Welcome to Botches Off -Road. Join us as we talk
about everything from gear reviews to trail stories,
tank camping to rock landing, and all things
to do with the outdoors. Yeah, so Gavin went
camping. I went camping. Yep, and I didn't. I
stayed here at home with baby birds. I went camping.
In your yard. In his yard. I didn't even yard
camp. Like, I just... I mean, think about it.
You did the equivalent to like RV campers camp.
Like camping in my bedroom? In your house. Yeah.
Same thing. Can't get it down a trail. Yeah.
You can sleep in an off -road truck, but you
can't off -road a house. Yeah, so I left Wednesday
morning at about 7, and... We were a little late.
I was trying to get up there earlier, but that's
okay. We left and took the four -hour drive or
so. I think it was, yeah, four hours to Sault
Ste. Marie. Did the whole bridge thing. Bridge
is beautiful. Freighters were on it. I yelled
and beat my wife because she didn't take enough
videos and pictures of us crossing the bridge.
You know, typical stuff FJ drivers do. Did you
have a barbecue stand on your shirt? No. Just
pastes. Okay. All right. All right. No, but so
we got the Sioux State Marine. We could have
just made the trip all the way up to Vermilion
Point where I was heading, but I actually saw
a place on YouTube, and I wanted to go check
it out. It was a pasty place in the Sioux, so
we stopped there. the pasty place opened at 11
we got there at 10 58 sat around at the front
door and pet this random dude's dog was walking
by until the door opened and went in they already
had a couple people there because apparently
they didn't know that they opened at 11 so they
were already selling pasties and uh the owner
like greeted me as soon as i opened the door
i was like oh my god you're just like the video
like It was crazy because, like, there's a guy
named Peter Santiello or Santanego or something
like that. He goes around and does, like, reviews
of cities and, like, but real reviews. Like,
he goes and just talks to people. Yeah. And he's
like, well, how do you like this? And what do
you not like about it? And he did this place.
Guy's got, like, 4 million subscribers on YouTube.
And they were blew up ever since that guy left.
Like, he came in three weeks ago. He uploaded
the video. They've been selling out before Wednesday,
like, constantly. So, which is great for them
because they deserve it. I mean, it's a beautiful,
beautiful spot. You walk in, it's like walking
into your grandmother's house, like, in the early
2000s. I'd hope not. Well, maybe not yours, but
you have, like, the old sweet grandmother, the
wood panel siding. the christmas stuff oh yeah
no that's totally how my grandma's was yeah yeah
and then she'd beat us yeah good you deserved
it probably you still didn't straighten out dad
damn it but yeah they had like this old tube
tv with like old cowboy show on like it was just
it was like stepping back into like time it was
so cool Then the other room, they had, like,
an old couch and, like, the old, like, Nintendo
64 with Duck Hunter on, an army cot in the corner.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Duck Hunter was never
on N64. Well, like, they had the Duck Hunter,
like, on the, like, they had, like, a cartridge
thing. So NES, not N64? I don't know, dude. Was
it boxing? It was an old Nintendo, okay? I am
not. I didn't even play those old things until
later in life. Gavin, have you, just out of curiosity,
since you seem so enamored with this, have you
been in my guest bedroom? Which one? The one
with the Coke stuff? No, that's not a guest bedroom.
The other one. That looked like a guest bedroom
to me. There's nothing in it. It's an empty room.
Yeah, that's what I'm used to in a guest bedroom.
Oh, my God. No, so the other one is we call it
the 2000s room. There's nothing in it that was
made after 2006, and it's got a Sony Trinitron.
I don't remember which one. It's a 1080p tube
TV, and it's got an iMac G2. on furniture that
is very clearly early 2000s. Huh. No, I haven't.
It's really cool. Yeah, I'll have to check that
out sometime. But no, it was just really cool.
They made it really homey. It was like a mix
of an old Canadian hockey grandmother's house.
It was just really cool. You walk in, they're
a little bored with all the pasties on there,
and I was like, I wanted chicken. They were sold
out of chicken already. On Wednesday, and I was
like... So you were trying to get a chicken pasty?
Yeah. I mean, I typically get beef, but the guy
was saying that the chicken ones were really
good, so I wanted to try that. Did you call them
pasties while you were there? No, they're pasties.
Okay. I don't call them pasties. You did. That's
why I was questioning you. I go back and forth.
It's like tomato -tomato. Sometimes I switch
it up. But no, I call them pasties. Okay. Pasties
are those little nipple tassel things. That's
why I was confused about your chicken pasties.
Yeah, chicken pasties. Well, chickens do have
breasts. They do need pasties. But they don't
have nipples. Well, have you checked? Yes. That's
my job. That's crazy. That's part of my job.
