Expect the Unexpected
Every adventure has the potential for the unexpected. The lessons learned along the way prepare you for future adventures.
To say that this recent trip was an adventure fail, would be misleading. Although we didn't make it to our planned destination, we changed our course and still found an Open Road 4Two adventure that was fun and memorable.
This trip was planned out as a day-trip adventure with lunch, a little exploring, and time set aside to capture a beautiful sunset. Not questioning the course the GPS set out for us, we hit the road and made the designated turnoff onto an unpaved road. The scenery was beautiful with Joshua Trees sprinkled across the trail, desert mountains off in the distance, and nothing but blue sky.
After a few miles into the journey, we started to question our route. The planned route had us crossing more than 50 miles of unpaved roads. Shortly thereafter, we came across a huge indicator that we would not be reaching our desired destination. The red flag? A locked gate and a closed road! Not only was the road close, the road lead us to a restricted government area!
Not feeling the need to be lawless, we decided that the day was not lost and we would create a new adventure. We were not exactly sure where in the Mojave Desert we were however, there were plenty of OHV trails to explore. With our GoPro mounted we hit the trails leaving a cloud of dust behind our Tacoma.
We had noticed several people climbing a mountain that had a greenish hue on our way down the trail, and we thought it would make a fantastic place for a late lunch with an awesome view of the desert. Once we got to the top we were met by two pieces of artwork who resembled Kevin and Stuart, the minions from Despicable Me! It was a pleasant surprise and we dubbed the spot "Minion Mountain".
Since we had only planned this outing as a day trip, our lunch was a simple sandwich wrap on protein tortillas, assorted deli meats/cheese, and a side of greek olives. It was a nice no fuss meal to refuel for the steep hike ahead.
The hike up the other side of the mountain was steep and rocky, but worth every step of the way. We felt accomplished once at the top and took a moment to enjoy the views of the desert terrain below soaking in the golden hour. On our way back down, we stopped to pick up some trash we found along the way. We always try and pick up litter when we can to help the principle of leave no trace.
Once we got back to Saki, Randy noticed that the driver's rear tire looked a little low. Upon further inspection we detected the sound of air hissing from the tire. We quickly made our way down the mountain to get on flat terrain to further assess the situation. Sure enough, we had a small leak. Luckily we had just invested in a Viair 88P portable air compressor. Adding some air to the tire provided us the opportunity to get Saki to a local Walmart to get our tire repaired.
When we set out to create Open Road 4Two it was to embrace living, to truly live life to the fullest, and to explore this beautiful planet. With any adventure you must be prepared for the unexpected. As we mentioned above, the lessons learned along the way prepare you for future adventures. Our take aways from this trip is that we need to outfit the truck with a full size spare and invest in a high-jack and other emergency tire repair methods.
We invite you to come along and watch our full adventure from our YouTube channel below.
Until next time, we will see you on the Open Road!
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