So I just got back from a road trip out West and I tried to get my picture in front of some nice scenery whenever I got the chance.
I also stopped at YYF’s HQ and had a great time, spent way longer than I anticipated and got some lessons on fingerspinning and how to Tornado Bind from a very friendly (and patient) Keith Conklin!
Keith also let me try out the YYF throws that I’ve seen everyone use but never had a chance to try myself. I ended up buying a Shutter Wide Angle and I think it might actually replace the Speedaholic XX as my go-to throw! I actually can land and recover a fingerspin better on the SHWA than on the Speed’ which surprised me.
Anyway I thought I’d post the pics up here, it was a great trip. I was gonna put them on Instagram but I was instabanned as soon as I created an account so not real pleased with their anti-bot algorithm. Waiting for a reply to the appeal.
Enjoy!
Ivan
This was at a lake near Amarillo I think, had to sleep in the van the night before so I’m not looking my best, LOL:
I certainly will! I went with my brother-in-law, he’s traveled for work but never actually gone on a vacation road trip. I’ve got a little experience camping but usually only in warm Summer months. We took my aging, beat-up minivan to make the trip interesting.
We froze a couple nights and had a little terror on the mountain roads since the van has almost a quarter-million miles on it and handles like the Hindenburg. Made it back last night with two bagged-out front ball joints and one increasingy-noisy wheel bearing which had all checked out fine before the trip. But made it back!
This trip definitely was a memorable one for a lot of reasons, looking forward to the next one in a couple years!
Awesome pictures, and it sounds like quite the adventure.
We recently replaced the ball joints on the used car we bought for my son. It took awhile, but, we also took our time and watched & rewatched the YouTube videos. It probably goes without saying, but, there were probably about 2x the trips to HarborFreight than I anticipated.
Yep, I know the feeling! Usually the process goes: Order parts from RockAuto, disassemble vehicle after they arrive, realize I need special tool, run to parts store to borrow special tool and also to buy other parts that I damaged while trying to get primary part off, fabricate own special tool because the one from the parts store was either designed by morons or damaged by the previous borrower, break out flood lights because by then it’s after dark, curse, swear and beat with hammer, and finally, soak entire area with PB blaster and crack open a beer, with the determination to finish the next day.
@fos1 Yep, we drove through Cloudcroft, really cool little town! For some reason the campground I’d selected there was closed so we rolled on through and camped that night at Oscar Lee campground, just South of Alamogordo. Really nice place at the foot of a mountain on the edge of the desert, I kept waking up at night just to stare at the stars for a while before falling back asleep. I hope to go back to Cloudcroft on a future trip.
The scariest mountain road was the one leading to and from the Gila cliff dwellings, it was something like 45 miles of twisty narrow 2-lane with lots of soft or nonexistent shoulders and blind corners, lots of steep descents and ascents. Brakes got really hot on the downs and engine-trans temp got a little uncomfortable on the climby bits. It took a couple hours each way. But in the end it was all good and we could laugh and talk about how nervous we were although at the time neither of us would admit it.
