Jeep Test Drive -

First off, I want to thank Mike for giving me the opportunity to create what I did...During the build I would often wonder if this is what heaven is like...That good...Thank you, sir...

Over the next few days, I'll post the 'Daily Journal' from my test drive...Photos with captions from the four days gone...


(above) Parking lot...Getting food...



(above) Freeway on-ramp...Welcome to Washington....(color picture)...

The basics...I'm road testing The Jeep I've been working on for months...The road plan is to circumnavigate the Olympic Peninsula...I have no schedule other than be back home in four or five days...

My first impressions of driving The Jeep...It's smaller on the inside than it seems...Up front at least...But once you settle into the size, it feels as custom as a set of dentures....No space up front seems wasted, but it doesn't feel crowded...

It's heavy...Unlike my daily driver, a 2006 Sprinter, this thing has mass...Combine that with the off-road capable suspension and wheels, it feels unlike a race a car...

With those observations out of the way, onward...


(above) First stop...Southern Hood Canal...


(above) Potlatch S.P.


(above) Last week this place accepted six inches of rain...That might have been in a day...???...


(above) You'll see that I'm a recreational photographer...


(above) I brought a pair of Panasonics...LX-3 & 5...Also in another set of twins, Wide and Zoom...


(above) The Test Drive will continue...


(above) ...tomorrow...



(above) Walking to the beach...


(above) North...


(above) Land O'trees...


(above) Wet...


(above) Not warm...


(above) To get it open is like this...Before you turn off the motor, the switch for the compressor is to be turned on...Let it run, get out, open up the back, get in, find the switch for the pneumatic rams to mechanically lift the roof...Push switch up, observe the roof lift...Stop before fully raised...Release the tent from the roof...The engine is still running...Wrap the front tent part outside of the rams and zip the front to back tent parts...Push roof lift switch to fully raise the roof...Insert the plywood boards that are the emergency roof stops...(You never know)...Finish attaching the tent to the lower cabin...Velcro and Snaps...Open up the front tent window and insert twin plastic eyebrow window supports...Velcro the trap and you're done...elapsed time about ten minutes...


(above) Inside for the night...After dinner (a store bought sandwich)...Going through the pictures...


(above) Next morning after putting the sleep stuff away and rolling up the tent...To bring the roof down, you reverse the set-up...Duh...


(above) No hurry...


(above) Some of these are out of sequence...


(above) Looking out of the tent window...


(above) The side tent flap rolled up...


(above) Fence post...


(above) It comes from the sky...


(above) Perma-damp...


(above)...Looking up...

 



(above) Tent flaps all rolled and strapped up...


(above) Back in sequence...Day 2, rolling north...


(above) This is one of the most beautiful drives I've done...Another one is the Sonoma Coast in California...Where driving is a pleasure of the highest order... 


(above) Mostly dry day...


(above) We own the words Iconic Bridges...


(above) The Jeep is great photographic platform...


(above) In front of the driver is a steel bar fitted with gizmos and trays...The tray directly in front of the driver is of the perfect size for my cameras...To get these shots, the LX-3 was fitted with the wide angle and rested on the tray...The camera was always on and when the mood was right, I dipped the shutter...


(above) The Jeep has more than enough places to recharge camera batteries, at all times...


(above) Thus no worry about taking too many pictures...


(above) Shot while rolling...


(above) On and off...


(above) Who owns the words...???...


(above) I've always driven by, today I stop...


(above) The foundation of proper nutrition...


(above) Donations for The Boys...


(above) What do you want to know about the fine folks of our region...???...


(above) This, right here, could be my ultimate shop...


(above) The north to west turn was done after lunch...


(above) The dry side of the Peninsula...


(above) Postcard view...


(above) Like steppin' off the time machine set to 1963...


(above) Leaving civilization as it's known up here...


(above) The jewel of the Strait...Salt Point County Park...


(above) Parked for the night...


(above) View from the parking pad...That's Canada...You can smell it...



(above) Most of the campsites are this close to The Strait of Juan de Fuca...


