Unfortunately I'm not a rogue travelling photographer. Also not pulling stumps in the southern heat, that would be miserable. I did my time working outdoors in the summers down here...

I did the shifter bushings today, easy project. Took 2 hours with a break to eat dinner halfway through. I can't believe how tight the shifter feels now, it's a huge difference.

I believe the IAC is integrated into the throttle body on the 01-02s so it does get cleaned with the throttle body, but I'll have to double check.

It would be really had to put a number on mine also, I'm not sure what I would do even if the other person was holding cash in their hand. I also don't see anyone else driving away in my 4Runner, it's mine.

My undergrad was mechanical engineering, but I'm going the business route for grad school. I don't have any big trips planned unfortunately... The good news for you is I still have like 2 weeks worth of pictures from my trip last May that I haven't posted, which I plan to post soon haha

Finished the spark plugs, wires, coil boots, throttle body cleaning, MAF cleaning, and tightening of valve covers this weekend. Everything went pretty smoothly, all of the valve cover bolts were fairly loose and needed at least one full turn to get back to their torque. The throttle body and intake manifold was pretty clean though, which was nice to see. I tried to clean up the valve covers as well as they were starting to get kinda filthy.

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Still assembling the parts needed for the TB and WP job. I need to buy a pulley holder of some sort for doing the camshaft seals, I will most likely do them this time around as I didn't do them last time.

Alright, time to get started with some more updates from my trip almost a year ago...

Day 7 - Yellowstone

I woke up in the morning quite hot from the sun beating down on me again, and to the voices of some people that were walking the trail. I couldn’t tell the night before, but I had picked a pretty scenic campsite for the night.

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I packed my things, and headed back down the mountain. I decided I’d drive back into Cody to grab breakfast. I stopped at a small place called “Our Place”. They advertised 25 cent coffee, so I was sold. I was also the youngest person in here by 40 years that wasn’t with their grandparents, so it had to be good. I got the huevos rancheros and was not disappointed.

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After breakfast I went across the street and got gas. Now I was ready for Yellowstone. I hopped on highway 14 and headed west towards the park. The scenery got better the closer I got to the park.

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I made it through the gate, and started the long steep ascent up, the temperature dropping all the way. I passed by a frozen lake on the side of the road, that had attracted every tourist to stop and take pictures. I continued on and stopped at this vista point, looking over the still partially frozen Yellowstone lake. The water was so still the mirror like reflection off the water was stunning.

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I drove down the mountain to the lakes edge. A storm was starting to brew along the north side of the park.

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The frozen part of the lake started a little farther back from the edge of the water. The edge of the water was steaming. It seemed peculiar at first, then I remembered I was standing on a massive volcano.

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It’s a strange feeling to put your hand in water that’s literally got huge blocks of ice in it, and find the water scalding hot.

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The water was incredibly clear in the lake, and the green streaks in the water due to the volcanic activity are very interesting to observe.

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Back on the road, I spotted my first wildlife in the park.

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I pulled over on the side of the road and watched this massive guy eat some grass. These animals are huge…

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The storm seemed to be getting a closer and larger.

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I stopped along the Yellowstone River on my way towards the mud volcano. I took only a few pictures before a lightning strike scared me back into the 4Runner…

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I drove up to the Mud Volcano, and despite the rain that was coming down I walked around the boardwalks and observed the murky bubbling water.

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From here I drove north towards the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I parked in the parking lot next to some people shoveling ice out from the cowl under their windshield. Apparently I had just missed a massive hailstorm that dumped so quick and fast everyone came to a stop in the road. The weather changes so quickly out there.

The canyon itself was beautiful, and the stones really are yellow here.

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From here I intended to head north towards the Tower-Roosevelt area, but that road was closed, so I headed west towards Norris.

From Norris I headed north, towards the mammoth hot springs.
Unfortunately there was some serious road construction here, so I got stuck in traffic for awhile. I took a few pictures while I waited for the construction crews to let us pass.

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After making it through the construction, I noticed several elk out in the field, so I pulled over at a pull off to get a better look. Using my binoculars and phone’s camera I was able to get some decent zoomed in pictures of them.

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Everything here is very picturesque.

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Now I had made it to the Mammoth Hot Springs.

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I walked around the springs, while keeping an eye on the weather that was rolling in again.

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Looking over the small village here at Mammoth Hot Springs.

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The Minerva Terrace was pretty neat.

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The trees here made for an eerie landscape.

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I drove into the little town to find a heard of elk had taken over.

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It was starting to get late, so I began to head back south towards Norris and Madison. By this time the construction crews had gone home and most had left the park, so I didn’t loose much time there. I stopped at a pull off to take in another awesome view.

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I made a stop at the Norris Geyser Basin, and met a cool guy from somewhere in Texas. I don’t remember his name, but he was a music teacher in Texas. We chatted about where we had stayed last night, and where we’d stay tonight. I hadn’t fully fleshed out my plans and he hadn’t either, so at least I wasn’t the only one totally unprepared.

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This was a pretty cool area, with the steam coming from the earth all around you.

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I was now going to head towards West Yellowstone and hopefully find somewhere to stay near there so I could get back into the park early before the crowds.

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I stopped in the town and got gas, and figured out where I’d be staying. I found a couple different options not to far from the park. Some were free and on BLM land which was what I really wanted, but one sight in particular claimed to have bathrooms and showers. A shower sure did sound nice after going several days without one, so I picked that one. It wasn’t too far, but it was across the Idaho Montana border.

I set off towards the park and took note of the signs stating there had already been an absurd amount of bison strikes. That will not buff out…
I crossed across the Idaho/Montana border, Idaho being the 45th state I’d been to now.

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I made it to the park, and paid the exorbitant fees. I paid something like $7 daily entrance fee plus a $20 camping fee. A bit pricey considering I was sleeping in my truck using nothing more than a parking space, but I paid and found a spot. I set up camp and went to bed, looking forward to my shower in the morning.

Cool travels man! And great pictures as always. I really need to make some time to head down there and check it out.

Yellowstone is mind blowing. The first time I saw it I was expecting a hatch to pop open near one of the pools and a Disney Imagineer to crawl out to fix the special effects. Beautiful even if it smells of taco bell farts at a lot of the places. 3 people lost their dogs at the tent camping campground, got taken away in the middle of the night. I’m glad to see you didn’t try to steal a baby Bison and put it in your 4runner...


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Lost their dogs, as in, the got all ate up? That's gotta be a bummer.

Awesome pics man! That looks like a ton of fun. Great memories.

Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing place, mind blowing in beauty. People just forget this is real wilderness and it’s not a zoo.


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I was born and raised in Montana and my family owns a cabin right outside of Yellowstone. While I enjoyed hanging out with my family, as a kid I used to think going there was boring as heck. However, now that I have moved on the other side of the country and am grown, I realize I took that majestic beauty for granted. I am so glad you got to enjoy my old stomping grounds. If you get a chance, check Glacier National Park. While equally as gorgeous, it's also very different numerous ways. I highly recommend going from late June to early August.

Wow, what a trip! Terrific photos.