Builds My '78 FJ40 "44"

[SuperBuickGuy]

the black in the picture is probably anthracite, the white is phosphorous. My grandpa lived in Death Valley, was a rock hound, and apparently I got his rock-hound bug. I love how open it is in the desert to see the various chemicals and stuff that this earth was built with... and you have me jonesing for a trip with Buick to the desert sw.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

the black in the picture is probably anthracite, the white is phosphorous. My grandpa lived in Death Valley, was a rock hound, and apparently I got his rock-hound bug. I love how open it is in the desert to see the various chemicals and stuff that this earth was built with... and you have me jonesing for a trip with Buick to the desert sw.

Come on!! But, coordinate in advance to be sure I'm here and available.

I looked it up last night and there are a few phosphorescent minerals that can glow in the dark...

"Minerals with phosphorescence can glow for a brief time after the light source is turned off. Minerals that are sometimes phosphorescent include: calcite, celestite, colemanite,fluorite, sphalerite, and willemite.
Thermoluminescence is the ability of a mineral to emit a small amount of light upon being heated"​

Like those stars you stick to your ceiling... they 'shine' until they 'dim out' and are 'recharged' when the light source returns.

I'm gonna try to take Gunner and Chester back out to Long Canyon tomorrow... may spend the night... may not... but, first, i need to see if the wind will allow us to remain firmly grounded...

There's nothing quite as liberating as standing nude in the middle of no where, with no one around for miles and miles and miles and the knowledge that the only way anyone will see anything of note is if they direct one of those massively powerful telescopes that can look onto the past!!

 

[lostmarbles]

Come on!! But, coordinate in advance to be sure I'm here and available.....

There's nothing quite as liberating as standing nude in the middle of no where, with no one around for miles and miles and miles and the knowledge that the only way anyone will see anything of note is if they direct one of those massively powerful telescopes that can look onto the past!!

I bet SuperBuick will be backing out now after hearing this Danny...

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I bet SuperBuick will be backing out now after hearing this Danny...

Oh, my!! This comment from the Tom who confessed to peeing in his garden, while watching a train load of Emus going by, down the hill...

Misquoting @SuperBuickGuy, from earlier in this thread, "solace is best served solo"... just my way of reinforcing that concept.

But, I don't just strip out there, I was changing clothes when I had that epiphany... and wanted to tie in a potential use for a telescope that can look back in time and see what was, rather than what now is...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

were I one of those in the telescope who got to view the nature-loving denizen, I'd be sorely tempted to play a game of ant and magnifying glass.

 

[Weber Sarge]

That stuff is funny , but always be aware of the "eye in the sky"...no one knows the true number these days .
Sarge

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I think it's more then a little funny that the fewer people who believe in an all-seeing God, the more there is the demand for all-seeing cameras installed everywhere....

 

[Solace in Solitude]

If the eye in the sky wants to watch me, it's going to be a very boring day...

 

[skidplate]

Two words...Google Earth!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Two words...Google Earth!

As I said, they would need a telescope that can look back to the past to see anything of note.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I took daBoise to Long Canyon (DNWR, Morman Well Road) today and we hiked a 5 mile round trip before the wind started howling and the temps warmed up. 2..5 miles in was as far as I was comfortable going with daBoise... we got into the narrows and the brush started really closing in on us.

Gunner was very happy to accompany Chester and me!! He hadn't been in a while and had a ball. Chester wore his backpack and carried water for both of them. He seemed to enjoy having a purpose in life.

Chester also liked driving 44 and Gunner seemed quite amused by it all.

I spotted this Great Basin Collared Lizard about the same time he spotted us... I don't think daBoise ever noticed him at all.

We returned from the hike and I fixed tuna sandwiches and we rested for a while, before driving about 30 miles round trip, thru Peek-a-Boo Canyon, where I spotted this guy.

We considered spending the night, but the wind was simply miserable by 3pm, so we headed home.