Yeah, you got to check the breast of birds and
make sure it's healthy. Oh. And I'm pretty sure
if there were nipples there, that would be an
unhealthy bird. I don't know. I wouldn't define
it as healthy. So, yeah, they were sold out of
chicken pasties. There you go. And they had beef,
spicy beef, and triple berry. And very, very
interested in the triple berry, so I got one
of those. And a spicy beef. Yeah. A berry pasty?
Yes. It's basically like, you know the pasties
got like the flaky, buttery crust? You have,
imagine triple berry like pie filling inside
of that. Oh my God, dude. This was the best dessert
I think I have ever tasted in recent. Inside.
The pie filling was inside the what? The pasty.
Okay. Stop trying to get me. No, you said pasty.
Let me be me. Let me fly. No, that sounds interesting.
Was there raspberry in it? I don't know. It was
triple berry. I didn't ask him which berries
were in. I just ordered it. I would hope that
there were no raspberries because I want to try
it, and that sounds terrible if there's raspberries.
Dude, it was so good. It was so good. And I didn't
know it, but each one of the pasties has a defining,
like, shape of dough on the top. Like, the regular
ones is the Upper Peninsula shape. It's just
like a cutout. I have it on my Instagram if you
want to, like, back check it. And then on the
Triple Berry one, I think it's a heart. the spicy
beef one is like a little fire symbol um so that's
like how they tell which is which and so we ordered
that we talked to the owner the owner was super
super nice he said that ever since that peter
santanello guy came in they've been selling out
like crazy they haven't been able to keep them
on the shelves people are ordering like 15 20
at a time and it's really cool to see because
like They obviously deserved it. They're like
really nice people. The guy is super genuine.
And if I ever go to the UP, we will be making
a stop there every time on the way up. The pasties
are good. The triple berry pasty is, like I said,
in my honest recent memory, I have not had a
better dessert. So I will be eating that every
time. But that's not on the way. The place sounds
amazing, but that's not on the way. Sault Ste.
Marie is like two hours out of the way. It's
one hour. So when you come back. It's just a
different route, right? You have to go northeast
to then go northwest. It's literally the opposite
direction. It's worth it. I'm sure it is. It
sounds delicious. I'd love to go. And then just
more to support the people that deserve it, because
not a lot of people get the support they need
to. And you're not kidding. It is almost a military
cot. It looks like it's an off -brand one. It
doesn't have the right frame, but it's pretty
close. Wood one? Old wooden rocking horse. No,
the cot isn't wood. It's got aluminum. Okay.
Yeah. It's kind of like the one that your brother
folded in half. That was so funny. Yeah, that
was hilarious. Felt bad for him. That was funny.
It was amazing. But just a fun place. So we,
anyway, we chopped up that. We got back in the
truck, went back on that hour drive. Met Mike
and Melissa at Andrus State Park, where we aired
down, and then we took the trails all the way
to our camp spot. We got there. It was super
rainy, super windy, and super nasty. The whole
area that we were planning to camp at was pretty
wet, and we didn't really know if that was going
to be our spot, to be honest. We were kind of
like, eh, I don't know. So we kind of sat there.
I talked to Derek a little bit, and I was like,
yeah, that's going to be it. I'm like, all right.
So we kind of waited for a break in the rain.
We had a nice break in the rain. I jumped out
with Sienna. We tried to get the tent open. As
soon as we opened the tent up, it started raining
again. So we packed the tent back in real quick,
flipped it upside down so it didn't get wet on
the inside, waited again for the next break,
and then finally came back out, did all that.
Got the tent up, then it started downpouring.
So the first day there kind of sucked, like,
all honesty. Like, I was like, dude, by the end
of the first day, I was like, I don't even know
if I want to be here. Like, we got through the
first day. The second day, I was like, yeah,
hopefully this will be better. The rain cleared
up. I was like, sweet. But then the wind picked
up. So the wind was like. at like 15 to 20 mile
an hour wind which was already starting to buckle
the tent and not like fully but it was starting
to push the tent i don't think it was accurate
the wind felt a lot stronger but uh so that was
fun we still made some food tried to set up some
stuff wind died down for a little bit kicked
back up and then kicked their little it's kind
of like the the gazebo you guys have for like
the bugs and stuff The big one? Yeah. The wind
kicked that up, up the dune. So we had to go
chase that down, bring it back. And yeah, so
second day, not all that great. It kind of calmed
down a little bit at night. And that's when a
lot of the other guys got there. So they all
got there. And we kind of, I kind of helped them
pack up because they got there late. Like Derek
got there at like 10, 30, 11. So I helped him
get his big -ass trailer unloaded and stuff,
get his big -ass rooftop tent unfolded. And then
I pretty much went to bed. We got up in the morning,
no wind, nothing. It was just nice and sunny,
perfect weather. Everybody's like, oh, man, this
is great. I'm like, fuck you guys. This is horrible
the first two days. We chilled out for a little
bit. We kind of, that whole Friday was just a
chill day for everyone anyway. So, like, we were
all kind of just relaxing. We decided to go out
and do some trails, so we went and did some trails.
