Our Travelogue...

[DSRTRDR]

so there may be some cross-posts, but this is how stuff unfolded from my point of view:

I picked up the Toolbox Baton from SOAZtim: FJ40 Cross-Country Expedition: Will YOU join us???

 

[DSRTRDR]

and this is where it went while in my custody:

it traveled slightly backwards to the east: from North Phoenix to Fountain Hills

 

[DSRTRDR]

and then I showed the Baton all that Arizona is about:

originally posted here: FJ40 Cross-Country Expedition: Will YOU join us???

which started out like: FJ40 Cross-Country Expedition: Will YOU join us???

 

[DSRTRDR]

just so you know where we are going:

and yeah, from the house to the air down at the turn-off from the highway is just about 20 minutes

 

[DSRTRDR]

and then the obligatory poser pic: FJ40 Cross-Country Expedition: Will YOU join us???

 

[DSRTRDR]

FJ40 Cross-Country Expedition: Will YOU join us???

this is the biggest ocotillo in the area - in the spring, all the ends have intensely red blooms on them

 

[DSRTRDR]

some more pics from showing the Baton around:

 

[DSRTRDR]

and yes, this is desert - there is still very little precipitation compared to the east of the US, but as the hills and mountains are higher than the desert floor, they get a little bit more precipitation - and this spring was exceptionally wet, so everything is much greener than in an average year

as you can see, there's quite some variety of vegetation, from the prototypical saguaro cactus (long upright, the first arm may grow after some 75 years), to ocotillos, palo verde trees (on the right, a bit further down), brittle bush (foreground), to staghorn cactus (foreground right, with fingerlike segments), and prickly pear (with the flat-pan leaves, in the foreground) and some other smaller shrubs - not seen in this pic but also common in the area: mesquite trees, hedgehog cactus, teddy bear cholla and jumping cholla, claret cactus, fishhook cactus

 

[DSRTRDR]

and then it was time to travel further west:

and it just so happened that "excessive heat warning" was in effect

not that it deterred us, nor "toyotalandfj40" . . .

more pics to come . . .

 

[DSRTRDR]

Much of the drive looked like this: following the 40

Crossing the Colorado:

Arriving at the border:

Disclaimer: I do not approve of people using cell phones in cars, and don't normally do it myself - hence the crappy pics --- but I wanted to document at least some highlights of the drive as proof for this thread

 

[DSRTRDR]

at the border sign:

40 with Baton:

real photography of the Baton:

I'll post some better pics when I get then from Michael

 

[DSRTRDR]

here's his pic of the Toolbox at the border:

 

[REZARF]

Is this the right place for me to post up that I have this now?

 

[4Cruisers]

I need to mail some stickers for the beige toolbox. Where to?

 

[65swb45]

in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the long distance travels, the red baton managed to get passed six times... in sixty seconds last Saturday! First, from @toyotalandfj40 to @Downey

 

[65swb45]

Then from @Downey to @Land Cruiser Junky

 

[65swb45]

@Land Cruiser Junky to @YOYOKID

 

[65swb45]

@YOYOKID to @FJ60Seth

 

[65swb45]

@FJ60Seth to @Biscuit

 

[65swb45]

and then finally from @Biscuit to me