(above) Lowering light, time for a walk...


(above) Like the first time seen by man...


(above) It's cold......


(above) Up in the hills...


(above) ...it's colder...


(above) Tonight, it's top down camping...


(above) With my back against the fence...


(above) Nightime...First time the rear light gets field tested...


(above) More than enough...


(above) Jazz is playing...


(above) Kinda Blue...


(above) It works...


(above) Yeah, it works...


(above) Top down cooking...


(above) The stove is 7,000 BTU...


(above) Humidity with the roof down is concentrated...Factor in an open window...


(above) On the curbside bench...I slept here...Twenty five or so inches wide...The bench is over five feet long , but with the flip up table at the front end, it supports me fully...I used to be 6'3"...I haven't measured myself in the last week...

 



(above) ...New day, the shakedown cruise continues...


(above) The temperature last night was right around freezing...The Jeep had the roof closed and it was noticeably warmer inside than the night before...


(above) Looking for surf halfway down the Strait of Juan de Fuca...On the right day, one wave here can reshuffle the list of life priorities...


(above) On a bigger day, you catch 'em on the other side of the dolphin...


(above) The mirror wave is over there...


(above) Nine inch perfection...


(above) I'll hang out here for a while, hoping the changing tide changes the size...

You can see how perfect that tray is for the camera...Between the camera and the wheel is a slot in the tray that is sized just right for a cell phone...


(above) I took some time to understand the radio...Here I'm using my I-Pod Touch to feed the input...Later I figured out how to upload music via a flash drive to the built-in hard drive...Nice...The new speakers were a great investment...The sound is awesome...!!!...


(above) The tray in front of the passenger seat is where I kept my guide book for the trip...


(above) Just hanging out on a quiet weekday...


(above) Dry food and cook gear rides here...


(above) Back on the road...Rural living...


(above) Heading west...


(above) I could make that a motor home...


(above) Fishing is the money magnet up here...


(above) Heartfelt...


(above) Hometown pride...


(above) Little changes around here...


(above) Probably a meth lab...


(above) There still is some sawmilling going on...


(above) One of the originals...

 



(above) The day is turning out to be a nice one...


(above) Logging still is a landscape changer...


(above) Another empty beach...All of them are like that...


(above) Closed...


(above) I'm just following arrows...


(above) What a great day for a drive...


(above) To the north-west tip of the the USA...


(above) Wall art, PNW style...


(above) I was pulling off the road at most turn-outs to check things out...


(above) So much wide open space...


(above) This section of road is a dream to drive...


(above) It just hugs the coast for miles...


(above) S turns forever...


(above) Makah Nation...


(above) Yes...


(above) Tribal cemetery...


(above) Somewhat typical for a tribal nation in the PNW...


(above) Nice rack...


(above) Porch, firewood, dog...


(above) The place to get things fixed...


(above) Still waiting for the economic recovery...

 



(above) Recurring housing theme...


(above) Once out of the village the vistas expand...


(above) Finally, The Pacific Ocean...


(above) The surf wasn't all that great, and honestly, this is a high vehicle vandalism area...'Nuff said...


(above) I decided to set my destination for the day to be Lake Ozette...Onward...


(above) Wide point on the shoulder lunch break...


(above) I'm really enjoying how easy The Jeep is to drive...The sweet spot seems to be about 45 MPH...The steering is just right at that speed and the motor gets the best mileage around there...About 18MPH on the flats...


(above) April still is unsettled...


(above) Back along The Strait...


(above) Another turn-out photo op...


(above) Creative fencing...


(above) More of that wall art...


(above) What you do with that rope that washes ashore...


(above) Last view of The Strait on this trip...


(above) Small is beautiful...


(above) Riverside ...Lifted 'cause it floods often...


(above) The Jeep is heavy...Something over 5,000 pounds if I remember right...That puts it the Bentley weight class...Maybe in the Bradley Fighting Vehicle class...Whatever it is, it has a super smooth feel when rolling...Luxury feels right...


(above) There are so many shades of green up here they haven't named half of them yet...


(above) Respect...


