Unner's Build, 2001 T4R 4x4

[Road Bull]

Thanks! I love the Coopers still, they're wearing perfectly, grip amazingly (on and off road), and are still quiet for what they are. I will most likely be coming back to them whenever I need new tires. Sorry I didn't get back quickly, I was out of town over the weekend in New Orleans. Some swamp and alligator pics to come later this week.

Cool. Those ST MAXX tires seem to do well just about everywhere. I might swap my tires when DT does their next eBay sale in October. I might try a slightly more aggressive tire this go around. I am looking at the Cooper ST MAXX, the Cooper ST Pro, and maybe, depending on feedback, the new BFG KM3s. The only reason I mention them is that they have a similar look to the KM2s, but if you look closely at the changes, you would notice a few changes. The gap between lugs seems to be somewhat reduced, the middle tread pattern lay-out is different. They seem to be running a diagonal 4 part pattern that looks like a more modern road friendly pattern on the inside with aggressive side pattern. And, they slapped the KO2 sidewall on there. So, we'll see.

 

[Unner]

Cool. Those ST MAXX tires seem to do well just about everywhere. I might swap my tires when DT does their next eBay sale in October. I might try a slightly more aggressive tire this go around. I am looking at the Cooper ST MAXX, the Cooper ST Pro, and maybe, depending on feedback, the new BFG KM3s. The only reason I mention them is that they have a similar look to the KM2s, but if you look closely at the changes, you would notice a few changes. The gap between lugs seems to be somewhat reduced, the middle tread pattern lay-out is different. They seem to be running a diagonal 4 part pattern that looks like a more modern road friendly pattern on the inside with aggressive side pattern. And, they slapped the KO2 sidewall on there. So, we'll see.

I really like my tires. I'll get a lot of miles out of them as well if they keep wearing at this rate. I'd be weary of mud tires up there in the PNW with all the rain. My old KM's weren't too bad usually, but one day in the rain on the interstate everyone checked up hard on the brakes and it was really scary when I hit mine and the truck started sliding. People hate on VSC/TRAC but it has its place.

 

[Road Bull]

I really like my tires. I'll get a lot of miles out of them as well if they keep wearing at this rate. I'd be weary of mud tires up there in the PNW with all the rain. My old KM's weren't too bad usually, but one day in the rain on the interstate everyone checked up hard on the brakes and it was really scary when I hit mine and the truck started sliding. People hate on VSC/TRAC but it has its place.

Yeah, I know the KM2s have a pretty bad rep for pavement and rain or snow. There are so many bad drivers here that you have to be on your toes all the time. Currently, I think the Coopers have some of the best options out there. The Nitto Ridge Grapplers seem cool too, but alas I don't have to consider them as they don't make the Ridge Grapplers in a 16" wheel option. There are tons of people out here using both Cooper flavors with happy results.

 

[Unner]

The next posts will be the first 4 days worth of pictures from my California Trip back in December. I'll try my best to get the rest of the trip uploaded in the coming days.

 

[Unner]

California Trip December 2017 - Day 1

I got home Tuesday around 4 PM, with intentions of leaving that evening, hopefully around 6 PM. Fast forward to 7 PM, and I’m still packing with a lot left to go. Scratch that, I’ll just leave early in the morning. I finally got the truck packed up, and went to bed hoping to leave around 6 AM Wednesday morning. I woke up Wednesday and left around 7:30 AM. Right on time. I had plenty of time to make it to my final destination, Las Vegas, where my girlfriend would be flying into since she couldn’t leave as early as I could. I planned to leave early so I could stop and enjoy some beautiful things along the way.

20171206_073631 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The drive went well to start, I made good time to Arkansas, but got very tired so I pulled off the Interstate for a nap. I woke up to the sound of the DOT attempting to patch a pot hole, and decided to get back on the road. I didn’t know where I was going to stop for the night, but I wanted to make it as far as I could. I made it to Oklahoma fast, and continued across the state, only stopping when I needed gas, which is fairly often when you drive a modified 3rd gen…

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The sun set as I was somewhere around halfway across Oklahoma.

