Bandit Runner
Senior Member
Recently returned from a 10-day camping trip near Baldwin, Michigan, and thought I would share a few pics. My son and I loaded up the 4Runner and made the 2.5 hour trip. Here are a few pics of the truck just after pulling into our campsite.
Then we started setting up camp. There was a weird bird that kept following us around, getting to within a few inches of our feet. We had to avoid stepping on it.
Campsite:
After that we decided to do a little 4-wheeling, nothing too hardcore, just some forest trails. We found a little mud too.
The truck back at camp looking a little dirtier:
Later that night, starting the campfire:
The next day we did some mountain biking and swimming. Then we decided to go wheeling again. We found a nice powerline road to follow. I thought this looked like a good spot for a pic:
Then my son surprised me and asked if he could drive. After some initial hesitation, I finally let him. He’s only 12 and this was his first time ever driving a vehicle of any kind. He did surprisingly well. You can see the excitement on his face:
The next day we did some hiking and swimming, and of course went offroading again. A little flexing:
My son driving again: (I have to fight him for the driver’s seat every time now.)
The next day my wife came up (with the dog) and joined us for the next 5 days.
Campfire from that night:
For the next 5 days we all did a lot of kayaking, hiking, exploring, and a little offroading. We also went into town to do some shopping (women!). I got a little lazy with the camera, and didn’t take many pics. Once while kayaking in the lake, a bald eagle swooped down on the water trying to catch a fish right in front of us. Then he landed on a tree branch overhanging the water’s edge. I was able to paddle right up to him and watch him for a long time from about only 30 feet away. That was super cool. Wish I would have had the camera.
After my wife returned home, my son and I had 2 days left. Unfortunately it rained for about 36 hours straight. We ended up playing cards in the tent for a whole day, waiting for the rain to let up. The last day we did some more offroading, but I forgot to take any pics. Then we returned home.
So now I’ve been driving my truck around town, and back and forth to work, looking like this, as I haven’t had time to clean it up yet.
A few things I realized about my truck on the trip:
1. Overall it performed great, never letting us down.
2. The HID projector headlights are awesome for driving around at night, while looking for deer and other animals. I can’t tell you how many times we saw animals off to the side of the road, that we wouldn’t have been able to see with regular headlights.
3. I need limb risers, because many of the trails up there are overgrown and have low hanging branches. I’ll have to see what I can come up with.
Low hanging branches tend to get caught on my snorkel. (Although the whip antenna does help direct branches over it.) I might look at redesigning/repositioning the head to help avoid this. Limb risers would help too.
4. When fully loaded, the rear tends to sag a bit (as seen in the first pic). I might need to get some OME 861 coils for the rear.
Thanks for reading.
Then we started setting up camp. There was a weird bird that kept following us around, getting to within a few inches of our feet. We had to avoid stepping on it.
Campsite:
After that we decided to do a little 4-wheeling, nothing too hardcore, just some forest trails. We found a little mud too.
The truck back at camp looking a little dirtier:
Later that night, starting the campfire:
The next day we did some mountain biking and swimming. Then we decided to go wheeling again. We found a nice powerline road to follow. I thought this looked like a good spot for a pic:
Then my son surprised me and asked if he could drive. After some initial hesitation, I finally let him. He’s only 12 and this was his first time ever driving a vehicle of any kind. He did surprisingly well. You can see the excitement on his face:
The next day we did some hiking and swimming, and of course went offroading again. A little flexing:
My son driving again: (I have to fight him for the driver’s seat every time now.)
The next day my wife came up (with the dog) and joined us for the next 5 days.
Campfire from that night:
For the next 5 days we all did a lot of kayaking, hiking, exploring, and a little offroading. We also went into town to do some shopping (women!). I got a little lazy with the camera, and didn’t take many pics. Once while kayaking in the lake, a bald eagle swooped down on the water trying to catch a fish right in front of us. Then he landed on a tree branch overhanging the water’s edge. I was able to paddle right up to him and watch him for a long time from about only 30 feet away. That was super cool. Wish I would have had the camera.
After my wife returned home, my son and I had 2 days left. Unfortunately it rained for about 36 hours straight. We ended up playing cards in the tent for a whole day, waiting for the rain to let up. The last day we did some more offroading, but I forgot to take any pics. Then we returned home.
So now I’ve been driving my truck around town, and back and forth to work, looking like this, as I haven’t had time to clean it up yet.
A few things I realized about my truck on the trip:
1. Overall it performed great, never letting us down.
2. The HID projector headlights are awesome for driving around at night, while looking for deer and other animals. I can’t tell you how many times we saw animals off to the side of the road, that we wouldn’t have been able to see with regular headlights.
3. I need limb risers, because many of the trails up there are overgrown and have low hanging branches. I’ll have to see what I can come up with.
Low hanging branches tend to get caught on my snorkel. (Although the whip antenna does help direct branches over it.) I might look at redesigning/repositioning the head to help avoid this. Limb risers would help too.
4. When fully loaded, the rear tends to sag a bit (as seen in the first pic). I might need to get some OME 861 coils for the rear.
Thanks for reading.
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