Saving The Old Rustbucket--My 1982 FJ40 Tale

[Sea Knight]

TGIF

Appreciate all the comments from the past couple of days. Will try to catch up and reply over the weekend.

Just an observation. The fact that this has become an interactive thread, IMO, is what makes it work. Reading your reminiscences and parallel experiences certainly makes me want to keep writing. You're the fuel that keeps this engine running so once again, thank you all.

It's Friday and beer thirty is rapidly approaching, so I'm off to our Cruiserhead watering hole to trade wild tales with my local buds. Wish all of you could join us. Maybe one of these days....

Lee

 

[myquestoyota]

 

[patride71]

That was an outstanding chapter my friend.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

Cheers!!! TGIF

 

[TS888]

It's an odd but regular coincidence that after I finish reading one of these chapters, someone is cutting onions near where I'm sitting.

Onions, yeah, that's it.

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Audio/Music Tech:

I'd never heard of John Prine before. They have a lot of his stuff on hdtracks.com, where I get a lot of my music. Just downloaded two of his songs.

In case anyone goes to that site let me add this prep: Prine's songs/albums are in 3 formats,: mp3, flac, aiff. I always use FLAC in the highest quality I can get, preferring 24 bit/192 khz because I have the gear and software to play it. Beware: flac doesn't play through iTunes! MP3 is below CD quality. Aiff is basically CD quality. Both will play on iTunes and iPods. Aiff takes up a little more space. Anyone short on hard drive space these days of terabyte drives? Prine's tunes are all CD quality only (16 bit /44.1 khz), but maybe I'll get lucky one day and the analog masters will be converted at a higher rate. I know, in an FJ40 these differences probably don't matter, but at home it might. I saw a double din car stereo with a 24 bit DAC (digital to analog converter) the other day. Maybe when I roll 80 mil dynamat over every interior surface of the FZJ80 the Rhino will be quiet enough to take advantage of the higher sound quality? I hope that isn't Cruiser heresy.

Yesterday I ordered a bunch of CDs on Amazon including Townes Live at the Old Quarter and a Townes, Steve Earle, Guy Clark live combo. Ordered a bunch of Steve Earle too, to round out my collection.

Again, thanks to everybody for your valuable contributions to this thread! I've found the story and inputs to be life-enhancing!

Heck, yesterday I even drank some fancy aged 9.5% alcohol beer from one of our local Missoula, MT breweries, Kettle House. It was called Dry Fly Barrel Aged Double Haul IPA. Aged in whiskey barrels. It was good.

 

[Sea Knight]

I'd never heard of John Prine before.

Uncanny that your post would pop up. Listening to some vintage Prine now. Prepare for your life to be enriched. You may not have heard of Prine, but I'm sure you've heard his tunes covered by other artists. Check this one out, by Norah Jones, and then Prine's version.

Norah Jones - That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round - YouTube

John Prine : Thats The Way That The World Goes Round (1978) - YouTube

And Souvenirs, with the late Steve Goodman

John Prine steve goodman Souvenirs - YouTube

Yesterday I ordered a bunch of CDs on Amazon including Townes Live at the Old Quarter and a Townes, Steve Earle, Guy Clark live combo. Ordered a bunch of Steve Earle too, to round out my collection..

Live at the Old Quarter is a classic. You won't be disappointed. I think the Townes/Earle/Clarke CD you ordered is probably Live at the Bluebird. Another fine choice.

Heck, yesterday I even drank some fancy aged 9.5% alcohol beer from one of our local Missoula, MT breweries, Kettle House. It was called Dry Fly Barrel Aged Double Haul IPA. Aged in whiskey barrels. It was good.

Now you're talkin'. That's some serious beer. You can't beat the big IPA's. Tonight's beer de jour is Hercules IPA, from your neighbors down the road in Colorado.

Titan IPA - Great Divide Brewing Company - Denver, CO - BeerAdvocate


Speaking of music, we're gonna catch an acoustic Joe Ely show tomorrow night at a local brew pub. Great way to cap off the weekend. I'll bet Butch and Yooper know about Ely.

