Spring Video News

June 2 2010 by Darrin.

Item one…  Anna called me over from the shop last night to see a good looking storm begin to roll in.  We captured 36 minutes of HD video, then condensed it into a 13 second time-lapse MP4, with sound effects from freesound.org (a great place for royalty-free sound effects).  You can watch it as an MP4 off of our website by clicking the thumbnail below, or if that doesn’t work, try the YouTube link (below the thumbnail) to watch it there…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHExryPLfMY

Item two…  I forgot to mention last month that all the Hawaii 2009 movies are finished and available (in WMV format) on our personal website.  Just click the thumbnail below to go to the Hawaii 2009 video collection…

Item three…  After almost three years of editing with Avid’s “prosumer” editing software, Liquid 7 (v7.2), I’ll be moving to a new system.  Avid has finally ended development for Liquid, to focus more on the consumer and professional ends of the non-linear editing (NLE) spectrum. That middle niche pro-sumer market was just too small, I guess.

As a way of saying thanks for using Liquid (and “sorry we stopped supporting it”), they’ve made existing customers an extremely attractive offer.  I’ll be moving to Media Composer 4, which includes many other pieces of software as well, for compression, DVD/BR authoring, effects, graphics, and titling.  Total value if bought individually is over $6,000!  The offer?  US$495.  As you can imagine, I went for it, as did most Liquid users worldwide.  There will be a tremendous learning curve, but that’s what winter in Wyoming is for.  I’m lookin’ forward to it!

For the record, MC4 is used extensively in professional production.  It was recently used for editing 24, the newest Star Trek, The Hurt Locker, and Slumdog Millionaire - just to name a few.  Very cool!

Posted in Hawaii, 2009, Scenery, Weather | No Comments »

Memorial Day Weekend

May 29 2010 by Darrin.

Things are sure green around here!  We’ve had lots of rain, and even some snow last Monday, May 24th.  Gotta enjoy it; it only lasts a few weeks or so before some of the grasses head out and turn yellow.  Last month, I decided my 1991 Kawasaki KLR 650 had been dormant in the garage for far too many years.  She got a little “freshening-up”, with a new battery, tires, chain/sprockets, cables, a clean carb, etc.  Here’s the bike, AND the green.

 

Before I forget, thanks to all who gave their lives to keep America safe and free.  Really.  I cherish what we have here.  A while back, I posted a video on my website.  What’s our flag mean?  Check it out if you like…

So what else is new?  My friend Michael and I were supposed to go to the Netherlands in April, but the volcano in Iceland shut that down.  We rescheduled for four weeks later, but wound up canceling again.

I did get to Maryland just before we were supposed to go to Holland.  I went to get Mom, do some chores, and drive back to Wyoming.  29 hours total time en route, covering ~1849 miles.  That’s almost 64 mph of average speed!  Amazing for her older Ford Expedition with 150,000 miles on the clock.  And we never went over 4 miles above the limit! It was an excellent run.

In the shop, work on the Land Cruiser continues.  The chassis is ready to get painted, but first I have to fabricate and install a custom fuel tank.  In the photos below, you can see the beginning of it.  It’ll hold just over 30 gallons, and will be located behind the rear axle in the factory spare tire location…

Finally, here’s the rebuilt rear differential, now with an ARB Air-Locker.  So long as it works, it’s a “best of both worlds” device, providing an open diff for normal use that can be pneumatically locked for maximum traction.

It’s a great concept if it doesn’t leak!  I’ve had mechanical, pneumatic, and electric lockers over the years, and by far, the older mechanical Unimog lockers are my favorite!  Not much to break.  We’ll see how this goes a few years down the line!

Posted in HJ-75 Restoration, Scenery, Weather | 1 Comment »

Chassis Sheds Her Body

April 3 2010 by Darrin.

Finally, only a few months late, I’ve got the chassis out from under the Land Cruiser Troopy and in another shop bay for restoration.  I only managed a few hours a week in 2010 so far, but I hope I can spend some more time on the project now.  I have to keep reminding myself - “Alaska 2011, Alaska 2011″.  Motivation is good to have…

Fortunately, the chassis restoration is the fun part of the project.  (I hate bodywork and painting.)  I’ve got the newer 12H-T turbo-diesel to go in, complete new suspension on the way, new brake parts, steering linkage, and virtually everything I need to rebuild the axles. I also want to weld up another fuel tank to go behind the rear axle.  There’s plenty of room available - enough to easily build in a 1,000+ mile highway range.

