Prescott "metro" cruisers.

[Brian Macgyver]

Apollyon is slipping a bit. He has pics of our first downtown meet, with all of the trucks. I was leaving town the next morning, and my camera was packed away with my jeans and skivvies.
We had 5 rigs and several others drove by without stopping. Next month, we expect more.

 

[Brian Macgyver]

That's what it is all about. Work hard, earn it, play hard, burn it!
You only go around once. Have fun.

 

[Brian Macgyver]

Sorry to have deleted a few things. Nothing important. My daughter was messing around.
Dayton still has pics of the June meet, as far as I know. We will try to post those. I will have my camera on site on July five. That will be the next meet. I have something like a million pics on there. I'll try to find the ones that we want, and post them.
I have pics of my truck in the parade, in the mountains, on trails, etc. I want pics of other trucks at meets and on trails.
In June we had three 80's, a nicely rebuilt 40, and Tom's diesel 60. we look foreward to more in July.
BTW, My wife Jill and I are having our 18th wedding anniversary on July fourth. There will be a little get-together at Lake Valley Park in Prescott Valley. You can join us if you like. We will have bounce houses for the kids, some bands, a lot of fried food and barbeque, and fireworks at the end of it all. The town and the whole country does this for us every year! It is so cool! There is always a party on our anniversary, and everybody takes the day off! How cool!

 

[Brian Macgyver]

There is a little place called "Smugglers Ice Cream" in Yarmouthport. I can't figure out how we can smuggle ice cream! Maybe on freezer ships that evade radar?
Anyway, they have the most amazing hot fudge sundaes. I have had several of them. Chocolate-peanut butter and mint-chocolate chip with hot fudge is the absolute best!
This little place will be featured on the food network as "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on July 22. I was there. I can vouch for that. It is really amazing!
I had this sundae every day for lunch for several days, and have had for the last several years. It is worth the trip! It is the best lunch that you ever had! Ice cream is a staple food group. You have to have it if you know what's good for you!

 

[Brian Macgyver]

In the blizzard of '77, my wife was marrooned in her room on the second floor of her house for several days. As soon as the snow melted off enough that she could slip out of the second-floor window, she called her friends. They got together and went out. They slipped and slid out of the rooms, and down to the street.
They pushed their way through five feet of snow, a half of a mile, to the local dairy to get ice cream. That is dedication!
I have to respect anyone who loves ice cream that much! They are an example for the rest of us. Ice cream is important, but I might stop at pushing my way through 5 feet of snow for 1/2 of a mile to get it in the middle of a blizzard! These New England kids really love their ice cream!

 

[Brian Macgyver]

On a more serious note, I have recently met a couple of old friends. I invited them to the meet on Tuesday night. I hope to see most of you there.
It will be in the old parking garage downtown, Tuesday July 5 at 7 PM.
See you all there!

 

[azTony]

Ice cream... after all that I would have been looking for Hot Cocoa or something a little warmer

 

[Brian Macgyver]

On July 5 we had just a small group. It was Dayton, Cody and I. Three 80's.
It might appear that it is just us as the core of the Prescott Cruiser Gang.
We don't really want it to be that way, but if we must...
The next meet will be Tuesday, August 2 in the parking garage, downtown.

 

[Brian Macgyver]

OK kids, it is time to plan a trail ride. I'll go pretty much anywhere within 100 miles. Let's go!
I just got another ding in my front bumper, Oh No! I use it as a stop sensor. When the bumper hits some granite, it is time to hit the brakes! That is what real steel bumpers are for! They are designed to be stop sensors. When the bumper hits the rock, it is time to stop. How hard is that?
Most of the decomposed granite that I see was not decomposed until it met my steel bumper! Then it got decomposed! OOps!
Recently, my client was in the truck when I was putting the trailer where I wanted it to be. I was backing a trailer around in a tight space. I climbed the LC about 4 feet up the side of her driveway to place the trailer. The wall was vertical, and mostly rough granite, and gravel. I made it clear that I could put the truck and trailer wherever I needed to in order to operate a trailer in her tight driveway. We hit against some granite about 4 feet up.
The LC80 is an incredible machine! It used the vertical wall as if it was a flat parking lot. It didn't even seem to care! I backed up the trailer, and went on my way. No worries!

