Anytime I’m traveling through Eatonville, Washington, to get back to my home in Edgewood, one of my favorite routes is to miss the infamous State Route (SR) 161 traffic through Graham and South Hill is to take the leisurely scenic drive on Orville Road East through the Ohop Valley, past Lake Kapowsin, and into the…
Having recently witnessing first hand what a deer can do to a full size vehicle at highway speeds and considering the locations I travel to and from, I decided it was time to add a little protection to the front of my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser.
After nearly a year of lurking on the Backroad Drivers Northwest group mail list last Saturday (June 9, 2007), I was finally able to attend one of the organized gatherings of the group. The planned destination was the Clover Springs and Little Bald Mountain areas off SR 410, near Cliffdell, Washington. I had been to…
Last Saturday, we just completed another wonderful trip with the Backroad Drivers Northwest group. On this trip, we explored some roads near Rimrock Lake off Highway 12 in Washington state. Our focus for the day was the Wildcat Creek and Russell Ridge areas. Jerry, our tour leader, posted a nice write-up of the trip, and…
Winter on the West Slopes of the Cascades usually lasts well into Summer, with many places not being snow free until late June or even early July. With the recent summer-like weather in Western Washington, I desired to see how high the snowline was at this time of year. So I set off for another…
I’ve traveled along Hood Canal before, though only along Highway 106 and Highway 101. Looking across Hood Canal to the Kitsap Peninsula from the South or West, the other side of Hood Canal seemed a little less developed (as far as waterfront houses are concerned). Also, looking at a map of the area, there were primitive roads…
Now that I have my eight year old daughter interested in photography, there is no way that she’ll miss an opportunity for a road trip with her dad. Before her new interest in photography, it was agony on even the shortest trip, the typical “are we there yet” or “when are we going to get…
This past Saturday was a typical spring day in Western Washington – “Rain Turning to Showers.” Of course, if you never lived in Washington, you may be puzzled by such a forecast. I wanted to get out of the house and do something outside, so I checked the statewide forecast for Washington. The coast was…
When I purchased my 1992 Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser, the previous owner informed me that the four-wheel-drive system did not work. I knew the transfer case was a rebuilt unit so I figured it would be something simple such as a switch or a relay. Little did I know that I would spend hours trying…
After only having my Land Cruiser for about three weeks, I had my first equipment failure – the number three belt that powers the air conditioning unit broke (the belt closest to the engine). Normally, I replace belts on a regular basis and use the existing belts as spares in case of a failure; however,…
After owning a 3FE powered FJ80 Land Cruiser for a short period of time, I realized there is not much vendor support or even information on the Internet regarding our unique Land Cruisers. With only about 15,000 imported into the US, there’s not much of a market to cater to. I know we have a…