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I then made it to Texas, where the speed limits rose, as did the elevation.
At this point it was getting late, but I wasn’t tired yet so I pushed on. I crossed the New Mexico state line and I gained an hour. It was only midnight now, according to the clock so I drove another hour. It was around 1 AM, and I figured Tucumcari, NM would be a good place to stop, as there was nothing else until I would get to Albuquerque. I pulled off the road around 1 AM, found a nice parking lot to sleep in, grabbed a blanket, and went to sleep after 16 hours of driving, and nearly 1,050 miles. The trip was off to a great start.

Day 2

I woke up Thursday morning extremely cold. It was 17*, 6 AM, and dark. When I went to sleep I was too tired/lazy to use the blanket to cover up my legs, which were now freezing. I braced the cold to get out of the truck, and check the fluids. Yup, everything was good. Back into the car and onto the interstate. I was very thankful for the wonderful heat in the 3rd gen this morning. As I drove westward, I watched the sunrise over the New Mexico desert in my rear view mirror.

An hour later I stopped at a truck stop to get a coffee, and try to get the cold out of my bones. While I sat there drinking my coffee I contemplated where I wanted to stay the night. There were two places I had hoped to see along the way to Vegas, Alstrom Point, and Valley of the Gods in Arizona, or Monument Valley in Arizona. Since I had left later than anticipated, I knew I could only do one of these options, and chose to spend the night at Alstrom Point. I thought I could make it there before sunset, and witness what is supposed to be a spectacular sunset. I chose a route that would get me off of the interstate around the Arizona state line, and get me onto some back highways that would take me through what I hoped were some spectacular views. I wouldn’t have time to stop at Monument Valley, but I would drive right past it along the way.

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As I approached Albuquerque the temperature continued to drop, and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. The area was absolutely beautiful though, with lots of dirt roads I could see from the interstate, and mountains that seemed as if they should have more snow on them for this time of year.
Albuquerque flew by, and now I was back out in the wide open. I was keeping an eye on the ETA of the GPS, and it looked like I would just barely make Alstrom Point by sunset.

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I stopped for gas at a truck stop in Arizona, which had a spectacular view of Mesas surrounding a lake. These are the types of views you get from truck stops out west, it’s even better once you get into the backcountry.

As I got onto the back highways in Arizona it became extremely windy, sand and dust was blowing everywhere, and the 4Runner was working quite hard to maintain 70 mph driving straight into the wind and uphill at times. This part of Arizona was very pretty and interesting. It seemed as if you would drive on top of the mesas for a while, and everything looked like Kansas, flat and tan. And then all of a sudden you could be diving into a canyon, only to drive straight back up and out of it. Here’s a few pictures from along the way.

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And as I continued further along these backroads things only got prettier.

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Now I neared Kayenta, which was the closest I would get to Monument Valley.

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I stopped in Kayenta to get gas, and at a semi-local seeming chain called Basha’s to get something for dinner and breakfast. I decided I was having steak for dinner, and eggs for breakfast.

I got back on the road, heading toward Page, Arizona. I made it to Page, and began to see Lake Powell, a man-made lake. I could tell this was going to be a spectacular campsite.

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The sun was starting to get low, so I continued on without stopping much, I drove across the Glen Canyon Dam, which is what makes Lake Powell a lake, and not just the Colorado River.

 

[Unner]

I then made it back to one of my favorite states. My old friend welcomed me back with open arms.

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I stopped at what might have been the only gas station in Big Water, Utah and topped off. I like to have a full tank, even if I’m not planning on needing anything close to it. By now I knew I would be pushing it for time, so I quickly got off the pavement and onto the dirt. I had about 25 miles of dirt to go, and maybe an hour or so of good daylight left. I started off down the road without airing down. It seemed fairly smooth, and airing down would take away some of my precious time.

DSC00677 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

Eventually the road got a little worse, and I decided to stop and air down. I got some pictures while my trailhead deflators did the airing down work for me.

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A few minutes later all the tires were at a much more cushy 21 psi, and I was back on my way. I had read about the blue hour when I read about Alstrom Point, and now I knew why. It was very beautiful on the way to my campsite.

