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After almost two years something we are interested in seeing was playing at the drive in and the weather was good, a little bit chilly though. I wrapped myself up in the old canvas tarp that we used to cover the 4runner with during movie and ride back. I wouldn't have it any other way on the ride home, riding in the back. Some parts of route 32 it is so dark at night. Awesome cruise from the drive in.
I have to say though modern cars kinda ruin the drive in experience now. They need to run complete with brake lights and high beams on I guess to run the computer on the dash. The days of running just the stereo in the background while camping or picnicking are going by the wayside.........
we sure made a mess of things 😅
that's the tarp, I kept offering it to my son. "You need a blanket? Its 10' by 12' " lol.
Last edited by Damion812; Aug 1, 2021 at 05:55 AM.
Looks like a fun time!
I haven't been to a drive in theater since I was stationed in Millington, Tn. back in the late 70's! I used to ride my motorcycle to it, put it up on the center stand, and lay back on the seat, with my back against the handle bars. Very comfortable, but not a way to take a date!
When I was growing up, there was a drive in in Redwood City that had like 5 or 6 screens. I would go to one, and watch the others, too. Not great sound from them, but the visuals worked fine
I can understand how a bunch of highbeams all over the place, including the screen, would kinda ruin the whole thing, though. No, not THOSE highbeams, the ones on the CARS...
Sheesh. Dirty minded people. Oh wait, it was just me. Sorry about that!
Mansfield Drive In is one of the original ones complete with 3 screens. About 10 years back we got into looking into how many were around and there were two. Now 3 more have popped up one is only a few miles away.
I hear ya there with my wife being allergic to gluten and several others man made foods, we can't go to may ice cream places and restaurants. So most of the time we're stuck with chain restaurants and roll of the dice mediocre food but Dairy Queen has non dairy dilly bars and this place has coconut milk ice cream . I myself rarley eat dairy myself due to it being inflammatory. I end up with sleep apnea like symptoms and go weeks like a Zombie.
we may have a banana ice cream recipe for ya.
anyhow we spotted another 4runner at the local cruise night last night. First one I've seen up close in a long time.
We saw this first gen 4runner right in town today when out in our 4runner. That is the first time we have ever come across another one in town when driving ours.
speaking of out and about with the 4runner we took another trip to the Windsor Locks canal trail and picnic area. We brought some food and gave it a try.
The eagle nest is in the middle top half of this photo.
I saw another solid axle at work today 😁 now it needs a bigger lift. Lol a coworkers and I got to take it for a rip.. amazing how similar these are with their Asian parts and knuckle ball front end.. we used to have the next-generation genertion, side kick.
Out cruising around Eastford and Union CT peach picking Monday then back to the woods Friday. Turns out that my favorite local hiking spot seems less crowded this year. Kinda like it used to be. Bigelow Hollow State Park.
Beautiful country side! That lake looks quiet and peaceful. Great place to unwind, I'm sure.
Your truck looks right at home, too. I bet it really enjoys trips out there. I'm sure you and the family do, too
Beautiful country side! That lake looks quiet and peaceful. Great place to unwind, I'm sure.
Your truck looks right at home, too. I bet it really enjoys trips out there. I'm sure you and the family do, too
Have fun!
Pat☺
forgot to add this one, the last time the truck was there.
Looks fun! Cold, but fun. And the paint job seems to match the conditions just right. Good planning!
These trucks seem to do great in the snow. I say that putting it into 4WD is like turning the extra gravity on. It just grabs ahold and goes! Amazing.
Hope you had fun in those places
oh then I welded the heat shield back on the catalytic converter when we got back. I've been hearing it rattle around lately. In the past I just took it off at this point but found out on the FJ that the heat would effect the Auto Zone clutch I put in about 8 years back. It would be grabby after sitting once I took it on a long drive.
This is just a bandaid fix for now. I'm going to need to replace everything from the manifold back eventually. I don't know what way I want to go on that yet. I was able to get OEM type stuff from Rock Auto and other parts suppliers but not anymore. Maybe I could go with later model stuff 🤔
Last edited by Damion812; Aug 10, 2021 at 03:06 PM.
Out and about with the 4runner again with our current heat wave we figured today would be the ideal day to go to Old Newgate Prison. Its an old copper mine that was used as a prison and mine in the1700s. cool place literally its constantly around 50 degrees down there all year. it was mid 90 to cool temps down there.
Then on the way home we barely got back before a major thunderstorm hit. The top of a tree almost landed on the new portable garage we got for the 4runner! One side of the road. The other side of the road on the way back.
