Prologue: I’ve wanted an FJ40 since 1st grade. I remember a beige one at my friend’s house with “Stone Humper” painted on the side. That was 1977. This past weekend I finally had one of my own. Before you ask, “How much did you give for it?” I’m not going to tell you. Suffice to say I paid more than I wanted to, but less than I was willing to get it.
I’m not doing a “build” thread as I do not have that skill set nor tool set for that. My goal here is to document the adventures of my daughter, my Land Cruiser and myself. She (daughter) is my “Mini-Me” in so many ways. She loves fishing, camping and pooping in the woods, what better vehicle than a 40 to get us in the mountains to pursue those activities. I’ve been looking at 40s for a few months and every time she had seen one on my screen, she’d ask “Are we getting that one?”
The first adventure was just picking it up! The “plan” was to drive up to WA to see family stay the night and then pick it up on the way back down through OR on Saturday… “We’ll be home by Sunday afternoon” I mistakenly reassured my wife.
With a borrowed car trailer (almost as nice as the 40!) we set out on a Thursday evening leaving Colorado in the rear view mirror at roughly 1700. The 2017 Tundra was chugging right along but also chugging fuel like a frat boy with free beer. 11.5 mpg…. Ughh. I know I didn’t buy the Tundra for its fuel efficiency, but damn was it thirsty. Topped off the fuel and made the required “We’re stopping for fuel, if you even think you might need to pee in the next two hours, go now” speech… The wife and daughter both took heed. A little tired and with the daily contacts at the end of their useful life, I got a nice surprise of 20+ deer right along the roadside hanging tight to the white line… I was wide awake for the next 1.5 hours; too bad only 20 minutes of that was driving to the overnight stop in Evanston, WY… The Best Western beds were comfortable enough and morning brought us a light dusting of snow and a great breakfast, for a hotel chain. I was unaware of just how much snow I would see in the next few days…. Lol.
Pics to keep interest...
I’m not doing a “build” thread as I do not have that skill set nor tool set for that. My goal here is to document the adventures of my daughter, my Land Cruiser and myself. She (daughter) is my “Mini-Me” in so many ways. She loves fishing, camping and pooping in the woods, what better vehicle than a 40 to get us in the mountains to pursue those activities. I’ve been looking at 40s for a few months and every time she had seen one on my screen, she’d ask “Are we getting that one?”
The first adventure was just picking it up! The “plan” was to drive up to WA to see family stay the night and then pick it up on the way back down through OR on Saturday… “We’ll be home by Sunday afternoon” I mistakenly reassured my wife.
With a borrowed car trailer (almost as nice as the 40!) we set out on a Thursday evening leaving Colorado in the rear view mirror at roughly 1700. The 2017 Tundra was chugging right along but also chugging fuel like a frat boy with free beer. 11.5 mpg…. Ughh. I know I didn’t buy the Tundra for its fuel efficiency, but damn was it thirsty. Topped off the fuel and made the required “We’re stopping for fuel, if you even think you might need to pee in the next two hours, go now” speech… The wife and daughter both took heed. A little tired and with the daily contacts at the end of their useful life, I got a nice surprise of 20+ deer right along the roadside hanging tight to the white line… I was wide awake for the next 1.5 hours; too bad only 20 minutes of that was driving to the overnight stop in Evanston, WY… The Best Western beds were comfortable enough and morning brought us a light dusting of snow and a great breakfast, for a hotel chain. I was unaware of just how much snow I would see in the next few days…. Lol.
Pics to keep interest...