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I had also read about one “gatekeeper” of sorts that keeps some people/vehicles out of Alstrom Point. As I rounded a corner the trail became hard to follow (it is marked with cairns, stacks of rocks for those who don’t know what a cairn is). The trail opened up into a wide area. There was a woman sitting in what looked like a brand new Cadillac SUV at the bottom of this “gatekeeper”. She didn’t seem distressed, but more so angry. She didn’t appear to need help, and didn’t signal to me that she did so I continued onward, driving straight up the obstacle she couldn’t make it up. This “gatekeeper” won’t keep anything out other than Cadillac SUVs, and Rav4’s. And even an AWD Rav4 could probably make it if you don’t mind banging it up a little bit. You just need some clearance.

I drove another couple hundred yards when I see a man walking towards me waving at me. I pull up to him slowly and he asks if I am going to Alstrom Point. I replied yes, I am. He asked if he could ride with me. At this point I did not have a single open seat in the 4Runner, and was in a rush. I normally don’t pick up strangers, but I looked the man over. He was much smaller than me, and the only thing he was holding was a very expensive camera. I decided he wasn’t going to harm me, and said sure, you can ride with me. He began to grin ear to ear, until I realized he had to be with that woman, and would want to come back to her. As he was running around to the other side I stuck my head out the window and said “I’m not coming back though.” His heart sank, and thanked me, but said he would pass. I guess he had wanted to make it there for sunset also, but his wives Cadillac couldn’t make it all the way so he was going to walk it. It was another 5-7 miles to Alstrom Point, I can’t remember exactly how far.

Still passengerless I continued on, with very little light left. I was going as quick as I could, but I had to stop and take a picture of his huge jackrabbit that darted out in front of me.

DSC00695 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I pulled into the campsite with not a soul to be found. Perfect.
I grabbed a few pictures while there was still a little bit of light. I was maybe 20-30 minutes too late to catch the perfect sunset pictures. It was still beautiful though.

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I parked the truck, leveling it with a few stones, and set about walking around the campsite with my new headlamp. I should have purchased one of these a long time ago. They are so much more convenient than holding a flashlight in your mouth trying to do something.

As I was setting up I noticed that I had really good cell reception here, like full strength 4G. This would come in very useful later.

I noticed there was a little oil sprayed inside the driver side fender. Ugh… I popped the hood to diagnose it, and saw the oil seemed to be coming from my front diff breathers? That’s strange I thought. Thankfully I had signal so I did a little searching, and posted a thread on Tacomaworld, thanks to its mobile user friendly interface, and learned this is a kinda common problem. I decided I would spray it down with brake cleaner when I got to civilization tomorrow on my way to Vegas and see if it came back.

I set up my stove, cooked steak, and star gazed, while also occasionally checking the score in the football game…

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[Unner]

In the rush of trying to get here before sunset, I forgot to buy firewood. Thankfully a previous camper had left 2 untouched bundles of firewood there. I got a fire going, and watched the moon rise over the cliffs surrounding Lake Powell.

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Around 9 PM, I was out of firewood, and was getting cold and tired. Instead of sleeping in the front seat tonight, I would sleep in the back of the truck. I didn’t want to totally unpack so I just put everything on the passenger side, left the mattress topper folded in half and climbed into my 0* double sleeping bag. I was nice and warm, much better than the previous night in New Mexico. I set my alarm to wake up and watch the sunrise, which promised to be spectacular.

DSC00750 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

 

[Unner]

Day 3

This is what I woke up to. One of the most spectacular sunrises I’ve ever seen.

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[Unner]

After spending at least an hour taking pictures, soaking in the sun, and enjoying the beauty I made breakfast and coffee on my stove which had gathered a little frost during the night.

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Afterwards I went and walked around a little more, Alstrom Point is a magnificent place.

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I think what you see in this picture is the sun refracting through the water somehow. It was very cool to watch it “dance” through the water.

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I got back to the campsite, packed up, and washed my face and hair. It was pretty warm in the sun, which was nice. I wasn’t sure what I’d be doing today, so I googled some trails around and near Zion National Park, which I would pass near on my way to Vegas. I contemplated trying to hike Angel’s Landing, and decided I would make that decision once I got back on the road.

