Freud can take that headline for what it is worth… But when we started planning for the Baja we know we would need some serious lighting if we were going to explore the desert at night. Not wanting to take any chances we looked at a lot of manufactures’ lighting systems. After months of painstaking analysis and research, reading through magazines (looking at pictures), going through forums, stopping at 4×4 shops and talking to anyone who would listen, we decided to go with Baja Designs’ Soltek setup.
We choose these lights for their crystal clear optics, high quality electronic components, no-tool adjustments and a mounting system that isolates vibration. They also weep testosterone on the pages of Hula Betty’s magazine.
Need more information… In order to make it easier on our readers, we have put together a PDF article on the selection and installation in the Hula Betty, along with a short video of the process.
Another little tidbit that is handy to refer to is a relay diagram when you’re trying to remember all the different wires going from here to there. This is a nice reference:
If you still need MORE… drop us a comment with your question and let us know if you like the format and what we can add to help others when it comes to off road light selection and installation.
Every once in a while an idea comes a long that is brilliant. The idea is usually not revolutionary… but evolutionary, simple and elegant. The brilliance is in seeing what we take for granted everyday and raise it to a new level. Issuu.com is one of these brilliant ideas. Take a simple PDF which is already a good thing and a staple in document sharing. NOW… make it feel like a real magazine that you can hold in your hands, hear the pages turn and see the reflection of overhead lights bounce off the pages… Now you have something.
If you are looking for the obscure, hard to find or foreign rag try Issuu. These guys have made Internet publication very good and so simple. Look for Hula Betty to start publishing articles about Last Great Road Trip in Issuu.com soon. In the mean time check out a few of these.
There are many derogatory and hurtful words in our language. I’m sure any number of them come to mind. If you need help starting this list, let me refer you to my sister-in-law who can start you off in a couple of different languages.
Now look through your mental Rolodex for words that embrace the ideas and skills needed to live together peacefully. This list takes some time. Even Google is not much help. Try “celebrate diversity” and you may find the Internet leaves you wanting. What is a socially conscious web surfer to do…
First relax, take a big cleansing breath and count to ten. Now type www. tolerance.org. What you find is a site dedicated to fighting hate and promoting tolerance. As a major portal for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating communities that value diversity, tolerance.org offers you a seemingly endless set of resources. Some of these resources include:
If you’re feeling very secure in your dedication to tolerance follow their link to Project Implicit. Scientific studies have demonstrated that even when people consciously commit to diversity, “metal residue” in our subconscious may still harbor negative prejudices that need to be stomped out. Project Implicit is a Harvard research project that is designed to expose the hidden biases so you can over come these unconscious hurdles. The Harvard study allows you to use the test in demonstration mode or commit to participating in the study and furthering their research program.
As we travel our road of life, all of us need to find words that express our individual celebration of diversity. Join the Speak Up! campaign and begin your own road trip to take a stand against everyday bigotry. A road trip for the soul goes beyond any marked road to where all forms of bigotry and discrimination are left behind, replace by peace and understanding.
TravelHacker, the thinly vailed corporate airline credit card blog, written by Christina Laun, choose Last Great Road Trip as one of the 100 best travel journal blogs on the web. And if you are counting, that is top 100 out of 1,620,000 “travel journal blog” entries, give or take a couple of hundred thousand.
The TravelHacker put us in the “Road Less Traveled”, a catagory covering travels to the far reaches of the globe or taking to the road for unusual reasons. Journals in the road less traveled catagory are for travelers like us who have taken some unusual trips all over the world. I like that!
It is nice to be picked for anything other than last for dodge ball so feel free to send the TravelHacker a comment about her choice of the 100 best travel journals.
Looking through the forums I read “Novice Tahuya Run Saturday May 3rd”.
Here was an opportunity to wheel right in my own back yard. More exciting was an opportunity to make some freinds who enjoy wheeling. We have a number of expedition type wheeling adventures under out belt, but need a little more technical trail experience. With that in mind, we set off for the Tahuya trail meetup. A number of folks showed up for the run, some in FJ Cruisers and others in Jeeps. These folks traveled from Edmonds, Olympia and everything inbetween to try out the trails.You can see some a number of photos I shot on the trail:
Or take a look at some really good photos by Ripsnort on his Flickr gallery. When not running trails Ripsnort is a professional action photographer. Looking at his shots, I have a lot to learn.This was a novice run led by Laurance and John. There was never any pressure to try a trail you felt uncomfortable on or force a bad line rather than backing up and trying again. We also had the opportunity to watch the more experienced folks work more difficult lines including this short video of Laurance guiding John up and down a tight little incline.
