Over the 4th of July holiday, I went to order some parts from Decator Toyota, as they were having a really big sale. Unfortunately the website wouldn’t allow me to place my order ( I wasn’t the only one having that issue). But working with the parts manager, he secured the sale price through Toyota. About a week later he sent a link so I could make the purchase. The parts arrived last week.
A BIG shout out to my pal The Honey Badger 4×4. With his help and shop space ( Envision Fabrication), we managed to get a new Rack and Pinion/Tie Rods installed on the 4runner this past Saturday. installing the rack seemed to go pretty smoothly. Travis took the 4runner to the alignment shop today and after work meet him to pick it up and drive it back to storage. The drive back with the 4runner felt awesome and great to have it back on the road. Now to make the most of what’s left of Summer!
Even though only three friends from the club joined me, this years Train Trip was a blast and definitely needed, especially after a busy stretch of work. I planned to drive down to camp after work on Wednesday, but decided against it. After picking up the rental from the Downtown Home City location, I loaded up the rental then relaxed for the night. Up early the next day, I headed South enjoying the drive over La Veta Pass before turning West outside of San Luis (Colorado’s oldest town). At the Antonito yard, I meet up with Ige and Dereck. After watching #463 leave the yard, we headed to camp to drop off the rental, then spent the morning chasing the train from Big Horn Wye. After leaving Osier, we spent some time picking up trash along the road back to camp- Ige said there was only a few pieces to pick up… It became a fun game. Then a relaxing evening around camp. Friday we enjoyed another great train ride, this year, riding the train from Antonito. The conductor ended up chatting with us quite a bit during the day, telling us fun stories from working on the railroad. Back in Antonito, we had dinner in town, then another fine night around the campfire. Saturday we chased the train out of Chama. Stopping at the usual spots for photos before turning off on Apache Canyon. Not being snowed in this year, we stopped to air down ( and get a few pics of the train), then headed out on the trail. We ended up befriending John from ABQ and he joined us for the drive. After fording the Rio de Los Pinos below Osier, we hung out again watching the trains. After, we packed up camp and headed for home. I love you summer:).
I ended up taking over 400 pics during the weekend, so a bit pic heavy:).
Views of the Spanish Peaks as I head South. Adventure bound:).
#463 ready for the days run from Antonito, CO.
The rental made it to camp. After parking it, we continued on chasing the train.
At Big Horn Wye waiting for the train and the start of the chase.