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As I was leaving I decided to take a short spur that came off the trail. It lead me here, where I stopped to take pictures when I was interrupted by a phone call from my girlfriend. She was supposed to be going to lunch with a friend who would then drop her off at a shuttle pickup, which would take her to Atlanta. “He’s gonna be pissed” is all I heard when I answered the phone. Her flight had been cancelled, with no plans to do anything other than put her on the next Frontier flight for Vegas which didn’t leave until tomorrow night…

Now I was extremely thankful for the 4G service I had up here. I spent the next half hour trying to find other flights that might be able to make it out of Atlanta and get her just about anywhere on the West Coast, it didn’t really matter where. I found a flight that left Atlanta 7am the next morning, and would get her into Los Angeles. We got her a ticket on that flight, figuring we would only loose a few hours that way instead of a full day. Unfortunately she would have to spend the night in the airport, but at least she would be there, ready to go, instead of potentially stuck on an icy closed road.

Now the next step was to cancel the hotel we had booked in Vegas through Frontier Airlines also. The hotel was of no use, because I wouldn’t be able to make it from Vegas to LAX without leaving the hotel at 2AM… After speaking with 4 different people through Frontier who were of no help, and hardly spoke English I called the hotel who said they couldn’t do anything about it because we didn’t book through them. They said to call Expedia. So I called Expedia and the man said he could see our reservation. Hooray! But he couldn’t cancel it… Instead he gave me a number to call saying they could cancel it. I called that number, and it took me back to Frontier. I was extremely frustrated, as I had just spent an hour on the phone with Frontier to no avail, but I must have got the one competent person on the phone there. Within 5 minutes he had us a refund. Thankfully that was over.
Now I had to find somewhere for myself to stay the night. I didn’t want to pay for a hotel since it would be just myself. [MENTION=123332]Drunner97[/MENTION] posted for me in a Socal Tacomaworld thread asking about good campsites within 2 hours of LAX, that weren’t in a fire area. Thanks again for that!

I was then headed out of Alstrom Point, to start heading towards Los Angeles, when I got another call from my girlfriend. Her second flight for the next morning had just been cancelled… She tried to get United Airlines to fly her anywhere else out west, but they said they couldn’t and she would now be leaving Sunday morning from Atlanta, when she was already on a shuttle headed towards Atlanta, and it was Friday morning around noon. Feeling totally defeated by this our next best plan was for her to ask the people at check in if there is anything they can do when she gets there in about an hour. Meanwhile I’m in Utah, trying to figure out what I’m going to do.

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She showed up to the check in counter, and asked the man working if she could check in for a flight leaving Sunday morning, even though it was Friday afternoon. She didn’t have any other options, she was without a car, and all the hotels were booked full from other cancellations. The man working said no, but looked at her, only holding a backpack, and asked if she was ready to go. She said yes, and he told her there’s one last flight for LA leaving tonight, it leaves in an hour, and if she can make it to the terminal, she’s on the flight! This man completely saved the day, and deserves a raise. She called me with this news and I immediately increased my speed on the dirt, hoping she would make her flight and I could drive to LA tonight.

DSC00874 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I made it to pavement in record time, and drove to the nearest gas station to air back up instead of spending 20 minutes with my VIAR compressor. I set the GPS, for LAX, 8.5 hours, 550 miles. It was about 4 PM at this point, and I was really hoping she would make this flight. I called my dad to see if he could look up flights from Atlanta to LAX, and see when she would get in. I didn’t want to bother her while she’s trying to get through the busiest airport in the world… It looked like she would get there around 9PM, and I would be there around midnight.

I drove for almost 2 hours and didn’t hear from her, and I wasn’t sure if that meant she made it, or if she didn’t make it. Then she called, and said she was waiting to board, but it’s gonna be awhile because of de-icing, and Delta/Southwest flights get priority in Atlanta, due to them being headquartered there. She said they told her they would still be leaving today, but I was skeptical.

I continued to drive though, trying to enjoy the Arizona scenery.

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An hour later she said they were boarding, but it would still be 90 minutes until they could leave. I kept driving towards LA, hopeful that they would make it. Eventually I got a text that they were about to take off, and then my Dad called letting me know the flight tracker showed them as being in the air! With all the delays I was now actually supposed to beat her there by about 30 minutes.

