Dinosaur Overland
New member
63 here, 2019 OR and love it. I do most of the maintenance on it and our 1995 Land Cruiser
Both of us were born and raised in SoCal. It has become a shithole due to liberal progressive super majority control of the State. Homelessness and crime are out of control. Our future is in Montana when I retire in a couple more years. The Bitterroot Valley of Montana is filled with conservative political exiles and refugees from California and they don’t want the liberal progressive ones.
You absolutely have to read Four Miles West of Nowhere: A City Boy's First Year in the Montanna Wilderness.
Four Miles West of Nowhere: A City Boy's First Year in the Montana Wilderness: Phillips, John: 9786977377086: Amazon.com: Books
Not only is it about the Bitterroot Valley, but John Phillips will absolutely have you in stitches reading about the place you want to retire to. I highly recommend it!
Oh, and I'm 66 and love my 4Runner.
My wife has the 4Runner and she is 75. She uses it to go back and forth between our Southern California home and our ranch in South West Montana, as well as off-roading and camping. 2014 SR5 with 310K milers and I do all the maintenance which has been pretty much routine, with no major repair issues. I love wrenching on my cars and boats.
Both of us were born and raised in SoCal. It has become a shithole due to liberal progressive super majority control of the State. Homelessness and crime are out of control. Our future is in Montana when I retire in a couple more years. The Bitterroot Valley of Montana is filled with conservative political exiles and refugees from California and they don’t want the liberal progressive ones.
Is there any room in Montana for someone from Boston?......I need to think about an alternative to South West Florida (dec28 thru marathon monday), my house in Ft Myers was destroyed by Ian--- both 4runners (22 PRO and 14 LTD) were not in FLA....
As much as I love the fishing in Florida, I could not live there. No mountains, bugs, humidity, and hurricanes. I've been through a direct hit by a Cat 4 hurricane on the East Cape of Baja (Kiko in '89, google that shit). You know what land not to buy after a hurricane, because it is under water. The damage was only in the millions because it was so sparsely populated and developed. Don't let anyone tell you it's due to climate change. The data does not support that. The problem is that we've built in all the wrong areas.
We looked in Montana for 10 years before buying. Initially thought we'd buy a place on one of the rivers in the South West Montana areas. However you quickly learn the fish aren't always biting in front of your place. The rivers are mostly freestone and flood every spring and will chew away at the banks or even create new channels. After the floods, you deal with the bugs. Then during the summer you have all the drunks floating by on inner tubes and pool noodles, so you never get any privacy. That pushed us up on the bench of the Sapphire range with views to die for and ample acreage to provide a buffer from any and all neighbors.
It's different from the urban sprawl of Southern California. Much more peaceful and private, yet most everyone is friendly. Down in SoCal you don't have time to make friends because you're busy working or fighting traffic. Up in Montana I have friends calling me all the time "hey can you fish this weekend?" or "can you get off tomorrow to fish?" Or like this spring a good friend lent me his log splitter for over month so I could split 11 cords of wood. Then he found the same exact splitter with only 18 hours use on it for sale in the 50-mile Bitterroot yard sale. Texted me asking if I wanted it (I was in SoCal). I told him yes and he covered the purchase and delivered it to my house. This guy is a former LA County Sherriff. We all look out for each other up there. Not so in SoCal.
If you're from Boston, you can handle the winters in SW Montana. The Bitterroot Valley is often called the banana belt of Montana. We typically see 1" of snow from most storms and will see like 2 storms that drop 6" to 8" a year. We'll typically see 5 days with morning temps below zero. But as my (retired) wife says "what do I care when I don't have to commute to work in it?" She simply, gets a fire going, pours a cup of hot chocolate and enjoys her view while reading a book.
Sorry to hear about your house. My brother has had a beach home in Destin Florida for ten years now and has lucked out over that time period. I love western Montana. Best of luck to you getting your house and insurance taken care of.Is there any room in Montana for someone from Boston?......I need to think about an alternative to South West Florida (dec28 thru marathon monday), my house in Ft Myers was destroyed by Ian--- both 4runners (22 PRO and 14 LTD) were not in FLA....
I finally found someone younger than me per my thread. I turned 65 back in early January. But I am still about 3-4 months from retiring.Turned 65 in July, retired end of June.
2 4runners...2010 Silver Trail, 2016 Trail Premium...just turned 125K
I am on your schedule to retire about 2-3 weeks after I turn 66 in early January. Enjoy your new limited. Can’t go wrong with black.Turned 66 3 weeks ago and retired for good 2 weeks ago and put a deposit down yesterday on a 23 Limited, black on black. Should be here in a couple of weeks, been away from the Forum for about 6 years but good to be back.
My first HK91 was $339 in late ‘75. My first firearm in my life was an AR15 at 18 for $229. I have had all the HK variants including the early 60’s G3 imports and the HK41, which came out prior to the 91. Those were the days.Yeah very nice. IVe been shopping for land up near Eureka and Rexford. Found some good stuff backing onto to the Kootenai national forest. They have no bag limit on mountain lions as theres so many of them! Great place with great people. I hope to build a home there soon. Waiting on land to drop abit more after the last few years of speculation. Will build a metal house I think due to the forest. Im gonna buy a nice HK91 for the Runner..
