blueberry.taco build and adventures

Made a quick weekender trip out to Overland Expo East in VA.

Headed out after a full workday so did a late night park and sleep at a rest area.
Was super easy to set up "camp" in the parking lot, definitely not something I've ever considered with only ground tenting or sleeping the back of a 2dr Blazer (which required unloading a bunch of stuff).
Was sleeping comfortably until a straight piped semi truck decided to park right behind us and keep his engine on.
I was measuring near 65 dB (on my phone app) at my pillow so after 30 minutes of misery i decided to just drive down to the other end of the parking lot and fell asleep to a much more bearable 50ish dB.



Other nights were at a quiet dispersed campground in WV where our dog was a verygoodboi after all the excitement and stimulation at Expo









at expo itself i didnt take any pictures partially due to having a hold on the dog's leash the whole time, plus the weather was not particularly photo friendly.

but, parking lot guy told us to park in the back with all the other camping rigs.... we sure look tiny

 

fairly simple upgrade, makes the heavy hood less terrible.


had to move the ground bus bar on the powertrays over (2 new holes required) to make this redline tuning hood strut kit work but it was easy enough.

 

Went up north for a weekend of fall colors and wine tasting.
Drove up friday night through rain and landed this campsite in the dark.
first time breaking through tight trails with the camper on in the dark meant going really slow, but definitely doable.
Didn't know what to expect in daylight, but were pleasantly surprised in the morning although the cloud coverage was pretty bad.
Definitely enjoying the ease of setting up camp/getting into bed of this setup compared to our previous ground tenting or sleeping inside the back of an SUV



Winds were light so got plenty of drone flying practice in
Can you spot the voodoo blue?



Spent a little time insta-posing on the drive out, which was a whole lot easier after knowing we fit through the trees





Met up with some friends to do some light hiking,
pic of super clear Lake Michigan while we waited for them.
obviously the clouds were breaking up by then




and our dog really enjoys sand between his paws

 

We were going to relax and enjoy some wine tasting but had figured out the northern lights have a high chance of being visible so made some plan changes on the fly.

Ended up driving farther north for better (hopefully) Aurora viewing.
the "local" dark sky park and well known sites were jam packed with similar thinking people, so had to get a little creative.
Unfortunately some idiots in a tundra had the same idea, but were adamant they needed to keep their truck running and leave their headlights on to see the lights.
luckily within an hour of dusk they decided their headlights weren't bright enough to see the Norther Lights and left, leaving us to enjoy the quiet alone.
Unfortunately the lights never appeared, a disappointment for a LOT of people according to the chatter on the Aurora hunters FB group, but I still got to enjoy some night photography with plenty of stars and some REALLY impressive shooting stars.
we ran the furnace in the camper almost at minimum temp setting which kept it a nice comfortable 50F inside, which was nice after freezing my fingers waiting for 30 second exposure shots in the dark.

 

After looking at your power tray setup I realized your clutch fluid reservoir isn’t in the place as mine- which would require me to do things much differently. Out of curiosity where the heck is yours mounted??

 

it shares the brake reservoir

 

Ahh ok. That makes a lot of sense since they use the same DOT3 fluid.

EDIT: Also forgot to mention, beautiful pictures as always!!

 

Awesome build!! A little while ago I messaged you on a different thread regarding the backup camera. I'm picking up my FWC in less than a month and am also lookin for a solution. From you signature I found this thread and got the Amazon links you spoke of in the other thread, so you can disregard that message. It sounds like you've got a 2020 Taco. Mine is a 2019. Hopefully it will still work!

 

oops sorry if i missed your message, I think the '19s might have a different connector but the theory should work, just a different p/n

 

Bump

 

Right, maybe i should update this thread.

quick camper mods:

addition of a small inverter to power laptops


and a water accumulator to reduce wear on the pump, and a bit more wire tidying.


and then the big changes....

so, I've been looking for a new garage to move into for over a year, I don't know if you guys noticed during the suspension build how crowded the tiny 2 car garage was, but wife and I found what we were looking for and moved into the new place around Christmas last year.

a blank slate 30x40x14 barn.

no electricity, no heat, no insulation, nothing, built within the last year.

 

moving my fully loaded toolbox wasn't easy, but a winch sure makes things safer than doing it by hand!

 

Spray foamed the whole barn with 2" of closed cell,


hung up a bunch of lights using the most unmanueverable portable scaffolding in the world (known as a moving truck)


trenched and ran electricity out to the barn


spent ALL of my money on lumber (i am in about 3 trailer loads about this size already)


and building it into the workshop i want it to be (in the cold, no heat yet)


and we're mostly caught up.

I got the mini split delivered on monday so will be installing that soon!

 

Awesome update.

 

i spent a lot of time outdoors in one of what felt like the coldest weekends we've had and got the minisplit condenser mounted on a wall bracket and hooked up.
no idea how i used to get anything done square before buying this laser level.


Pole build structure means i need to add some studs to help support the heavy condenser.
again, laser level comes in handy to draw straight vertical lines to trim the expensive spray foam efficiently


and i have heat! been working very hard in the cold to get to this point


now i can finish walling the interior and it should be warm enough to mud the drywall.

also built up a new workbench, 1/2" steel top plate is my go-to with a 2x4 base.
i've never had the space to have a full walk-around island workbench, super excited about the stuff i can build on this thing in the future

 

working in the warmth is a nice change, got the rest of the drywall hung, lots of mudding, hung some more lights, making progress, but can't wait to be done working on the barn and back to truck stuff

 

Damn, looking sweet. What's the purpose of the little room near the man door? Little office or just an added layer of protection to keep heat from escaping when you walk in and out?

 

it's my compressor room, I hate having the compressor make so much noise I can't hold a conversation/hear music, so i decided to box in the room which also allows for a small amount of dust-proof storage (mainly so I can keep a clean bed for the dog when he wants to hang out in the barn with me) and other things. Room for longer term storage above too, which I haven't quite decided how to best utilize yet.
Definitely helps with being an airlock for less outside air making it in, but that's just a bonus.

 

I am not stalking your Instagram however… what now? Seem busy

 

ah yes thanks for the reminder to update here

hung a pair of 999CFM (according to the specs) ceiling fans which definitely move a bit more air than the one I originally put up, recycled from inside the house


painted the walls

pulled the weak little v6 out

(actually that's not true, i just bought another of the same engine hoist i sold a couple years back)

washed all the dust off before it snowed again


and last night i picked up a lathe

It's going to be nice being able to turn stuff again (had to sell my old lathe a couple years ago also to make room to fit into a tiny 2 car garage)