I’d like to think I can have the chassis ready to go back under the body by June, and get the bodywork completed while it’s still plenty warm here in Wyoming.  Here are a few photos of the body removal process.  I used 4 x 1-ton camper jacks (the same ones I use to build the AATREC and Unimog campers) to raise the body about 20 inches so the chassis could roll out…

Posted in HJ-75 Restoration | No Comments »

Hawaii Vacation Rental

March 30 2010 by Darrin.

This post brought to you by the wind and sun!  75 MPH wind in WY last night, no sleep, and this morning no grid power - so we’re on the solar backup system.  And wouldn’t you know it, it’s getting too windy for the turbine, and the clouds are rolling in!

 Five months after going to Big Island, Hawaii, I finally started messing with our video.  Here’s a 3-minute “promo” video of the “Makalani Oceanview Cottage” where we stayed last November.  The owner didn’t have trouble renting it out, but I promised him I’d make something for him to use in the future.  It was a very nice place, secluded, with great views.  Click the link below to see the video on YouTube…

Makalani Oceanview Cottage Video

Posted in Hawaii, 2009 | No Comments »

HJ-75 Frame Length

January 4 2010 by Darrin.

I needed a place I could throw a couple photos “in public” and the blog is the handiest site.  I’m about to cut the frame back down to a factory length (it used to hold Hi-Rail gear) and I’m hoping some Land Cruiser forum members will have a look and tell me how long it’s supposed to be…

 

Pretty boring, huh?

Posted in HJ-75 Restoration | 1 Comment »

Alaska (Canada) Video Under Way

December 21 2009 by Darrin.

Finally, after 4 months back at home, I’ve started our Alaska 2009 movie.  It was originally going to have voice-over narration and all the bells and whistles (it may still..) but I was really disappointed with not making our anticipated Arctic destination.

Added to my despair were some technical issues with my home-built Avid Liquid 7 video editing computer.  The largest problem was a glitch with her ability to render high definition MPEG files.  I was so looking forward to making “Alaska 2009″ for Blu-Ray, and the thought of creating “just another DVD” made me consider giving up!  But problems got solved, and the show must go on.

Click the photo below for Chapter 01 - Introduction, in WMV format…

While this streaming sample is not hi-def, our computer is digesting HD footage well now, after updating the software.  A Blu-Ray “feature presentation” is on the way!

Posted in Alaska 2009 | No Comments »

Troopy makes it inside!

December 15 2009 by Darrin.

After sitting in the front of the shop while we were in Hawaii and Baltimore, the old Cruiser finally rolled off the trailer and into the shop on Saturday…

 

Now the whole room smells like rats!  They’ve sure enjoyed themselves for the decade+ the HJ was in storage…

Time to tear it apart and start stocking up on rebuild parts.  Since selling the big AATREC-FM204, I want to build a mini-AATREC.  This vehicle will likely become an “AATREC-HJ” camper, with the troop compartment converted into a camper.  It’ll mostly be a bed, fridge and small counter with diesel stove and sink, all over an elevated floor.  Under the floor, I suspect you’ll find 25 gallons of water, a small water heater, two AGM betteries, and rear pull-out drawers for storage of food and cooking supplies. Just dreaming at this point, but it’ll eventually come to fruition.  Right now, it looks like this…

 One nice thing about the old HJ is the straight and rust-free body.  It was shipped to Wyoming from Port Hedland, Western Australia in 1987, and it’s been in this 17% no-salt climate ever since.  At least there won’t be too much body work!

I still have a number of projects to get to here before going hog-wild with the Cruiser project.   Our Fiat tractor decided to start leaking fuel from three different places at once.  (???)  I’ve got a fuel suction leak on our firetruck (Unimog U1300L) that’s keeping her from running.  The stuff never ends.  Fix one thing, something else breaks.  Oh well…  That’s the fun of it, right?

Recently, I fought a situation with our 1970 Unimog fouling spark plugs in just a few minutes running.  I rebuilt the carb multiple times, completely rebuilt the ignition system, and then (and only then) did I figure out that it was old gasoline.  It was so dark, it looked like dyed diesel fuel.  Now she’s ready for winter with a rebuilt carb, new ignition, and decent fuel…

This is really good news, because the old Swiss 404 is our go-to winter machine.  Her skinny tires and tremendous ground clearance get us through the biggest snow drifts at the worst times, and we were really worrying about blizzards without the Unimog in our vehicular arsenal.

Posted in HJ-75 Restoration | No Comments »

Bye to the last AATREC-FM204…

November 29 2009 by Darrin.

