Calling all Toyota owners in the Lynchburg and Charlottesville and surrounding areas!

Where dem MOAB pics bruh

 

Working on it! Goin to see the girl this weekend and she's got more than I do, planning to finish the saga/journal and throw in pics where they fit and then putting the rest up on the RT '16 pic thread

 

I know I've taken forever.. I'm writing the last critical day of our trip report tonight and tomorrow and will have up a couple days with pictures this weekend

 

So... Don't have the pictures in order yet but I'll at least put up the log for the trip out.. It's enough of a read to start... Enjoy:

DAY 1:


Left the house at 10 till 9, actually on time for once with a starting mileage of 200,559 on the truck. Whit wanted to drive first cuz we were both tired. On the way to drop Roo off at shiffys, while sitting in Whit's lap, she ate her breakfast, finally a hungry pup! I attempted to sleep for a little bit but that didn't last too long, probably just too excited for this whole trip.


Not long after the exit for Lexington we started watching for license plates to see how many we can collect over the whole trip... 8 in about 10 minutes isn't bad but we already know AK and HI are gonna be tricky! I'm learning slowly that Whit has some serious road rage... Nothin really bad she just likes to yell about the other drivers, thankfully she's not aggressive with the wheel though.


We stopped on Bristol, VA for our pre scheduled lunch at Pals (a place Whitney has been to before with her friends from boarding school). Come to find out the axel is broken (I don't actually know what is wrong but that's my take on it) so luckily we were near an Auto Zone and Travis bought a new axel and a few other tools. Started to fix it but decided we're just going to roll and pray we don't die . I decided to take that time and get some steps in so in between being the helper I did lunges and walked circles around the truck #roadtripworkout. Lets just say the mood in the truck isn't the best - I'm doing great and my burger from pals was delicious. Travis has yet to eat his.

But we are back on the road and have officially crossed into TENNESSEE!! Nashville here we come!

Oh and we saw a dead bear on the side of the road - weird and some douche bag motorcyclist.


Currently 4:54pm and we are still 3hours 30 minutes from our destination. 8 hour day my ass. However, it has gone by very quickly for the both of us. We just made a stop in Pigeon Forge at a moonshine distillery and left with a few memorable items - the legendary coffee moonshine as one of them. Shot glass, koozies, tshirt for Smitty, a present for Caitlin and Jacksons upcoming bar shower...you know the essentials.

Worst public bathrooms I think we have both entered ... Come on Tennessee.


Last night we made it to Sumners house around 7:30 with no break downs . Showered and changed and headed down to Broadway for some dinner. I think Travis was very overwhelmed and we were both extremely tired so our Nashville experience wasn't exactly as I had planned. No worries this just means we get to come back! - right babe?

The restaurant we planned to go to (Merchants) was an hr and a half wait time so we decided to walk and find something. Worst decision ever. We ended up at Rock Bottom Brewery - good beer, terrible food. We then walked back down Broadway and got some beers and listened to music at a more tame bar for Nashville. All in all in glad Travis was able to see a place I've been to and love.


DAY 2:


Woke up and decided to not try again to swap out the axle it's not making hardly any noise yet and while its loosing grease, until I need 4wheel drive it should be fine. Also talked to a couple guys who will be in Moab with us who have further assured me to just keep going unless it gets noisy and they'll help me swap it when we get there.


So we woke up around 730 and walked to breakfast (Nashville is almost silent at that hour) at Fido's. After walking back, we packed up, fluids checked as well as the axle, everything looked good so we were off to the Lane Motor Museum before leaving Nashville.


The museum was really cool, minus a few new examples to show how companies like Fiat and Honda have progressed it was all really old cars and a lot from either foreign or past manufacturers. Whit loved all the tiny cars from Japan and the English isles that were actually intended for 2 people but barely looked like they'd fit 1.. And most of those were 3 wheelers!! They also had a really cool electrically driven cut-open of how a drivetrain works. Everything from the pistons and cams to the fly wheel and clutch all the way to the rear hubs. One of the manufacturers (Tarta I think?) had a really interesting chassis design that eliminated the traditional frame set up and featured and tube system that connected the front and rear axles and invaded the driveshaft. It also allowed them to make the cars with 4way independent suspension! Both from and rear axles articulated in the center and had one big leaf spring pack that went from side to side! Outside they had a US Army LARC XL and that thing is HUGE!! 9ft tall tires, each wheel independently driven by a Detroit diesel and aquatic! After that, we stopped for ice and got back on the road to St. Louis.


