Last Official Post Roundup thread....... (3 Viewers)

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orangefj45 said:
*texas frineds* will feed you all damn weekend long and ask if everything was ok.

thanks again chop-stick charlie, you get the "camp mom" award.


seriously though, the event just would'nt be the same without the texan hospitality, not in the least part due to charles going way above and beyond to make sure we'd survive. :banana:
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No problem Georg. The pleasure was all mine. I really enjoyed hanging out with my left coasters. I'll be sure to bring some brisket out next time I'm in CA. Maybe Toploader can find the time to take some time from his busy schedule to do some wheeling if I throw the brisket carrot in front of his face. ;)
 
This trip had a lot of anecdotes that I’d like to remember, so that’s what I’m gonna focus on.

Since I’d had a problem with a leaking freeze plug JUST before leaving on the trip, I had been popping my hood open at each stop on the way to double check the cooling system. At a rest stop between Quartzite, AZ and Phoenix, I discovered that my valve cover was leaking, even though it hadn’t leaked for the two previous days of driving.

As soon as I opened the hood, an old man who had parked nearby came over to watch the proceedings. As I unclipped my toolbag from the underside of my hood and laid out the pouch on my underhood toolbox, we started chatting. I pulled out my 19mm, loosened all the valve cover nuts and reset the gasket for the valve cover. By that point, we’d gotten around to introducing ourselves and passing a handshake.

As I started putting the tools away again, he surprised me by blurting out his address in Quartzite and telling me that if I ever needed a place to work on my truck, I was welcome to stop by. He said he enjoyed watching me work on the truck. Wow. Having just recently watched “Into The Wild” I was reminded of the Hal Holbrook character who took a liking to Alex Supertramp. And it made me feel a little more like a free spirit on an adventure, which I was.
 
When I stopped in Eloy, AZ to refuel for the drive to El Paso, I considered the open, mostly desolate stretch of road ahead, and thought about my cooling system again. I had not made provisions for water other than the gallon of drinking water on the deck next to my seat. In lieu of a formal container, I decided to fill my empty Gatorade and soda bottles from a nearby spigot. Better than nothing. I put them on the floor in front of the gas tank and took off.

And then it happened. An hour east of Tucson, a car on the side of the road, hood up, steam pouring out. I pulled over and went to see if he needed duct tape for a radiator hose or what. No, just overheated. So I walked back, grabbed the bottles, walked back and gave them to the guy. Providence. At that point his car was too hot to restart, so I was glad that I could leave them with him and not have to choose between waiting or leaving behind a water can. From this point on, I knew that this trip was going to be an excellent adventure.

I called dhondagod from Lordsburg to see if he could round up a header gasket for me, as I had reason to be suspicious of the one I had installed just prior to leaving [unbounded Kevlar crap I don‘t sell but had hanging around]. He was still running around Fresno, having been informed he would be in charge of collecting Marlin’s camping gear to transport to TX. He said he would have a look-see. I likewise said I would keep my eyes open for a local store en route.

Arriving in Mason midday the next day with no particular urgency, and spotting a Napa store within a block of the route junction, I stopped in and purchased their last collector gasket. Unfortunately, I left the Napa with an unintended souvenir as well: a nail, which remained in my tire for the duration of the event, as well as the entire drive home! Yeah, I’ve got a patch kit on board [actually two] but hey, it wasn’t leaking, and I bought a warranty to take care of this sheit here at home!
 
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Arrived in camp to find that no one from Cottonland was there yet. So I put my eye on a good spot under a tree by the entrance and went to the stage to hang out with Butch. Tried his new Washburn and Randy’s carbon fiber guitar [nice BIG sound on that one, if you got to hear it] By the time I went back over to check on camp, sure enough Euclid had pulled in and sure enough, decided to drop camp under the same tree I’d picked! I gave him a little sheit about it, and they made room for me where I’d intended. I can’t speak for them, but I always enjoy camping, wheeling and hanging out with the Cottonland crew. I need to send in my membership dues for that club one of these days.

