I Feel Like I lived A Toyota Commercial This Weekend...

Or maybe I just used my truck for what it's designed for?

*Warning, long, boring post ahead*

My family owns a cabin in my local mountains and I make monthly treks to it to take care of maintence and to have a weekend away with my GF and sometimes her kid. This particular weekend rain we got snow (about 6" total) over about three days. That's a lot for us here in So.Cal.

We actually had quite a lot of work to get done on this trip to the cabin; mainly getting rid of some old furniture, building shelves, organizing (a never-ending task) and making a dump run. We also try to squeeze-in some four-wheeling and I had some old Homesteads I wanted to explore in the nearby desert so we had things to do.

Thursday night we purposely left Orange County late (about 8PM) to miss traffic. We had steady rain for the first half of our drive, which meant the mountains were getting snow. To that end we passed through a chain-control check-point, but being 4WD with chains stowed in my tool box we were waved on through. I hate installing chains and don't miss having to lay on the side of the road fighting with them. Fifteen minutes later we were driving in steady snow on snow-covered roads. A quick shift to 4 Hi and we were all set. The farther up the mountain we drove of course the snow storm got heavier, thankfully traffic was light (we stayed in a loose group of four or five trucks and SUV's) I did have to drop into 4Lo once in order to descend a steep grade (my Taco was loaded very heavy for the drive-up). The guy in front of me actually stopped to wait for us and soon we were back in 4Hi happily trudging through a couple of inches of snow. We arrived at our destination and were greeted to heavy snow, which being from a place which rarely gets any snow, amused us.

Friday was a mix of snow, melt, slush and more heavy snow in the evening so it was a good day for getting our chores done at the cabin. I taught my GF's kid how to use a Sawzall (and he still has all his fingers!) We ran errands in-town and enjoyed having to complain about needing to wear heavy jackets and silly hats just to go outside. Like I said snowy weather isn't something we get a lot of where I live. My Taco handled driving in the snow and slush like a champ (though the bed was still loaded with ~300 LBS of tools and gear so I had a lot of weight over my rear wheels) and we were able to go anywhere we wanted, which briefly included a late night drive in the hills to look at other cabins and a lesson for my GF in an empty, un-plowed parking lot on how 4WD and different traction modes work.

Saturday we woke-up to another couple of inches of fresh snow. Our plans had been to rent a utility trailer and make a dump run, complete our chores in the morning then spend the afternoon four-wheeling, however due to the fresh snow the rental place wasn't renting any trailers until the roads had been plowed so we switched our plans and spent the morning four-wheeling in the desert.

On our way back to town we picked-up the trailer I'd rented, hurriedly loaded it with all the furniture and crap we'd collected the day before and made a quick trip to the dump.

So through a long weekend of working, playing, driving in a mix of white-out conditions, rain, slush, rock, dirt my Taco never faltered once! I mean it needs a bath now and my GF's kid is not a fan of the rear seat but we make the best of it! I hope whatever you did with your Taco this weekend you had fun!


Friday morning at the cabin.


The tool boxes in my bed became ice boxes this weekend!


Exploring in the desert. My people don't like wind, thus the ski goggles LOL!


This rental trailer had been to the local dump so many times I'm pretty sure it could have led the way!