A couple nights ago the moon was rising as I went to put the 40 back in the barn. My son, home from Aggieland a few days, and I had taken it for a spin earlier that afternoon. Before we put it inside we toyed with a shop light, the moonrise, and an iphone 13. I was surprised at some of the extended exposure pictures we were able to get with a phone. Here is an example.

I've been working on this truck *almost* exclusively for a little over a year, as I've documented in this thread. Taking out a carpet PO installed, putting all the 2F back original as possible, painting inside the tub... all these things make me feel like I'm restoring the soul in my rig. Is it bone stock, no, is it a concourse restoration, absolutely not; however, the deviations from stock (OME springs, 4Plus bumpers, 33" rubber) all contribute to it's nature - not change it.

CPjr and I shared some great memories of the days when this was his first vehicle. He was a Soph attending a small town HS, about a 5-6 mile drive each way with a newly minted Texas DL and the only thing we had extra around the farm that I could spare to be 'his vehicle' was the 40 I'd bought a year or two before. That was a leap of faith - not because of the truck - because of HIM. I am a huge believer in airbags and seatbelts and crush zones, and all that stuff for young inexperienced drivers - this rig had seatbelts. It was a gut check each day watching him tool off to school in it - I was comforted only because I had done it years earlier in an old Chevy (that I never once buckled the seatbelts in) and survived. I say all that to say that this 40 has really set its hooks in me... I think these Land Cruisers have a way of doing that.

Spotted in Red River

Just a warmup for the week

I'm going to take a moment to share the story of today's adventure. Not because I'm trying to hog page 59 of this thread, but because it looks like '03ag is about to lay some cool mountain pics on us and I know reddog is just days from leaving for Solid Axle Summit. When they post up all of this is going to seem lamer than it already is, so please indulge a little Super South Texas LC touring.

tl;dr Drove a 40 along the Rio Grande on a shakedown drive: didn't get kidnapped, saw a lot of cool stuff, truck ran great.

My plan is to haul this 40 to Colorado later this fall with a group of traveling fly fishing Aggies on our annual getaway (taking a break from the salt this year). That prospect has been the motivation to put in a lot of hours getting our 40 all sorted out. Since I'll be picking cotton for the next month and CPjr is headed back to Aggieland this week, today was our last shot to take an extended Father/Son drive and put the 40 through some paces. I wanted to hear every rattle, every squeak, and every knock before I carry it so far from home under the pressure of keeping up (ya, right) with much newer rigs. It's brutally hot right now and we were wanting to do some on-road with a mix of dirt road to see how far right all the needles moved under tough conditions. South Padre is always a ready destination, but today it just didn't fit the bill. We were thinking more adventure, maybe more exciting, certainly more historical, so we decided on driving old Military Highway up to Rio Grande City "THE" river route of deep South TX.

We got on Military Highway (often referred to as just Military) at Bluetown. That's a convenient jump-on spot due south of us. Military doubles as US 281 along its length between Brownsville and Pharr so it's a broader, more traveled road. We passed familiar ports of entry along the way, the border wall off in the distance, then west of McAllen we hopped on Levee Road under the watchful gaze of US Border Patrol.



You can see Blue peeking out behind the passenger seat. I'm sure that's his guilty look.



As we neared Granjeno, we passed under the Anzalduas International Bridge. Those cars are lined up to get in the United States; we are well on our side of the river, yet still south of the port of entry.

Just up the road we came to Anzalduas Park. Anzalduas is a flood control system for the Rio Grande River. There is a floodway on each side of the river, ours is managed by the International Boundary and Water Commission. The Anzalduas weir dam prevents downrange flooding, as in it keeps Brownsville from washing away, by providing a diversion system that empties into the Laguna Madre near Port Mansfield. We stopped near the spillway letting Blue out for a stretch when I struck up a conversation with the Constable who was patrolling the park. I asked if we could drive down to the dam and he said it was in a closed part of the park and IBWC didn't allow public access to the dam. I continued to visit with him and after a few minutes we established we had a common friend; then MY NEW friend insisted that we were in fact going to see the dam and he was going to escort us himself! So off we went past the DO NOT ENTER signage, up the levee toward the river, following his Tahoe.



The dam is under increased security since it is an effective bridge you COULD drive across it. To get to this vantage we had to go through a maze of concrete barriers that keep bad guys from crashing across the dam. Once we got into the part of the park that is closed to the public were on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande. The folks you see fishing wade in from the Mexico side. Along the other bank, it was a beach party complete with tents and BBQ pits, along our side it was concertina wire and LEOs. Twice while we were standing at the overlook he received calls about groups crossing the river east of us where the water is shallower. As we were leaving the park our buddy got his Tahoe stuck in some loose sand. He started to call Border Patrol to come tow him out but we offered to help since he'd been so gracious. We got around him, set up a spot to winch from, and for the first time put the 1978 Warn 8274 to work. It worked like a CHAMP! We sucked his Tahoe right out of the sand and had him on hard pack Land Cruiser to the rescue.