(above) When we moved up here in 1990, this was one of our first places to explore...


(above) That, is a barn...

 



(above) Barn, defined...


(above) Done right...


(above) Here in the USA...


(above) Where there roads go on forever...


(above) This one used to all dirt...


(above) I need some...


(above) One lane...


(above) A benefit...


(above) Like always...


(above) Lake's high...


(above) Sun's out...


(above) Product test...


(above) Me...


(above) It rained hard last week...


(above) Cleaned out the camera...


(above) Fussed with the lenses...


(above) Dynamic B&W...


(above) Sunny Day...


(above) Favorite place...


(above) Life is good...


(above) The peak of the board is pretty far off the ground...


(above) Ground view...


(above) Tent up...


(above) The camera kit minus the one I'm holding...

 

These are mostly in sequence... 

(above) Driving out of Ozette after a night in the upper loft bed (holds me just fine), I saw that relic on a side road...


(above) I jostled The Jeep to give altered perspectives...


(above) Nice styling...


(above) Related...???..


(above) Similar kicks...


(above) Could be the bosses rig...


(above) Nah, just passin' thru...


(above) Carbon date this one...


(above) Every picture tells a story...


(above) So, how fast was it...???...


(above) Painfully obvious...


(above) Nice find...


(above) Fresh instant coffee on the step...That step didn't need to come along...


(above) It's gonna get green soon...


(above) Driving out, stopped for the tree...


(above) Bottomless moss...


(above) World class...


(above) Nice line...


(above) Here too...


(above) Everyone should take their rigs out as if this one time is your only time with it...Stop at the place's you know you should and appreciate what's there...


(above) That's one thing that's special about this trip...


(above) Not exactly like that in person...or maybe it is...???...


(above) I mentioned out of sequence...


(above) Ozette River...


(above) The Jeep is such an easy vehicle to get off the road quickly and safely that stopping at whim became the usual...

 


(above) I think The Jeep is close to perfect for any activity I can think of...For one person...Two in a pinch...


(above) If you are a fisherperson and need to get to where you want to be, this is it...Snow rider, same thing, Photographer, obviously...


(above) Never had the need for the jack or winch...


(above) The Trasharoo held a fabric folding chair and a tripod...The black box had tools and repair "items"..Also another jack...My advise it to keep it light...Too much stress on the two hinges that are not designed for that door...You'll see...


(above) The Foxwing awning was never deployed by me...I've seen pictures and if I was at one spot for more than three days I'd set it up...The poles and ropes store behind the bench seat...the poles fit in from the passenger door...


(above) The roof rack is mighty, like a bull...Load 'er up...


(above) The twin propane tank will outlast the zombies... 


(above) Backtracking to head south, a last look (really) at our friends in Canada...


(above) You do want breakfast...Get the bag lunch to go too...


(above) How original...


(above) Fresh paint...


(above) I'd love to have coffee and a slice of pie in each of these...


(above) Cutting through the B.S. is what they do here...


(above) Wild weekend...


(above) They don't do signs like these much anymore...Just how much higher could they have made that one...???...


(above) Cash crop...


(above) I right turned onto the road to Oil City...I did a couple of 17 mile beach runs from there, years ago...


(above) The Ozette Road was like this...


(above) Hey, what's that...???...


(above) That, is logging as it's done up here...


(above) You get used to it...


(above) How many loads came through here...???...


(above) Spoils...


(above) You do not want to walk around...


(above) Hoh River...

 


(above) Patterns emerge...


(above) Returning to the Hiway of Smoothness......


(above) Oops, I got the graphics dirty......


(above) Maybe no one will notice...


(above) Shades of gray on a sunny day...


(above) The Olympics...


(above) ...on a spectacular day...


(above) Ozette mountain blackberry jam...


(above) Perfection in simplicity...


(above) This drawer works out great for food...It's easy to un-latch the slide bolts and grab stuff and fix food on the door drop-down...


(above) It's all about the composition...I can't seem to get it right...


(above) And hardly a passing car...


(above) Wild county, that is...