And one of the guys that, or I'm sorry, before
this, before everybody else showed up, Bill,
Wild Bill, he came a little earlier and... He
ended up getting stuck with a Sequoia in his
trailer and some of the sand traps. So I had
to take the FJ and go and yank him out. So we
hooked up the kinetic rope to him, yanked him,
and then as soon as I yanked him, my truck started
acting weird. oh no yeah like i started getting
like my battery symbol started flashing a little
bit my um my power started going down a little
bit and this is after like we did some trails
and stuff during the day we had some deep water
crossings um that we almost didn't make it out
of so i thought maybe my alternator had died
and it was finally just catching up to me so
Yeah, my voltage started dropping. Like, I started
going down to, like, the 12s, and it would, like,
jump back. And it was only after I pulled Bill
out, though. So, like, I couldn't figure it out.
I kept pulling him down the trail to get him
out of the second sand trap. We disconnected,
finally got him into camp, and all of a sudden
the truck started working fine. And I'm like,
okay, I don't really understand what's going
on there. Kind of like send a message to everybody,
trying to wait for people to brainstorm an issue.
Everybody else just agreed and thought it was
going to be my alternator, so I was like, shit.
Well, maybe I should start looking for an alternator,
but I ran it for another hour at camp and nothing
happened. So I was like, okay. All my voltage
went up. Nothing happened. So I was like, okay,
cool, whatever. Everybody else got to camp. As
I said, we helped pack them out. We chilled out.
Austin and them wanted to go do a trail ride,
so we went and did a trail ride, came back. And
I think we just kind of relaxed. We just kind
of sat by the fire. Everybody chit -chatted.
There were, like, five fires. There was a lot
of people. And, like, we had all an Indiana group.
They were all separate. We had, like, three other
fires. Then we had some other newcomers that
had a fire down a little bit. But it was a lot
of fun. You can kind of go in between people,
say hi, go back to your own little group and
chill out for a little bit. And we saw a lot
of people that I haven't seen in probably since
the last time. Like we saw Hassan and Ivan. Those
people I haven't seen in a long time. So that
was cool. Then the next day, Austin, Tom, and
I think just us. We're going to go on a little
trail ride because we didn't feel like doing
the whole Saturday trail ride that Derek does.
Just because we kind of did it last year. We
kind of knew what we were doing. So we wanted
to go find some new trails. We wanted to go and
see what shit we could get into. So we started
up doing that. Tom said he needed to get gas
at some point. So we started the trails. And
then all of a sudden, I'm like, oh, shit, Tom.
We've been out for like an hour and a half. what's
your gas at? He's like, empty. I'm like, ah,
fuck. So Sienna got out her tablet. We started
navigating the trails to get back into town.
Got back into town. Tom spent a cool, like, hundred
bucks filling his vehicle up because he uses
premium. Oh, jeez. I was wondering about that.
Yeah. And we went to go stop across the street
because if you're in that paradise area. There's
a gas station right there on the four -way, and
then there's, like, a little restaurant across
the street. They got little knickknacks over
there. So he went across the street to the pizza
place. They were closed, and then Austin started
noticing something was going, like, weird on
his rig. So he started checking things, and then
he realized, like, oh, shit. He's like, I'm missing
two lug nuts. And then he looked, and he's like,
oh, no, I'm missing two studs. The lug nuts were
gone too. So he snapped two of his studs out
when we were on the trail. Yeah, and so we all
parked, and we're trying to figure out. He had
a spare tire in the back, and the spare tire
mount had studs. So we were like, oh, you know,
maybe we can get those out. So we're banging
the spare tire mount, trying to get the studs
out of it. They were like, I think these are
welded in. Because they were not coming out.
So we're like, oh, fuck, now what? And honestly,
I didn't really think of this. Like Joe pointed
it out after I had already left, but he's like,
why don't you just take one stud off of every
other wheel and you'll be good. I just volunteered.
I was just like, why don't I just go to an auto
parts store and pick you up some studs? It's
the least I could do for us. And he helped me
out with the brake stuff earlier last time we
had a trip. So I wasn't even thinking about it.