At this point I had already crossed the Nevada, and California state lines, my 35th and 36th states. Feeling much more relieved, I stopped in California somewhere to eat at In-n-Out, since we don’t have them on the east coast. This is when I realized gas prices make no sense in California. I was able to fill up for $2.85, but across the street I could have paid $3.65?? No thanks…
As I crossed across the Mojave Desert, where I would eventually do some exploring my dad called me and asked if I had plans for where we were going to stay tonight. “No, not really. I was gonna figure that out once I’m at the airport...” He volunteered to look for a hotel for us, since I was driving and she was in the air. He called back a little while later saying there was a nice looking Homewood Suites in Redondo Beach. He said the area looks good, and the parking looks safe, which is important considering the truck is everything at this point. He said he called and they had lots of availability, and sent me directions.

As I neared LA, I learned the signs in California that say “Strong Wind Gusts Possible” aren’t joking. It was seriously windy in those areas. That’s when I also began to realize just how big LA is. It felt like I was driving through LA and its metro area for ages. I finally started seeing signs for LAX, and followed those. Right as I get close I get a call saying she’s landed. She walked out the front door as I pulled up, and the trip could now begin. Not the way we intended, but at least she wasn’t stuck in Atlanta for 2 more days. We headed to the hotel for the night, relieved that everything worked out after an extremely stressful day. Commercial air travel sucks, especially through Atlanta, the world’s largest airport, which is also totally unprepared for a very minor snow…

During the whole flight mess I stopped and bought a can of brake cleaner, sprayed all around the breather tubes, and the leak hadn’t come back, so that was a positive sign as well.

 

[Unner]

Day 4

We slept in this day, after a long day yesterday. The hotel had the best hotel breakfast I’ve ever seen for a free hotel breakfast, and taking a shower was great after not taking one for the last several days. I had to revise our trip plans since we wouldn’t be starting in Vegas anymore. Instead we would now go Pismo, Pacific Coast Highway, Mojave, Death Valley, Alabama Hills, and then the Grand Canyon.

The weather was insanely hot, it was around 80* in mid December, which was crazy after spending the last two nights in the teens…

We packed up the truck, and headed north towards Pismo. First we had to get out of LA though… Traffic wasn’t too bad, actually, but there was a lot of people on the road. A lot. I saw a sign for Mohalland drive, and we took that exit. We didn’t have a set agenda, so we could explore where we wanted. We ended up driving the majority of the road, taking note of how many insanely expensive cars we were seeing there. I was probably the only one out there in a 16 year old 4Runner, with almost a quarter million miles on it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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This is where we first saw the fires that are ravaging California. You can see the smoke billowing out of the mountains on the left.

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Some very nice homes out here.

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Downtown LA, and the Hollywood sign.

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My first time seeing the Pacific Ocean.

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Afterwards, we got back on the highway and continued north towards Pismo. First we had to pass through Ventura though. The smoke from the fires was incredibly thick, the sun was turned into a red glowing ball, and people wearing masks made it easy to realize how severe the situation is. Seeing things first hand makes things much clearer than you can ever see through a news report.

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We drove through some very pretty hilly areas, but I was getting very low on gas. I drove with the light on for almost 30 miles, until I found a gas station. I had gas on the roof so I wasn’t super worried, but it’s much easier to use a pump. We stopped and gas was $3.89. I knew we were coming near a city soon so I put 3 gallons in and got gas in the city 20 miles later for less than $3 a gallon…

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We also stopped at Albertsons to get groceries, and took notice that you can buy liquor in the grocery store, just like you can bread. Don’t try that in Alabama, it’s got to come from a liquor store, and you better not want it on Sunday…

As we were checking out the cashier asked if we wanted paper bags, stating that they were 10 cents each. I asked if we could get plastic and he just looked at me and said, we haven’t had those in years. Alright, paper it is. I had no idea plastic bags weren’t a thing in California, it’s not a bad idea though. Just threw a wrench in our plan to use plastic bags as trash bags.
We left here as the sun set and finished the drive to Pismo, which I thought was Prismo with an R until we got there, because that sounds much better in my opinion…

The man at the pay shack was not very friendly, but we paid and proceeded down the sand highway until we found a good spot to camp at. We set up camp, cooked dinner, and listened to the sound of the waves crashing. The sky was clear tonight, and you could see a decent amount of stars, but nothing like what we would see later. We watched people drive way to fast down the sand highway, and either launch off of a big dip that was in front of our campsite or get pulled over by the cop that was out there looking for people being dumb.