(above) Ruby's...First beach on the way south...


(above) Lined up swells...


(above) They all are...


(above) The postcard view...Everyone gets this shot...


(above) Drifters...


(above) One nice thing about cruising at 45 is it's easier to stop and check things out...


(above) Bet you this won't be here in ten years...I got big money...

 


(above) Another one getting destroyed by water...


(above) Fading Glory...


(above) Cliche warning...!!!...Rust never sleeps...


(above) Better days are history...


(above) "Hey grandma, can I use the car tonight?"...


(above) This must be some kind of high school sport here...


(above) The recyclers missed this one...


(above) The wind was blowing the metal panels into each one...Ghost-like vibe...Especially alone...


(above) At one point a money generator...


(above) Ragged glory...


(above) Another one going down...


(above) Define corridor...???...


(above) Hey these are out of sequence...Back at Ozette...Looks like morning coffee...To use the stove one of the propane tanks must be turned on and the regulator in the locker needs to be turned to the open tank...I keep the tanks close if I'm not needing it...Next you go in and turn on the valve that controls the shut-off solenoid...it's at 7:00 on the LPG gauge...Now all you have to do is push the burner knob down and light the stove... 


(above) While the water's boiling I do a walk about...


(above) Nice time of year to be here, summer is No Vacancy...


(above) This is the site, if you can find...


(above) Nice to see the sun two days in a row...

 


(above) The Jeep is blessed with a fuel capacity of 40 gallons...Reading the two gauges and knowing how and when to switch them are not intuitive...I have dumb luck and didn't run out...


(above) 1/8 sec... The Jeep is the ultimate moving photographic sandbag...


(above) This is as off road as I got, and I was fine with that...


(above) Truck just passed... 


(above) Mid afternoon and I'm heading to Westport...


(above) A pretty long one... 


(above) Westport RV park camping...


(above) When I deployed the roof (in record time) the natives got restless and stumbled their way over spilling their drinks ...They kept their ciggies lit fine though...Next came the slurred questioning...By now I was late-night-TV-car-salesman smooth with the delivery...This I repeated for at least a half hour...Then the zombies returned to whatever they were doing...I found it funny...

 


(above) I got out of the RV park early...


(above) Getting the roof down this morning was not as easy...The rams work better when warm,...This morning is not warm...


(above) Time to make some coffee...


(above) Then a surf check...


(above) Tide's too low, the sandbanks suck, and the wind put a funk on it...


(above) Onward...


(above) I was on the other side of those two days ago...


(above) Decent beach architecture ...They built them to withstand 100 MPH wind loads...


(above) Everything was empty today... Easter Sunday...


(above) Burly aluminum...


(above) So scary...


(above) This could be interesting...


(above) ...indeed...


(above) Built as cheap as possible...


(above) This isn't exactly an affluent area... 


(above) They're not building them like this anymore...


(above) Vacant...


(above) Just do as it says...


(above) The solar panels are for the batteries...

 


(above) Different day, same plan...


(above) Somebody really got the graphics right...


(above) Design by lego...


(above) Heading home, another closer visit to one I've driven by a hundred times...


(above) Taking the back roads home...


(above) Seeing more at 25 than at 55...


(above) Red...it's the right color...


(above)...for barns...


(above) Living slower than the rest of us...


(above) Last bridge, I promise... 


(above) No, it's the same bridge...


(above) Still a nice home...


(above) The name has changed over the years...The food's the same though...


(above) This ain't Mexico, amigo...


(above) Nobody works on Easter...


(above) Note the cut swath...


(above) A big one...

 


(above) Different breeds of workhorses...


(above) Going to home in an hour or so...I'm recognizing how fortunate I've been...Grateful...


(above) I like how change comes slow to some regions...


(above) Bet it looked like this when I was a kid...


(above) The sidestreets are the most interesting...


(above) ...especially when you slow down...


(above) I wish somehow we could stop all the clocks...


(above) One last look at The Jeep before home...


(above) What a great trip it's been...


(above) I hope you enjoyed the ride...

Paul