So we went to Sault Ste. Marie. which is a cool
hour and 20 minutes away, and picked up seven
studs for him, brought him back, and that took
most of the rest of our day, and brought him
back to the beach. Austin already had his rig
all jacked up and ready. He had the studs in
there in a good five minutes. I was like, you
want to go back out on the trails? It's like,
fuck it, sure. But before I left to go to see
St. Marie, I went to start my truck to leave,
and it just didn't start. Nothing happened. There
was no clicking, no sound, nothing. Just dead.
Dead. And I'm like, oh, no. And everybody turned
and looked at me because they're like. He was
supposed to be leaving. And everyone goes, not
two out of the three trucks. What the fuck? And
we're all trying to figure it out. And they're
like, dude, it's got to be your alternator. And
I'm like, this is fucking ridiculous. I literally
just went to go help Austin, and now I'm fucked.
So we popped my hood. We jumped it and got the
truck back running. Once it was jumped, it was
running fine. I was like, okay, this is fucking
weird. So I hooked my scanner up to it, tested
my alternator. Good. Battery, good. Okay, what
the fuck? So I start wiggling the battery, and
I had a loose, my ground was loose, it turns
out. The whole time. This sounds like a loose
ground at this point. Yeah, so my negative cable,
so I think it's when I went to go tow bill, when
that. snap of the fucking kinetic rope oh my
battery all around and because i have that red
top ultima it's not mounted i don't have a block
under it so it's not like securely mounted so
it wiggled that that battery uh cable so we so
whenever you're starting a car if it just goes
if it doesn't make any sound and all the lights
just shut off it's a loose ground yep Yeah, and
that was like the last thing on my mind at the
time because I was already worried about an alternator.
My mind went to an alternator first. That my
battery was just so far dead. So that was super
cool. We took all the crap off the ground and
retightened it back on. Boom, truck started right
up, no problems. Then we drove Sault Ste. Marie
back. got back like i said austin got those things
on lickety split we went back out on the trail
we thought we would just take her easy find some
cool trails no we found some holes some some
deep water and we were kind of like austin was
like you know i'll test them out first and you
know i'll walk them if you feel like we need
to walk them i'll walk them i'll do it and i'm
like all right you know If that's the case, like,
let's do it. Like, I guess I didn't toast my
alternator, so I guess let's tempt fate. And
so we got to a couple of these holes. He went
through them. Good. Four inches. Like, not a
big deal. So we got through those, started getting
into some other holes down by a logging trail.
And then there was, like, creek running through
the trail. And it was, like, a good 15 -foot
hole. with the creek running through both sides
and, like, a swamp on either side. And we're
like, hmm, this one doesn't look good. And Austin's
like, well, I'll walk it. I'll walk it. So he
takes his shoes off, gets in, and he's Grinch
walking. You know how the Grinch walks when he's,
like, stealing presents? Yeah. Like, he's high
-stepping it. That's how Austin was because that
water was cold. And we're laughing. He's going
through it. Boom. He's up to his knees in water.
And we're like, oh, fuck. And then he keeps going,
boom, past his knees. And we're like, oh, no.
We're like, we're pretty far into this trail
already. And he comes back and he's like, well,
it felt like it was rock bottom. I don't think
anything's going to happen. So we're like, all
right, you know. And then it kind of went up
after that. So we went through that one. Ooh,
that was pretty deep. It went up to my, just
past my winch. And we were like, yeah, okay.
Yep, this is starting to get a little shitsy.
And we get into the next one, same thing. We're
like, okay, all right, we need to get out of
here. We're not going to be backtracking through
this. And then we get into this. There's like
a Y. There's like a bypass through logging camp.
Like it's a log area. There's like downed trees
and stumps and shit. You can tell someone bypassed
it over there through that. And then you can
see ruts going into like a 30 -foot -long water
hole. And he started walking in that, or he started
driving in it, and the whole front end of his
truck dipped down into it. And he goes, nope.
Fucking smashes reverse and backs up. And I look
at him, and I'm like, oh, buddy. He's like, yeah.
So we start walking this left, and the mosquitoes
out there are just in clouds at this point. So
we're running pretty much. He checks out this
other path. that it wise again and there's another
30 foot hole now when you can see mud ruts going
into it and we're like yep we're not making that
but you could go through uh it was just like
regular ground where someone had obviously driven
and we're like well we can we'll just go through
that so we go through that and that was pretty
rough i thought i slashed my sidewall because
i had went up a route And then my whole truck
dropped down, and it sounded like my tire popped,
but I think it was just the way that it slid
down. It's just Gavin being paranoid. Yeah, for
real. Yeah, I'm always really overly paranoid,
especially when we're out in the middle of nowhere.
