Keiko the Tacoma - An Evolution of Needs

Toiyabe

Adventurer
Fall trip completed.

So, it was a great trip.

About 10k miles, of which about 1800 was off-pavement, some somewhat technical, but mostly forest/desert roads.
The truck performed very well, with only a few faults.
One of the cap's struts sheared the rivets where it attached to the top. This was somewhat my fault, as I used a different spare then planned, and it rubbed there.
One of the headlights burned out, resulting in me getting pulled over twice in one night – once in Utah, and once in Arizona. Bought a replacement in Kanab, and everything was fine.
An electrical connector on the trailer wiring failed, and I didn't have trailer brakes for a few days. Didn't really notice, despite being in Utah and Colorado. Fixed at tmleader03's shop in Denver.
The alternator stopped charging (original) somewhere in Nebraska. I found a parts store, yanked it off, and had it tested. It worked fine. Put it back in and it has been fine all the way home.

NPS sites we visited on this trip, in order:

Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Glacier National Park.
Mount Rainier National Park.
Olympic National Park.
Lewis and Clark national Historic Park.
Tule Lake Segregation Camp - Valor in the Pacific National Historic Park.
Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Yosemite National Park.
Bodie State Park.
Manzanar National Historic Park.
Death Valley National Park.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Mounmuent.
Bryce Canyon National Park.
Zion National Park.
Grand Canyon (both rims) National Park.
Monument Valley.
Mesa Verde National Park.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Curecanti National Recreation Area.


Ann Arbor on the way out. We delivered the Volvo to the new owner as well.




Fairly typical camping for us. This was somewhere in Minnesota. The fall colors were very evident.




The dogs had a great time. The little one is Kootenai, the big one is Inyo.




TRNP had Bison. We got very close one day. I need to wait until the wife has sorted her pictures.







Cutbank, Colorado. Getting much colder. Very empty campgrounds until the Southwest.





Glacier.








 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
Montana/Idaho Panhandle.







Rainier was fogged out the whole time. Sad. Olympic was wonderfully atmospheric.










The drive down to Lassen, through the area of my youth, was wonderful.








Lassen is one of my two favorite parks.







 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
After Lassen, we went down the spine of the Sierras through Quincy, Truckee, Tahoe, and then over to 395 from Carson to Bishop. My favorite area in the world.








Mono Lake (**** LA).







Yosemite.







This one gas station in Lee Vining had 5 white first-gen Tacomas, all 4wd with caps.





Bodie and environs.








 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
Manzanar.





Death Valley.






Bryce Canyon.











Honda, what were you doing there?








In Zion, an elderly couple had a flat in the tunnel, so Ruth and I changed it for them. Fewer pictures as a result.



 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
Grand Canyon. Beautiful, but our enjoyment was partially destroyed by the actions of some (French) tourists. They tried to burn an ENTIRE TREE in their campsite.










 

gtbensley

Explorer
That gas station was challenged. Not sure I would have filled up! Probably had diesel in one of the gas nozzles! How long where you guys out on that last trip? Looks amazing.
 
I feel like I am seeing a trend with a V6/5-manual .... :) I love the scenery all around, and the great quirks along the way. I had just a question. Does your significant other know how to operate a manual transmission? Kinda of curious...

another subscription thread to add to my collection.
 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
I feel like I am seeing a trend with a V6/5-manual .... :) I love the scenery all around, and the great quirks along the way. I had just a question. Does your significant other know how to operate a manual transmission? Kinda of curious...

another subscription thread to add to my collection.

She refuses to own an automatic, and she was that way before we met. Lucky me.
The major reason we sold the Volvo XC70 we had was that she hated driving an automatic.

Her cars are a Volvo C30 six-speed, and a 1968 Triumph TR250. She has also pretty much taken over the Miata.
 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
Another successful trip

And it was a great one.

Maryland to LA to Whitefish to Maryland.

Pics and narrative are as follows:


Day 1, left Maryland around 1030. Drove 64 to just west of St. Louis. Boring, long day. Nice sunset, however.







Day 2, left St. Charles and drove to Denver to see tmleader03. Another long drive, just making time. Cheap gas (lowest I saw on this trip was $1.61, and passed Obama's motorcade in Kansas. More state troopers and interesting support than I've ever seen. Nice sunset in the Plains.






Day 3, hung around at tmleader03's shop, pretended to work on cars, the normal. Ate well. Great weather.


 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
Day 4 was Denver to Ely, Nevada.
A reasonable day, with lots of terrain and climatic variation. Lowest temp of the day was at Loveland Pass at 8, and highest was outside Delta, Utah at 62.Lots of good Basin and Range, great Nevada highways, and a stop at Ward Charcoal Ovens.
I did some hiking in Echo Canyon, which was brisk, and a little around Taylor and Ward.














 

Toiyabe

Adventurer
Day 5 was exploring Great Basin National Park, again. I was there on it's opening weekend, back in 1986...
Hiking at the Visitor Center, a tour of Lehman Caves, An attempt to go up the road to the Bristlecone Pine Forest (stymied above the mine/ghost town on the junction of NF 453 by deep snow at about 9800ft), and a complete circumnavigation of the Snake Range. Then a trip to Cave Lake where I missed the ice fishing derby, but did some hiking. Then a bit of Ely after dark.
Dogs I like are everywhere in Nevada. What a shock...
Also, some nasty black ice this morning.





















 

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