you had to climb a narrow fin right out of the staging area parking lot. The "slickrock" that Moab is famous for is quite the misnomer, as it is anything but slick. The traction one can achieve on these surfaces is incredible, and would not be possible on our typical granite surfaces back here. I will try and let the pictures do the scenery justice, but as I was driver/navigator/photographer on this trip, I did got nearly as many quality photos as I would have liked, many of them were taken through my windshield or into my mirrors.
We caught up with another Toyota crew at a fantastic viewpoint (Green River I think?) consisting of some seriously built 45 series pickups, lead by Gary Wagoner, and some UTV's with Woody at the helm of a "loaned for test purposes" Kawasaki. They offered to spot us up Hells Gate which Jason and I did, then we made our way to "Escalator", but it was apparently full of water and we were instructed it would have to wait.
The next obstacle was called "Tip over challenge", which made me cringe thinking about the extra weight I had on my roof with the roof top tent, and I cringed even more after watching one of the 45's go through it, and then Jason in his 81. Finally it was my turn, so I sucked it up and started heading up, only to suddenly have a large power steering fluid leak. Relieved at having a good excuse not to experience that off camber portion, I now had an ugly mess to deal with. Since we were fairly close to camp, and could not see where the leak was coming from, we limped my rig back while stopping every now and then to top up the reservoir.
Back at camp we cleaned thing up, and discovered the leak was coming under the adjusting nut on the steering box. Thinking the locknut had just come loose, we tightened it up and that seemed to have fixed it.
Greg Bowie and Glen Bridges showed up from their earlier trip in the Canyon Lands national park, and talked me into doing Lockhart basin with them and the Copper State crew the following day, but fate would have other plans.
As I prepared to move out for that days trips, my steering was now making some horrible groans and clunks. We figured that by tightening down the locknut, we had put too much force on the sector shaft and things were now binding. Also, the leak had not stopped, but was only seeping out. Greg pulled out his FSM, and we deduced that it was the "non re-useable washer" under the locknut that had failed. Greg then pulled out his laptop with the Toyota EPC on it and we sourced the part number for the washer, which is common among most Toyotas (thanks Greg!). I was getting quite nervous, as I had not gone through the tech inspection yet, and this would be an obvious fail. I wandered over to the tech inspection area looking for some advice, where Torr had a look and suggested we go find CDan. That was one of those angelic moments you see in some commercials when we learned "the man" was in camp.
So off we went to CDans luxurious Kimberly camp, FSM and part numbers in hand While the kids were entertained with bottle rockets, Dan explained to us that the washer is not available as a single part, but only in a rebuild kit, and for about $140. Worst case was it could be shipped over night and be in camp the next day, but Dan had some other tricks up his sleeve to try first.
Paul and I took off into town to pick some ATF and to try and find a washer at the local Napa that would work with dimensions from Dan. We came back sans washer, but Dan, Darryl, and Jason were working away on my truck. It turned out there was two problems; while tightening the locknut we had indeed put too much tension on the sector shaft, which Dan readjusted, but the clunking noise turned out to be a worn bushing on pan hard rod where it mounts to the frame.
Dan and I tightened those up as much as we could, and the noise went away! The bushing still needs to be replaced, but it would be quite driveable. One problem solved. For the leak to be repaired, there were several ideas tossed around, when someone (I forget who sorry) suggested a copper brakeline washer. Light bulbs went off, as the brake system is under similar pressure as the steering system, so with the washer in place, then some teflon tape around the threads of the adjusting nut, things were put back in place. The steering box is still drive after 3 days of hard wheeling and a 1200 km highway trip back home. Thanks again CDan for all your help, it was indeed a pleasure meeting you, and Beno too!
My next major disaster, in true 80 series fashion, would be the motor failure on my drivers side power window. While other people were busy breaking differentials and axle shafts, I had these calamities to deal with

Speaking of differentials, Charla and Fort Mac Alberta crew had an interesting time. Tylers 60 had the Aussie locker blow up while on Golden Spike, then they broke some rear springs later and kept the axle in place with the winch cable. I haven't heard (no news is good news?) but they limped the 60 up to Salt Lake City where Kurt of Cruiser Outfitters got them some new rear springs, as no one in Moab could source them any for a field repair.
Now that I was repaired, I breezed through tech, and was ready for the next days trail, Golden Spike.
I had originally signed up for just Poison Spider, but since Golden Spike included that trail, I'd do the whole enchilada. This was a great run, as it hooked up a bunch f the CC group (me, Jason, Drew, and Glen) on one trail. Drew had a great time, as he got to break the same thing he broke last year

Golden Spike is a very long day, but an awesome trail. Our campsite neighbour, Keith, said it's the best trail in Moab, as it has a little bit of everything that Moab offers.
The next days trail we stepped down the excitement a bit, and went on a more scenic trail called Dome Plateau. This trail had us drive some 30 miles up the Colorado river to the trail head, where the beginning is part of the Kokepelli trail. There is not much 4x4ing. most, if not all, could be done in 2wd, but there is some fantastic viewpoints along the cliffs looking wayyyyyyy down into Moab and its environs. We also were able to check out some interesting caves and some old cabins in another area before the dusty drive back into town.
Friday night was the event supplied dinner and the much anticipated raffle. I am quite happy that I did not buy the ARB tire repair kit the night before at the Vendo night, as my sole raffle prize I won was a Powertank tire repair kit. I did buy an ARB inflator, but the jury is still out on that. Jasons dad won a hilift, and Paul missed out on the BFG tire set by ONE number

.
The grand prize was an ARB fridge, but it was not for us.
Saturday, the final day of trips, took Jason and I to Kane Creek Canyon. Things got pretty exciting a couple times, with some narrow off camber squeezes through rocks. A wrong tire placement here and it was a good tumble down into the canyon below. Several of the trucks, mine included, bot a few new beauty marks, but nothing too serious. Tom (Rock Hopper) our fearless leader for the day, pointed out the wreckage from a rolled vehicle way down in the canyon that had happened some 20-30 years ago.
with Kane Creek completed, Cruise Moab 2012 was officially over, and the next day would find us working our back north, but a little more direct this time. I had planned on staying down a little longer, but that was a lot of driving, with more ahead, and I really missed not bringing my family with me. My kids would have had a great time.
Thanks again everyone of the help that was offered, the people I met, and I hope to do it all again as soon as possible.
Cruise Moab rocks!
Now for the (approximate) numbers: (Jason please correct if you could, as you seemed to be keeping better tabs on things)
Mileage from home to Moab (via Thousand Springs and the Salt flats): 2,049 km.
Approx 350 kms of 4x4ing in and around Moab (all on one tank of fuel, luv the diesel)
Moab back to home: 1,195 km.
total trip: lets says an even 3600 km.
I filled up a total of 15 times, total cost $733 ( over budget, I had mistakenly assumed around $500)
Average price of diesel was $4.262 US Gal. (lowest 4.099
to highest 4.599)
Total amount of fuel used: 172.288 US Gal.
Vehicle weight (myself, camping gear, half tank of fuel): 6,550 pounds as weighed at a truck scale. (rear axle weight was 3800 ish I think if anyone cares).
With the tent on the roof, I still was getting pretty decent mileage. While never really testing things and getting the tank near empty, I think I could have pulled 600 km or more.
All the big hills, I just left it on cruise control at 100 km/hr, about 2200 rpm, and enjoyed the view. No idea what my egts were, but no issues.
The above mileage and speeds are
NOT corrected for my 315 75r16 BFG mud terrains. I think as tested my speedo was out about 8 to 9%.