What have you done with your 4runner today....

Yesterday we moved a deck.


The original builder didn't bury any of the posts, simply placing them on concrete blocks instead. Over 20 years or so, the deck has moved (to the right, in this picture) about six inches, in some cases the posts coming off the blocks. My "other brother" and I went over yesterday to remedy the situation, replacing a couple of the posts in the process.

Using two floor jacks, two bottle jacks, two 27' ratchet straps, and a slew of lumber scraps, we were able to lift the whole thing a couple of inches, crank it into proper position, and set it back down gently. So now it's in place right. We'll go back shortly and dig holes for Sonotubes, then add some bracing to help the deck not move again.

At roughly 2.5 tons, the 4Runner makes a heck of an anchor point!

 

I rented a trailer over the weekend from Tractor Supply to go to Menards since I'm finishing my garage. Never drove with one before and it was a lot of fun. I would love to buy one.

If any of my neighbors saw me trying to back it in my driveway, I may have to move out of embarrassment. I eventually got the hang of it but struggled the first try. Lol.

 

I have a Kendon motorcycle trailer. When you don't have a motorcycle on it, it is nearly impossible to back it anywhere.

 

Dragged a trailer back to the deck-moving job site today. Added a couple of posts, replaced some bracing underneath, and recognized my limitations with respect to concrete work.

 

Cool building. I haven't been to that college, but I've been to both UBC and Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver, when I was checking out all the Battlestar Galactica filming locations. Tons of episodes filmed at both UBC and SFU.

 

Oh, awesome. Here's just one example from the trip. My phone has a still from the show.

 

Took Forest Road 2N02 from Pioneer Town to Big Bear (Southern California). Been wanting to try this road for some time. Pretty easy road with only a few rough-ish spots. Road was wide enough that you usually had room to pull over for someone coming the other way. Perfect road for me and what I look for in these types of adventures. Stars aligned, so I packed up Max and headed out.

Started from Pioneer Town, made a quick side trip to Vaughn/ Viscera (?) Spring then back on 2N02 to find some place to camp for the night. Camped about 13 miles in. Finished up the last 7 in the morning and headed home.

 

Drove up to Pine Cove and took the San Jacinto Ridge Trail 5S09 near Idyllwild, CA to check out some Yellow Post sites. There are only 2 sites in this area, and we got a late start so I assumed they'd be taken, which they were. Most of the road allows dispersed camping so we (me and Mika) pulled off at a spot that looked decent, hung out, walked around a bit, ate some dinner and slept in the back of the 4Runner. Road was a bit narrow but seemed to have enough areas to pull over if meeting oncoming vehicles. Would not be a good road for those with anxiety passing cars on narrow roads.

Still working on improving the sleep set up. I used two air pads this time, which was more comfortable than one. At 5'10", sleeping diagonal would work better, but still need to try that. Taking out the seat bottoms would help too.

 

Headed up to Mt Laguna (east of San Diego) to check out some future camping spots. This is off Kitchen Creek Rd. Quite a few nice dispersed spots to camp. Unlike other dispersed camping areas, you need to get a permit to camp in these locations.

 

They're tryin' ta catch me ridin' dirty. Rockin' the Carolina squat while I brought home some retaining wall block

 

Could have strapped those on the roof. Or so I’ve heard.

 

I first towed a couple of years ago with my 2016 Tacoma, Off Road, 6 spd manual. It was our pop-up camper. Backing it into our garage with a decent sloped drive was an awful task. I would burn my clutch every time and it would take several re-starts to get it right.

Fast forward to now, I'm in our 2019 4R and must say backing up is much easier. No more multitasking with clutch and such. In addition to our pop-up, I now have a landscape trailer to replace the bed on the Tacoma. I can say with decent certainty, I can back this up on 12x12 concrete pads pretty easily.

 

Technically yesterday but got to pull someone off of the curb and back onto the road with a borrowed tow strap. I'm planning to carry mine now.

 

Did another mulch run while they still have them 5 for $10.

 

recycle depot at the river-side landfill

 

Lunch run to SiteOne to get shrubs for the berm and a couple more boxwoods for out back -