Cruiser content: We'll be driving there in the wife's 80.

Joe Ely "The Road Goes on Forever" - YouTube


Cheers,
Lee

 

[yooper]

Yep, Joe Ely does justice to the REK songs. That should be a great show, I'm jealous.



- Southern Tier Jah-Va Imperial Coffee Stout. 10.6% ABV

 

[Texican]

. I'll bet Butch and Yooper know about Ely.
:

Does a bear s*** in the woods....went to a Flatlanders show a couple of years ago, amazing talent.

Brandon Bush and his band are doing a show 2 blocks from my home now, been out in the front yard listening.........we have an amazing stock of young talent in Texas that are following in these guys footsteps, not going the $$$$ route.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s53as-KPTeM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD9V2oXKEK0

 

[lordbater]

Man, I miss being young when I'd take off for Austin in a heartbeat for music.. It sucks that I'm so far away......

The lady and I both miss A-Town, AND I have friends there.... I have no excuse for not going more often other than there is very little saltwater close to Austin...

Good calls on the music. I had a responsible father, he made sure I was well versed in John Prine..

a

ps no offense intended..

 

[Black Rhino 13]

Tonight's beer de jour is Hercules IPA, from your neighbors down the road in Colorado.

That's a long road! They are our +1 neighbors, but Denver is equidistant between Missoula and Austin. I'll meet you half way on that one.

With 5 breweries in Missoula alone, we don't tend to branch out too far on beer. One thing to consider is TX is #2 in population and #2 in size but MT is #4 in size and #44 in population. Economies are thin up here and buy local is no joke. Can't beat a growler from the brewer's tap too.

Good calls on the music. I had a responsible father, he made sure I was well versed in John Prine..

ps no offense intended..

No offense taken by me. Being originally from north Florida, and an Air Force brat, I'd say my education of Jimmy Buffet, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Jackson Browne, Carpenters, etc... could have been worse but could have been better. I'm a 70's child raised on the more mainstream singer songwriters. I'm filling in the gaps, though. I did live in the Dallas area for a while so I am familiar with the names of all the artists mentioned here. I do already own Guy Clark, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Townes, Steve Earle, and Susan Tedeschi (why I know the song Angel From Montgomery) among others who might come up later. Who knows?

Thanks for the free music education ya'll!


.......................................

Lee, in reply to your comment, yes I do have some familiarity with the various stresses, strains, and residual effects of military service. My uncle up here was a CWO MedEvac pilot in Vietnam. Call sign "Itchypink" due to agent orange exposure. He's 100% T&P now for several reasons. Has a nice stock UZJ100.

Technically, I was in four separate branches: USA, MTARNG, USAR, USAF. My last stint was as an AF Special Ops Intel Officer in the only dedicated DoD CSAR unit. I was left with "scars" I guess. You might call them paper cuts. All my OEF shrapnel was in the form of ink on paper. A 3-star took an unwavering interest in my ruination and nearly succeeded. Anyway, that's the short version of a long story with little content and it has a lot to do with why I'm now in law school.

And currently is in the middle of her VA process (served in OIF) which is going very well so far. The VA is taking care of business.

's on me if you pass through this area next summer~

Looking forward to the next chapter!

 

[myquestoyota]

We saw Guy Clark, Joe Ely, John Hiatt, and Lyle Lovett on a Songwriters Tour a couple of years ago in Seattle. John Prine last year up at the winery in Woodinville. I applaud your taste in music and beer!

 

[Black Rhino 13]

I have a 'Mud friend, Young Bull, north of you in Poulsbo, WA. Says he has a 40 and and 80. Also says he's getting into the winemaking business. Not sure if that means there or farther east in the state. I'll have to look all you guys up when we make a trip out Seattle way.

I got a taste for wine in Germany. I wonder where John Prine was stationed over there?

