travel (95)

Lloyd’s Camping Vehicles, Part 3

November 18, 2014 at 10:29 pm

In 1988 I bought a 4-cylinder, 5-speed Tacoma 4×4 with the Xtra cab (meaning a 6′ bed). Then in 2003, I got a new one, same model. The engine is a bit gutless going up long hills, but will run forever.

By this time I knew exactly what I wanted:

A metal camper shell made by Tradesman in Winters, Calif. It opened on all three sides, was way stronger than plastic shells. I bought an aluminum rack from Hauler Racks. It came disassembled via UPS and I bolted it together and mounted it. It rests on the truckbed sides, not on the camper roof.

At Campway’s in Santa Rosa, Calif., I got the inside of the bed sprayed with a waterproof membrane to protect the metal. Also a “carpet kit,” with storage boxes along the sides and sliding middle panels inside the bed.

You can see the pull-out drawer and side storage boxes. I shot this photo on Hornby Island, BC on one of my four trips to Canada shooting photos for Builders of the Pacific Coast. I remember one afternoon collecting oysters way out on a reef (beyond the commercial guys and cooking them for dinner on a beach fire with aluminum-foil-clad potatoes, red wine, AND just-picked blackberries with …(ahem)… heavy cream and brown sugar.

More on TheShelterBlog here.

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Lloyd’s Camping Vehicles, Part 2

November 10, 2014 at 8:19 pm

These days I’m doing less posts on this blog and more on The Shelter Blog. I realized that I had a lot of build-garden-homestead-forage experience (and assemblage) to communicate and liked the idea of putting it all in one place.

I’ll cross-reference some of my posts on the new blog with this one, such as this:

1983 Toyota 4×4 Pickup Truck Used on Baja Beaches and Desert

I bought it used from a builder friend. It didn’t have the “Xtra cab,” so the bed was 8′ long.

Tarp for Shade:  I had a Yakima Rocket Box on racks on the camper roof, with a flea market tarp (12’×14′) folded up inside. The frame was 1″ electrical conduit, with special connectors tightenable with wingscrews. The tarp was aluminized fabric. It was weighted down with canvas bags filled with sand and hung from each corner (ingenious!). Took maybe 45 minutes to set up. I’d place it butting up to the truck bed.
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Poppa’s Got A Brand New Carry-on Bag

May 25, 2014 at 5:32 pm

I’ve always had backpacks for airplane travel, eschewing suitcases and wheeled bags. I figured it was a good workout to have the weight on my shoulders, and I always walked up the stairs instead of using escalators, and never took the moving walkways. BUT on my last trip, I had so much weight, it wore me out. This time I got an Osprey rolling pack (with day pack, wheels, and shoulder straps), a new Da Kine day pack, and cut down on clothing as much as I could. Much improved.

   Even though I have a (11″) MacAir laptop, a bunch of camera gear, couple of books, and on this trip, a digital projector, the weight is on wheels — such a relief. Well, duh.

   Airports are stressful enough as it is. I’ll get my workouts in other ways. The strap is for a fairly aerodynamic camera bag, in which I have my new Olympus OM5-D10 with 3 lenses — gonna carry it in my city explorations here. The vest is a Columbia Omni-Shade — lightweight, bunch of pockets Also, stealth vaping — heh-heh — works in airports.

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