The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)

[mosesburb]

Makes me wonder where time has gone. I am getting jealous...missing out on all the wanderings i used to do with zilla.

I don't think i can field a ride until next summer though. Paying up the 16k i owe for this year in taxes....jimmy build...dodge injectors...etc. is holding me back.

What are your thoughts on those townhouses on the corner of 43rd and greenway...or is it thundybird heading to your place...NE corner? They look just like my old place on 43rd and northern. Thought process is 5th wheel toyhauler for here.....and then an affordable townhouse for there and call life good. Just thinkin out loud right now.

Next big thought is a cascadia vehicle tent for the jimmy or have a chalet camper restored as a one off for the jimmy by coyote rv in denver....i find it rather hard after all these years to Not have a K5 with a camper...

The night camping picture is very moving....i think cam and justin would have a blast...

DW

Must be 43rd and T-Bird. Dunno. Never been in them. I'm not sure my property value could handle you in such close proximity. Gotta be better than your old area.

Cascadia vehicle tent--something like a Flip-Pac??

As far as the pic goes, you too could be in it, just let me know when you come to town next time.

 

[mosesburb]

The posts are getting a little out of order here. I posted the last trip pics because I had just loaded them and figured that it would be best not to stop. In doing that, I passed up a little trip we took at the end of June/beginning of July. The initial plan was to go to Colorado, but this is when the whole state seemed to be on fire. Everywhere I wanted to go was either on fire or full of smoke from a nearby fire. Pretty awful. Anyways, I had the time off and we were not going to be denied a vacation, so I contacted a couple friends that we were planning to meet up with and a plan was hatched.

Our voyage started Friday with a planned destination of Page, AZ/Lake Powell. We got out mid-morning and set a leisurely pace. We made Flagstaff by lunchtime.

This was a somewhat monumental event for the truck. As I understand it, the truck lived most of its life in/around Flagstaff. But, since I had built it, it had not been back. I had mentioned to my wife around Overland Expo time that of all the places we had been in the truck, we had not been to Flag yet--she was surprised too. I think every other vehicle I own has a button on the dash that says Flagstaff--push it and it will take you there unassisted. When we went to Overland Expo, we didn't hit Flag either as we went in through Munds Park and on the way out Lance had some goods in his first aid pack that got me back home without having to go into Flag for goods. So after all that, here we are, in the Suburban, passing the city limits of Flagstaff--finally.

Very shortly after leaving Flag, the trees go away almost instantly leaving you with some pretty spectacular views. This is the west end of the Navajo Reservation.

The scenery is spectacular and ever-changing. Many different colors and land formations around every curve.

Before arriving in Page, a crazy steep hill must be climbed. It has some great views off the west side back out over the reservation. I have some other ones, but I really liked this one for some reason.

We made it into Page and found a hotel, unloaded a few things and set out to do some wandering. We got a call from my friend Bill and he said he was not going to be able to make it to travel/wheel with us, but he would try to catch up with us done the road a bit. That sucked, but nothing had gone to plan so far, so I guess this is just about right.

So we wandered around taking in any sights we could. We found a good view of Glen Canyon Dam:

Some petrified sand dunes nearby:

Neat shot of a shadow of the bridge on the canyon wall:

This concludes day one. I am still sorting and editing pictures. It has been a long tedious project as I took just under 2700 pics (my boy took over 200 himself). So keep the seatbelt buckled as you never know when the truck will be in motion again. If you see a pic and want to see more of the area/event/location let me know as there are probably several pics in relation to any one pic shown.

 

[lectric80]

I have been on that road, twice in fact, but I only did it when it was daylight once and I was going the opposite direction. It was the first time I had crossed that bridge and the first time I ever went into Arizona. If I have my way it will be the last time I ever think it is a good idea to go anywhere near Phoenix in early July.

Looks like a fun trip, glad to see you are still out and kicking.

 

[folkenheath]

Awesome pictures as always!

 

[y5mgisi]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us!

