Summer's not over yet

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
In a strange turn of events, my weekend camping trip at Mt. St. Helens turned into a weekend camping trip at Washington's coast. Here's where I met up with a friend whose ambitions to drive on sand outran the capabilities of his 2WD Vanagon. Towing him through 200 yards of soft sand in the dark made for a fun end to the day. What Rover trips did other folks take this weekend?

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jastutte

Well-known member
Nov 10, 2009
461
71
some time ago i had a '84 Vanagon. their first water-cooled year. VW's engineers decided to keep the engine in the back of the van and run yards of coolant hose to the front of the van to the radiator. not sure if they didn't anticipate the problems this might cause or if they thought this created a wonderful sense of adventure for the driver. still, i loved it. until the over-heating and the head gasket leaks started.

glad i moved on to the more reliable and less troublesome D2.


that Vanagon did take me and my new wife to some fun places. we drove the Colorado Rockies, the Kansas Plains and the Missouri Ozark hills.


back on topic, my wife and i took the '04 Discovery out for a drive on the River Road that follows the Missouri-Illinois border yesterday.

it was uneventful and relaxing.

i am hoping to take my boys and a couple of the Rovers to some trails in the next couple of weeks. it will be my 17 year old's first time behind the wheel off-roading.
 
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pdXDisco97

Well-known member
Dec 6, 2011
277
36
Oregon
Towed a new-to-us travel trailer with the LR3 to a camping trip on the Oregon Coast. Fantastic towing vehicle, of course.

The best part was taking the LR3 out on the beach drive and watching the large domestic trucks taking more than one attempt to get through the soft sand and back on the road. We simply put the Rover in Sand Mode and calmly drove past them without breaking a sweat.

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Howski

Well-known member
Oct 19, 2009
1,483
209
Alabama
Not much Rover wise, unfortunately. I did swing down to Charleston to get a factory expedition rack for a steal on Facebook marketplace. It should be set after fabricating some missing hardware and a fresh coat of paint. Hopefully I’ll be able to put together a trip or two this fall
 

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pdxrovermech

Well-known member
Jul 3, 2009
1,807
57
Portland, OR
have plans to run the Rubicon and the Black Rock Desert starting Sunday. Currently the Rubicon in under evacuation orders, so who knows where will end up. Just more time in the desert i guess.
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
have plans to run the Rubicon and the Black Rock Desert starting Sunday. Currently the Rubicon in under evacuation orders, so who knows where will end up. Just more time in the desert i guess.

Extra time in the desert sounds great. Hope the air quality is better than it is up here. You taking this thing?

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p m

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 19, 2004
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La Jolla, CA
www.3rj.org
Last weekend... test-drove my 95 LWB with a fresh 1.4 LT230 conversion to LA and back (250mi).
It is so much more enjoyable, despite a likely 2mpg gas mileage hit at SoCal highway speeds.
 

pdxrovermech

Well-known member
Jul 3, 2009
1,807
57
Portland, OR
Extra time in the desert sounds great. Hope the air quality is better than it is up here. You taking this thing?
nope. I'm taking my 300tdi Disco. Should save me $500 in gas and its a bit more comfortable for my 6'4 frame. As of right now our plans have changed from heading east out of Sacramento. Now we're either heading over Mt Hood or down the Gorge. Seems to be the only ways to head east that aren't shutdown. Looking forward to getting out of all this smoke.
 
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Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
561
Seattle
nope. I'm taking my 300tdi Disco. Should save me $500 in gas and its a bit more comfortable for my 6'4 frame. As of right now our plans have changed from heading east out of Sacramento. Now we're either heading over Mt Hood or down the Gorge. Seems to be the only ways to head east that aren't shutdown. Looking forward to getting out of all this smoke.

How was the trip?
 

pdxrovermech

Well-known member
Jul 3, 2009
1,807
57
Portland, OR
How was the trip?
Good trip. Had three rigs back out due to fire and health concerns. Drove from Washington to Nevada without ever seeing the sky. Alternator went out on me at the California border, but i brought a spare. Had to backtrack 20 miles to find a garage with an air impact so i could swap the pulley over though.

Spent the first night on the playa. As we were driving in we could see laser lights in the distance from the left over burning man crowd. We were treated to EDM music all night at camp too. In the morning we took off across the playa and discovered that our DJs were a good 3/4 mile away. Drove across the black rock and headed up high rock canyon where we stayed by steven's camp. In the morning we slowly headed towards the closest place that had fuel for the V8s, then went onward to the Sheldon Wildlife Refuge. Spent half the day meandering through there and ended up at CC Camp for the night. We were going to drive right by it, but one of the defenders had a failed ignition rotor and coasted to a stop there. Free camping and a pool and showers fed by hot springs. It was an oasis after a couple days of dusty driving.

Next day we headed north back into Oregon and the Alvord desert. Its definitely on more people's radar now. Stopped at an old Borax hot spring. Continued north towards the Steens and took a hunting road west up over the mountains, known as Stonehouse Road. It was a fantastic climb to the top. A good couple thousand feet in a short distance. From the top it was two track trail across prairies and hunting grounds into the town of Diamond. It had been a long day, so we powered on to another hot spring in Crane for the night. It was fancier than our taste, but they still had dry camp space in the back. Also happened into a 109' ambulance camping there as well.

With our sights set on home, but not ready to quit exploring, we fueled up and went in search of Malhuer Cave only to find its been recently gated by a local Elks Lodge. Went onward north through a not so happy land owners property. Its marked as a road, but i think its one of those situations where its so rarely used that they're claiming it as there own. A long day of dusty gravel roads that go up, around, and nowhere slowly. Like 30 miles (as the crow flies) in 2 hours slow. Ended up on the middle fork of the John Day for a dip in the creek and hotdogs. Next day powered home.
 
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Blueboy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,205
459
Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
but one of the defenders had a failed ignition rotor and coasted to a stop there.
Went threw 3 Genuine LR rotors with the RRC before switching to Powerspark. Very frustrating as the engine would just stop without any warning. They would last about 1,000 miles. Now I am up to 7k without any issues.
 

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pdxrovermech

Well-known member
Jul 3, 2009
1,807
57
Portland, OR
we've been having good results from the Red ones Atlantic British has been selling. Havent had a failure yet. The one on that D90 was a new "genuine" and had only been installed for a couple months.

Should have pics later in the week. I was too busy driving, so my buddy has most of them.