Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

Dresser is cool but the only park is Troll H. Ski resort. It opens Memorial weekend for trail riding or more less just playing . The other may be Apple Valley Farm by New Aburn WI. Wouldn't mind setting something up for WI TW . I've talked to them but it's ran by local 4x4 club.

 

Compared to what we now have, that is correct. Back in ‘91 when I bought a new Cherokee Sport, it outshined everything else on the market but for the insanely expensive Land Cruiser. It defined what the SUV would be.

 

New shoes going on the truck in a bit.



Giggety...

 

Only four?










j/k

 

Then it's time for you to come out and play!

 

Found a pack of zip ties on top of my skid during todays oil change. Anyone else ever find weird stuff on top of their skids?

 

Aw yeah... I have earned a new badge, leveling up to 33s.



I'll have to get some better pictures.

Had a bit of a snafu when we discovered that the OEM lug nuts weren't going to work. Had to hit 2 different stores to get enough because the ones I wanted were only available in packs of 20 for 5 lug wheels and they only had one pack at each store.

Love the look and I didn't find them much louder on my drive home. I think I'll keep 'em.

 

Thinking I need to get out and flex a bit tomorrow and see if I have any rubbing. Also need to figure out what to do with the full size spare. Maybe someone with welding skillz can help me out with one of these quick release bed rack ideas that have been floating around in my noggin.



@CygnusX191 maybe you can help with how to get 5 TPMS sensors programed for a 5 tire rotation. My buddy couldn't do 5 with his programming tool. Kept getting a failure, but we got it set fine for the 4 installed. Is there a way to get it to read 5 or will I need reprogramming each time I do a rotation?

 

Hell of a place to store zip ties...

 

This is the view from where I'm hanging out this evening. Paradise is right here.

 

Working theory is that I set the pack on the engine cover one day and forgot about them. They fell down and found a home on the skid. They’re back on the shelf now

 

Pretty damned nice looking.

 

I’ve heard a full size 33 should fit underneath but may require some “percussive maintenance” to the little tabs (you’ll see if you look). May also need to trim your exhaust a little or MacGuyver a heat shield so that new rubber doesn’t melt.

Those things do look pretty sweet, very curious to see how they perform over time!

 

And now for some tales from “up nort” or something like that. Woke up on time for once because I heard big rain drops and panicked because there wasn’t any rain in the forecast. Mother Nature is having mood swings or trying to drown me I swear, rain at least a little every day so far. But because of that I got biscuits and gravy in Laona at like the one place that was open.



Because thunderstorms and hiking don’t mix, I did some laundry too. Super exciting stuff. I smell slightly like a hobo still, but I don’t have to look like one!



Went out to Burnt Bridge picnic area in the National Forest to check on some rapids that look rather large on satellite. Trail head says Michigan Rapids. Did I drive too far north?



Trail was wet, muddy, slippery, lumpy with rocks and roots - not super fun given the conditions. Would be more enjoyable on a dry day. First set of rapids was boring. Second set was pretty good size and fun to look at.



I checked the GPS and this wasn’t what I marked as the possible falls. Gaia says the trail continues so I followed on hesitantly as I couldn’t see or hear anything downstream. Boy am I glad I kept going because my marker was a large falls/rapids that splits around and island and can’t even be shown in one photo.



The smaller channel surrounding the island also had some drops:



Lots of smaller rapids downstream and one final drop of 3-4 feet at the end. These phone pics really don’t do justice to this whole area, it’s pretty wild and doesn’t appear to get much traffic.



And at that exact moment is where my fun ended and the pain & torture began. You see, like a dummy I blindly trusted Gaia which had a trail marked. Surprise surprise that trail doesn’t exist any more! So then I bushwhacked up & over the cliff and back to the start through the soggy woods. This happens sometimes and makes for good stories but really zapped away all my energy. 5 or 6 miles total but it was the hard and stupid way aka my normal way lol.



As I was leaving, about a mile up the forest road I spotted something else along the river. So i stopped and walked the short trail to this uniquely formed rocky rapids on the Peshtigo River. Skeeters were swarming here so didn’t stay long; bugs in general haven’t been a problem but all the recent rain and mild temps I think is hatching some. Bring on the cold!



Couldn’t find a campsite nearby that didn’t have a bunch of weekend jackwads acting dumb so I drove back south to Governor Thompson State Park so I could have a hot shower. Begone, hobo smell! Also gives me a chance to try out a new DIY boot dryer I cobbled together from USB powered computer fans and some ducts I got off Etsy. Powered by a battery bank, let’s see how it works overnight.



Thunder and lightning in the distance. No rain forecasted for here, so I fully expect it to rain. It’s actually kind of humid/muggy right now and calling for low 80’s tomorrow - not a fan. Might actually just chill and do homework tomorrow because I’m sore and could stand to stop and smell the roses sometimes. Until tomorrow, TW.

Edit: Called it. Zeus has been blasting me with lightning and storms for 2 hours now.

 

Nice score on the rapids and falls! Also, I’m curious about the biscuits and gravy…decent?