So we got to this. Once we got past that Y, it
took us to another, like, 30 -foot hole. And
we're like, well, fuck it, dude. After just doing
all that, we got to go through this. And it turned
out that one wasn't so bad. That was up almost
towards the top of our wheels. So we were like,
okay. And there was a couple more holes after
that where it was like just about the same. And
we're like, okay, we're okay. We're done. We're
done with the water holes now. Like anytime now,
anytime. And then finally we get out and we're
like, yeah, okay. I think we're done. Like, like
that was enough. Like it was getting late. And
so we went out, turned around. And then found
another trail and took that because it was a
trail that was like parallel with the road we
have to take to get back to camp. So we took
that. That was cool. That was a little side -by
-side like trail. It was a legal trail. We could
drive on it. But you could tell all day side
-by -side drivers have been on it because all
the kicked out dirt around every single corner.
So we went down that one and that was just a
nice beautiful trail. There was a little bit
of technical stuff, I guess, just being tight.
You know, really tight side trees and stuff like
that. Interesting. Alex is over here changing
his background. Hey, dude. Yeah. So we got back
to camp, and after all the vehicles had gone
down that same trail, that trail got much worse,
much ruddier. You could not go 20 mile an hour
down it. You could barely go 10. So there was
a lot more, like, technical driving to it. And
then we started doing like, there was like, you
go through a couple of sand traps and there's
dunes on either side, little hills and stuff
that you could go and drive up. So we started
like bebopping on those, started taking the sand
hills and stuff. And then we got back into camp
and kind of relaxed and just took her easy. And
then pretty much, pretty, I mean, Sunday, a lot
of people packed up. They were all pretty much
heading home, and then there was a pretty nice
group of us that stayed. But a lot of the guys,
like, I guess Saturday, that trail ride got pretty
gnarly. Is that the one where they did that one
little bit? That what? That, like, really gnarly
puddle. Yeah, that was pretty gnarly. People
got some damage to their vehicles on that one.
oh i wish i could have been there that was yeah
i mean sure you probably would have crawled up
it some of the sequoias actually did okay on
it but like one of the forerunners i think it
was nick's forerunner he like he just sent that
fucking thing and he just like the side bashed
into the wall uh like the ground and he like
banged up the side of his and then forget who
else someone else did something too and But they
got all through that. They had to winch a couple
people out. Like, Zach had to get winched out.
But, I mean, a lot of people weren't making it
through it. So, again, it's not bad for the first
couple cars. But after you get, you know, 15
cars through a mud pit, it starts getting kind
of crazy. So, they got through that, did their
trip. Add Rebecca, Steven. David, Katona, a couple
other guys. They went and decided to do an 11
-mile hike at the same time, do the Pictured
Rock hike. And they were trying to get other
people to come, and nobody wanted to go and walk
11 miles on vacation. They were all like, no,
you guys are crazy. They had the baby they were
going with, and we were like, no, there's no
way. Ivan, I think, went. Their hike looked like
a lot of fun, though. Oh, it was gorgeous. They
left, like, a little bit after we did, and they
didn't come back till, like, 11 at night. They
were like, it's only supposed to be a few hours.
It took them, like, it took them at least eight.
It could have been more. Like, they were out
all fucking day. They didn't come back till,
like, 11. And we were like, holy shit, dude.
And everybody's, like, hobbling. And they were
like, yeah, it was a little harder than we thought.
But it was beautiful, apparently. I was going
to say, it sounded like the Leatherwood trip.
Everyone went on that trail and didn't think
it was going to take so long. Yeah. I was like,
dude, you have a kid. It's going to take longer.
I know it. Like, nothing's ever as easy as it
says. Right, right. So they had fun. And, you
know, we all hung out to the fire until like
1 and went to bed. And like I said, Sunday, everybody
pretty much went home. Ed and Rebecca, they ended
up staying until for a while. Joe stayed till
Monday. Mike and Melissa, Mike and Lisa, they
stayed till Monday. So we all kind of hung out.
We got to go play at the beach a little bit because
those couple of days, it got actually pretty
hot. So we were out swimming. And then we all
decided to leave. And I was going to stay till
Wednesday, but I was kind of done with the sand,
man. The fucking sand and everything. Like the
kid. The first day when it was all wet and muddy
sand and it was, like, really hard to get off,
he was, like, trying to be a good kid. He, like,
walked inside the tent, took his shoes off, and
went to go hit them to, like, knock all the sand
out outside of the tent, but instead knocked
them off inside of the tent. So he knocked all
the sand off of his shoes inside of the tent
and then placed his shoes on the outside of the
tent. And I'm like... And then had, like, ankle
deep, like, inch thick, like, caked on sand feet
and ran up my fucking sleeping bag to, like,
come jump on me and play with me. I'm like, dude,
you just got sand everywhere. Oh, man. It was
fun, though. We did. We got sand everywhere.