Had a good time driving into Brady for dinner with Nick, Rob and Marlin. We found ourselves in questionable company [Coberly, fireman and woody] but made the best of it anyways! I got a laugh out of fireman being surprised to hear John Hale on the radio. Apparently he hadn’t got the memo about Randy Kruse having his own radio show Wednesday nights! Nick, Rob and I all had a little fun messin with meanderin-Marlin in the Wal-Mart. Here’s a little friendly tip for you: don’t ever go shopping with Marlin unless he has his phone turned OFF!
 
The highlight of Thursday’s run with Cottanland would have been at the end of the run when Chris Mann came up and gave me a copy of the Landcruiser calendar. As some of you know, I had to go on a quest to get copies for myself, even though I was fortunate enough to be picked for the cover. Having Chris come thru and personally hand me a copy meant a lot to me. Thanks Chris.

Of course, back in camp, Butch reminded me once again why stories in TX always start with “Y’all ain’t gonna believe this sheit!” I’m sure John D. Hale’s ‘excellent’ adventure will end up becoming the subject matter for a song before too long! And anyone who missed out on Butch’s pulled pork at the potluck REALLY missed out. That was the best food I had in TX for the whole trip. I would consider learning to cook just to make something like that!

My apologies for anyone I offended while drunk Thursday night, on or off stage. I failed to account for the sleep deprivation factor before consuming a third of a bottle of rum in under an hour! The people that thought I sounded good that night either have low standards or were drunk too!

While I’m apologizing, thanks for everyone’s patience while I ‘bombed’ the waterfall trail Friday with ARB failure and then winch problems. My wiring was one of the few things I didn’t get to before I left, and of course ended up being the thing that bit me in the ass. Thanks to greenfox and FJ40Charles for patiently helping me.
 
Crazy moment of a lifetime #1-watching Georg drive the piss out of Ryan’s 40 on it’s side. Pure unadulterated torture of a fine machine. Even if I was driving someone else’s rig, I just wouldn’t do this. It is a testament to three things. One, the amount of effort Ryan put into building this machine. Two, Georg’s persistence and driving skilz. Even with Ryan’s permission, I would not have done what Georg did, so chances are, I would never learn to wheel like that either. Three, it is a testament to the Toyota machine itself that it would run under those conditions.

Followed shortly thereafter by watching Chris Miller climb an INSANE obstacle that had only been previously conquered by extremely overbuilt rock buggies. Again, that climb showed what a skilled driver can do in a modestly, but well-designed trail rig can do.

I made some new friends in Mississippi helping Lenny overhaul a Suzuki Samarai transfer case. I found the adventure of working thru a gearbox with no instructions fascinating as always, which reminded me again why, amongst the buffet of rich options God gave me I chose to be a mechanic. Thanks Lenny for letting me play with your junk!

The kids raffle Friday night. Already posted. A LARGE TIME! The grownup raffle. What else can you say: Kowboy, you’ve got stamina!
 
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The rollover tree. You've seen one roll, you've seen them all, right? Kinda start to all look the same after a while. Other than the occasional drive off. But just when you think you’ve seen it all, Josh has to go and do something COMPLETELY different! Josh got hisself stuck ON the tree. And I mean REALLY stuck. D’oh. There ought to be some kind of award for that!

JDHB performance Friday night: LOUD, with an extra dose of attitude. I wonder why!

Saturday-a lot of hanging around, with a Cottonland cruise thrown in for good measure, sans Greg’s rig, which he wisely decided to ‘save’ for the drive home. Good call there Greg. Before we got back to camp, we ran into Lenny, Daniel and Joe back on the trail in the Sammys. Those things can CLIMB!

And of course super kudos to Randy for bringing out the cannon Saturday night. Playing that old Martin again was practically worth the trip itself. Anyone that didn’t get to hear me and Randy take turns working that thing over really missed out. Todd’s Taylor has a wonderfully crisp sound, and he knows how to use it, but for sheer resonance, that D-28 is in a class by itself.
 
