The Nixnerd

A few weekends ago, Nikki, Zaiden, and I drove up to see her dad, Bob.  I had asked him if he would help me build a cargo drawer for my FJ because his boss has a nice shop and I don’t even have a garage.  He agreed and we set to work that day.  At the end of the day it was almost complete.  It didn’t slide very well so the following weekend I fixed that and painted it black.  It’s done, now, and I just love it.  It is really nice packing things in there and still having access to them even when there is a ton of other things on top of it.  As usual, click on the photo to the right for more.

I felt a little guilty asking but Nikki had no qualms about it — so I did a little 4-wheeling, today. I took Georgia pass from Jefferson to Breckenridge and it was beautiful and wonderful. Jefferson is the first town you come to after going over Kenosha Pass from Denver on 285. From there, you take the first road West up to the top of Georgia Pass. The top is on the Continental Divide and the view of South Park is just wonderful — I liked that almost as much as the view from the scenic lookout near the top of Kenosha Pass.

From there, I took the road down towards Breckenridge. There is another trail, there, that was marked for high-clearance 4×4 vehicles, but I a) was by myself, b) in the FJ and don’t have much in the way of recovery equipment, and c) (most importantly) am a father and don’t want to orphan Zaiden. If I were with someone more experienced (Chris, for example), I would have happily gone. Maybe another day.

When I reached the bottom, I just found another trail or two to go “play” around on. It was pretty fun. None of the trails I took were very intense but it was nice to get into the mountains, go 4 wheeling, and get to know my vehicle a little better.

The trip home SUCKED. It took me 2 1/2 hours to go from “the tunnels” to the house. Crikey there are a lot of people in Colorado these days.

We met up with Chris ‘n Sherry, Brad ‘n Sharon, and a bunch of their friends in Buena Vista, CO on Friday. We then drove up above Cottonwood Lake and found a nice big camping space for several tents. One couple had a little tent trailer. Zaiden was awesome! I figure if we get him started early he’ll “be a happy camper.”

And … I finally got to go 4 wheeling with the FJ! Woot woot! Chris and his friends are “the jeep guys” and we took a little trail across Cottonwood Creek and up … and up … and up. The trail goes above timberline but we didn’t go that far. Nikki stayed behind because Zaiden’s neck isn’t ready for the bumpy rough and tumble of 4 wheeling. I felt (feel?) bad about leaving them behind but Nikki didn’t even blink. She encouraged me to go. She’s so awesome.

As usual, the photo on the right will take you to some photos of the trip!

Today was a GREAT first father’s day! Nikki’s dad came down from Longmont to meet the boy and brought us a little bouncy chair for him. It’s pretty cool. AJ and the girls came by, too, and we all celebrated father’s day in style by eating lunch at … Sonic! Fancy fancy! They all headed home after that. (more…)

So Nikki and I decided to take the FJ off the beaten path (well, off the paved path at least). She gave me a book of off road trails in Colorado for Christmas that has “easy”, “moderate”, and “difficult” trails. We picked Mt. Herman Road just west of Monument because it is rated “easy” (I want to get a feel for DitR before taking it on more difficult trails).

Well, wouldn’t you know it, we had about 150 ft. visibility due to fog, and it snowed last night. I wasn’t so comfortable off roading with potential snow and a pregnant wife. So, we only went about 2 miles or so of the 36 mile trail and turned around. We got to feel some bumps, though, and we drove up on the side of the road where other folks have done to see how far we could tip the FJ. I hate tipping so we didn’t go too far but I did get to see the inclinometer go over to a point I hadn’t seen, before.

We’re planning on going back to that trail in a couple weeks and doing the entire trip. It looked like there would be some pretty Colorado views. Cant’ wait to take DitR to a few more intense trails!

As usual, click on the photo on the right to see more pictures of this little excursion.

It’s been a long 9 … weeks. Nikki and I have been patient. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, there were good times, and bad. But the long wait and difficult trials and tribulations of our arduous task are all finally over. We’re please to announce … after 4 LONG hours of papework, it’s an FJ.

I love this vehicle. I’ve seen black ones driving around but never actually sat in one until we drove away from the dealership. The interior is awesome (FJ’s have panels inside that match the exterior color, so my interior is all black). I got the manual b/c it has full-time four wheel drive, a 3″ OME suspension lift with 33″ tires, the rock rails, skid plate, ATC (Active Traction Control), a locking rear differential, and a host of other goodies. This is going to be the vehicle Nikki and I will bring our son home from the hospital in, take all of us on family trips, drive Zaiden to his (basketball) games, and all types of other fun, family adventures. Hopefully, it’ll last us 250K+ miles … Can’t wait!

(Mar. 30, 2007) Update: If you click on the photo of the FJ, you can see more photos!

*sigh*. It’s been a great truck but it’s time to put it up for sale. There’s no room for a baby seat unless you put it in the front seat. If I do that, then I have to turn off the passenger side air bag and if I do that, well, then Nikki wouldn’t be very well protected. Total bummer.

On the bright side, though, I’ll be getting my 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser later this week. Woot woot!

Update @ 9:08 pm: Here is the craigslist listing.

Nicole and I headed out to Moab, UT, with some friends for some 4-wheeling. We took my truck (The Beast) on a trail called, Steel Bender. It was tons of fun. We were all surprised at how well my truck did on those trails. The folks we went with build their own Jeeps with lift kits and all that jazz. Even those guys were impressed with The Beast.

Of course, the next day we went on some other trials that were quite a bit more difficult. Couldn’t bring The Beast on that trail. :-\