The FJ got Tunes Today

Today I installed an Amplifier and speakers in the FJ40. I wanted to leave the stock AM radio in the dash for looks so I got creative. It turns out that the stock speaker for the stock stereo was in the glove box, behind the black box in picture 1. Considering this is a lousy place for a speaker, it made a great place for a small amplifier. I swapped the speaker for the amp, and connected a jack for my Ipod. I then installed two speakers in the back facing forward. The result is a stereo that connects to my Ipod, with no disruption to the look of the dash. In fact if you looked in the glove box you wont even see the amp because of the black speaker cover!

Tahoe....a reality check

Jodi and I were in Tahoe last week on vacation with her parents. We did a lot of hiking, biking, partying, domino playing, and relaxing. Tahoe is a great reality check for the working man/woman. I think the highlight of the week for me was a 3 hour mountain bike ride towards Lost Lake on the west shore. Nothing humbles you more than being 7 miles from civilization, in the middle of the forest, with nothing but the wind blowing through the trees. I have embedded a slide show of all the photos below.

FJ40s, Bodega Bay, and Cows

It was a great weekend. Jodi and I headed up to Bodega Bay on Saturday to celebrate our Friend Leslie's Birthday. It just so happened that there was a Land Cruiser Swap Meet in Peteluma, on our way out to Bodega. Most of the Cruisers were supped up for off-roading ,with 6 inch lifts on them and custom setups. It was cool to see what guys were doing with them, but I think I'm headed for more of the stock route. I spent some more time detailing my FJ and she's staring to sparkle. Bodega bay was cool. I've never been there and it reminded me of Half Moon Bay...fog city. I was the DD, and Jodi had a good time partying with a lot of old high school buddies. We spent the night at Jodi's parents house and had an awesome sunset on the way home. This morning we woke up to cows on the lawn at Colliwood. It turns out the calves broke a fence and helped themselves to Vics lawn....priceless. We headed home early this morning. I washed the cars, cleaned the engine compartment an the FJ and took her up to Skyline via back roads. I took a picture of her at the top facing the coastal mountains towards Half Moon Bay.

FJ40 Update

So I am slowly detailing the inside of the Toyota FJ40. In the mean time I ordered a stereo+speakers to replace the AM tuner that is no longer working. I have also ordered new 3 pt. seatbelts for the front seats, and lap belt for the back seats. I also joined a Toyota FJ community called: http://ih8mud.com/ to learn more about the car, and learn best practices. I posted my first message introducing myself, and vaguely explaining how I came to own an FJ40. I got a ton of response back. The cool thing is that people are super impressed with the condition it's in, and I feel like they are all compliments to Bob. Below are some of the comments people have posted.

• "Very nice rig, and Welcome..."
• "I'm truly sorry to hear about your Uncle, but I'm glad you're getting to be the caretaker of the 40. Time to add another lifetime of good memories! Best of luck, and enjoy."
  
• "That's a GREAT looking 40. Not many like that left."
• "Welcome to Mud and nice rig you got yourself there."

Weekend Update

We had a productive weekend at home. Here is what we accomplished:
Friday Evening:

• Detailing of the FJ40s Interior (The start at least)
• Got all lights and Turn signals working in the FJ
  
• Rode Bikes to Italian dinner

Saturday:

• 4 mile Run
• Finished stone path in front of the house
• Met up with Mike and Kari for burritos and beers

Sunday:

• Mowed and fertilized the lawns
• Jodi got a manicure
• Made 7 Liters of apricot brandy with Mike (his apricot tree is exploding right now)
• Went swimming with Mike and Robbie

For Pictures of the weekend, click on the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/toddjanzen/WeekOfJuly7th

Bob's Memorial

This week we were in Reedley for Bob's Memorial. Bob's Birthday was on the 4th of July so it made for a great tribute. The memorial was held at Dana's daughters home (Brad and Julie), which is out in the country just outside of Kingsburg. What an amazing house and location. It made for a perfect memorial, which I guess Bob had arranged with Brad before departure. The crowd was a mix of friends and family. They played a lot of Beatles music and the food was spot on. Without going into too much detail, the day was just perfect. Bob would have been pleased.
After the memorial many of my parents friends (Martin, Gonzales, Wilikie (sp?)) went to Grandma/Grandpa Hank and Star's home for a swim and fireworks. I got to play pyromaniac and we enjoyed some "safe and sane" fireworks. The next morning we had a big friends and family breakfast, and my dad and I picked up Bob's 1976 Toyota FJ40 LandCruiser from Bob's friend Skip. Skip was generous enough to go through the FJ and replace the belts, hoses, oil, etc. She (the FJ) is beautiful. 78,000 miles and loaded full of memories. Skip thought she would be more than capable of making the trip back to San Mateo, so I decided to drive her back.

Good News:

• The FJ did great and it's safe at home
• I lost 5 lbs driving her

The Bad News:

• It was was 109 coming over Pacheco Pass

All in all it was an amazing experience. I will post more stories later. Here is a link to Bob's Memorial Slide show: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6931041269957552653&hl=en