 

[sponsoredbydad]

I'm buckled in (But only with a lap belt)

 

[mosesburb]

If I have my way it will be the last time I ever think it is a good idea to go anywhere near Phoenix in early July.

Wuss. The end of July is much better as the humidity shows up in mid July, so the end would be even more uncomfortable for you.

Looks like a fun trip, glad to see you are still out and kicking.

Oh, yeah. We're still getting out. There is actually another one between this one and the one from last weekend.

Awesome pictures as always!

Thanks!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us!

I'm glad you like them.

I'm buckled in (But only with a lap belt)

I know for a fact you will be ok on this trip with just a lap belt. You may be hanging on to it in mortal fear, but you will be ok with just the lap belt.

I am having alot of trouble selecting which pics to post as I have so many cool ones, but it would be ridiculous to post them all. So bear with me as this may take longer than this particular journey took.

 

[mosesburb]

Here are a few more from the same general vicinity.

This is looking away from the dam from the same vantage point as the dam picture was taken, so down stream it would be:

This is from the bridge looking at the east end of the dam. That is a giant gantry crane up on top of the dam:

View of the bridge from the west side: note-that bridge is very large and made of large pieces of steel, but if you are standing still and a car drives by, the whole bridge moves a bit. Kind of un-nerving when you are that high over a canyon.

View upstream of the dam. Lake Powell. That grey thing above the right fork of the lake is the Navajo Generating Station. I think it has to be the most scenic power plant I have ever seen. It is an amazing deal. All of the coal is mined near Kayenta and travels on an electric train to this facility where it is turned into power. Really neat setup. The current administration is actively trying to shut this facility down because it uses coal.

View of the back side of the dam:

 

[azblazer]

Awesome pictures. Looks like ya have a good camera.
Property value....lost all 8 blazers when i lost the property
in Fruita...no junk to haul around these days.

 

[azblazer]

CVT...a slick tent set up that mounts to the roof of about any vehicle....entry ladder...solves the camping critter issue...etc.

 

[mosesburb]

So after we wandered around the dam and bridge, we headed into Page proper and looked for a dining establishment. While shopping for a restaurant we came across some Antelope Canyon tour establishments. Thet were easy to find as they all had a bunch of clapped-out, rode-hard put-away-wet, hooptie-ass, frazzled trucks lifted no less than six inches, with some monster mud tires of unknown names and varying nameplates on the trucks. Fords, Dodges, Chevys, they were all equal offenders. The prices in town were pretty consistent--hell, they were probably all owned by the same people. We did not book a reservation deciding to head to the trail head and see what the rates were there. They all go to the same place. The ones in town start in town and the one at the trail head starts there. Hmm, less time in a ragged-out hooptie is more-better in my book (it costs a little less too).

So the next morning, Saturday, we head over to Antelope Canyon to catch a ride down to the main attraction (can't ride your own whip down there).

I completely failed in the photographic documentation of the chariot that carried us to the canyon entrance. I was able to crop into the previous pic to give an idea of the high quality of the unit. We got the tan masterpiece in the center. Notice how she sags a bit, well quite a bit, empty?? Yeah, now throw eight adults and three or four kids in it. Ye olde front end gets a bit light, eh.

So they call our number and we pile in. My boy points out in a rather nervous voice that a GIRL is driving. I let him know that I am scared too and he must be strong so as not to upset the other passengers who think nothing is wrong and don't understand the full gravity of the situation.

The ride to the entrance of the canyon consists of a loose sand stream bed traveresed at a rather uncomfortable speed. Even though I thought we were going too fast, we did get passed by another janke hooptie traveling faster than we were, but that one seemed more stable than our platform.

We lived.

We arrived at the entrance intact. So was it worth the terror and impending nightmares from the ride?? I'll let you decide.

Monument Valley in the canyon:

People pay to take special tours to see this: (cheap bastards like me realize the time overlap in the tours and get the view without the premium price)

Saw this little dude on the way out:

Now this day was probably the heaviest on pictures of any day on the trip (we haven't made it to noon yet). It was real tough picking the best pics from this series. Soooo many cool shots. Absolutely stunning scenery in the canyon. A person could spend months in the canyon and still come away with unique shots that they had not gotten before. Amazing.

