I know you all thought I made up the butter cow

but it's an actual thing...

https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/the-history-of-butter-sculpture-is-strange-indeed

Totally cool in a really, really weird sort of way.

1997 LX450 Pre-trip Maintenance

This happened in the last 2 weeks.
Rebuilt all 4 calipers, new OEM pads, new hand brake shoes, new OEM master cylinder, new OEM water pump (old one was indeed toast), new OEM alternator, all new OEM belts/hoses, replaced distributor o-ring, new plugs/cap/rotor/wires/air filter, PCV valve/grommet, oil change and filter (OEM), transmission fluid drain/refill, lube unis and steering knuckles, new OEM relay rod ends w/Budbuilt relay rod.
Replaced my old Pioneer head unit with an updated one with Sirius/XM radio, added iPhone charge cable and additional Ram mount for Tracy.

She purrs like an angry kitten.

Expedition2017 on road route

This is our planned on-road route. Starting out in Jersey and going west to Moab, UT for a week of off road fun in the desert. Heading northwest to Seattle then over the border to Vancouver. Into the Canadian Rockies in Jasper and Banff, then continuing east above the Great Lakes and finally dropping south from Ottawa. Roughly 7K miles in a 20 year old Land Cruiser. What could possibly go wrong?

Getting Ready

And the packing begins... the truck maintenance is (nearly) done, we've finally finished shopping for everything we need. This is starting to feel real, and it's hard to think about anything else.

Top of a mountain somewhere