WL: 1990 K5 (California to Nebraska on 38" rubber. (WARNING: Lots of Pics))

[82355]

82355 submitted a new Build:

WL: 1990 K5 (California to Nebraska on 38" rubber. (WARNING: Lots of Pics))

View attachment 230755 A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across this 1990 K5 for sale on here:

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279984

It was almost exactly what I was trying to build, the price seemed right, and I was bored, so I bought it. Last Wednesday, two buddies of mine and I flew out to L.A. to drive it back home to Nebraska. The following posts are from a hometown message board that my buddy Joe made. I am just going to copy/paste them. He took 1209 pictures on the trip (he is kind of a camera buff), and these are the 300 some that he narrowed it down to.

Since I was bored last week, Marty (82355) decided to buy a Blazer in Lancaster, CA and drive it back to Lincoln, NE. He thought it would be good for me to get out of the house, since I've been laid up for 6 weeks with a ****ed up ankle in a cast. John (Hillbilly) somehow snuck onto the airplane, and away we went.

Waiting on the tarmac.

It was nice once we pulled up out of the fog in Omaha.

Lovely evening for a flight.

We passed over several towns between Omaha and Dallas.

I think this is somewhere in Kansas.

Landing in DFW....

Read more about this build here...

 

[82355]

Dominic had some spare parts to include.

K5s are popular in this neighborhood.

Martin is demonstrating how to operate the non-existent deck.

Checking the oil.

Well, time to hit the road.

It's a long road home.

Northbound through the desert.

Mojave airport advertisement.

Edwards AFB is off that way.

Meep meep.

Another K5. He gave us a thumbs up.

Oh yeah, there's a huge hole in the floor for the triple stick setup. It wasn't noisy at all.

Sand rail.

Choo choo

BNSF rolls across the desert.

Marty waved at almost every car, but none returned the favor. Who knew?

Barstow, CA

Fancy living.

 

[82355]

Weird contrail and a shadow.

Not sure what we're looking at here, but it looks cool.

Ambulance tow rig.

I-15 at 80.

All contrails point towards Vegas.

I see a big moon rising.

Stickers peeling off.

Zzyzx Rd and a Famous sticker.

Amtrak runs buses, who knew?

Getting closer.

The Strip.

Hillbilly's never seen so many lights before.

Marty isn't impressed.

Hipsters in Vegas.

Hi Deuce.

Drove right past the fancy joints like this in favor of the Travelodge.

World-class high-flying trapeze antics were applauded.

What happens in Vegas, gets posted on Facebook.

 

[82355]

They always say these casinos are a lot bigger than you think they are going to be, and they are right.

Circus Circus

The next morning, we got an early start. Here, Marty helps John pack in the load.

Palm tree.

His pants are too tight.

The buffet was largely forgettable.

Brook and Roo made it on a billboard.

Either somebody got their ass kicked, or they sell drugs here. Probably both.

Squizz?

I didn't buy this.

They see me rollin'...

Try to catch me ridin' dirty.

Hi John.

Go Hillbilly.

So long Las Vegas, we hardly knew ye.

Bum walking on the Interstate? Check.

Yanni!

Sinatra!

 

[82355]

I was excited to leave this **** hole.

This might be the NASCAR track, I can't remember.

We finally patched that gaping hole in the floor. Thanks, Travelodge!

We also put my bum leg to good use. Thanks, stretched out anterior talofibular ligament!

Golf, of course.

We entered a scenic canyon.

Marty wanted to contribute to the erosion in his own special way.

These cripple sticks don't make it any easier to fly.

The whole gang.

Rock on.

Erosion.

The K5 certainly has the "look."

I don't hate Utah.

Big rig.

Saw quite a few Ford Raptors.

We stopped here for fuel, repairs, and food.

This is Ignatius, the dog.

Good boy.

Pet relief area.

 

[82355]

We added Bar's Leaks Radiator Stop Leak, but Marty didn't shake it up well enough.

A bit more antifreeze, and the weeping heater core was cured.

A customer and a service manager.

Beaver, UT

Hey, I'm from where that truck's from.

We decided these are probably full of pop. Why else would they paint them this way?

Bathroom sign.

Intrepid explorers, these.

This was one of several scenic overlooks in the 110+ mile stretch between services.

Hello.

I can do crutch tricks.

Dino footprint. Not really.

There's Marty.

He's awfully spry for a big guy.

Yes, I bought some trinkets from the Indians.

All my friends know the Lowrider.

