Category Archives: The Toyotas

Everything relating to the 2004 Toyota Sequoia and the 2007 Toyota Tundra

Hang In There Old Friend

Toyota has been in the headlines a lot lately and you would have to have your head stuck in hole not to know that the attention Toyota has been getting as of late has been bad. It all stems around the recalls of several of Toyota’s popular models due in part because of potential problems with accelerators becoming stuck while the vehicle is moving. These perceived problems have triggered one of the largest recalls in consumer product history at nearly 8.5 million vehilces and caused Toyota to halt production on these models until the problem was idetnified and a solution put in place. It isn’t really the size of the recall involving Toyota that has got me a little bent out of shape recently, it is the hostility that is being directed towards this company, not by consumers, but by the United States government and the mainstream press.

New Photos – Lots of Them

I have been spending a lot of time recently trying to get to the point of where we have all of our photos up on the website. Unfortunately, the world was just so damn cool and we had a shutter happy bunch of crew members so trying to sort through over 27,000 photos to caption and upload is taking quite a bit of time. That’s right, 27,000 photos.

Safelite AutoGlass: Nation’s Leading Auto Glass Team

This expedition has had the privilege to work with many fine sponsors, and we able to see firsthand the incredible work of another great sponsor, Safelite AutoGlass.

A journey that spans over 26 months, through 6 continents and close to 70,000 miles is going to take its toll on the vehicles, and that was definitely the case for the windshields on the Toyota Tundra and Sequoia. Length of the windshield cracks found their place at eye level on each vehicle, along with numerous chips, scratches and nicks.

Nels’ Notes: Nomadic Wandering Shenanigans April 5-12, 2009

It was another crazy week for us on the road. The week began in Austin at Hostelling International-Austin, where they graciously set up a dorm room/work room for us in their television room, and ended in one of the greatest cities in the world, Denver, Colorado. From Austin we made the 551 mile trek to Roswell, New Mexico, where UFO shops, museums and a research center showcase the 1947 Roswell UFO incident. A nice Days Inn on the main road through the town had both cable and high speed internet, so for the first time in awhile we were able to sit back, relax and got to watch the NCAA national championship game.

Nels’ Notes: Nomadic Wandering Shenanigans March 29-April 4, 2009

To say this week was jam-packed would be a complete understatement. We began at a beautiful hotel in Chipinque National Park in Monterrey, Mexico, and ended the week in a hostel in Austin, Texas. Sunday and Monday night we had the pleasure of staying at Hotel Chipinque overlooking the city of Monterrey. It was a perfect place to relax, enjoy the views and prepare for our break for the US border. Our recently remodeled luxurious cabana had two living rooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a master bedroom, another room with two single beds, and an outdoor patio. The service, staff, food and accommodations were first class.

Nels’ Notes: Nomadic Wandering Shenanigans: March 21-28, 2009

We are in the last few days abroad before we cross the border into the United States. Bouey’s quote of the week, puts our situation into a certain perspective. The trucks are very functional, but have seen better days. The absence of shocks in both vehicles makes the roads that much more interesting. The dashboard of the Tundra looks like Las Vegas.

Photos of the Mid-Week: Boo-man

Bouey, filming the Saturday market on a long drive in Guatemala. Bouey, driving the Tundra, in the zone. Boo-man, with his friends, the habanero peppers.

Cruising The Open Roads

Mexico is a big country, the 14th largest country in the world by land area to be exact, and because Mexico is also a fairly developed country, that means we have a lot of pavement to put behind us before we cross the border back into the States. It is no real surprise that the roads in the major tourists areas such as the states of Quintana Roo (Tulum, Cancun), Yucatan (Merida) and Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta) are in really good condition, but you may be surprised to find that the roads in the rest of the country so far have also been in pretty descent shape.

Forgotten Disputes

I am pretty sure that most people have no idea that there is a pretty heated border dispute going on between Belize and Guatemala. I had no idea. No one in the crew had any idea. But while the world moves on and focuses on other more pressing conflicts, the problems between Belize and Guatemala continue, sometimes with violent ramifications.

Living The Good Life

We have recently had the good fortune of spending the last week or so in the lap of luxury here in Central America. We have been hosted by some extremely hospitable people at eco retreats in Costa Rica during the past week, but it only really started to strike us how nice we had things when we were staring out over the waters of the Pacific Ocean from the back deck of the house we were staying at in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Villa Noche in San Juan del Sur was no ordinary house.