5th gen 4Runners in scenic locations

Caught the full "blood moon" this past Wednesday near Marmaduke, Arkansas (Greene Co.). Was there visiting a friend earlier in week.

 

Alma, CO

 

There’s a bunch of hiking trails and camp grounds but no 4x4 off road trials.

 

Halfmoon Creek/Iron Mike, CO

 

The planning has begun for an 11k mile round-trip from Phoenix, Arizona to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, with a few side trips and more to be added along this macro-route, sometime between Jun-Sep 2023.

 

Wow! That is an ambitious road trip! That blows the doors off of my Maryland to Grand Junction, CO & Moab, UT road trip / mountain bike venture this Fall. Enjoy!

 

That's the plan. Been postponing since driving (not in a 4Runner) south from Phoenix, AZ to Yaviza, Panama, Central America in 2012.

That aside, Maryland to Moab for mountain biking is pretty AWESOME too! Enjoy your trip and be safe!

 

Our (Mine, really) is to do all of Route 66. Done Santa Monica (Pacific Ocean) to Albuquerque so far, including "Old/Historic" Route 66 side trips. We had planned on doing the Alaskan Hwy this year, but COVID restrictions and my heart put the nix on that

 

Carry 2 spares if you'll be on the Dalton highway

 

In 2010, while driving to Florida from Arizona I had two tire failures on 1-10 at 80mph. The first (rear driver) in New Mexico and the second (rear passenger) about 150 miles later and just short of the exit to a Tire Discount in Texas, and had to be towed in due to no spare tire.


New Mexico


Texas

Because of that event, on my trip to Central America I took two spares. On that trip not a single tire issue. NOT ONE! And also changed the wheels before driving to Central America, because on an unrelated trip in Mexico they were not able to change a tire due to the custom rims. By the way, ALL the failed tires were BFGoodrich.


Atlantic Ocean, Costa Rica coast.

 

Mine, really as well However, mine includes my co-pilot, India, an Australian cattle dog. And "ours" when My Life flies in and out during the ~3month trip.

 

You have guts of steel to drive down there to Central America. What is it like? I would think you could run into some bad dudes.

 

Long story short, yes. While this is NOT my story it's worth listening to Forest's story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weGvennLr88

 

Every year we make our New Mexico to Pennsylvania trip. It’s always been made in our Honda CRV pulling a 5x8 enclosed trailer. This year it will be with the 4Runner pulling the trailer. We will spend a month and a half at our cottage in Pa.

 

Watch expedition overland's central America series, gives you a good idea.

 

@Knitted Brow

Good post I’ll pass on that nonsense including the resorts too.

Years ago I was in the outskirts of Detroit in a suit and tie for work and needed gas. It was snowing and a dude came to hold me up at the pump asking for cash with a pistol in his coat. Somehow by Gods grace I said I need to use my card to get cash inside meet me inside and I’ll get a cash advance. He said ok since it was snowing and cold. As soon as he got inside I pulled the pump out and on the ground and got in car and hauled off onto the freeway which was right there.

Now I have more street smarts and never let my tank go below half and if I need to go anywhere near downtown which is rare it’s full. It’s funny because any major US city I am always careful and if I have a car it’s a full tank of gas.

I can’t imagine a whole gang of cartels. I will stay in the states and rural areas

 

Gotta watch out in those rural areas too. Just ask Ned Beatty.

 

Big Bear Ca

 

Dalton is fairly easy. It's pretty over hyped from a difficulty level IMO, unless it's super wet. We carried two spares and needed none. I guess redundancy can't hurt, but I'd prefer to economize space and weight and carry 1 spare and a good plug kit and pump.

 

Growing up between New York and Puerto Rico in the 70-80's well aware of inner city crime. Puerto Rico, the ONLY USA Territory or State to deploy the US National Guard to combat (literally) crime. NOT once. NOT twice. NOT three times. But four times between the 90s and early 2000s. But I digress.

That's funny. In traveling around the globe I noticed that folks near the coast are mostly happy-go-lucky and folks in the rural mountainous regions are either anti-government or up to something, NOT all but enough. Because of that prejudice I specifically planned my trip to Panama along the coast. Unfortunately, a hurricane at the time took out a major bridge that diverted traffic through the mountains and where I ran into trouble. Having said that, that single event did NOT justify my prejudice but it did add to my prejudice. Interestingly, I have worked in rural Arizona the past ~10 years, and where NOT all but enough are either anti-government or up to something as well. And by rural I mean, off the grid NO microwave or running water, the closest chest X-ray is 30+ miles away and the closest CT-Scan is ~100 miles away. Sadly, McDonald is always present, but I digress.