You may notice a new color scheme on the blog.  If you’re observant, you’ll also notice the header has changed from “Stories of our travels near and far with the AATREC-FM204″ to simply “Stories of our travels near and far.”

Yup, the AATREC-FM204 is gone from the header, AND gone from our lives.  A well-traveled couple saw the last FM204 we built (and delivered to San Diego in 2008)  and became very interested in owning one for themselves.  The choice to sell what was built to be “our camper” was tough at first, but  we knew they’d use the vehicle more than we would.  When we coupled that with their desire to donate medical help around the world, we had peace with our decision to let it go.

For now, I have no idea what to do next.  New emissions laws for diesels make it impossible to fuel new chassis in developing countries, and also make it tough to do the required 4WD conversion.  Time will tell.

So we’re left with the old 1980 Unimog U1300L camper I built in 2002.  It was the project that encouraged me to incorporate, and build the next three AATRECs.  Thus, the old ‘Mog has a special place in my heart.  How special?  Offer me money and see. 

That whole project is online on our personal website if you’re curious.  If you’re not, here’s a photo…

 She’s been in storage for a few years, and needs new batteries due to a charger failure.  Otherwise, she’s well-equipped and ready for local travel within 500 miles.  Unimogs aren’t great highway cruisers, and ours tops out at 55 mph.  Fortunately, WY and CO alone offer tens of thousands of miles of remote dirt roads and numerous camping opportunities.  Our Unimog has a new engine and is in excellent shape, so we can still get out in the wild!  The Unimog chassis is, without a doubt, a formidable off-road machine.  It can carry our shelter to places we’d never have the courage to try!

Seasons Greetings to everyone.  Specifically, Merry Christmas!

Darrin and Anna

Posted in AATREC Construction | No Comments »

Back at the Ranch

November 4 2009 by Darrin.

We’re home again and enjoying our weather here!  It was 65F when we left, and 64F when we drove home.  While in Hawai’i the ranch saw 17″ of snow.  The only signs remaining are a few drifts around the house, and some serious mud.  We arrived last night after being up for 36 hours, which ended in 4 hours of driving from Denver to the ranch.

We’ve exhausted most of our photos, but there are a few left.  On our last day at the cottage, I found a friendly gecko not afraid of a flash, and an ominous (but harmless) arachnid…

That night, the haze cleared out to give us a great full moon setting over the ocean.  It’s a little fuzzy - I had no tripod, and it’s a 1/4-second exposure…

And after seven nights of a red ball setting into the ocean (without much color or cloud), we saw this on the way to the airport…

Back in the Rocky Mountains, another nice sunset gave us something to compare on the drive back to Wyoming…

Know what?  We like it here!

Posted in Hawaii, 2009 | No Comments »

The Big Island, Cont’d…

November 1 2009 by Darrin.

DISCLAIMER!!!  I have fixed the formatting on this thrice now.  It just reverts to its screwed up form.  I’m at Denny’s on a VERY busy Sunday morning.  There was no where to park at the beach, so no nice coffee and coastal view.  Here kids screaming and running around, parents yelling, poor waitresses dropping stuff.  It took me 25 minutes to get an iced tea.  I’m going to blow off my final proof-read, and head for the solitude of the cottage.   I freaking HATE civilization.

Before I get started, here are a few photos of the Sheraton resort where Anna’s doing her course.  The wild goats are on the golf course across the road.

If you stay there for the course (which most people did), it was like $269/night.  Rooms with no view were a little cheaper - maybe $175/night.  I tried connecting to their wi-fi, but it was $24.95 PER DAY, which could be paid with your credit card, OR billed directly to your room.  What a rip-off.  $269/night, and they can’t provide the internet?

Anyway, with Anna occupied I spent the remainder of Thursday back at the cottage and then Honomalino Bay.  This time the sun was shining and I ventured far enough south to get to a bit of white(r) sand beach.  I did swim a little, but not comfortably!  There are rocks everywhere, and with the surf churning up sand, the snorkel stayed in my pack…

Friday, after dropping Anna off at the Sheraton again, I went farther south to South Point (Ka Lae).  It’s the southern tip of the Big Island, and the southern tip of the USA.  (No, it’s not Key West, as some would have you believe.)  There are two distinct wind farms there.  One is a rusted out vertical junk heap, with broken turbines missing their blades.  The other, in the background of the photo below, is more current, and operational.  If the trees look like this, it’s a safe bet that a wind farm will pay off…

