My last post was months ago, and I apologize for the lack of updates. I always knew that the death of Taco Negro was not actually the end. But it turned out that finding a proper replacement truck was, um, more difficult than we’d anticipated.
We had to find a Tacoma with a six foot bed and believe it or not that factor was the crux. Apparently the six footers are just not that popular these days – at least, not in Northwest Arkansas. We searched high and low. Nobody had them. Well, no dealer anyway, and at this point we weren’t all that interested in a truck with 200K (or more!) miles.
Once it was clear this search was going to take a while, Michael and I made out our dream list for the replacement Tacoma. All I wanted was four doors. With two good-sized dogs, things got a little crowded in the access cab and I wanted the boys to have more room. Michael dreamed bigger, though. He wanted the TRD Off-Road package. See, Taco Negro was a Sport Package, so we had to put a bunch of money into beefing up the suspension to accommodate the camper, and then we worried about straining the engine going into strong headwinds or up hills at speed, as the Sport Package doesn’t include much for towing capacity.
Many, many searches turned up nothing at all, or a Sport Package, or a 5-foot bed. Mostly the 5-foot bed. Several times we had to call because the ads we saw simply didn’t mention the bed length and the photos made it hard to tell. It was frustrating.
And all the while we kept getting these passive-aggressive emails from our POA reminding us that our camper, sitting on pallets in our driveway, was in direct violation of the POA rules.
(Fun fact: after the first email, Michael send them back a long missive explaining exactly what had happened, and how we were working on finding a replacement truck. They replied that they understood…. but every few weeks he’d get a new email. And then he’d just reply with per my last email…)
Anyway, eventually (November, to be exact), we found it. In Oklahoma.
That is a 2022 Tacoma, TRD Off-Road Package, with a six foot bed. In dark grey. Side note, we almost hit a deer driving it back home so we learned right away the ABS works great.
While the Off-Road Package meant we didn’t need to beef up the suspension, we also learned right away that we had to buy 5 new tires because the original ones (including the spare!) were worn so unevenly that they had to go. (We were told the tires had *just* been rebalanced, and that’s what accounted for that wonky sensation we were feeling. We learned the hard way.)
Next up was having the airbags installed. Yes, the suspension was fine, but the airbags were necessary to handle the extra weight of the camper. We went to our our local off-road specialists, Boss Hawg, who were able to schedule us in right away. Even better, our insurance actually covered the work.
Best of all? We were able to load the camper back into the truck all by ourselves. No threats of divorce, not even a fight. I couldn’t believe how easy it was or how fast we were able to get it done. Just put the jacks back on and raised it up. Then I drove and Michael guided me into place. Easy-peasy!
The not-so-easy-peasy part was when we wanted Boss Hawg to also install the wiring harness. This is what connects the camper batteries to the truck’s alternator, so that the batteries charge while we are driving.
Way back when we ordered the replacement parts from 4Wheel Campers, they let us know the wiring harness was an “upgrade” from our original version. But that was all they said and we didn’t know what that means, so we kind of forgot about it. But when we brought everything to Boss Hawg, they took one look at the new harness and said, “yeah… you guys got a wiring diagram or anything?”
We didn’t. And when we called 4Wheel, they refused to send us one. It was proprietary information, they said. And we could install it ourselves with zero help (and most likely void any warranty), or we could go to an authorized dealer.
*Sigh*
Yet another search. I was afraid we’d have to drive all the way to Dallas, but we found Adventure Motors in Kansas City, about a 3.5 hour drive north.
Originally they had an opening right away, for the coming weekend. But the weather turned and a big snowstorm was forecast. After all the work we went through to replace the vehicles, I was not about to risk them in this way. So we rescheduled.
Next available Saturday? March 1st. My birthday. We decided to make a weekend of it: Boarded the dogs, got a hotel, took both cars and went and saw Kansas City.
You didn’t think I was going to spend my birthday sitting in the showroom at Adventure Motors, did you?
Not when Kansas City has an Ikea! I hadn’t been to a one since we lived in Colorado and we took the whole tour. Visited every section. Well, not the kids area, and we passed on the cafeteria since we had other plans, but we definitely took our time. Call me crazy but I really do love Ikea. I love the apartments and kitchens and living areas they have set up throughout the store. The efficiency of it, that superb use of space. Nothing is wasted. It’s just dreamy. And so pretty! Even Michael loved their kitchen designs.
I got myself some fun new things to build and then, good and hungry, we headed over to Joes KC BBQ – the original gas station location, where we spent 45 minutes waiting in line but I have to say it was absolutely worth it. That was some damn good barbecue.
Next up was Blick Art Supplies. While this was not a large store they had everything I wanted and then some, courtesy of Michael telling absolutely everyone in the store that it was my birthday. Multiple suggestions were apparently made.
We also tried out Fox and Pearl for my birthday dinner. This place has its own charcuterer and everything! The vibe – and the service – was just as fantastic as the food. It was a wonderful birthday.
And then – just like that, haha – we were ready. And then it was time to head to Utah to test everything out. In the past we’ve taken I70 through Kansas and Colorado over two days, but due to storms in the Rocky Mountains, we ended up taking the “southern route” on I40 instead. Still two days but through Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. Now, in 5 years of living in Arkansas, we’ve never taken the southern route. And I am loyal to Colorado… but … the southern route has a Buc-ees.
For those of you unfamiliar with this gas station sensation, it’s pronounced Bucky’s. This one is in Amarillo and while it’s kinda overwhelming (120 gas pumps!), the bathrooms really are excellent and there are so many food options. Then there are all the non-food options: clothes, home goods, real Ray Bans… just about anything you need, I’m pretty sure you could find it at a Buc-ees. Their BBQ is no Joes KC, but still quite good.
As I mentioned, the southern route goes through New Mexico and turns north just west of Albuquerque. We spent the first night at a quiet but brightly lit Walmart in Edgewood (maybe an hour east of the city?). The Denny’s on the western edge of the lot looked permanently closed, but right next to it was a fully operating fast food place called Blake’s Lotaburger. Turns out Blake’s also serves up breakfast burritos every morning.
Continuing on our way west that morning, I commented to Michael that this was damn food green chile for a fast food place.
“New Mexicans’ll put your head on a spike, you try to give them crappy green chile,” he replied. He should know – he called Albuquerque home for a while!
Onward, onward, through New Mexico and a corner of Colorado before landing in Utah. We found ourselves in Moab at 5:30pm on a Friday night.
Word to the wise: 5:30pm on a Friday night is THE time to go grocery shopping at City Market. It was practically empty.
Main Street, however, was completely packed and every restaurant had a line out the door. Spring weekends in Moab are a little nuts.
Our favorite camping spot was empty, though!
You know, when we first started camping in this area, the road to it wasn’t even on a map. We found it by accident. Today, I can tell you this glorious spot is down Dubinky Well Road. Just take the first right past the Lone Mesa Group Campground. You’ll want a high-clearance vehicle (in my opinion). There are multiple spots here but this one is our favorite.
Not sure if I mentioned this but Michael had the week off (it was his spring break) but me? I had to work. OK, “had to” makes it sound all dramatic, when the reality is that I have a big solo trip planned for October this year, so I’m hoarding my vacation days right now. It wasn’t a problem though. You’d be surprised how much connectivity there is in the Moab area. At our camping spot above – a good 30 minute drive from town – I had a full five bars of 5G service so I could easily work from there while Michael went out to ride.
The same was true at Old City Park on the south side of town, where Michael got in a fun afternoon round of disc golf. In fact, the only issue I ever had was at the Moab Brand Trails trailhead, where I had enough of a signal to work but not enough for, say, a zoom meeting.
And don’t worry, I did more than just work. I made sure to finish up by 3:30 each day, so I rode too! And hiked, as we went to Arches National Park twice. Arriving at Arches in the afternoon was a great call – no line!
We spent our hiking time at the Devil’s Garden area, which is the longest trail in the park… at 5 miles. That’s Landscape Arch above and Partition Arch below.
We also took a drive out Kane Springs Road, which leads to some amazing sights and also goes right past the legendary Amasa Back Trailhead. Michael was excited at the possibility that we could ride it, and so was I… right up to the moment I looked it up on Trail Forks. These are almost entirely black diamond trails. In fact, the only blue trail on Amasa Back is the Connector Trail. I’d just had my ass handed to me the day before on North 40 out at Moab Brand Trails, and that was just a blue/black. So that was a hard pass for me.
Still, the Moab area is one of my happy places and Kane Springs Road did not disappoint.
So the first outing was a fabulous success! The new truck was a significant upgrade – not a huge surprise, as Taco Negro was a 2007 Tacoma with a Sport Package and Taco Carbón is a 2022 (with only 65,000 miles on it when we purchased it!) and an Off-Road Package.
To close, I’d like to explain the “new” name. Dark grey is not black, of course, so this new truck can’t be Taco Negro. Carbón means charcoal in Spanish. I suppose I could have gone with Taco Gris Oscuro (dark grey) but I felt that was just too many syllables. And of course this blog remains GoGoTacoNegro. That name is waaaay too cool to change.
Until the next adventure!
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