West

 

[82355]

Don't get drowsy.

Runaway truck ramp.

Big rock.

Hanksville.

It sure isn't ugly out here.

The sun got low.

But we still had miles to log.

Passed some horses on the back of a pickup.

Getting close to Moab, UT.

Aforementioned trinkets. Jasper, turquoise, and pine nuts.

They walked and I hobbled a couple blocks to this place.
http://www.eddiemcstiffs.com/

Surf 'n turf

This is the best burger I have ever had. Dig the guac and giant slice of green chile.

Marty liked his mushroom pasta dish.

There is a market for kinetic copper art like this in Moab.

Creek.

Sweet van.

I almost ate **** by sticking my crutch in this grate the night before. Well I didn't quite stick my crutch in it, but took evasive action right before I would have, which caused me to lose balance and nearly lose said ****.

Front end.

 

[82355]

Kind of cool M35 Deuce and a half converted to off-road bus.

We got a fine pair of trail maps and a sticker at this store.

The trail head.

NP 208 transfer case somebody left along the trail with a chair.

The K5 crawls right past the remnants of lesser vehicles.

This is the first little hill we drove down.

They determined airing down the tires was a good idea at this point.

Just follow these signs to stay on the trail.

I took a turn driving.

Martin Vogel With neither hands on the wheel!
Tuesday at 15:20 · Like

Joe Sypal And backwards badges on the door and grille.
Tuesday at 15:21 · Like

Joe Sypal And the filler door on the wrong side.
Tuesday at 15:22 · Like

Martin Vogel You mean the filler door on the correct side.
Tuesday at 15:24 · Like

Joe Sypal I mean the filler door is on the non-right side.
Tuesday at 15:25 · Like

Martin Vogel You mean the photo is reversed, and that puts the damn filler door where GM should have put it in the first place.
Tuesday at 15:27 · Like

Joe Sypal GM put the filler door on the right side of their K5 Blazers.
Tuesday at 15:31 · Like

Martin Vogel The right side would have been the left side though.
Tuesday at 15:34 · Like

Joe Sypal Right.
Tuesday at 15:41 · Like

Willa Toren-Senn ‎^ I love all of this.
Tuesday at 22:26 · Like

Not really.

Photo credit: John Ebke

Photo credit: John Ebke

Humping rocks.

Nature called.

Beer can.

Forever alone.

Cedar, I think.

Berry.

Adjusting the linkage on the doubler.

 

[82355]

First body damage incurred.

PO's body damage + Marty's foot.

Climbed right up.

Jabba the rock.

Red sand.

Neat rocks.

Face rock.

This bridge needed some fixing up, so we drove around it.

Making his mother proud, I'm sure.

Neat rocks.

Fire place.

Neat rocks.

The end of the road.

It was a long ways down.

There are lots things going on that you'd never notice unless you stopped to look closely. These little trees live on an oasis blob that is about 2" in diameter on top of a rock right about... HERE.

Within a 20' radius, anyway.

Lichenblazer

More lichen stuff.

Canyon kissin'

 

[82355]

Marty scampered quite a ways down for a better look. Where's Waldo?

Yep, there's the grille.

And there we are.

Full digital zoom.

Full optical zoom.

All the way out. I love this camera: Canon S90.

Dinosaur-shaped rock.

Neat rocks.

Oh yeah, don't forget to lock in the hubs.

Hi Marty.

It'd climb up anything now.

Tires squarshin'.

Going slow.

Stop and take a picture.

 

[82355]

Another dinosaur-shaped rock.

Welcome to Mars.

Checking the oil.

I had a little trouble getting around in 3" deep red silt.

Aforementioned 38" rubber.

This area is called Kenny's Climb.

Now it's Marty's Climb.

K5 making this rock its bitch.

On top.

Looping back around.

Ready for the downhill portion.

It was fairly steep.

They left me out in the wind, which quickly turned to cold rain. Thanks, guys.

The only climb we didn't make was this one in the rain with slick tires.

The rain rolled in and quickly turned our Martian playground into icing.

The thing is about the desert, it dries out real quick.

That's right, we drove up that.

Hillbilly was bored, so he started reading the newspaper.

This is him giving nary a ****.

 

[82355]

This is the 2nd tastiest burger I had in Moab. They love to put peppers on them out here.

Hillbilly's burger.

Marty's wings.

Marty eats everything on them, save for the bones.

Not a bad place to eat.
http://www.themoabbrewery.com/

8-bit goat painting.

