05 Aug 06 Smiley Rock Trail, AZ. Report

[crawler#976]

Thanks to everyone for a great trip!

Total of 5 Toyota's - 3 Taco's, 2 FJC's

BX and Amy, FlyingWil and Wendy, FJCDriver, OffRoad Rage and his son "T", and my wife and I left Chino on a beautiful morning - cool and calm. We took Perkinsville road to the old narrow guage railroad bed (part of the Great Western Trail) and then headed up Martin Canyon. BX got a couple Geocaches along the way - one very unique one under the powerlines. In all the years I've been doing this trail I'd never identified Smiley Rock - now I know why. I've always gone past it to a optional portion of the creek bottom, and was more interested in picking the right line at that point. Stopped for lunch at Stupid Rock, then headed into Jerome for some eats and beverages at the Jerome Brewing Co. Tami and I then headed home via Perkinsville back to Chino Valley.

Here's a few pic's, I didn't get to many while spotting (DAMN that fly :xxrotflma )

[crawler#976]

more:

[BajaTaco]

Cool pics Mark. Looks GREEN! Sorry I missed it. I really would have liked to meet the FJ guys too. We did see BX and Amy on our way down to Phx - on Hwy 69. :smiley_drive: I flashed the lights and waved, but we were in the matrix, so BX was probably going... :confused:

LOL, you're not the only one who always misses the smiley face.

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Nice!

.....but wait!

Now just where is a pic of that Smiley ROCK>?!...........:sombrero:

[crawler#976]

Wished you'd been able to come Chris! Smiley Rock is a lot more fun in the Taco than the beater - actually need to pay attention! Diff'd the truck hard once and dinged the front skid. The greenery was fun to see, it's been a long spell of brown out there.

SWR - as far as we can tell Mr Smiley is all natural to boot! If there were tools used to create him, it was done a very long time ago.

[BajaTaco]

Nice!

.....but wait!

Now just where is a pic of that Smiley ROCK>?!...........:sombrero:

Mark posted one above... pretty cool (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2752&d=1154886704)!

Mark - glad you had a fun time. The Taco is lookin' awesome. You have some great shots of it.

[flyingwil]

Well, we had a great time and meet some really truely awesome people! Wen and I had a lot of fun!

Here our some of our pic's:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1030.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1032.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1028.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1027.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1014.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1023.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1009.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1008.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1006.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1004.jpg

[flyingwil]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1003.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1002.jpg

This one is my favorite! Norm let me drive his FJ, and this is a pic my wife took of our truck using his rear-view mirror!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_1001.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/flyingwil/Smiley%20Trail/IMG_0999.jpg

[BajaTaco]

Very fun pics Wil! Man, that little canyon looks so good right now. NICE

It's good to see your truck out on the trail again.

[crawler#976]

[The Great Karnak voice = ON]

Holding envelope to forehead:

"The answer is: FJCuiser"

...sound of envelope tearing open, blowing open end, and the questions is:

"What vehicle is Wil buying next for Wendy?"

[The Great Karnak voice = OFF]

:p

[flyingwil]

[The Great Karnak voice = ON]

Holding envelope to forehead:

"The answer is: FJCuiser"

...sound of envelope tearing open, blowing open end, and the questions is:

"What vehicle is Wil buying next for Wendy?"

[The Great Karnak voice = OFF]

:p

:hehe:

All I can say in response to that is that I am going to let her pick. She really does have her heart set on a second gen Yellow Xterra, but she did like the ride in Norm's FJ! I can't push her, but I can definitely give her hints. (she already shot down the 4Runner :( ) The thing I need to remember is that is going to be HER vehicle and not mine.

[datrupr]

Great shots guys. Thanks for posting up. Wish I was able to have been there, nothing better than an Isuzu to break up the monotony of Toyotas.:yikes:

[crawler#976]

datrupr - no doubt! how'd the vacation go?

[datrupr]

Mark, it was great. Thanks for asking. I have a little thread going on it in the General Discussion board. I will be posting up more and some pics here soon.

[jeffryscott]

Great shots guys. Thanks for posting up. Wish I was able to have been there, nothing better than an Isuzu to break up the monotony of Toyotas.:yikes:

A Zuk is fin to throw into the mix too. Welcome back.:jump: