On The Road To Ushuaia

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:09:00 +0000

Trying something new...

http://www.washboardhighway.com/2012/05/16/it-felt-like-home/

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:36:00 +0000

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:47:00 +0000

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:13:00 +0000

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:55:00 +0000

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0-7341800

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:28:00 +0000

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sun, 29 May 2011 00:25:00 +0000

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 28 May 2011 23:45:00 +0000

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0-7341800

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 28 May 2011 22:16:00 +0000

0-7341800
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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 28 May 2011 17:20:00 +0000

0-7341800
Latitude:40.64289
Longitude:-114.13113
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Message:checking in from the race course

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:03:00 +0000

0-7341800
Latitude:29.52248
Longitude:-114.29704
GPS location Date/Time:11/19/2010 18:03:46 MST

Message:aaaaahhhhh mexico

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:27:00 +0000

0-7341800
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Message:aaaaahhhhh mexico

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0-7341800

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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:22:00 +0000

0-7341800
Latitude:31.85473
Longitude:-116.61598
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noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:30:00 +0000

0-7341800
Latitude:32.77739
Longitude:-116.00627
GPS location Date/Time:11/17/2010 08:30:27 MST

Message:aaaaahhhhh mexico

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Utah Cruiser Expedition II

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 05:41:00 +0000

865 Miles of Dirt Road diagonally across the state of Utah. Quite the adventure. I'll get pics loaded up before too long and some words to go along with it.

turning wrong into right...

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:40:00 +0000

…or is left into right? I really don’t know. If I were more educated, or even just a bit smarter I am sure I could use some Greek allegory to summarize the weekend we had in Mexico. But as it is I’ll just start telling my tale and see what happens.

The reason for the trip to Mexico was rest and relaxation, or my version thereof. The dates were chosen around the Baja 1000 race. My friends Jason and Darren were up for a bit of a kamikaze trip with me. Leave on weds after work, drive 1000 miles, cross the border on Thursday, take a bunch of pics in Ensenda, head to the desert and take more pics. On friday head to the ocean, and take more pics. On sat take more pics and head home 1200 miles from Ensenada and get home Sunday night. 3k miles of driving in 5 days with nothing but tacos and Tillamook Medium Cheddar to sustain us. Simple enough plan. Our execution however was riddled with problems.

About 11:30 on Weds night we ran out of gas 4 miles shy of the Chevron atop Chiraco Summit on I-10 east of Indio, California. I’d like to blame a lot of things. The slow as hell pump in Vegas that I gave up on after putting in 8 gallons after 15 mins. The closed gas station we passed before getting on I-10 mins earlier. Watching Eastbound and Down instead of the gas gauge. Truth is I just didn’t pay enough attention and we ran out of gas. So at 11:30 I walked back to one of those emergency phones on the side of the freeway. Had a tow truck sent out with 2 gallons of gas to get us to the Chevron and 90mins later we were back on our way and 3 hours after first stopping we were asleep on a tarp (thanks for the Ambien, Jason ) near Anzo Borrego State Park.

We woke the next morning, crossed the border at Tecate, had tacos for lunch with the Adobado tasting as amazing as I remembered it. Before long we were in Ensenada searching for “Contigency Row” and all the Baja 1000 racers. We struggled with traffic and finding a place to park. After finding a spot on a nice crowded street we set out, cameras in hand, for the pits, the SCORE dancers, latin hip hop and more tacos. 4 wonderful hours later, including what connoisseur Darren deemed the “Best Carne Asada” he’s ever had, we returned to a dark abandoned street with a lonely and burglarized Ruby Claire. The thieves actually hopped into a red Ford Ranger as we walked up. Shattered window (with a sticker purchased in Chile I don’t think I can replace), open door and almost every thing gone. Shitty. We made some phone calls to cancel credit cards, phones, then off to find the Soriana to pick up some new underwear, deodorant and toothpaste. I’d like to say it wasn’t that bad but they pretty much took everything but the fridge, the tools, one flip flop and a spare brake line. One of the humorous effects of the robbery is it pretty much left Jason and me dressed like twins.

Darren drove that night and we set out east of Ojos Negros looking for the race course and a place to camp. My new GPS was gone so we only had maps to work from. We slept well despite being one sleeping bag short. Luckily I had stuffed a down comforter and blanket into my roof top tent so we had enough warmth to go around. Sometime around 3 am it seemed as though an entire rout of coyotes decided to start a nice chorus of howls that went on all night and made Jason a little nervous down on the ground. The lack of light pollution made for incredible star gazing but unfortunately we were there too late to catch the Leonid meteor shower.

The next morning we scrambled around a bit to find a nice spot along the course to hang out and take pics. Before long a continuous stream of motorcycles and atv raced by on their way into the mountains. We moved up the course a bit to a nice wash with some great whoops shortly thereafter. We laid out a tarp and did an inventory of all our current possessions. It wasn’t pretty but we had food, we had the clothes on our backs and we were all okay. That is when we saw a helicopter on the horizon and heard the unmistakable rumble, or should I say howl, of an 850 horsepower V8 headed our direction. Ricky Johnson came howling at us at 95 mph. He entered the wash a bit skewed and then the fun began. I had spent time watching the 1000 back in 2007 on my way to South America. This was Darren and Jason’s first exposure to the amazing machines. The skewed truck came through the wash, left the ground and angled directly at the two of them, cameras in hand. (I was on the other side of the dirt road) They scrambled out of the way, after taking some photos, and were left with a rush of adrenaline and huge smiles on their faces. At that point all the concern over stolen tshirts and sleeping bags disappeared.

4 hours of race spectating, coke drinking, photo taking and laughter passed and we were back on the road headed to the ocean for some beach camping, night racing and relaxing. Then the real fun began, at least for me. Apparently my long and very fortunate run of hassle free adventuring was over. Less than 24hours after getting robbed the bad luck struck again. Slowly twisting down the mountain east of Ensenada, I fought my way around slow diesel traffic and relaxed locals with nowhere to go. As I came into a corner my attempt to slow Ruby came up empty as my brake pedal went all the way to the floor. I shutter to think what would have happened had the brake line let go two miles earlier or later. As it was the corner wasn’t that sharp, the road was relatively flat and there was a room to get off the road. So I downshifted and pulled the truck off the road and to a stop. A bracket had come off the front axle and the hard line had vibrated in half. Fortunately, and yes I realize how weird that sounds, but fortunately Darren had had the same thing happen to him on the Rubicon trail a few years earlier, so as he expertly and rapidly rigged up a fix I sat back and then the reality of the situation set in. I told Darren I was okay to drive but truthfully I was pretty freaked out. Not so much for me, but because of how closely I had come to injuring or possibly killing my friends. My friends who are husbands to wonderful wives and fathers to adorable kids. I basically wanted to break down and cry. I was feeling guilty about getting robbed and now my truck had almost ended our lives. Seriously two miles later it would have been impossible to stop the truck. (maybe I should sue Toyota to issue a recall since it seems to be the popular thing to do) Darren could tell I was not right so he offered to drive. Then basically told me he was driving. I never would have made it. With only one front caliper the truck would jerk violently to the left upon braking then after correcting for it, the truck would jerk back violently to the right when he let off all of this happening on narrow, twisty, dark Mexican roads. What I’m sure was four very long hours (for Darren) later, although the tacos, coke and chats with locals probably helped, we set up camp on a beach south of Erendira. 75 feet from the ocean, 30 feet from the course. Awesome.

The HID lights let us know a racer was coming long before they arrived. In a blink they were gone. Eventual winner Andy McMillin came by first in his trophy truck and the next 2 hours were full of blinding HIDs and roaring engines. Eventually I drifted off to sleep about 3am. At this point the bad luck was behind us and I slept well that night. Next morning came, a breakfast of coke and crumb donettes hit the spot and more racers filled the day with dust and photos. Jason took it upon himself to fix the brakeline with a spare my friend Eric had given me on my way to South America and I had just carried in my spare parts box. The fix maybe took 20mins. Not bad.

As die hard Toyota owners one of the goals for the trip was to see Ivan Stewart in the factory prepped Gen 5 4Runner. If you don’t know Ivan Stewart, shame on you, and you should quit reading and Google his name. After 6 hours of hanging out we began to think he had either passed in the night or had broken down. One racer had been by the last 2 hours so we packed up and decided, against better judgment to drive against the race course and take it back to the highway. The course was rugged but easily doable in a now healed Ruby Claire. As we began to slowly climb the hills away from the beach a red 4Runner came flying over the top of the crest. Sure enough there was the man. His honking horn and aggressive driving meant we just got the hell out of the way without being able to take pics. I’m starting to get long on words and low on sleep so I’ll make this short by saying we attempted to catch him as the course leap frogged (or is it lept frog) the highways. Eventually we found him 2 hours later back east of Ensenada yet again near Ojos Negros. Having achieved our goal we set out for the states and the ride home. More tacos (I think I ate 24 over the course of 3 days) a tank full of cheap gas and some churros purchased at border and we had sadly left Baja behind.

Remember the comment I made about leaving the bad luck behind us? About 2 hours into the states my exhaust crack became worse, as in sheared off the pipe and made the lumbering straight-six ring reminiscient of a Trophy Truck. (yes I realize that is hyperbole) A broken window and no exhaust makes for one noisy Land Cruiser. We spent the next day watching Long Way Down, Eastbound and Down for the second time and very little talking. We arrived home to a snow storm in SLC but the cloudless desert of Mexico wasn’t easily erased from our minds. The trip had it’s hurdles and made the self proclaimed ‘quick, cheap and dirty’ trip to Baja considerably more expensive but in the end it was all worth it. I’ll get pics in my gallery soon but just a few for tonight.

Check-in/OK message from 0-7341800 SPOT Messenger

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:08:00 +0000

0-7341800
Latitude:31.21732
Longitude:-116.35146
GPS location Date/Time:11/20/2009 23:08:45 MST

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Message:aaaaahhhhh mexico

Raising the safety factor for millions who step into the outdoors each year, SPOT notifies friends and family or an international emergency rescue coordination center with status messages based on situation and need. Ask for Help (or SPOT Assist), Alert S.O.S., Check-In/OK and Track Progress-all with the simple push of a button.
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Check-in/OK message from 0-7341800 SPOT Messenger

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:38:00 +0000

0-7341800
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Longitude:-115.78253
GPS location Date/Time:11/20/2009 08:38:27 MST

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Check-in/OK message from 0-7341800 SPOT Messenger

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:20:00 +0000

0-7341800
Latitude:33.1425
Longitude:-116.26677
GPS location Date/Time:11/19/2009 09:20:35 MST

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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habla espanol?

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:20:00 +0000

I'm not sure i do anymore but i'll be finding out very shortly.

The trip to Baja got delayed a day or two due to a friend's work commitment but tomorrow we're headed South. Expect a SPOT message or two over the next few days. We won't be doing a lot of driving around. Mainly just sitting in the camp chair, drinking a frost beverage directly from the ARB fridge, and watching trophy trucks race by at 140 mph. Hopefully I'll be inspired to write a full report, along with way too many pics when we get back. It's 32 degrees here in SLC right now. Wiping the sweat off my freshly shorn dome in the 75 degree heat of baja can't come soon enough.

dmc

unfortunately it's not true

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:24:00 +0000

I'm not really sure what happened this morning but some of you may have received a SPOT message from me saying I am in Chile. Well unfortunately that isn't true. I'm in my cubicle at work. I do have a pic of Torres del Paine as my wallpaper. Does that count? yeah i didn't think so.

That being said if you get a SPOT message from me in about 3 weeks from some lonely beach in Baja, that will indeed be me.

dmc

Awesome Find

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Yes it has been a long time since I posted anything and this isn’t really a post anyway but I like it so much I figured it was worth putting out there. I thought I’d visited every site on the internet (I have some slow days at work) and then while searching for Mendenhall Glacier photos today I found this site…

http://www.my-photo-blog.com

and his main site…

http://www.wildnatureimages.com

fantastic images and his Alaska pics are for me what Tom Till’s are for Utah. All of his photos are fantastic and I’ll spend hours on his site but whenever I miss Alaska I know where I’ll go.

Later,

dmc

about a year late

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:33:00 +0000

I finally added a Mexico album to my Gallery. It’s broken down into three sub-albums; Baja, Mainland and Yucatan.

Enjoy.

dmc

75 degrees of separation

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:13:00 +0000

Reflecting back, as I have been doing quite frequently lately, upon where I was at this time last year, various things stick out in my mind. Today, for some odd reason, temperature is in my head. Or in my skin as it were. I was two or three days from picking up Benji in Cancun and had just arrived on the Atlantic Ocean. I struggled to find a place to camp and ended up at a small town beach side ‘resort.’ I chatted with the caretaker a bit, he said I could camp there after sharing a coke with him, and then kindly, helped me park in a well lit (poor for sleeping) and coconut free zone (great for not denting my truck or shattering my windshield.) Damn I’m glad I took my SPOT device with me. Just so I can post things like this…

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=18.4381,-93.2304&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

The thing I remember most about that night was the heat. I was up very late that night, typing emails and IM’ing friends. I sweat the entire time. The fine gent who let me camp said I’d have to be gone by 9am. I sweat away miserably in the heat and because I couldn’t sleep I actually ended up sending emails out from my phone after the laptop battery died. About 3:30 or 4 I finally drifted off, sans clothing, into my hot damp sheets. About 5:15 I hear someone yelling at me. Yeah apparently 5:15 and 9 are the same thing on the Caribbean costal clock. I fought, not very valiantly, to wake up and get out of there before the jefe and workers arrived. Groggily I drove about an hour then slept an hour on the side of the road. My haze carried me throughout the day, through what could have been the most humiliating police check stop ever (narrowly escaped) and up to Campeche. Oddly I remember how HOT and humid it was, yet I was so psyched to have my brand new polyester Valencia jersey that I suffered through.

Last night I accidentally left my window open. I woke up freezing cold this morning and I’m headed to buy a new jacket at lunch since it feels like the time is right for a new fleece. Last year I slept through a 90 degree night. Last night was in the 20s I believe. 75 degrees of separation and an entire world away. Although just one small year, it seems like a dream and life that I can’t really remember.

Chao,

dmc

One Year Gone

noreply@blogger.com (dmc) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:11:00 +0000

One year ago today, just about this time in the afternoon, I climbed in my truck after lunch and goodbyes with friends and started off on a trip that would change my life forever. From the outside it looks like one guy got in his truck and drove as far south as he possibly could. That however is not even close to being the truth. Without the people listed below, that one man, me, never would have made it on, through, or back from his adventure. Each played their own role, some more significant than others, but each and every one of you is appreciated. The list doesn’t include all of the 118 people who subscribed to my blog (yes I have a list but it only contains email addresses and figured you wouldn’t want them posted for the world to see) or viewed it regularly. It also doesn’t include the hundreds of people I encountered along the way that took kindly to a poor speaking gringo.

In the next few days I’ll post up some reflection and I intend to start writing more frequently in my blog about my current misadventures and excitement. (since my return I have had at least one more ‘once in a lifetime’ experience that I need to share with you all) but for now I just want to say thanks to everyone that made my trip possible. I hope the list in complete and inclusive, but as is expected from a guy with my limited intellect and shabby organizational skills I’m sure there will be inadvertent omissions.