I also subscribe to Pandora (to get the better sound quality). Now I'm setting up channels on there for these artists we're talking about.

Carrying on...

 

[yooper]

I set up a "Robert Earl Keene" Pandora station a long time ago. Van Zandt, Ely, Earle, Clark, Tedeschi, Hiatt, Vaughan, etc are all in there. In fact I think Pandora introduced me to Susan Tedeschi.

Pandora is the home page of my garage computer.

 

[Sea Knight]

Sunday Afternoon Windup

So...Any chance you keep up with any of the people you meet on your trip?

Yes, several of them. I'll probably attempt a post script after the tale is finished, with an update on The Turtle and several of the characters. I know what you're thinking...Gayla-yes, Jen-yes.

Commander,

Kathy and I just saw Michael Martin Murphy live in Tomball a couple of weeks ago. These lyrics seem appropriate for this chapter..

Indeed they do. Speaking of the old days, I saw Murphy perform at Armadillo World Headquarters in the mid 70's, shortly before it was demolished. Talked with him backstage between sets. Very nice, humble guy.

I think Woodman needs to get us a dark beer to post here...............

[URL="http://www.prosportstickers.com/product_images/b/beer_mug_dark_vinyl_decal__00844.jpg"][URL="http://www.prosportstickers.com/product_images/b/beer_mug_dark_vinyl_decal__00844.jpg"][/URL][/URL]

I already feel bad that you're going to be in Seattle in the next chapter or so but you have promised us a longer journey than that.

It ain't over yet. There's a few more 40's to deal with before we ever get around to the rustbucket.

That's not the Turtle after 2 season on Kona?!?

No, fortunately The Turtle looks better than ever. That's a truck I spotted rotting away in someone's front yard in rural Ohio. We stopped and were taking a few poser photos when an irate bubba came running out of the house demanding to know what we were doing in his yard. We left quickly.

When my son was little, one of our nightly rituals after I tucked him into bed in his little Yoda jammies was to tell him stories.

Thanks for that. I have similar memories, although my son's PJ's were Incredible Hulk and the stories usually involved wild animals.

I absolutely love that, gradually, The Turtle has evolved into a living character in the story. In most of the early chapters you used the "I" pronoun when talking about driving, but slowly it became "we" - The Commander and The Turtle. I don't know if that was intentional, but it perfectly mirrors how I've begun to feel about the Turtle through reading this.

Having the Turtle become a character was a natural evolution. Several days into the trip I began feeling that there wasn't much separation between me and the truck, almost as though we were one and the same. My son follows this thread and he contends The Turtle is actually the central character. Everything that happens in the tale originates in some way with the old 40. He suggested that The Turtle be the narrator of the story. I don't think I'm creative enough to pull that off.

To try to have some point in this post: I wonder if people who own Land Cruisers tend to have had more epic adventures and/or wanderlust than other vehicle owners? Maybe that's part of the unifying element here?

That's an interesting hypothesis. With me, it's absolutely a wanderlust thing, and I can tell you first hand that the urges are not a function of age. They definitely don't fade over time; if anything they increase in intensity. The Land Cruiser owners that I know, and I know quite a few, all strike me as far more adventuresome than your "ordinary" people.

Speaking of adventure, I'm outa here. We're off for a scenic hill country drive in the 80, then Joe Ely and craft beer on a rooftop venue overlooking Lake Travis. Life is sweet.

Joe Ely "If You Were a Blue Bird" - YouTube

Salud,
Lee

 

[myquestoyota]

Boy, what a bunch of kindred spirits! I think we should get a mud discount on the Cayamo Cruise. 2013 lineup isn't complete yet but last year and the year before saw Hiatt, Prine, Lovett, Keb Mo, Mullins, a cast of hundreds it seemed and me without sufficient funds to watch! One of these years. Reading this thread reminds me there are priorities and one of them is filling my soul. Love the thread Lee, love it!

 

[Pearly]

I spent the whole weekend, reading from the first post to the last. I was supposed to be working this morning, but had to keep reading!

