New Member, looking to buy 1st Taco

Hello all,
I'm Eric... newly transplanted to Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Just south of Jacksonville Beach) from Chicago and I'm looking to put together a new ride that's more appropriate hauling beach gear and surfboards to the beach, or a boat and wake boards to the river. I've always though that a Jeep Wrangler would be my vehicle of choice for an off-road capable second car, but after seeing all the tacos that locals drove on the island of Kauai (my Honeymoon), I realized that the Tacoma would be the ultimate family and outdoor gear hauler.
I'm new to the site, so I'll need to do plenty of reading before buying anything. At present I think I'm most interested in taking a '06 to '12 second gen Tacoma and getting it lifted 3-6", swapping out the front and rear bumpers for something a bit nastier and maybe getting a cloth canopy. From what I've seen so far, I think Mr. Grimm has it right.
Any help is appreciated. Right now I'm trying to figure out what the best taco to start with would be. I want it to be a Crew Cab 4x4, but don't exactly understand the difference in the specific designations: "TRD", "SRS", "TRD Pro" etc.
What's the best Host car to build up on a budget... I'm thinking $25-$30K all in?
Toyota trucks can run forever, but how many miles is too many?
Short bed vs long?
Looking forward to reading all of this info.
Thanks!