Muchas gracias mis amigos…

My parents for instilling in me the belief that the world is best viewed through a windshield on dusty road. For allowing me, after the sell of my house that funded the trip, to fill their basement and garage with clothes, camping gear, spare parts, tools, and all other sundry items that I’m sure they got sick of as I prepared for my trip.

Mike and Wendy Connors for living the more traditional life and providing my parents with Grandkids so that they are far more tolerant of my wandering.

My amazing friends who showed up, night after night and weekend after weekend to help get Ruby Claire prepared for the trip. Trent and Shellie Ashby, Jason Call, Darren Webster, Ryan Davis, Adam Tolman, Dave Helm, Cory Fillmore, Will Carroll, Johnny Lange, Troy DeMill, Cody Morgan

To William Joseph, Jen, Emalee and Gage Carroll for many dinners, hours in their garage, skills, talents, laughter and friendship.

To all of my sponsors whose donations ($10k worth) made my trip possible. Paul May at Equipt Expedition Outfitters, Kurt Williams of Cruiser Outfitters, Wes Johnson of Menlove Toyota Scion, Scott Brady of Overland Journal, Jim Jackson of ARB USA, J Ralls of Hewlett-Packard. Kaleb Galbraith of Mule Expedition Equipment and Dustin Francis for my exquisite roof rack. Scott Simpson and Julie Sediq for my Toyo Tires.

My awesome managers Trent Anderson and Jared Jolley (and to my former team, especially Josh Carmack, TK Hollberg and Brad Neves) for dealing with my giddiness about my trip and with accommodating my schedule during my last few weeks of work.

Ben Butterfield, Justin Kirkham and J Ralls for being brave enough to join me along the way. Greatest six months of my life will always bring fond memories of you gents. Sorry about my foul odor and dave matthews addiction. Life on the road makes a man stink. Words, or my ability to organize them, will never full explain how grateful I am to each of you for sharing in my journey.

My assistant Cory Fillmore, Jen Carroll, Kim McArthur, Jen Morgan (usually about 4am) and Adam Tolman for always being online to chat with when I had a connection. Keeping me up to date on the real world and reminding me how easy it is to stay in touch. For being there in my moments of panic when I needed to realize I was only alone physically and could find friendship quickly and easily when I needed it.

Eric Vogt, Todd Kaderabek, and Henry Cubillan for various and sundry reasons. Your excellent words and photos over the years definitely fueled my motivation to go. Inspiration is a better way to put it. For also giving me confidence in my own ability to provide that same motivation to others.

Scotty Brady for the last initial push over the edge after I had made up my mind to go.

Mr. Brian Hanson, for not kicking the baby and giving me access to your sling box for the Masters broadcast.

Travis Jeremy Farnes for being the freak you are and providing me with friendship, humor and 200 DVDs for my trip including all of the Red Sox World Championship DVDs

Again to Jim Jackson, your contacts in the latin world were invaluable to me.

Frank Diaz and Alvaro Pachon. Two men, emblematic of the love and warmth I felt throughout the amazingly beautiful Colombia. Thank you good sirs for your friendship and sacrifice for a total stranger.

All the fine folks in Wasatch Crusiers, the TLCA and at IH8MUD.com. Cruiser people are truly special.

Christo Slee for overnighting parts to SLC so Ben could bring them to Mexico for some repairs.

Ken Romer for keeping me in the loop at IH8MUD. To all the guys at Rising Sun for the gracious welcome to Cruise Moab 2008. Cheeseman, Jethro, the Quigleys, Matt Farr, Perry Loughridge, Jeff Zepp etc Great group of people. Thank you for the kind words.

Brad Gillespie and Robert Gardner. Two best parts guys you’ll ever find. Friends first and the guys in the know second.

Motivational emails from Lisa Webster and Loretta Rose since neither of their husbands know how to type. And of course your friendship as well.

Erin van Zant and Kevin Bradley. My Canadian friends I met along the way. For the camaraderie, adventure and shared meals.

Barbara Belyea for saving me thousands of dollars with the buddy passes.