Fun times in the last free place. :biggrin1:
I love western Montana. I have considered retiring there for years. My wife doesn’t want to move because she has lots of family here. My 8 year old would have a blast. I told him we could get a snowmobile and an ATV.As much as I love the fishing in Florida, I could not live there. No mountains, bugs, humidity, and hurricanes. I've been through a direct hit by a Cat 4 hurricane on the East Cape of Baja (Kiko in '89, google that shit). You know what land not to buy after a hurricane, because it is under water. The damage was only in the millions because it was so sparsely populated and developed. Don't let anyone tell you it's due to climate change. The data does not support that. The problem is that we've built in all the wrong areas.
We looked in Montana for 10 years before buying. Initially thought we'd buy a place on one of the rivers in the South West Montana areas. However you quickly learn the fish aren't always biting in front of your place. The rivers are mostly freestone and flood every spring and will chew away at the banks or even create new channels. After the floods, you deal with the bugs. Then during the summer you have all the drunks floating by on inner tubes and pool noodles, so you never get any privacy. That pushed us up on the bench of the Sapphire range with views to die for and ample acreage to provide a buffer from any and all neighbors.
It's different from the urban sprawl of Southern California. Much more peaceful and private, yet most everyone is friendly. Down in SoCal you don't have time to make friends because you're busy working or fighting traffic. Up in Montana I have friends calling me all the time "hey can you fish this weekend?" or "can you get off tomorrow to fish?" Or like this spring a good friend lent me his log splitter for over month so I could split 11 cords of wood. Then he found the same exact splitter with only 18 hours use on it for sale in the 50-mile Bitterroot yard sale. Texted me asking if I wanted it (I was in SoCal). I told him yes and he covered the purchase and delivered it to my house. This guy is a former LA County Sherriff. We all look out for each other up there. Not so in SoCal.
If you're from Boston, you can handle the winters in SW Montana. The Bitterroot Valley is often called the banana belt of Montana. We typically see 1" of snow from most storms and will see like 2 storms that drop 6" to 8" a year. We'll typically see 5 days with morning temps below zero. But as my (retired) wife says "what do I care when I don't have to commute to work in it?" She simply, gets a fire going, pours a cup of hot chocolate and enjoys her view while reading a book.
My first HK91 was $339 in late ‘75. My first firearm in my life was an AR15 at 18 for $229. I have had all the HK variants including the early 60’s G3 imports and the HK41, which came out prior to the 91. Those were the days.
Sorry to hear about your house. My brother has had a beach home in Destin Florida for ten years now and has lucked out over that time period. I love western Montana. Best of luck to you getting your house and insurance taken care of.
Old guys talking. Ok. Back on track. How old are you?How did this thread about the ages of 4Runner owners turn into a thread about Cali boys riding their bikes, advantages/disadvantages of living in Montana, and choices of firearms?
As much as I love the fishing in Florida, I could not live there. No mountains, bugs, humidity, and hurricanes. I've been through a direct hit by a Cat 4 hurricane on the East Cape of Baja (Kiko in '89, google that shit). You know what land not to buy after a hurricane, because it is under water. The damage was only in the millions because it was so sparsely populated and developed. Don't let anyone tell you it's due to climate change. The data does not support that. The problem is that we've built in all the wrong areas.
We looked in Montana for 10 years before buying. Initially thought we'd buy a place on one of the rivers in the South West Montana areas. However you quickly learn the fish aren't always biting in front of your place. The rivers are mostly freestone and flood every spring and will chew away at the banks or even create new channels. After the floods, you deal with the bugs. Then during the summer you have all the drunks floating by on inner tubes and pool noodles, so you never get any privacy. That pushed us up on the bench of the Sapphire range with views to die for and ample acreage to provide a buffer from any and all neighbors.
It's different from the urban sprawl of Southern California. Much more peaceful and private, yet most everyone is friendly. Down in SoCal you don't have time to make friends because you're busy working or fighting traffic. Up in Montana I have friends calling me all the time "hey can you fish this weekend?" or "can you get off tomorrow to fish?" Or like this spring a good friend lent me his log splitter for over month so I could split 11 cords of wood. Then he found the same exact splitter with only 18 hours use on it for sale in the 50-mile Bitterroot yard sale. Texted me asking if I wanted it (I was in SoCal). I told him yes and he covered the purchase and delivered it to my house. This guy is a former LA County Sherriff. We all look out for each other up there. Not so in SoCal.
If you're from Boston, you can handle the winters in SW Montana. The Bitterroot Valley is often called the banana belt of Montana. We typically see 1" of snow from most storms and will see like 2 storms that drop 6" to 8" a year. We'll typically see 5 days with morning temps below zero. But as my (retired) wife says "what do I care when I don't have to commute to work in it?" She simply, gets a fire going, pours a cup of hot chocolate and enjoys her view while reading a book.
Old guys talking. Ok. Back on track. How old are you?
Here is a pic of my 4Runner: one of my favorite accessories is my 4 in 1 Speedflate deflate/inflate with accurate built in gauge. Hoses cut to the wheelbase length of the 4Runner, so that they don’t hang in the dirt or mud, quick yrelease fittings. Air up and down at once without getting on your knees and much faster.