It was in the early hours of the morning on Friday August 27th that I left for the FJ55 run in Deer Valley (Lake Tahoe) with my fellow 55 owners, Joe Sommervile and Adam Pope. We had hoped to get out of LA as early as possible to avoid the high temps (in the 100s), and enjoy the cool AM temps. After all, none of our 55s have air conditioning that is operational. The route I chose would take us through Mohave and up the 395 highway so we could just poke along and enjoy the forest at our leisure. All went smoothly, and in no time we had reached Bishop for our next gas stop.

While we are filling up, a 32 foot motorhome with a silver 55 in tow slides to a stop and pulls in. We all go over to say hey and look at his 55 which he had made into a convertible. He was from Orange County and was on his way home. He was shocked to see three FJ55s all in a row. Sadly he could not join us, but we told him about the FJ55 email list and proudly added a new member to our club.

The drive up and over the passes was great, and there were no clouds in sight. Joe’s big block 454 Chevy was pulling hard in the lead with my 4.7 V8 behind him and Adam’s stock 76 MINT 55 Series and his 6 keeping up the rear. We were so excited as we got closer to our destination, that the fact of paying $2.85 a gallon for gas in Menteryville was quickly overlooked.

The turn off to Blue Lakes was our starting point, and we started down the dirt trail. Now, mind you, I have made promises to Adam that the 88 highway side was just a fire trail and would be a walk in the park. It got rougher and when the bounce was too much, we got out and aired down. Now I am in the lead and Joe is behind me with Adam last. As we progressed down this fire road, I was overcome with being a long time wheeler and neglected to watch the progress of Adam (the rookie) in the excitement. I turned to take a picture of him stuck in a rut with the rf tire and the lr tire in the air. As he tried to pull out of it, he touched the rocker of his showroom 55 on a protruding rock and the rear of the bank pushed the bumper end into the body, and I was instantly sick as I had made promises I could not keep. We pulled him off, and the true shining quality of a 55 owner made its way out of his mouth, “Don’t worry Evan, I don’t mind. Its all part of wheeling, and I needed an excuse to repaint it as well.” What a trooper!

We progressed to the camp site where we met Greg with a rhino lined 55. He showed us our spots, and we met Ron, a very talented man who had a built to wheel blue 55 with a factory roll bar inside. We set up camp and started the fire (allowed in the area we were in). Adam is a hobbyist master micro brewer and brought out a small keg on ice of the best beer I have ever tasted. Then, in awe, I watched Ron cook a full meal (with all the fixings) in a dutch oven, and then he made a blueberry cobbler for desert that he shared with the group. Joe cooked our meal as I put my newly acquired SOR 55 truck tent up. It covers the cab with the tailgate down and makes a tent out of the opening complete with a mesh screen to keep out bugs (my new favorite toy). We watched the fire as long as I could keep my eyes open and crashed out for the night.

We awoke to see another 55 had found us in the night, Elvin from central Oregon had made the 14 hour trip in his faithful 55. At some point we were joined by Patti (in her FJ80) and her husband, they are some of the most hospitable people you could meet. She had a flat during the night run in, and we all watched as Ron pulled a tire kit out of his endless supply of tools/parts to repair it for her. As the morning progressed we met Don our trail leader. His 55 is a monster and has a 55 frame on huge Rockwell axles that has had all the unnecessary parts cut off, but still looks like a 55. More and more they arrived, so many that I regretfully did not learn all of their names (I will by next year for sure). What a sight, everywhere you looked was a 55 in all conceivable forms. Now I had intended on doing some wheeling in the AM down the hard side of the trail, but faced with so many new friends I opted to stay in camp and relax.

Joe assisted me in placing all the donated raffle gifts out and selling the tickets. At about 5 pm we commenced one of the funniest raffles by far. Many thanks to Marv and Kay from Specter Off-Road, and the others who donated. It was a blast and in the end every one ended up with a cool gift that suited them and their needs.

Into the twilight we cooked, and again Ron laid out a very impressive meal topped off with cherry cobbler for desert. As all of us relaxed around the fire (now a large group), the feeling of belonging to something was very present. Late that night we were joined by BK Cruiser who just could not miss a 55 run, and we all enjoyed good company.

Sunday morning was a rush to break camp and line up for our group shot -- 14 in all, one of the best 55 runs ever. Thanks to Josh for printing t-shirts and making them affordable. Thanks SOR for the raffle. And for all the details I have left out and persons not listed I hope to correct that on our next run in 05. Man I love a good trip!

-- Evan