 

[handcannon]

Interesting pics, especially of the critters. Very different from the critters I see around here, well adapted to the environment. I'm assuming they are somewhere in the 6" to 10" length size.

What I see around here vary from the "wild" turkeys, deer, elk, fox, coyote, rabbits, game birds, to rarely a bear. Actually I can only say for sure I've seen one bear, but lots of black furry flashes that I'm assuming were bears.

Don

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Interesting pics, especially of the critters. Very different from the critters I see around here, well adapted to the environment. I'm assuming they are somewhere in the 6" to 10" length size.

What I see around here vary from the "wild" turkeys, deer, elk, fox, coyote, rabbits, game birds, to rarely a bear. Actually I can only say for sure I've seen one bear, but lots of black furry flashes that I'm assuming were bears.

Don

That lizard's body was about 10"... the tail was 1.5x the body length... biggest one I've seen... seeing him made me worry more about rattlesnakes... but, the training has paid off... daBoise were off-leash, but remained in "heel" the whole time.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Today, I stole Mike's (@drnekFJ40) 'dash shelf' idea and made it my own... I was really tired of my camera, my iphone, my thermometer, my lunch constantly falling off my bed. These aren't the best pictures, but, you get the idea...

 

[78fj40mg]

Very nice shelf Danny!

Now I need all the details and more pics.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Very nice shelf Danny!

Now I need all the details and more pics.

Thanks Mike!!

It's just a 1x8x48", ripped to 6"W... 1" of the two front corners lopped off, at 45*... 1x1.5" bands, mitered to 22.5*, to dress the front and ends. Sprayed it with Rustoleum Hammered Black, followed by polyurethane. The padding is non-slip, rug padding.

It's mounted to the two windshield knobs, using 1/8"x1/2" aluminum, bent to fit... it also has 5 strips of closed-cell air conditioning wrap, to allow it to "sit" on my dash pad, without rubbing a hole in the pad.

 

[78fj40mg]

Thanks Mike!!

It's just a 1x8x48", ripped to 6"W... 1" of the two front corners lopped off, at 45*... 1x1.5" bands, mitered to 22.5*, to dress the front and ends. Sprayed it with Rustoleum Hammered Black, followed by polyurethane. The padding is non-slip, rug padding.

It's mounted to the two windshield knobs, using 1/8"x1/2" aluminum, bent to fit... it also has 5 strips of closed-cell air conditioning wrap, to allow it to "sit" on my dash pad, without rubbing a hole in the pad.

Thanks Danny! Wow you detailed it nicely, great job!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Gunner, Chester and I took 44 out to the DNWR on Monday... only to run into rain and snow and strong winds... we turned around and went home. Tuesday morning, I told daBoise to "load up" and Chester jumped into 44... Gunner jumped back into bed.

So, Chester and I went by ourselves... we drove out to the Gass Peak trailhead and hiked up the old service road (it's the trail)... I remembered reading to "keep the other fork on your right"... so, I did and eventually ran into a dead end... apparently the "keep the other fork on you right" is when you are coming back down. Find 44 in this pic...

Anyway, we got a good hike, regardless... then we found a camping spot that provides a great view of downtown Vegas... as well as Indian Springs. I pitched our tent and made our beds and then we sat in front of a campfire, listening to a good book, until about 9:30pm. The clouds never broke, so we didn't get to see any stars this time... but, we did see the Vegas lights.

This morning, we hiked across the desert to an interesting canyon, with a lot of caves, high on the sides... the caves all looked like they had seen a lot of animal activity.

We were gonna spend tonight too, but rain is in the forecast and I didn't want to break camp in mud. So, I put the tent away and made our beds in 44... only to have the north wind start howling and the temperature drop significantly... so, we returned home.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Some good adventure! Thanks for posting about it.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Some good adventure! Thanks for posting about it.

Thanks Ron!! I love to share...