Sir, you are a master! Thank you for taking the time and imagination to write such great works! I generally don't take time to read these days, but this thread kept me captivated!

I have a friend in France who wants me to look out for a 40 for him............. I'm now thinking it might be fun to drive from Jakarta, ferry it across to Malaysia, drive up through Thailand, Myanmar................

Then I could pick up my '59 MGA from his place (stored there for the past 5 years) and drive it back home to KL, Malaysia!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm................

 

[indianporfavor]

ive spent the last few days when ever i have free time making my way through this thread. its like a 40 soap opera that makes you HAVE to keep reading and find out what happens next! great writing style, great story. look forward to more.

 

[Sea Knight]

Jen

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? It's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye.”
--Jack Kerouac, On The Road

I turn away from Jen and walk down the stairs, across the sidewalk and onto the driveway, to The Turtle parked beside her old Subaru wagon. There's a faded sticker on the side window that I hadn't noticed yesterday--"Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight." I wonder if that's a skier thing, or Jen's personal philosophy. Probably both; this girl doesn't strike me as a quitter. A bit lost perhaps, and in a tough place, but not a quitter. She'll be fine.​

Not yet seven, the early morning air is crisp, temp in the 20's, windows and windshields covered with a thin layer of frost, the sun barely beginning to show above the Crazy peaks to the east. I start the truck, turn the heater fan on high, pull out a credit card and begin scraping frost, starting with the rear windows. It peels off easily, falling to the ground in little curled shavings, creating an elegant white border on the concrete pavement around the truck. By the time I work my way to the front, the defroster is beginning to do its job, little half moons of clear glass beginning to appear at the windshield bottom.​

I've been scraping for a while when I glance up, toward Jen's apartment, and she's still standing there, on the landing where I left her, elbows resting on the railing. She's wearing bulky wool boot socks, soccer shorts, and a blue MSU tee shirt, her hair in two thick braids, just as she'd worn when we first met at the Blue Sky. She seems deep in thought, oblivious to the cold.​

I finish clearing the windshield, pat The Turtle on the hood, grab the roll cage and hoist myself into the driver's seat. I have a nagging feeling that I'm leaving something unsaid, that I should go back up the stairs and offer something meaningful and profound like they do in the movies, something she might have expected to hear from her Dad, but this is real life and I'm unable to come up with anything. Nothing at all.​

I depress the clutch pedal and work the shift lever through all four gears, an old habit learned from my Dad, now a ritual. The Turtle feels warm and ready to roll. Backing into 9th Avenue I pause, look toward Jen, and touch the bill of my cap in a farewell salute. She looks at her feet, then back at me, cocks her head to the side and waves back, a timid little wave, and allows a self conscious smile. I pull away slowly, creeping down the street in first gear, watching in the rear view mirror until Jen is nothing but a tiny blue speck; finally she disappears.​

We follow 9th back to Main Street, turn right, pass Montana Ale Works on the left and three blocks later the Blue Sky Motel on the right. Familiar territory. It feels as though we've been in Bozeman for weeks rather than days, barely a blip in time. We stop for gas at the same Shell station as yesterday, then let Main Street lead us back to the highway. I point The Turtle due west on Interstate 90 and edge her up to sixty. A sign tells me it's 85 miles to Butte, 204 miles to Missoula. And we're off.​

“The old hunger for voyages fed at his heart....To go alone...into strange cities; to meet strange people--it seemed to him there could be no better thing than that.”
--Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward Angel​

 

[lordbater]

Ahhhh, you are a good man sir...

Such a good man I believe, that I'll forgive you for the short chapter..

It's like reading a good book that is in a series. I feel that I have to wait soooo long for the next book to come along...

Somewhat opposite the feeling that I remember when I first discovered JD Mcdonald's Travis McGee books.. I had them already written and waiting for me to read them, one after another, they were waiting for me.. .... knowing that when they were done, they were done...

a