I fell asleep twice on the drive home Sunday. Thank God, nothing happened either time. I ended up taking a five and half hour ‘nap’ in a rest stop just inside the AZ state line. Started working on lyrics for a Katemcy song, as well as text for a flyer for my newest affiliation, the Friends of Last Chance Canyon. Lot’s of time to compose while you’re driving across country.

Pulled into a Flying J at the California border, only to be cut off by an RV going in thru the ‘car’ entrance and taking a pump in an ‘outside’ lane. I glanced over at the RV entrance and saw a line backed out into the street. Figures. I found an open lane, pulled in, started cleaning my windows and talking to Tina on the phone. Finally finished the call, went inside to buy gas, stood in a long line, and walked out again. Now the RV is in the middle of the exit, the driver’s door is wide open, and the owner is now standing half way between the RV and the pump, holding the gas nozzle and a dozen feet of disconnect hose in her hand! Then here comes a guy in a flourescent orange vest bolting out the door of the building and running to shut down the island, which has a pool of gas as big as an RV sitting on the ground! Instant karma! Home at 4:30 pm Monday, 36 hours after leaving Katemcy Rocks for possibly the last time.

From my perspective, there was not one hitch in the Roundup. The whole LSLC crew were so on top of things that it didn’t even look like they were working! This of course is the hallmark of lots and lots of preparation. Look forward to seeing y’all again in July!
 
Nice write up Mark.
 
65swb45 said:
Crazy moment of a lifetime #1-watching Georg drive the piss out of Ryan’s 40 on it’s side. Pure unadulterated torture of a fine machine. Even if I was driving someone else’s rig, I just wouldn’t do this. It is a testament to three things. One, the amount of effort Ryan put into building this machine. Two, Georg’s persistence and driving skilz. Even with Ryan’s permission, I would not have done what Georg did, so chances are, I would never learn to wheel like that either. Three, it is a testament to the Toyota machine itself that it would run under those conditions.
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1) i asked for a winch line because i was driving somebody else's rig. ryan was'nt having any of it so i drove it out.

2) torture?! fox's rig is built for this stuff. i kept the engine well below 3k at all times and was watching the oil pressure gauge. so it's not torture, it's "working" a rig to it's abilities.

3) ryan had some help building the rig. i know it inside out just like he does. a lot of the work was done at my shop with parts i supplied for free.


ryan and i have wheeled together for years on quite a few different trails. we know what the rig can and can't do and we know how to fix it. we did'nt go to the roundupy to watch other people wheel. this WAS the one and only chance we had to bring the "krusty crab" to katemcy so we wanted to make sure we got the most out of it. i think we did. :steer:
 
Mark good to have you in our camp again.

You are always welcome in Cottonland.
 
Wow, one week later and I went from heat and granite to the wide opend ocean and freezing temperatures.

Wish I had pictues people, eagles, whales, seals snowy mountains surrounding the edge of the oceans inlet to Coal Harbour and not a person in sight.

I could of done without the 20 foot swells as were in a 22 foot boat, kinda stupid if you ask me and I was second guessing the short ride off shore....
 
Yep, y'all got lots of pretty scenery and wildlife...
...but, y'all ain't got Clutchee!

Keep warm up there!
Nick




Radd Cruisers said:
Wow, one week later and I went from heat and granite to the wide opend ocean and freezing temperatures.

Wish I had pictues people, eagles, whales, seals snowy mountains surrounding the edge of the oceans inlet to Coal Harbour and not a person in sight.

I could of done without the 20 foot swells as were in a 22 foot boat, kinda stupid if you ask me and I was second guessing the short ride off shore....
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Resize of IMG_3653.jpg
 
Yea baby....... fully gettin it:p
 
Green Lantern said:
Yep, y'all got lots of pretty scenery and wildlife...
...but, y'all ain't got Clutchee!

Keep warm up there!
Nick
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Trying to get warm still Nick.


That should be someones avitar....
 
Clutchee was "gettin' his groove awn"
 
Bodean said:
Clutchee was "gettin' his groove awn"
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Deb's got some pix of Clutchee that will ruin what little credibility he has left..........:eek::eek:
 
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