And we were thinking about just stopping somewhere
Monday and, like, finding a different place to
camp. but at that point like we were already
had made pretty good time and nobody was gonna
camp with us and that was like part of the fun
um so we were just like fuck it let's just go
home and take these next couple days to relax
and recuperate and this and that so that's what
we did and then about an hour from coming home
i started getting this weird rubbing like from
cal casket it was like a It was like with the
tire rotations, and I thought my diff or something
was fucking up, like my rear diff. And so we
drove around like this car wash trying to figure
out what was going on with it. And I'm hoping,
because it stopped after, but there was a piece
of the front wheel well that was like the rubber
or plastic was peeled off and rubbing up against
the tread on my tire. Why do you look like you're
in The Simpsons? That's what it is. Just mess
it around. But yeah, some rubber was, I think,
touching their tread, and it was making that
rubbing sound. So I'm hoping that was it. We
didn't really have any other vibrations or issues
with that since. So we drove home. Everything
was good. Emptied all of our food out of my fridge.
My fridge did fucking great, honestly. I was
really happy with how that handled. Those days
were colder, so it lasted a few days without
having to drive anywhere. So my power bank left
some things to be desired, but I think it's just
getting old. We've had it for a few years, and
it's just starting to... Some of the ports aren't
working exactly how they should. It's just kind
of black, but overall, good trip. We did buy
chicken we were going to do barbecue with, and
that went bad. But that was like super cheap
chicken from Walmart, and we were going to cook
it up as soon as we could. I had it double or
triple Ziploc'd because we took it out of the
freezer, like the tray that they put them in.
Yeah. And I opened up both Ziplocs and smelled
it, and I was like, oh, fuck, no. Closed that
shit up, put it in my trash -a -roo, and I was
like, nope. Guess we were eating something else.
That was nasty. Good thing you got all those
Mountain House meals. Yeah, we actually over
-prepared on food, so we were good. We had a
couple dozen eggs. We had a couple different
pastas we could have done. So we did good. We
had some spam. We had Austin's dad, Tom. We pretty
much adopted him this trip and just fed him every
morning for breakfast. So we had like eggs and
chorizo one day. We fed him. We had jambalaya
one night. We fed him. So he's always fun to
have around. But yeah, I mean, that was pretty
much the trip. We did a lot of trails. We did
a lot of like sand dune and did a lot of exploring.
And it was a blast, dude. Yeah, it looked like
a fun trip. It's not really. Not usually my scene,
but that's a trip I think I would have enjoyed.
Yeah, I honestly think this trip you would have
loved because it was a base camp style. Yeah.
And you're free to do whatever, really. It's
not like you have to do any of the trail rides
or anything because we didn't. But we got there.
All of our favorite people were there to kind
of hang out. Talk with, it was like an extended
rigs and coffee because you could go and like
see everybody's rigs. We're like, how's your
stroller set up? Like, what are you using for
this? So that was super cool. And then of course
you get to hang out, drink beer and relax and
chit chat for a while. That's cool. Oh, we had
an engagement. What? Yeah, dude. We had an engagement.
I think it was Abe. Oh, I saw that. Yeah, he
proposed to his... Was it Abe? No, it was...
I can't remember who it was. Sorry, whoever that
was. God damn it. Mario. Was it Mario? Yeah,
he proposed at Chris Point. That's super cool,
dude. That's the second trip I've seen an engagement.
Like last year, there was someone proposed at
Bond Falls, but it wasn't part of our group.
And this one, someone proposed. So that's pretty
cool, dude. So congrats to Mario and Kristen.
Congrats, Mario. They're pretty great. They are.
Both of them. So happy for them. I mean, it was
just such a fun. It was. It was so fun. It was
so laid back. You guys would have loved it. I
do. There wasn't really anything bad that happened.
I mean, everybody's shit got fixed. Other than
on the way out the day before, I think it was
Sunday, one of the newer guys, Eric, his trailer,
his axle fucking snapped. Yeah, I saw that. So
that snapped on the way in. Oh, on the way in?
Well, they bent on the way in through all the
sand traps. Because that trail. It's not like
a go -fast trail. Like, and people were hitting
pretty quick. Not meant for trailers without
any type of suspension. It had, like, leaf suspension.
Very basic, like, utility trailer. Not really
meant for trails. And, like, when he came into
camp, his wheels were cockeyed like this. Like,
they were fucked. So, we kind of knew that it
probably wasn't a great chance coming out. And
he got out, left Sunday, and we heard... 30 minutes
later that he was stuck in one of the sand traps.
