Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

That little bit of rain was enough to cover my yard in them......again.

 

Don't worry, you'll get home just in time for the rain!

 

Make a pile and jump in it

 

This is excellent! Hope you're hanging on to your notes and such because I have a feeling others will be throwing money at you for one when they see what what we have brewing.

 

Mr Gumby!

 

I have 2 oversized yellow labs.

 

Probably for the better.

I used a series of NU 'scratch doctor', NU Finish, turtle wax spray ceramic and some elbow grease.

Worked wonders..I've used all those products separately before and they work mediocre. That combination was mint.

Like a mirror.

 

Carefully make a pile and then jump in it

 

Ammo Can Fire Pit

Just ordered the Original LavaBox Firepit:
https://fireanytime.com/products/island-of-misfit-lavaboxes-scratch-dent?variant=50461429563665

Curious if anyone here has one or has made their own.

 

I’m okay with that, just hope my grass isn’t 3 feet long by now. Really don’t want to cut it again if I don’t have to!

…

Was without signal for a couple days so here’s the finale to my adventure.

10/25: Only small updates from the road today. I camped in Oklahoma at Natural Falls State Park. Super quiet, super inexpensive, super nice. Thought the trail to the falls would be this 1 mile death march down a cliff but it was actually super easy on big fancy viewing platforms. Score!



George Washington Carver National Monument was super cool. Not a whole lot of exciting outdoorsy stuff there but there is a short 3/4 mile nature hike and a pond. GWC is a legendary dude and I suggest everyone read about the man and what he accomplished, even as a refresher to whatever you learned in school. Legend.




I drove as far east as I could today to reach Taum Sauk Mountain which is the high point of Missouri (sorry @Shellshock no big digging machine on this one but thanks for the idea!). I screwed up and didn’t realize last light is like 6:15pm not 7:15pm because now I’m back in central time zone. Grabbed a campsite at Big Spring park just because I was like right down the road. Lots of clouds preventing starry skies, but now that I had time to see the map apparently that Big Spring thingy is right down the road from me so it’s first up for tomorrow.



10/26: Rained on & off last night disrupting my sleep. Woke up late and drove to the Big Spring trailhead expecting another 1 mile hike. Again to my surprise it’s basically right there, no long hike needed. This spring is apparently one of the largest in the US and the world. Damn thing gushing like a waterfall, pretty amazing.



Made it to Taum Sauk Mountain high point. Not very exciting, just a spot in the woods. There is a trail leading to Mina Sauk falls which is supposed to be pretty amazing but I reluctantly declined because I forgot it Saturday and the place was crawling with people and also ignorant people with dogs off leash and I can’t tolerate that long without catching a case. Another time.



Started heading north from there and wound up at the Ulysses S Grant Historical Site. Has the plantation house where he lived and met his wife at, as well as an incredible museum of which I haven’t seen as well done at any other NPS site thus far. Another surprisingly interesting place even for such a small site.



From here I was stuck. Can’t visit anywhere else before 5pm closing times other than the Gateway Arch and yeah lol not doing that last minute on a Saturday either. Decided it’s time to wrap up my journey and headed home. 5,183 miles total in 23(?) days which is about what I estimated at the start based on past outings.



Quick run through the car wash to remove some dirt/bugs and hide new pinstripes from the camera. Got home and found my thermostat batteries died and it was like 50 degrees inside and go figure I didn’t have any new batteries. All good now, how amazing to have heat and a roof and a bed without wheels again. And a shower with hot water, oh glorious shower how I needed thee. Goodnight TW.



PS - I lied I’m not done. Colorado and Texas drivers are my least favorite but I have a new found appreciation for the Missouri hill people. They got roads there with zero shoulder and drops off the cliff yet these maniacs drive like Ricky Bobby on the final lap of the Daytona 500. They aren’t bad drivers because they keep it between the lines, they are just maniacs who have little regard for living or dying. I am both impressed and disgusted. Ok now I’m done goodnight.

 

I decided to try some cowboy coffee this morning, because I don't really love the coffee out of my regular drip style machine. This is much better! Anybody else do it that way? Seems like the same concept as a French press but without the equipment.

 

I resemble that. Truck thinks it's a Subaru on the back hills..... Lol

 

Was out 2x this weekend.
Mulch them up as they fall and you'll never have to lift a rake.

 

But, then how will you ever make a big-ass pile to jump in ?

 

We don't over at this household.
Sharp blades and mulching guards.

 

Finally got to my new brake pads and rotors today. I don't think I swore once or called any bolts f'ing whores or anything. Every once in a while a project goes smoothly with no surprises!

 

Still catching up from while I was in Germany. Surprisingly while I was able to read posts I was unable to like posts or make new posts. Must have had to do with the IP addy.
anyway to stay slightly on topic here are some vehicles I saw.


rental was a Audi A4 wagon. Diesel engine. Too many nanny features for my taste. And not a lot of pickup at least not when loaded with 4 Americans.

I didn’t see many Hilux’s. Very few pickups actually. Most were ford rangers. This was in the work parking lot. Nice Alucab camper in back.

SxS are evidently legal on the roads. This one had a plate on the back.

Saw this Ariel Atom while walking back from the Stadt. Looked like a F1 car on the street.

I did see a few Land Rover Defenders. All in nice condition and built up.

This Land Cruiser was in decent shape but I wouldn’t want to take it on the autobahn with leaf springs all round.

Saw a lot of camper vans and RV’s.

Most of the work trucks I saw were like this. Van front end with a flat tray in back.

 

The Tacoma as a front wheel drive vehicle is a handful. Don't remember my Ranger being so quircky in this format. The slip yoke was sooooooo bad my goodness the shaft was in need of work. Good thing I gave it a smack so it could go back.

 

Was the Rangers front d.s off centered like the Tacoma?

On the way back from Bayfield in 4HI, the truck really wanted to pull on brake/accel with that dry road.