Mmmm, fresh kids.

Castle Valley

We took SR 128 up to Onion Creek for a quick easy trail before leaving the area for good.

Onion Creek trail has many crossings of its namesake.

Iced over creek.

Neat rocks.

Neat rock.

Neat rocks.

It's quite colorful out here. They yellow is sulfur, I believe.

More colors.

Neat rocks.

Narrow bridge. We later met a Ford Taurus driving the opposite direction on this trail. It wasn't technical at all, but it sure was pretty.

Neat rocks.

 

[82355]

Neat rock.

Water crossing.

Bye bye, Onion Creek.

Storm was rolling in over the canyon rim.

Scenic.

Back seat blues.

Both hands on the wheel, not fiddling with the iPod, and looking at the road were a rare sighting.

We made it up to Glenwood Springs, CO before calling it a night.

Steaming fajitas at Tequila's.

Nice chipotle burrito.

That's not wallpaper; we actually slept in the forest. I heard logs being sawed all night long. *ZING*

The next morning, we found the Blazer's identically-painted cousin across the parking lot. I decided to get a better look...

...and I promptly fell on my ass. That's a 1/2" sheet of ice, topped with little bitty snow balls. I thought it was just wet.

Laugh it up, Hillbilly.

The scene of the accident.

DAT ASS

It was a chilly morning, but the TBI 350 didn't blink an eye.

Choo choo tunnel, Colorado River, I-70, US6. Lots of roads in this picture.

Conditions were less than optimal.

 

[82355]

We soldiered on through tunnels.

Warp speed 7, Captain Vogel.

Sometimes it was more economic to just bore one tunnel.

The sun half-heartedly tried to make an appearance.

We finally got a nice sunny fuel stop near Gypsum, CO. Don't quote me on the town.

Cute little snowy-roofed houses abound.

Conditions deteriorated.

We passed lots of folks having fun.

Not the same truck as before, unfortunately.

One more stop for washer fluid.

We could just barely get around these guys.

About to take the big plunge.

Warp speed 10, Captain Vogel.

The light at the end of the tunnel.

Wow, what a lovely day on the other side of that mountain.

More tunnels.

I like the hood ornament; Marty says it's got to go.

Icy mirror. So long, mountains.

In Colorado, they don't bother to dress up their cell towers like trees.

 

[82355]

Beef fried rice in Fort Morgan, CO.

Martin's house fried rice.

Ozzy needs to eat, too.

Optical assistance courtesy of Mr. Vogel.

Dig the in-transits.

Nice car, ugly wheels.

This pretty much sums up eastern CO.

Old Dodge army truck.

Nice GMC.

Conditions weren't too cramped, but my toes and calf swole up pretty good.

This thing was COMPLETELY packed full. Holy ****.

I-76 EASTBOUND.

Dash holes

NEBRASKA

...the good life

Photo courtesy: Martin Vogel

Photo courtesy: Martin Vogel

It's good to be home.

Ruh roh, raggy. No front plate = pulled over on I-80. Apparently they are required in California.

He let Marty off with a verbal warning. Nice.

 

[82355]

Deciduous flora.

Coniferous flora.

Yes, sir.

Brady, NE

This is one of my favorite junk yards.

It was a service station at one time, but has since been slowly taken over by rotting vehicles of all sorts.

They've got a K5.

They've got quite a few military surplus vehicles. How many can you name?

They've even got a twin engine airplane.

The proprietor came out to ask what we wanted, and explained that most of these vehicles are here for storage purposes. He had one big eyebrow. I think I heard banjos playing in the background.

Dig the Caddy among deuce and a halfs, half tracks, etc.

The daylight waned on the Platte River valley.

Made her back in one piece.

Not a bad trip, I'd say.

Have fun with it, Marty.

THE END. I hope you FB-less ****s are happy now. My right hand is sore not form masturbating, but from incessant mouse and keyboard work.

 

[RootBreaker]

wow that was cool...


my truck wouldnt have made it that far....

 

[82355]

Yeah, other than the heater core leaking a little coolant, which the Bars Stop Leak took care of, and having to fiddle with the linkage for the doubler, we had absolutely no problems with it. It was definitely a fun trip.

Martin

 

[Big Ray]

A most excellent adventure!

Thank you very much...


-Ray

 

[J.R.]

looks like a fun trip!! reminds me of when i bought my 89 K5 in vegas.. flew out got her and drove back to iowa.. great trip!!!