Kevin got him out of that, and then shortly after,
when he got into some of the bumps, the whoops
or whatever, he snapped his right axle, which
is, I don't even know if you count it as an axle.
It was not. It was a shaft about four inches
that went into, like, square tubing that was
welded into it. So with the amount of weight
he had on it, hitting the shit he did, It's really
not a surprise. So we tried a couple things.
First thing we tried to do was like drill a hole
through the shaft and the tubing and throw like
a bolt through it to try to get them out. And
that lasted about 100 yards before the bolt sheared
and the tubing bent again after hitting more
of those. Then we tried the old log skid trick,
and that lasted a little while. until the strap
broke from hitting the ground and shit, and then
the log fucking came out, and Joe kept having
to get his high -lift jack out every single time
to get this thing off. It was getting to be a
pain in the ass. And then third time, his fender
was almost completely ripped off, so we ended
up using the fender as a ski, and the fender
worked for a little bit. and then that ripped
off as well. Jesus. So at that point, everyone's
just fucking tired. Eric's tired of it. Like,
we've been out there for a few hours, and we're
like, dude, just drag it. So... Gavin's dying.
Yeah, just call up. So... So Eric just dragged
the fucking trailer out the rest of the way on
the leaf spring, and we just fucking made do
with it, because at that point, we're all fucking
tired of it. Yeah. No, it sounds like it was
a hell of a experience. It was fun, man. It was
good to help other people, and he got out with
that. We parked it on the side of the dirt road,
took all the stuff of importance out of it that
we could, put it in his truck. He came back Monday
afternoon to the flatbed, picked it up, and left.
So nothing was stolen. He was good to go. So,
yeah, I mean, everything was cool. It was a fun
-ass trip, dude. I did realize that at some point
I have to get a diesel heater and I can't keep
waiting. Yeah, I was wondering how cold it was
up there for you guys. It was cold down here
when we came to camping. It got pretty cold.
It was in the 40s. And the one night we were
all pretty chilly. I was really hoping for a
diesel heater, and I was talking to Mike and
Lisa's kid, Olivia. She's such a sweetheart.
She's, like, talking about how cold it got in
the tent. And I was like, you know what you should
do? And she goes, what? And I'm going to whisper
in her head, and I'm like, you need to tell your
dad that you need a diesel heater. And they're
more efficient than a propane buddy heater. And
then you can run it off of the battery that they
already have. And she goes, oh, I'm going to
do that. She's like, and, you know, packages
just randomly show up at our door anyway from
him. Like, totally ratted him out. And I was
like, yeah, that's kind of how it goes. And so
as we're talking about it, I hear, and I look
over. There's a fucking duct going into their
tent. I'm like, Olivia, I think you're going
to be warm tonight. She goes, what? I said. I
think your dad has a fucking diesel heater. She
goes and climbs up into the tent. It's like 65,
70 degrees in there. She goes, ooh, I'm going
to be warm. And I was like, dude, that was perfect
timing how that happened. So, yeah, dude, it
was just a blast being able to talk to these
people I haven't seen in so long. And, you know,
got home safe. Everything was fine. Nobody had
anything catastrophic happen. So, all in all,
good. Good trip, dude. Honestly. Nobody had anything
catastrophic happen. They literally dragged a
trailer off the trail. Yeah, I mean, that wasn't
catastrophic. It'd be one thing if your truck
blew up, but the trailer detached, you could
still get home. So, I mean, yes, the trailer
sucked, and Nick hitting the side of that trail
when he was trying to get up it did some body
damage, but... You know, Nick's a cool dude.
He didn't have any issues. Like, he knew that's
kind of just, it happens. Body damage happens
on trails sometimes, you know? I almost ripped
the mirror off my truck going through a trail.
Oh, yeah. I don't know anyone who has done that.
Yeah. I thought I did. I was, like, wiggling
the housing. Everything was good. Dude, I just
hit a tree hard enough to leave a mark on the
tree. Like, took the bark off it. Thankfully,
it didn't rip my mirror off, but. That was rough.
Yeah, I don't know anyone who would just rip
their mirror off, man. Twice. Twice. Yeah. At
the same trail. At the same point on the trail.
Same side, too. Same side, everything. Even after
it was an autographed special edition. Yeah,
I don't think it was autographed, but it wasn't
autographed. So. On your little diesel heater
thing, though, me and Mark did recently have
a powwow, and we designed ours, so we just kind
of ordered parts. Yeah. And really, you can use
one to power and to heat all of your stuff, because
one will... That's what we're talking. Yeah,
one will heat a tent super well, so you could
split it off and wire it into a hub for three
different tents or so and keep everyone warm.