It was decently warm that night, so we had the windows cracked and listened to the sounds of the waves as we went to sleep.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Lake Powell is crazy cool. I wish I had wings, just trying to fly. I knew someone who lived in St.George Utah but actually had a houseboat on the lake. Great fun, hard to believe it has been almost twenty years since that summer.

California is excellent, though the smog kills my sinuses. Too much plastic surgery too.

The first time I went in the Pacific I was twelve and was like, crap, this water is cold (65f) in August (in the Carolinas the water is in the high 70s, low 80s). Nice pics Unner.

 

[fourfive]

Looks like you’ve been having some fun. Great pics, the 4runner ones are even better. How bout an update on the front/rear kings after getting some more miles on them compared to your old setup? :behindsofa:

 

[Unner]

Lake Powell is crazy cool. I wish I had wings, just trying to fly. I knew someone who lived in St.George Utah but actually had a houseboat on the lake. Great fun, hard to believe it has been almost twenty years since that summer.

California is excellent, though the smog kills my sinuses. Too much plastic surgery too.

The first time I went in the Pacific I was twelve and was like, crap, this water is cold (65f) in August (in the Carolinas the water is in the high 70s, low 80s). Nice pics Unner.

Thanks!

Lake Powell was awesome. I feel like Alstrom Point/Lake Powell are often overlooked since most people center around the Moab part of Utah and tend to forget that there's a lot more to the state. St. George was a cool town, that's where I stopped to buy brake cleaner to clean up the oil. I wish I could have spent the day at Zion NP.

The Pacific was very cold when we were there in December. We stuck our hands in it just to say we did, but didn't get any farther into the water. The water is crazy warm in the Gulf all year long, even in the winter the water isn't that cold really.

Looks like you’ve been having some fun. Great pics, the 4runner ones are even better. How bout an update on the front/rear kings after getting some more miles on them compared to your old setup? :behindsofa:

Thanks! Lots more pictures to come, with lots of 4Runner pictures.

The Kings are awesome. At slow speeds they don't feel much different than my old setup, like under 20 mph or so. At side road speeds, like around 40mph you can really tell they ride better over very rough parts of the road. Potholes that used to make me flinch, aren't bad anymore. On the interstate they are definitely smoother too when you hit a rough part.

There's an intersection here where two roads cross, and the smaller road that crosses has a huge dip in it. There's scrapes all over the pavement from cars scraping going both ways over it. I used to not hit it very fast because it wasn't pleasant at anything over 20 mph, just rough and kinda uncontrolled. Now I speed up every time I hit it. At 40 mph you might catch a bit of air, but it's smooth. Basically the new suspension controls the motion of the vehicle much better, as it should. These shocks and coilovers are huge.

 

[JohnTheLuck]

Great report so far! Excellent pictures too.

You are right that there is so much more in Utah than Moab. Zion is amazing, but there is so much people that reduce the fun. I love Zion-Mt Carmel Highway.

I can't wait to read the rest of the report. God job!
.

 

[octanejunkie]

Great update to the journal.

I'm going to Alabama Hills next weekend, any tips?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Unner]

Great report so far! Excellent pictures too.

You are right that there is so much more in Utah than Moab. Zion is amazing, but there is so much people that reduce the fun. I love Zion-Mt Carmel Highway.

I can't wait to read the rest of the report. God job!
.

Thanks! That was the nice thing about doing all this in December, there weren't many other people around, and the weather was really nice for us as well for most of the trip. Thanks for reading, hopefully I get some more of it posted today.

Great update to the journal.

