31 hours to go

The last two weeks have been busy with preparations and last minute arrangements, but we're pretty much ready to go (except for packing). Ellen went through a cold and I'm going through it right now, but other than that things worked out well up to here.

The trucks were shipped last Friday (the 27th) and arrived in Denver at Slee Off Road on Tuesday, where my truck will get some service done (diffs and engine fluids). Christo Slee's shop was recommended by Bill Burke and he graciously offered to take delivery of the trucks when he learned about our severely compressed time line. This was a life saver, and we are genuinely grateful for his flexibility in dealing with us. Go to his shop if you are in Denver!

That the FJs actually shipped to Denver on time was no minor feat. Erik was still dealing with a damaged wheel hub on Wednesday. My FJ received major drive train upgrades which were only completed on August 19 (months behind schedule, thanks to a production reschedule for one of the critical parts). The diff fluid change is the last step of that upgrade, and that is being done at Slee's shop, less than 48 hrs before our trip. All in all this trip already feels like a ride, even before it's actually started.

I'll try to keep this journal updated, and will try to post pictures to my Picasa albums as I take them. If history is any guide, what actually will happen is that I'll probably get in a couple of posts, give up, but the pictures will trickle in fairly steadily throughout (and the full album will be up shortly after we come back).