Normal site this time of year around here, "tobacco valley "
have a picnic they said, it will be fun they said😄 it was fun for the mosquitoes ! Once we decided to hike down the trail to get to the Scantic River in hopes to escape the heat it was full on attack of the mosquitoes. Oh and it was just as hot by the water.
close call with the tree yesterday.
Normal site this time of year around here, "tobacco valley "
have a picnic they said, it will be fun they said😄 it was fun for the mosquitoes ! Once we decided to hike down the trail to get to the Scantic River in hopes to escape the heat it was full on attack of the mosquitoes. Oh and it was just as hot by the water.
close call with the tree yesterday.
I'm just glad that tree that attacked your garage was blown down by the wind. If it had been a lightning strike that brought it down, it may well have been on fire! It looks like everything is nice and green in that area, though. You probably don't have much trouble with lightning caused fires. I hope so, anywho.
Good thing it didn't bring down any power lines, too.
Everything here is dry, and of course, pine trees do tend to burn like a lit match when they get hit by lightning. BUT: it's all part of the ecosystem. Many of the trees need to burn so their cones will open and spread their seeds.
We've had people going through the burned areas, picking up cones that have opened, and all the seeds they can find. They take them to a nursery, and they're going to get them a good start, and then bring them back out and plant them. It's pretty amazing, but the cones are brightly colored inside, and the seeds are an easy-to-see pale red. It's like nature wanted them found and moved around.
Looks like a nice day-trip y'all had though. That mine looks like it'd be fun to explore, if they permit. We had a bunch of abandoned mine shafts to explore near Yuma, when I was there. Out near Glamis. My sons loved to go exploring in them. One was about 3 stories tall, down an unmarked passage off the main shaft, with the original shoring timbers all over the place. Real popular with the kids. Like a 19th century monkey bars
I sure was glad I had a couple of good old Coleman lanterns. The original kind, with the silk mantles you had to keep in good shape, and the white-gas, with the little PITA pump on the side. They sure put out some light, though! I made sure I had a couple flash lights, and Cyalume sticks, in case the mantle got damaged, too. The advent of LED flashlights was a huge boon. Brighter light, longer lasting, better battery usage...
Then another Drive In movie night. Mansfield Drive In went back to double features and we actually stayed awake! Great night for it this time. We didn't get hypothermia on the way back.
That is very interesting about the pine cones! There is some good that comes from them forest fires too but dangerous.
Dangerous, yes, but to whom? The forest didn't evolve with humans in mind, so to speak. If humans don't want to be threatened by the forest fires, they need to keep the fuel cleaned out. Beetle-killed trees need to be cut down and removed, dead undergrowth should be put in clear areas in SMALL piles and burned, large buffers cut, etc. There will still be fires, but they will be a lot easier to keep away from human habitations, etc.
All that hasn't been permitted for a lot of years, and now, in draught conditions, well...
I don't know about freezing on the way home from the drive in. That's part of the whole experience The only thing about 4Runners in drive-ins, is that you can't sneak a few extra friends in in the trunk That was a huge "thing" in high school. I had a friend with a 57 Bel Aire, with a push-button transmission. Thing had a huge trunk, and a back seat that was bigger than some of the cots I got when I was in the Corps. Awesome for taking a female friend to the drive-in.
Dangerous, yes, but to whom? The forest didn't evolve with humans in mind, so to speak. If humans don't want to be threatened by the forest fires, they need to keep the fuel cleaned out. Beetle-killed trees need to be cut down and removed, dead undergrowth should be put in clear areas in SMALL piles and burned, large buffers cut, etc. There will still be fires, but they will be a lot easier to keep away from human habitations, etc.
All that hasn't been permitted for a lot of years, and now, in draught conditions, well...
I don't know about freezing on the way home from the drive in. That's part of the whole experience The only thing about 4Runners in drive-ins, is that you can't sneak a few extra friends in in the trunk That was a huge "thing" in high school. I had a friend with a 57 Bel Aire, with a push-button transmission. Thing had a huge trunk, and a back seat that was bigger than some of the cots I got when I was in the Corps. Awesome for taking a female friend to the drive-in.
Good memories!
Pat☺
hey your preaching to the choir on forest harvest. I spent a little bit of time studying the subject in the 90s and it's not how it is being described by people who don't know what is really going on. Successful logging companys aren't just chopping everything down blindly. There's a lot of science behind it and previous knowledge. The state of Maine has been logged over 3 times as of the mid 90s. That and old growth isn't the ideal habitat for wild life also.
Love those early 80’s Corollas! And that Datsun Fairlady has a serious roll bar.
We hit a carshow very close to home on Sunday with our 4runner. Of course we were the only one there. Got some nice compliments though! Here are some others that caught my eye.
Aug 1, 2021 | 05:51 AM