 

[Brian Macgyver]

I have heard from one 60 and 2 80's that plan to show up on Aug 2. If the rest of us can be there, it would add credibility. Dayton, John, Tom, Bill, Cody, and others, you had better be there. I know where you live, and I can put shaving cream on your rigs anytime!
But really, I am a decent guy. Like I do for my shop cat, I'll leave the water on until you have had enough to drink. I'm OK. I am easy that way.
I have had several calls from people who want to meet us. Most of them have been from cards that some of you have left on Cruisers around town. Some blue cards and some green. None of my white ones. I thank all of you for the help.
They have promised to be there. We will see. I found a guy with a 94 80 that has body damage. I can fix it. He might show up. We will see. It is what it is.
I mostly count on the regulars. You all had better show up! Having the regular crowd adds credibility. That is what we count on. The usual crowd makes a new addition that much more interesting.

 

[Brian Macgyver]

Tonight went really well. We had 8 trucks in Prescott. Mostly 80's, but one really well built 60, and Tom's diesel 60 as well. Rob also has a 40, but cannot drive two trucks to the meet at one time.
We ended up centering the meet on a white 80 that was there when we showed up. It was a single mom from Texas who had parked there all unknowing. She was amazed when LC's started parking all around hers. She just fell into a Cruiser meet all unknowing. She joined the group then and there. She offered to help us with a web presence. Sarah is cool!
Thanks to a suggestion from Rob, we are redubbing the group as the Mile High Cruisers. We will work on a web site as such. More info will be here as necessary.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Tonight went really well. We had 8 trucks in Prescott. Mostly 80's, but one really well built 60, and Tom's diesel 60 as well. Rob also has a 40, but cannot drive two trucks to the meet at one time.
We ended up centering the meet on a white 80 that was there when we showed up. It was a single mom from Texas who had parked there all unknowing. She was amazed when LC's started parking all around hers. She just fell into a Cruiser meet all unknowing. She joined the group then and there. She offered to help us with a web presence. Sarah is cool!
Thanks to a suggestion from Rob, we are redubbing the group as the Mile High Cruisers. We will work on a web site as such. More info will be here as necessary.

Wow sounds like you guys are getting it all together and official. Your own club name and web site. Do you have a logo yet? PM Woody and you can probably get your forum section for the new club to avoid any confusion here

 

[medtro]

Tonight went really well. We had 8 trucks in Prescott. Mostly 80's, but one really well built 60, and Tom's diesel 60 as well. Rob also has a 40, but cannot drive two trucks to the meet at one time.
We ended up centering the meet on a white 80 that was there when we showed up. It was a single mom from Texas who had parked there all unknowing. She was amazed when LC's started parking all around hers. She just fell into a Cruiser meet all unknowing. She joined the group then and there. She offered to help us with a web presence. Sarah is cool!
Thanks to a suggestion from Rob, we are redubbing the group as the Mile High Cruisers. We will work on a web site as such. More info will be here as necessary.

Congrats! I look forward to read more about your club from your new web site and forum.

 

[DSRTRDR]

 

[BrotherRob]

Wow sounds like you guys are getting it all together and official. Your own club name and web site. Do you have a logo yet? PM Woody and you can probably get your forum section for the new club to avoid any confusion here

Maybe he'll put it under Colorado. Az already has one dormant club forum.

 

[Appolyon]

Adventures with the MHC

So the cruisers went for a little ride.......

On Saturday Morning, Mile High Cruisers met up at the China Buffet in Prescott for a little trip. We ended up with 3 80 series, and 2 62's. Tom brought his diesel, Bill brought his brand new 62, Joe and I brought our stock 80's, and Brian showed up with his 80. We headed out on the road, went out to Big Bug Mesa from 5 Junctions, and then returned to 5 Junctions. That's where it got interesting. Joe told us about a road that would take us from the junction to Senator Road (the dirt part of Senator Highway) . We began the second part with a bang, with Bill's 62 getting a rock to stand on end and effectively lift his truck's rear axle off the ground. With a little tug he was removed, and progress resumed. We proceeded about a half mile when the inevitable- Bill's front tire popped. His spare was already toast, so progress halted, we removed the tire, purloined Tom's spare, and continued. About a mile down the trail, a sharp rock in a climb put a hole in Bill's right rear tire as well, which we attempted to patch, but was leaking air every time it rotated. After another 20 minutes or so, we got to a point where the tire was completely flat, and with the help of Tom's Hi-Lift and Brian's compressor, we re inflated the tire and attempted to continue. Bill made it to the bottom of the hill quickly, but the tire needed to be replaced, so Joe sacrificed his spare as well, and the adventure continued. At this point, I had to be home soon, so I pushed forward, and the road improved. After about a mile, the road connected with Senator Road, but we were not out of the woods yet. It had started raining so the roads were muddy and wet the entire trip, with the gullies filled with water and flooding down the hill. We got back to town and realized that God had cleaned the truck for me, and with a great story....

