2018 Desert Trip

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We’ve made another lap around the sun and once again it’s time for our annual run to the desert. I could rename it Larry’s Insane Truck Torture Test Trip, as this one was HOT. The main target for this year’s fun was the Mojave Road with plans to head north into Death Valley after. The choice was made by previous discussions 6 months earlier via multiple emails to all involved. Much like last year I had no preference as I’m still new to this exploring but more than willing to follow the group anywhere, even without A/C. I’ll come to second-guess my sanity on that last statement during this trip though.


Most that came this year had been on previous trips except for a couple of new faces to the group.


Larry and his Mother in law Lynn once again leading the charge with the 8.1 powered K10/Pheonix camper. No major changes other than upkeep from the last trip on Larry’s ride. Fresh p/s pump and 140amp alternator got thrown in with regular maintenance just weeks before we left. Plans of adding an ARB up front didn’t come through as something about the need for a case spreader thwarted the removal of the stock open carrier on the D60. It really wasn’t needed this time around as this trip would be less crawling and more bombing around in remote areas, so he didn’t kill himself to get the ARB in beforehand.



Bill and Jen were back again this time with a new rig. Gone was the Cummins Dodge and in its place is a new Toyota Tacoma with a James Baroud Roof top tent. Bill’s prep consisted of maintenance and loading the gear under the tent. Well he and I did manage to wedge his 12v fridge behind the front seats and still have room for his wheelchair inside. We added a direct power plug to the battery and popped in an actual CB to eliminate his handheld CB that we couldn’t hear him on.



Ty got the long distance award this year as he drove from home in San Diego to Pueblo CO for a family graduation and caught up with us on the first day on the trail. Only major change to his Cummins Dodge was a killer new personalized license plate “4x4 INN” on the vintage yellow over black CA plates.



Don and his Ram Power Wagon were back at it with a year’s worth of new upgrades. Lights, rack, sliders, awning, solar you name it he had it. Such a cool rig that seems to get better every year. This year he had a passenger that worked with Larry and I at Workhorse many moons ago. He’s at Dana/Spicer now and no he won’t sell any of us a D60 for cheap, I already asked. Tom’s a flatlander born and raised in Michigan and not really used to the desert climate. Boy was he in for a shock to his senses considering he was at the airport in Detroit bundled up in a hoodie because it was cold and rainy when he was leaving.


Richard has been part of the desert crew on previous trips with his Dodge ½ ton and made the return this year in his ¾ ton Silverado long bed. With a shell and gear stacked away inside he was ready to go from Southern CA as well. He proved long beds could wheel too on this run. His last adventure was also with the same target areas, but missed the Mojave part last time so he wanted to complete the pair he missed last time.



Hugo and his 4-banger Toyota Tacoma were new to the group, but known to Larry. He works with Larry at IC Bus and for a while I thought Larry might have been wondering why he made the invite. Hugo lives for busting balls as most guys in sales do and sure had his target on Larry honed in tight. It was pretty funny to see somebody else take shots at him. But it was all in good fun and kept the mood light and the crew laughing.


Last but not least is yours truly. Ian rode along again this year as efforts to get his 8.1 powered M1009 CUCV ready for the run ran out of time. This time around my K5 was mechanically ready with only revisions needed to the right exhaust routing and a change of the fuel pump to thwart the hot fuel related stalling we had last year. Levels of comfort went up slightly with the addition of the FWC Blazer pop-up camper. No more sleeping on the ground for this dude. Ian had bought an enormous Snomaster 12v fridge for our food to be nice and cold too. With Bill’s Trasharoo strapped down to the spare tire out back we were in full-blown Overland mode this time around.

Next up, the run to Kingman AZ.