That is our plan and the canopy so that we have
a heated canopy. Yep. That'll be really nice.
When's the plan going to be executed on that
one? When I'm done having to buy parts nonstop.
Actually, I don't have to buy parts. I haven't
bought any parts for like a good four or five
months. Yeah. And then wheel bearings full of
mud. They're so full of mud, dude. Yeah. I got
to go through, and when I get my check, I'm going
to buy a few parts. I'm going to buy an alternator
from Rock Auto and just have one of those on
deck. It's just one of those things. I even made
a little Instagram post on it, and everyone's
like, yep, been through a few of those, like
everybody on Toyotas. Even there was a guy with
a Nissan that was like, yep, I've been through
a couple of those because they're low -mounted.
It's like, huh. I mean, it's better to have one,
and then I can just warranty out my AutoZone
one the next time, and then just keep that rotated.
Right. Alternating alternators. Yeah, I've never
had an alternator fail on my Toyota, but I have
had a starter fail, and that was not fun. Yeah.
No. Because that is not in a convenient spot
to replace. But no crazy storms this week, so
that was good. We left before it happened. It
was a good thing we left before Wednesday because
Tuesday and Wednesday were like shitty up there,
so we left at a good time. And you had to get
home in time for this. Yeah. Well, I would have
got home at like 1 today if that was the case,
but yeah. Either way, I forgot today was Wednesday.
I was like, oh, shit, I forgot that's today.
Yeah, I put in the group chat, I'm like, can't
wait to hear about Gavin's stories. And he's
like, oh, oh, that's today. Oh, yeah. Whoops.
After he abandoned us last weekend. But, hey,
I mean, if that's your whole rap there, Gavin,
your whole rap on raps on non -rap day. Yeah.
Extended realm. I would say we got some housekeeping
and mentioned cords and calf, but this episode
comes out after cords and calf has happened.
Yeah, I got to remember that. Yeah, don't forget
about cords and calf. Yeah, we can discuss our
new drink we found for the season. Oh, I have
it right here. You're right. I've been sitting
here silently enjoying it. I thought I just got
a new computer chair. I was like, yeah, background.
It's like sitting in like a, like a exotic, a
Porsche. Yeah. It's a Porsche nine one. I'm like,
yeah, a nice one. I got a couple of cool backgrounds
now. Like, uh, one second. You must not have
been watching me rotate through these. It was
really fun. No, I saw them. It was distracting
me. Like, now I'm in a Lexus. His dream car.
A good Lexus. It's not even my dream car. It's
just the one I can find. There's this one, which
is fun. Fly in a plane. Yes. A jet. Let's see
what else do I got here. He's having too much
fun with this. Oh, now I'm in my bedroom. That's
Zelda. It is Minish Cap. I just finished Minish
Cap a couple weeks ago. So I can't say that.
Oh, you distracted me. I'm sorry. So, yes. Blake's
Hard Cider has come out. Our dear friends who
make El Chavo have come out with a new one called
Cider Mill Donut. It is a cinnamon sugar donut
cider. Okay, I might have to try that one. It's
really freaking good. It's really good. Oh, yeah.
It's really, really good. Yeah. Because we could
do a little fire at Corson Calf. That's the plan?
Yeah. Mark is actually camping there Friday night.
Oh, you know what? Let me see if... I'll see
what Sienna's doing. Maybe I could do that too.
Maybe I'll figure out a way. It's close enough
that I actually plan on kind of doing it. Yeah.
The problem is... I'll come hang out Friday night,
but I got to go home Friday night. Yeah. Because
the problem is. But then I have to come back
to my house in the morning to do chores to then
come back to that spot. He has birds now, so
he can't do what he did the other week. It's
just going to be better if I just come hang out,
go home, come back. Yeah. Yeah. A lot less monies.
And all of that. All of that is dependent on
if my wheel bearings come in time because I might
have to get rides. Yeah. So. Well, that'll be
fun. Courtesy of Cath will be fun. Are we going
to do any? We're doing like coffee and shit,
right? Yeah. Coffee. Yeah. Donuts. That's it.
Dog nuts. If you want to do donuts, you can buy
everyone donuts. We'll see what our stuff looks
like because I don't know if Sienna gets paid
this Friday. I don't think she does. If I somehow
get my check before then, I'll buy donuts for
everybody. But yeah, Cords and Calf will be fun.
I'm really excited to talk about how cool it
was to every listener that didn't show up. You
hear that? Yeah. Guilt trips. Yeah. Well, on
that note. Oh, God, you had to ruin it. 50 minutes
without a ding. I know. Fucking Cody. All right.
On that note, we will talk to you guys on the
next one. Yeah, catch you later. Later.