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The start

I have been at this quite a while now, in one form or another. I bought the Fj with intent to get back into the outdoors something I had been missing out on from my younger days. City living in my teen years got me side tracked.

Living some years in Texas as a child, my dad had built up a legendary FJ40 into a beach machine. I had to be around 7 or 8 years old at the time, but I remember how cool that thing was. He once took us (me, my brother and sister) for a ride in the dark. He stopped the Fj, pulled out a spotlight, and there shined thousands of eyes in the mud. We spent quitr a while time catching leopard frogs that night. One of my fondest memories. 

I suppose that was part of my draw to the Fj platform. Tha, and no one seemed to be buying them. I thought they were quite a weird, but cool looking vehicle. It was less than a year old, less than $20,000.00 with 42000 miles on it, from a Toyota dealership at that. As I started going to visit my girlfriend while she attended photography school in Colorado, my plans for the Fj evolved. I started discovering roof racks, bumpers, roof top tents, and started braving mountain adventures I felt comfortable doing because of being properly outfitted.

Over the years of camping in the wilderness, you will start to narrow down your wants and needs. My particular preferences are fairly standard. I don't need the biggest truck, the biggest tires, or the biggest engine. I like to set up camp in beautiful places away from crowds where I might catch a glimpse of wildlife and star lit skies, absent of light pollution. I don't necessarily need to scrape rocks to enjoy myself either. Just somewhere quiet with some of my favorite people, sitting around the warmth of a fire. Sometimes a dirt road, sometimes the hardest trail I’ve ever done. It’s all rewarding.

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