I'm going to Alabama Hills next weekend, any tips?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Thanks! Not any tips I can really think of. I assume they are busier this time of year than in December, so you might want to get there earlier to make sure you get a good campspot. Other than that it's all just simple dirt roads unless you choose a rougher trail kinda off the regular path, there aren't many though. There were regular cars down there so it's not much wheeling, but a beautiful and unique place for sure.

 

[hhackmann]

Nice thread.With good information.

 

[Unner]

Day 5 - Pismo and Pacific Coast Highway

When we woke up this morning things looked much different. The wind must have been blowing to the north, which blew the smoke along with it. It made for some very interesting photography, and an interesting way to really see the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

DSC00935 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

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Sunset mode on my camera turned it into Mars.

DSC00936 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

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As we cooked breakfast, we noticed small white particles almost like snow falling from the sky. They began to fall faster and faster, and eventually packed up as quickly as we could to get out of it and try to keep it out of the 4Runner. It was kinda wild, and the lighting was only getting stranger as well.

We drove all the way to the end of the sand highway, but decided not to go play in the dunes. I wanted to, but with the ash falling from the sky, there didn’t seem to be too many people around and I didn’t want to go out by myself and get stuck. Instead we stayed on the highway, but I dipped my tires in the Pacific Ocean before leaving.

These pictures are with no sunset mode, it was a very eerie setting.

DSC00944 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

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We left Pismo, and I immediately went to a pay and spray to get the salt/sand off the truck. $5 it was good enough for now, when I got home I hosed off the underside for a long time and flushed the frame rails to make sure it was all gone.

 

[Unner]

Our next stop was going to be the Pacific Coast Highway, something I had wanted to drive for a long time. We got on Highway 101 and headed north, eventually intersecting with Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway.

We drove a little ways along the southern end of the highway, taking in the views. I saw a pulloff and we decided to stop here and have lunch. While we’re making sandwiches this lady comes up to us and asks “Have you seen the zebras?” I look at her puzzled, and a little concerned for her and say “No, we haven’t seen any zebras.” She proceeds to say “Sometimes if you’re lucky you can look over towards those hills there and there will be zebras in the field.” Alright, this lady is crazy is what I’m thinking. There are no Zebras here… She tells us she’s been looking for awhile and hasn’t seen them yet. She goes about her way, and we continue with our lunch with a view.

DSC00970 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We decided we’d climb down onto the shore since the weather was nice, and we had finally escaped the snow from the wildfire smoke. As we were walking, we say some amazing wildlife. A California Beaver!!!

DSC00961 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

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We climbed down the bank, and watched the waves crash on the rocks, while the little birds run towards the ocean as the tide went in, and run away from it as the tide pushed back onto the shore. It was very nice, calming, and relaxing.

DSC01008 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

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Some of the smoke still lingered to the south.

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[Unner]

DSC00989 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

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DSC01027 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

We climbed back up the bank, which was more challenging because I was still wearing my 7 year old Nike’s that are totally flat on the bottom at this point instead of my hiking boots… We made it up without injury though, got in the truck and pulled off.

Half a mile down the highway we’re back up to highway speed, she’s closing up a chip bag or something and I slam on the brakes. “LOOK A HEARD OF ZEBRAS!!!” I couldn’t believe it. There were several zebras standing almost right next to the highway, in California. Apparently that lady wasn’t crazy…

DSC01028 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC01029 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

While we were standing there admiring the stripped horses a man and his young son walked up. He asked if we’d seen the elephant seals yet. We told him no, and he said to drive a couple more miles up the road, and on the left there will be a sign for it. He said don’t stop where everyone is standing, keep walking down the trail and you’ll get a much better less crowded view.

We left the zebras, this time not doubting the man who told us about the elephant seals. We were discussing the Zebras, and the elephant seals we were hoping we would see. We both assumed there would be one or two at most, if we even get to see one. We parked at the place, and walked down the trail just like the man instructed us to do. Boy were we wrong again. We didn’t see one or two elephant seals, we saw probably a hundred elephant seals…

DSC01031 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

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They were just laying around on the shore, laying on top of each other, fighting each other, doing everything. We were stunned once again.

DSC01041 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

They’re kinda cute. Like a shapeless dog.

DSC01045 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

DSC01049 by Unner Unner, on Flickr