We left our new friend (great Ambassador for his jurisdiction) at Anzalduas and picked back up on Military. Part of it is paved along south of Palmview toward La Joya, however, where it turned to dirt the road isn't marked and before long I had no idea if we were really on Military or not. More than once our path would peter out and we would have to go back and pick a different route. Most anywhere else all you would be risking is time lost backtracking but there is a reason this rural area is crawling with Border Patrol, TXARNG troops, and constantly surveilled with helos and tethered balloons; it's not a good place to be poking around blindly if you don't know where you are. Not everyone this close to the river is a friendly and some are flat up to no good. I didn't want to drive with my nose in my phone, and I essentially got turned around before Penitas, so we took the bail out turn and hopped on 83 to La Joya. Past La Joya we jumped back on Military to Cuevitas and dropped down to see the only hand drawn ferry operating in the US (certainly on an international crossing) in Los Ebanos, TX.



Back at Cuevitas we came across a Border Patrolman watching an intersection and quizzed him a little about pressing on with Military. He bolstered our confidence by not asking "ARE YOU STRAPPED?" like our LEO friend back at Anzalduas did, rather, he said it was a slow day and in the daylight, we should press on. So, we did. This part of the drive was a real treat. The road was in good condition with only slight washboarding. Because parts of the route are through brush covered sand dunes the road is often winding with much more elevation change than I would have expected. Starr County has well chronicled challenges but keeping Military Road passable seems to be a priority. We encountered a brush fire, a passing Border Patrolman, and a vehicle or two but no banditos. It was a great drive. At times our path was a few hundred yards from the river and at times it was a mile or two but all that ever separated us was brush and some farmland.



Several times we crossed the railroad tracks that connect RGC to the rest of the RGV. Note the bluffs in the distance out of character farther down the river into the delta we call Rio Grande Valley.



After La Grulla and La Casita our path merged with highway 83 and a few miles later we entered Rio Grande City. There, we drove through town, by the old Fort Ringgold, the old Ringgold Hotel (La Borde House now), and we wished we could have had enchiladas at Cairo's, but they would frown on a lab pup destroying the inside of their restaurant so we took a break on the city square and let Blue have some cool water and stretch his legs.



We took one last picture, still proudly wearing the dust of our adventure down the path that has long connected Fort Ringgold in Rio Grande City to Fort Brown in Brownsville. This old path could tell some stories. From its path, you could have seen Capt. Richard King and his riverboat pass by, earning money to buy ranch land a few miles north. During the Civil War, soldiers along its length protected the Confederate cotton headed to run a Union blockade out of the Rio Grande. It played a role in the Mexican-American war, and was where Captain Leander McNelly and is Rangers chased border raiders back into Mexico. Today, our little corner of the world is often on the news with so much push and pull along the border, and we drove ourselves squarely through the heart of an area that figures largely into that but we never felt unsafe, and luckily, it was a great experience. I would not, however, consider doing it in the dark.

Our convoluted route to RGC was 122 miles where we put in 7.9 gallons of gas. To my surprise the ol' 2F got 15.4 miles per gallon! From RGC we left the Rio Grande River behind us and hit some Farm to Market highways for another 78 miles home. We couldn't have scripted a better 200 mile loop. It was a great day and I more than pleased with how the truck did getting pushed on a 100* day. We gave it every chance to lay down and it just kept moving along happily; I think I will cease worrying about the work I've done so far and call it good. This was probably the capstone trip for the summer so now I will concern myself with getting the top and doors in shape since it won't be 100* in Colorado in September. Oh, and I should also tend to a new addition…



First though, I have to rewire the parking lights that Blue decided to munch on while bored and unsupervised in the bed! Darn dog.

Even more good to report today:

I pulled the dipstick this morning and can happily report that in all that we burned exactly 0.0 , pick your unit of measure, motor oil.

I wish I had more/better pics but took the LX to the top of Greenie Peak in NM today. Took the hard way up and the easy way(fire road) down.

What a machine

Also of note

Prior to this trip I did a few things. Installed a redarc trailer brake controller to pull the conqueror(although not this trip).

Also a remote start system from 12volt solutions. $400 delivered. Cellular module so I can unlock doors or start the car with app from anywhere there's cell service. It also has a manual remote start using the factory key fob. Works great. Took about an hour to install that and the redarc.

And lastly a new set of Firestone Destination XTs. So far a really like them. Much lighter than the K02s they replaced. Also quieter with a better ride and handling. And they made it to the top of Greenie Peak so they're no slouch off road. Very happy so far.

She earned her stripes this week for sure. The kids LOVED offroading.

I've been running around the mountains myself but was more focused on two wheels vs four.

Please tell me you made the Mrs walk up the trail ahead of you and said "I need you to go up there get some video of us going up trail. You know, for TexAgs."

Centerpole90 said:

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Please tell me you made the Mrs walk up the trail ahead of you and said "I need you to go up there get some video of us going up trail. You know, for TexAgs."

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