All the trucks present

Tom's truck

Dayton's truck

 

[Brian Macgyver]

It got even better...
As if all of the rest wasn't enough, we got hit with a hail-storm on the way out. We were still on the steep, narrow, rocky trails when the hail started. We just had to laugh at it! It was just one more thing.
What else could happen?
We finally found Senator Highway at Palace station and drove back into town. On the way back to town, we drove through some of the most beautiful fall colors this side of New England. The canyons were full of yellows, oranges and reds It was really pretty! Very few people get to see this.
Bill had just traded his old rusted out CJ6 jeep for a clean, stock FJ62. He brought it out that day on a set of undersize Mastercraft tires. They popped like cheap ballons! They are not the masters of the craft!
So we had fun patching sidewalls and trying to get him home.
That was partly my bad. I have owned some Mastercraft tires. I know that their sidewalls are thinner than most car tires. They do not do well in rocks. They pop like hot marshmallows!
Bill was a trooper. He drove home on two borrowed spares of different sizes after driving over 1/2 mile on a flat on the rim. His tires were far more well done than burnt toast!
We learned or were reminded of a number of lessons. The first is that an easy Saturday drive can turn into something more rather easily. Ours did. It got rather interesting...
The second is that we need to be prepared for more than we expect. Amoung us, we were. That paid off.
We took a stock FJ62 with undersize, wimpy tires thru some really brutal terrain, and the truck survived. It wasn't even scratched up much! Try that in a Jeep! I dare you!
Oh!, I forgot to mention that for much of the day, Bill's FJ62 was stuck in 2wd. We covered some of the roughest trails in the area with a 2wd FJ62.
We went into places where modified Jeeps fear to tread with a 2wd FJ62, with skinny tires. Hail Toyota!

 

[Brian Macgyver]

On the way home, we hit pavement just as a torrential downpour started. The 60 guys were scrambling to get the hubs unlocked without getting wet. We had an interesting trip down the canyon, and God washed our trucks on the way home! They were all clean for the meet on Tuesday night!

 

[Brian Macgyver]

On that trip, Dayton told me to put my camera away. He had a better one and he would take the pics.
But he missed the best one. I had Bill's truck jacked up with Tom's jack to take the weight off of the wheel bead. I was using my little compressor to inflate his tire. Right behind me was a sheer drop-off. I had no more than 18" to work with between the dead tire and infinity. We pretty much had his truck jacked up on a rocky shelf trail when the tire gave up. That would have been a picture worth a thousand words. I was there for 20 minutes, and Dayton left the camera in his truck. DOH!!
It wasn't easy to walk around there. Mostly every surface was loose sharp rock. Trying to walk was not real safe. Trying to walk there, normal people appeared to be drunk. It was very steep rocky ground. The rocks were very loose and the trucks were sliding. So were the walkers. Even while trying to walk, you would slide around. The footing was very loose. I couldn't ask Dayton to get the camera.
In spite of it all we had a great trip. It was a lot of fun. We got rained on, hailed on, saw a lot of beautiful country, and learned a lot.
A good time was had by all.

 

[Brian Macgyver]

We had a meet tonight of the core group, Dayton, Tom, and I. We agreed to look at November 19 for a run down the old Cherry road from the top of Mingas down to Hwy. 169. It has been on my list of things to do for some years. It may get a bit wet, mucky or snowy. That is not a problem.
My main air compressor is back on line, Tom has his ARB, and my small back-up is working. Would any of you Desert Rats from down south like to join us? It would be fun!
Tom is familiar with the trail, and will lead us fearlessly. He is a good man to have near in a pinch.
Let's go!