Camping in Utah was getting a little old for my wife. We’d both grown up here and done lots and lots of camping over the years: Backpacking, car camping, trailers, overland, huts, etc. She was a little burned out on seeing the same things. So when her sister called to invite us to join them for a camping trip out to the Big Sur California area, she lept at the chance. They had reserved a group site at the desirable Plaskette Creek for a youth group, but leadership changed and so did the plans for the youth group. Not wanting to waste a hard won reservation they picked it up and ran with it.
At the risk of sounding like the old man that yells at the clouds I gotta say that it just used to be so much easier to camp, and it’s not getting any easier. I’m happy for all the new campers and the next generation who are out enjoying it, but boy it’s making it hard to be spontaneous or even to plan out camping.
So, yeah, we weren’t going to miss out on a nice group site off the PCH peak season. My brother and sister in law and a few of their kids were coming from their home near San Diego, which was about a 5 hour drive for them - significant, but not onerous. My family as well as my wife’s parents were coming from Utah, a solid 14 hour drive away. This would require a little more planning.
Tent or Trailer
My first headache was trying to decide on what to take. We have a very nice popup trailer, and through my research I had confirmed there would be room for it if we wanted to bring it. Having it means comfort, and capacity to bring anything and everything we would want and would leave the car largely free of cargo duties. It also meant towing 3500 lbs 2000 miles and the prime towing car, my wife’s 2008 Lexus GX470, would be happy to do it, so long as it was fed a steady diet of premium fuel.
Honestly, the fuel was the least of the issues. The bigger issue was that because of the timing of a youth camp back here in Utah, my wife and two girls would be flying out of San Francisco to make it back in time for that. Which leaves me driving a trailer through bay area traffic and across the desert alone.
Next to that was the backlog of maintenance that her car needed. It’s a perfectly safe and driveable car right now, but the front end needs a complete refresh - New lower control arms, new front wheel bearings (fine but old), a rebuilt CV on one side, and new steering rack boots. A week before the trip I also discovered that the aluminum crimps around the plastic radiator tank were starting to leak. All this is pretty common maintenance for a 230,000 mile Toyota truck, but it all really needed to be done before a 2000 mile towing trip.
And I wasn’t up for it.
I can do it all. I will do it all. Eventually.
Towing was out. Too much hassle and the original plan to take a few days to get out there and camp along the way fell apart through schedule conflicts and lack of dedicated planning. Looks like we’re tenting it. No worries, our 10x10 Springbar Canvas tent is a great option and very comfortable.
GX or Cruiser
I could take the GX sans trailer and feel pretty good about it, but since we were camping I would need to reconfigure it to the roll. It’s not that hard, but it was a lot of steps including moving the fridge and power supply over as well as getting a rack on it for carrying additional items I would want. Even with all the best prep, it would still be a sub-optimal choice for the return leg which still sees me taking a few days by myself to get home through the Sierra-Nevada mountains and Nevada desert. The truth is that I wanted my Land Cruiser. It had everything on it already, and was stuffed with years of strategic cramming of necessary items to make this kind of thing more comfortable and convenient.
If I wanted to take the Land Cruiser home, I would have to take it there. Duh. That, however, came with its own set of issues. For one, it’s just not a GREAT long distance machine. In fact it’s pretty awful. It guzzles fuel, it’s underpowered for the west’s high speed, high altitude highways, and it’s noisy. A combination of factors influence that last issue: Custom exhaust that is still too droney for my liking (needs a H-resonator), re-geared differentials that contribute noise on their own as well as increasing the engine speed on the highway, high aero load, and a general lack of modern insulation and sealing techniques combined with 30 years and 380,000 miles of use.
It’s not miserable to drive like a TJ or defender might be, but it’s less refined and more exhausting than the GX, that’s for sure. Honestly though, it’s still a very comfortable, stable, and reliable mile eater…just a little loud about it.
After much hemming and hawing the choice was clear- The Cruiser, despite being old and high-miled, was actually in better shape mechanically for the trip, had everything we needed, and had the space required to fit our gear. We’ll just have to deal with the noise and gas mileage.
Still, I was a little concerned about how Bruce (The Cruiser) would handle a trip like this. Time to find out!
Part 2 coming soon.