My goal was Papalokea: Green Sand Beach.  However, on the way I visited Heiau o Kalelea.  These are ancient canoe moorings on the west side of the point.  The fishing here is fantastic, as the blue waters are loaded with tuna, mahamahi, and marlin…

Many years ago the locals fished these waters in canoes.  To keep from drifting away, they tied the canoes off to holes in the rocks.  Without the safety line to land, the winds would easily drive the boats out into the southern currents, where they would be carried directly to Antarctica!  In the following shots, you can see one of the boat hoists that they still use to launch small craft.  Today, this hoist is anchoring a heavy fishing line that’s floating offshore…

To get to Green Sand Beach, you have to travel 2.25 miles of rugged coastline via a sand/dirt road.  As that’s forbidden in the 2WD rental car contract, and totally impossible anyway, I decided to hike it.  The walk north east to the beach was pleasant with the afternoon sun on my back and ocean breeze in my face.  This is what I walked through…

About a mile away, if you’re following the coast, NOT the roads, you’ll start seeing green sand among the black lava rocks.  I’m very happy I did this, as the contrast really shows the color of the sand well.  The color comes from a semi-precious gem, olivite, that’s ground up by, you guessed it, the crashing surf…

 

At the beach itself, it’s all green and you have a hard time noticing the true color of the sand.  Nevertheless, here’s the secluded beach…

For what it’s worth, I had to Photoshop five people out of the photo and I did NOT walk down to the beach itself.  (Time constraint for picking up Anna.)  Clearly, you need a 4WD for this one.  In fact, the people at the beach drove past me on my hike in.  When I got there, they had been swimming for likely a half hour or better.  And the buggers passed me on my hike out.  I was covered in sweat, beaten by the sun, and then had to eat their car dust AGAIN.  In LESS than my transit time on foot, they’d made the drive in, enjoyed swimming, and come out again.  The next time, we’re renting a Jeep.

A few geckos back at the cottage…

Saturday, I decided to see the rest of the island.  Yes, that’s an ignorant statement because you’d never see it all if you lived your whole life here.  I mean that I drove the rest of the “main” roads around the island.  You can think of the Big Island as having a funky figure eight of main highways.  There’s basically a ring or belt road somewhat around the perimeter, and a road cutting across the island in the saddle between the mountains (volcanoes) Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.  This central road is thus called the Saddle Road.  It reminds me of Wyoming, and is high desert…

Here’s Mauna Lea to the north, with a couple of the observatories visable at the top.  (Extreme hand-held magnification!  Sorry for the quality!)

You can drive to the top, but here’s another 4WD road.  There’s a Visitor’s Center at a bit above 9,000′ in elevation.  (The peak is 13,796′)  Here’s a still from my video camera, overlooking the center…

From the Visitor’s Center, they lead caravans of private 4WDs all the way up the mountain.  (On Saturdays, at least.)  When the cars come back down, the guys at the Center set up telescopes and have a star party for the guests.   They have an impressive array of “amateur” glass there…  (The “big guns” are up top, of course.)

Also, safely inside, I noticed an Astro-Physics set-up (apochromatic refractor telescope and motor-driven German-eqatorial mount) with an SBIG CCD imager.  I’ve been on the AP waiting list for a lens and mount for four years now.  That stuff is in high demand and of the best quality.  Never seen one in person!  I got video, but no photo.  One day, I hope to build a small observatory at home, behind the house, using very similar gear.

Leaving Mauna Lea, I headed back to Hilo where we’d been Wednesday.  I was heading to the Farmers’ Market again, after more fresh veggies for Anna, and some salsa and green papaya salad (Thai) for me.  Here’s my loot, and salad feasting, back home…

North of Hilo, I visited Akaka Falls.  The sun was wrong, but I made the short, paved hike anyway.  Four hours earlier, it’d have been perfect with the lighting much better…

Still farther north, into rainier country, the Big Island has plentiful rivers flowing into the ocean.  These gulches are gorgeous, and more of what Anna and I expected in Hawaii.  As you drive north, there’s big green on your left, and big blue on your right.  I then visited Laupahoehoe Point, an incredibly beautiful but historically tragic place.  Tsunamis in 1949 and 1960 killed 220 people, and destroyed the little town.  It’s a park now, and just the natural waves are ominous.  I can’t imagine “the big one” rolling in…

That’s all for now.  It’s Sunday, and I’m going to enjoy the cottage.  I might even shoot some video for our host, Harry.  Edited into a five minute movie, he might pick up more business for his rental.  And maybe give us a break for the next time, when we come back with a 4WD to cruise in.

Best to all…

Posted in Hawaii, 2009 | No Comments »