Nashville to St. Louis.. And after.. Was pretty boring. The highway is tucked in to mostly tree line that you basically can't see over and when you can it's at the top of a hill looking down the next long stretch. The expanse of trees and farms was pretty, but after 6 hours, repetitive. We decided to skip the arch tour until the return trip because when we called hey said the earliest we could get tickets for was 715 (it was 4). But due to a mishap during a detour, we did get a pretty close up view during a short re-route through the city. Sense we didn't stop for the arch we decided to continue till about an hour before sunset. This put us just outside of Columbia, MO in Finger Lakes State Park.


Soooo we get to the campsite. It seems pretty nice. There were lots of people with 4 wheelers and such riding around. We get to our spot and our neighbors aren't the best. The mom is some fat asshole - I heard nothing so this is all from Travis. But we set up camp and start cooking. Tonight's dinner is pasta and vodka sauce with a side of Brussels sprouts... and you can't forget the wine . Everything went pretty smoothly until it came to actually eating dinner and I can't see my food - thanks Travis. Dumbass didn't get a lantern so we ate in the dark.

After dinner we washed the dishes and cleaned up then sat around for 1 more drink before turning in. This is when it got exciting...we met RALPH! Ralph is my new best friend...the raccoon. He decided that it didn't matter whether we were in bed or still up, he wanted some pasta (I don't blame him - it was good). Well he scared the living shit out of me and wouldn't go home - I almost died. He paid us about 3 visits even though he was never invited.

Rude.

All in all it was a very tame and uneventful first night camping experience for us. We both slept great - I think I know why Travis did . On to the next day!


DAY 3:


Day three has so far been pretty damn boring... I woke up a little after 6, laid there fighting sleep until 7 with the alarm and went ahead and got up. We both took advantage of the showers at the camp, I made breakfast (omelettes) and then we packed up and got on the road. Oh.. With a stop at Bass Pro for Whitney to get a lantern.. Apparently she wants to be a bug magnet, haha!


From there we hopped back on 70 and rolled right through Kansas City shortly after. We stopped in Topeka for gas, lunch and more dry ice, so far that's held out great! The 10lb block I got Saturday morning was just starting to fade but the frozen stuff is still solid and the rest of the cooler is nice and cold. After that.. Kansas. And enough said..


I was hoping to hit great flat ground and make up time but instead it's been LONG hills, not terribly steep just crazy long and apparently the truck doesn't like maintaining 80 on those, got a little hot, so we're going to continue on to Colorado at 75 where is seems happy.


We finally made it to Colorado and right when I thought we were in the clear we hit a huge windstorm! There was dust coming up from the fields and I was fighting the truck to stay straight. I also almost peed my pants so we stopped on the side of the road during this wind storm and switched drivers as well. Come to find out that we just missed a huge hail storm with 70 mph winds - so that's great. And there was some dust tornado thingy.

But the east side of Colorado is not very pretty or very different from Kansas. We made it to a KOA campsite at around 8pm. There was a bar/restaurant across the road which we took advantage of and got some pizza for dinner. The bar wasn't too crowded, just a few left over drunks from earlier in the evening. We made friends with the bartender, Sharon, and a navy guy that worked on airplanes.

It's chilly here in Colorado - we needed the big blanket and curled up. Our neighbors again were not the greatest...some kid either had swimmers ear or sunburn and he would not stop screaming.

We're excited about the next day cause we get to see the Rockies and will finally make it to Moab!!


DAY 4


We woke up this morning - Travis got up at about 5 - and it was a bit chilly! In the 40s. It had rained the night before and there was still a light rain coming down which made it even worse to pack up. We both took showers and Travis made breakfast on the back of the truck. We had to eat inside cause of the rain. We got out of there as fast as possible and off to Denver we went! Travis started driving and was so giddy once we saw the Rockies in the distance. We got to a small overlook in Frisco, CO and decided to get out and take a photo - well I wanted to take a photo Travis just wanted to look. I started driving from there cause I was getting car sick (typical). We looked for s coffee place here but it was closed so we decided to try the next town. Colorado is beautiful and it was so funny to see how excited Travis was looking at all the mountains. This was a perfect change of scenery from fucking Kansas - exactly what we needed.