Ryan Davis for picking me up and the airport, sharing my last American meal with me, and being the funniest person on the face of the earth. Your friendship is never taken for granted.

Hampton, Bush and Morty for having the best nicknames ever for one family.

I could go on and on but I’ll cut this short. Each and every name below had an impact on my ‘solo’ journey through Latin America. To the strengthened relationships with old friends and relatives to my new friends found along the way. Thanks for buying stickers, donating to my cause or just sending emails. Thank you all…

Aaron Weaver

Alvaro Rodriguez

Bart Anderson

Trent Anderson

Alvaro Pachon

Frank Diaz

Trent and Shellie Ashby

Chris Atz

Bob Waterbury

Tim Baker

Barbara Belyea

Evelyn Batista

Benji Butterfield

Kurt Jeffrey Williams

Tyson Blackner

Mark Kuz

Steve Kemerling

Brandon Madsen

Brennan Dates

Bret Van Tuyle

Brian Dean

Mr. Brian Hanson

Brad van Uitert

Todd van Uitert

Cameron Egan

Joshua Neil Carmack

Jared Call

Nique Christensen

Christo Slee

Mike Connors

Wendy Connors

Royal and Loretta

Cspencer175

Kevin Bradley

Erin Van Zant

Dan Davis

Darren Webster

David Jeffs

Davey Patey

David Petersen

Stephen Petersen

Dominic Gill

Dylan Austin

Eduardo Silva

Eric Cline

Eric Paine

Eric Thorne

Eric Vogt

Esteban Campos

Cory Fillmore

Ben Ferguson

Flor Granados

Frank Diaz

Gary Cummings

Ryan Gaz

Cameron Gibby

Grant Stewart

Gustavo Nunez

Guy

LRDTGSMJLWCBFF

Heather May

Henry Cubillan

Kelly Hildt

TK Hollberg

Igor Karpovics

Woody

Ken Romer

Jarek

Johnny Lange

Jairo O Rincon

Jan Alsen

James Roy

Jason Call

Jay Jones

John Curnutt

David Callister

Jen Morgan

Jennyfer Carroll

Jeremy Christoffersen

Jim Jackson

Hampton

Jared Jolley

Jonathan Hanson

Joseph Muir

Juan Carlos Cruz

Patricio Rios

Justin Borg

Justin Burrup

Justin Kirkham

Kaleb Galbraith

Kelsey Cavanaugh

Kent McComb

Chris Koulouras

Kurt Nosack

Ed LaRosa

Lisa Webster

Luis

Lynn Scow

Mark Woytovich

Mark Amstock

Martin Jensen

Matias Calvo

Matthew David racker

Matt Nelson

Kim McArthur

Megan Lapage

Matt McKay

Natalia Basso

Nathan Eilers

Nate Thompson

Onur Azeri

Paul May

Perry Loughridge

Peter Carey

Rachel Romer

Jack Arthur Ralls

Trevor Ralls

Rodolfo Mata

Ron Petersen

Ryan Christian Davis

Ryan Sharp

Salvador Melgar

Jeff Salzman

Scott Brady

Scott Simpson

Sean Pritchard

Sean Robbins

Julie Sediq

Sharon Bowdish

Shreesh Taskar

Spencer Bybee

Susie Davis

Liza Swift

Traske Muir

Tangi Quemener

Travis Jeremy Farnes

Steven Davis

Ken Thibault

Tiff Muir

Trent Taylor

Todd J Kaderabek

Travis Manning

Troy DeMill

Lance Vaughan

John Whipple

Russ Wilson

Spencer Lynn Winegar

Tyler Wade Winegar

Brad Gillespie

Wes Johnson

Robert Gardner

Cody Morgan

John Yang

Aaron Weaver

John Curnutt

Joseph Thoming

Andre Shoumatoff

Matthew Pitkin

The guys from RideParts in Osorno

Luis and Odile

I shall be eternally grateful.

dmc