 

[BobK]

My boy points out in a rather nervous voice that a GIRL is driving. I let him know that I am scared too and he must be strong so as not to upset the other passengers who think nothing is wrong and don't understand the full gravity of the situation.

Now THAT's funny right there!
Totally agree though.

 

[NorCal69]

Man, those are some sweet pics, this go around.

As always, thanks for sharing..

 

[mosesburb]

Now THAT's funny right there!
Totally agree though.

Man, those are some sweet pics, this go around.

As always, thanks for sharing..

Thanks!! I'm glad you like them!!

 

[pblaze725]

I spent my day reading this thread. Awesome build and great stories.

 

[mosesburb]

I spent my day reading this thread. Awesome build and great stories.

Thanks!!

 

[mosesburb]

So we made it out alive. It was scary at times, but we did make it out alive. We chatted a bit with this couple from Germany before loading up in the Suburban. As soon as the German dude saw the truck he came over and started chatting again. I guess he flew into the states, bought a GM van and is wandering around the western US. He was intrigued by the sound of the truck when I started it. He could not believe the mileage I was getting out of this compared to his van. When we left, we headed past the scenic SRP Navajo Generating Station:

We had to head down 98 to hook up with 160 and go through Kayenta as there are no roads that go east out of Page. Before reaching Kayenta we went under a bridge. I didn't know what it was, but I took a pic of it to remind me to research it when we got home. Come to find out, this is the conveyor that hauls the coal off of the mesa where it is mined and out to a loading hopper where it gets loaded on an electric train and sent to the NGS. I noticed the tracks had a power line directly over the tracks and wondered what the deal with that was. When we got home I figured it all out. What a great setup. This is the conveyor bridge:

Once in Kayenta, we took 163 north out of town. We soon came upon this:

Shortly after that we came upon this sight:

Flagstaff, hell, we made it to Utah!! The truck is running like a well oiled Singer sewing machine. A large, diesel powered, turbocharged, four wheel drive sewing machine, but a sewing machine nonetheless.

Wow.

Amazing sights everywhere. Unbelievable. We have all seen pictures and movies of the area, but nothing conveys the beauty of the horizon-to-horizon views available everywhere. Wow.

In my conversation with the German guy, he said to go to the Monument Valley visitor center, take pics and bail. He stated with much emphasis to NOT go down the trail. It was the worst road he had ever been on!! It was awful. Don't do it. There is nothing to see down the trail worth subjecting your vehicle to the horrible trail. Must be bad??

Well, always being one to heed the warnings given, we decided to try the trail. Live dangerously. Safety third. Let's go!!

There are some great views to be had from the trail. This monument is called the three sisters: I don't see the female form in it, but then again I was not consulted when they were named.

The reason I subjected my vehicle to the worst road the German guy had ever been on was because toward the end was something I really wanted to see. John Ford Point. The indian on the horse was taken here. In fact, there was a brokendown looking horse in a small cage the you could pay two dollars to have your picture taken on it. I couldn't bring myself to do that to the horse. I settled for a picture of the point, sans horse:

I like this pic:

North of the valley. I think the monument on the right looks like it is giving the finger??

So how bad was the road?? Pretty nice actually. Had some washboard, but nothing to write home about. They must have roads paved with pillows in Germany for this to be the worst he had ever been on. There is a road coming up in our journey that would have pushed him so far that he would have parked his van and walked.

 

[lectric80]

I have to say that one of the reasons I love this state is that there is no shortage of scenery. For the most part it really doesn't matter which part of the state you are in, there are breathtaking views everywhere.

Not sure how bad that road was, I have been on it in an Astro and I didn't think it was very bad.

 

[max 02]

Do you get allot of time off work or are these mostly weekend trips?

Very cool to see man! Love the scenery!

 

[mtnman]

My new motto for life: Safety third.