The next town over was Vail so we stopped here for some coffee. It's a cute little ski town, but lots of construction going on.

We then proceeded to our next mission...pot. Travis had researched a place in Glenwood springs, CO so we headed there. Another cute town. We stopped and walked around, but come to find out the place was only medicinal marijuana so we just started walking to see if there was another place. We found one! It was in a house next to a law office - fitting. You walk in and both of us had to show our IDs to make sure you're 21. Once we did that we proceeded upstairs to where you purchase your shit. There was an old couple up there with us which I thought was funny. Travis was overwhelmed and I think really excited. He got some candies and one kind of pot to smoke and a piece (I picked that out). And we paid and left - easy as that.

We were both hungry so we walked down the street and decided to eat at a place called Smoke (again, fitting) - the lady at the pot shop had recommended it. It was pretty good - I got a salad and Travis got a pulled pork sandwich.

On the road again. A little after we left Glenwood Springs we saw another Tacoma on the road and Travis flagged him down and started talking to him on the CB. We drove with him the rest of the way. He seemed perfectly nice and had been to Moab before.

The rest of the drive to Moab was really pretty too which helped pass the time (among other things ) we finally get there and the town of Moab is really cute (I think). Everything is on the main strip but they have lots of restaurants etc. we see all the places I've researched. Camp is about 15 minutes outside of the town of Moab. As you're driving there are beautiful rock formations on either side of the road and you can see the Rockies with snow still on the top of them (even though it's about 80 in town). We get to camp which is a little ways off the highway on a dirt road and the whole place is basically a playground for trucks (Travis is in heaven). We find out campsite for the next 4 days and set up camp. We talked with a few people and since it was still so hot out we decided to go find a swimming hole. The hike was about a mile but we soon realized the altitude difference - well I did, Travis seemed fine. The swimming hole was pretty big but the water was freezing so we just waded a little. We walked back down the creek a little ways and headed back to the truck. Travis found a little present left behind on the way back and we took a few detours to climb some rocks and look at the views.

Once back at camp we started making dinner - burgers and Brussels sprouts. After dinner we decided to walk around to the other campsites and introduce ourselves. We met some cool people and Kayla and Bob who are the head of Rock Therapy. This was an early night for the both of us so we headed to bed shortly after.

 

The wires car discussed in Day 2:



Day 2's camp, the first one in the trip







The river on the way up to the waterfall outside of Moab was COLD!!




But worth it!!!

 

I want to see some wheeling

 

Hey fellas! I recently purchased a RTT from CVT and unfortunately they sent me the wrong tent. If anyone is in the market for one or interested in a deal, I bet CVT would cut you one on the Mt Shasta I have sitting in my storage unit. Otherwise, I guess they're going to come pick it back up when they go to the Overland Expo in Asheville.

 

If you don't mind.. Obviously you can't speak to how much they may discount it but how much did you pay for it?

 

He said he'd sell it for $1300. It's normally $1500 + shipping

 

Wow... Time for me to start counting pennies.

 

Damnit!! If only I'd already counted enough pennies!!

 

Y'all let me know whenever. I'm going to hang on to it, boxed up, for @Cascadia Tents until Overland East in October. Great deal...essentially $400 off the normal price

Again, It's the Mt Shasta in earth tone green with the Stargazer option

 

As I saw in an earlier thread... I wasn't plannin on fappin today but DAMN that's a good deal on a GREAT tent!

 

I'm coming up to Lynchburg next week to get my son settled in at Liberty. It would be cool if I could meet up with some of you guys. I don't know what our schedule is going to be. Just that we'll have to be there on the 25th and leaving on Sunday.

 

Ahh man, would love to but I'll be in Denver next week

 

Hope its for fun not work. There will be other chances to meet up, I'm sure we will be coming up there several times to visit your son.

 

Heading to Red Rocks, so fun