Be safe.

 

Same, carried two and needed none. Yet, when carried one needed two. Maybe that's the solution, carry two to need none.

 

I remember going to PR and staying San Juan a few days before cruises. I stayed in the Condado district where some newer big hotel names were. I would walk to church on Saturday night and see armed guards or police of some sort.

At the church there seemed to be a lot of retirees from the US mainland all in shorts and I thought to myself I could not stay here for the winter.

I did not see much of the island to draw any self conclusions but the area I was in close to the cruise dock was a bit rough.

The people though in the shops and restaurants etal were super friendly and I think appreciated that I tried to speak some Spanish the little that I knew. Hopefully someday I can go back and see more of the island.

 

India and I went on an overnight (originally ~270 miles, ~70 miles offroad) to try out a few things but had to cut it short because the planned route was about another 1-2 days longer than thought initially and more flash floods were in the forecast for the area. The trip was a tiny segment (black circle) of the humongous 700+ mile Arizona Peace Trail (PCT), which extends from Yuma, AZ to Kingwood, AZ, and is mostly offroad. In the circle, we entered the desert off I-10 and headed north along the purple route.



Once cloudy and it began to drizzle I placed pin drops as campsites if I had to turn around because of flash floods.



We made it just south of Salome, AZ where just off the dirt road offered a flat campsite with 360 degrees of elevated ground.



Because rain was in the forecast, I left the tailgate cracked open with a carabiner in the latch for air circulation rather than leaving the rear window open and having to wake up in the middle of the night to close it because of rain.



One of the things we wanted to try out was India's raised bed. She loves it and it's much easier to store a collapsable bed than one that requires disassembly to fit. As a bonus, India smelled, heard, saw, or all the above three wild burros in the distance before I could see them five minutes later (in the picture). While wild burros are no big deal in the desert, a pack of coyotes, a troop of javelinas, a mountain lion (even if only seen one ever, on a previous trip), or something else is problematic. So Good Girl India! And she's but 5 months.



The next morning we headed out thinking, at least I, could we make it through the entire planned route and make it home before sunset? However, after the first two hours and barely covered another 10 miles, it was obvious I had chewed more than I could eat as the dirt roads required lots of walking and assessing road obstacles, tree trimming, and unintentional coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) spreading along the way in order to fit the 4Runner through.



With more rain in the forecast, I opted to bail and return. Not to mention, India was not liking the heat during her sleep at night. Thus, return in early to mid fall when cooler, as ice-type AC units would not last days in the desert, and the fan was not sufficient for her either, (she told me so).

The thought to bail, after just 35 miles offroad and another 35 miles to go, cemented when coming across a muddy road in an otherwise dried wash before an otherwise dried river bed! Did I mention, more rain and flash floods on the way. And later ahead another muddy obstacle from recent rain in the same dried river bed! I always describe the desert to outsiders as "While the desert is enticing it's ten-times unforgiving." As well known, the pictures do not do either muddy obstacle justice. While I take risks. I do not take risks with others and why I bring India with me. The first obstacle took a bit of work in order to decrease the camber and keep the vehicle from sliding into the mud and where there was no anchor point to winch from. I also had to clear a drivable path that was obstructed by fallen trees that parallelled the muddy puddle. The second puddle obstacle, while initially intimidating without an anchor to winch from either if bogged down in the mud. But after walking through the puddle it was passable and home we went and arrived safely. Whew!

 

Long Island, NY

 

Winfield, CO

 

Thanks for stimulating the economy there. Every bit counts. I am neither bashing PR or can because I am from there. I am simply sharing my experience. Following Mom's and Pop's deaths I told family in PR I have no reason to be back, for me it's always been that bad.

 

Not sure if the National Guard (NG) was deployed in LA or Portland. If so, Puerto Rico (PR) did so four times in some 10 years. Also, in PR, the NG was NOT in a supportive role but an active role. The NG was side by side with police knocking down doors chasing criminals.

I stand corrected, as of 2013, the NG in PR had been deployed to fight crime 5 (FIVE) times since 1992 (so 20 years, NOT 10). https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/...join-the-fight-against-drug-and-weapons-traf/

 

At the top of Guanella Pass today. Sawtooth Peak is center, over the sunroof.