The larger camera is a Conley C 4×5 folding camera with an aperture range of f.8-f.128. Nickel-plated lensboard frame featuring rise and fall movements; rear tilt; rack and pinion focus; non-roatating reversable back. Hidden release button on side detaches the back. Circa 1866.

The small silver camera on the right is a Minolta 16II James Bond Spy Camera. Aperture range of f2.8-f16. Circa 1955. This was my favorite camera growing up I would always sneak it from my grandpa and run around the house taking spy pics! haha

The bottom object is a Honeywell Tilt-A-Mite Flash Unit. Circa 1950.

These look great on my shelf with all my other collectibles. I am going to search for some 16mm film soon so I can take that spy camera out for a test shoot!

Here is the camera mount as it comes. As you can see there are some pretty “stand out” silver bolts on the black mount. Those had to go.

I removed the entire camera assembly from the truck to get a better look at all the bolts I would need to replace. The bolt screwed into the bottom in this picture is actually the new bolt I (my friend Ryan actually) cut down to make it look super clean.

Flip-side of the camera assembly. Here you can see the head of the new bolt that was added. For those wondering, the proper bolt thread is 8M 125. I chose black hex bolts for better looks.

I removed the two mounting plates for the image and lined up the new bolts next to the old. Notice the far left bolt is the one we chopped down from the picture above. That really long factory bolt doesn’t need to be that long so don’t worry about using a shorter bolt.

From a distance you don’t see shiny silver bolts anymore. I think it looks much cleaner. Next up will be fabricating a hub cap style cover that bolts on using those two front bolts or considering how easy the camera comes off the mount, maybe fabricate an entire new mount/cover. We’ll see… anyway I thought I would share what I did today.

I guess you can say the first “official” mod to the FJ would be the window tint I had done tonight. I gave my good friend Doug a call at Tint Perfection (949-646-TINT) and headed on over to see he. He works out of Orange County and is mobile. Doug has been tinting the windows on all my trucks for over 15 years. He actually removes door panels, shaves corners and makes sure the tint is secure before you drive away. He knows his business and that’s why he is very successful at it. If you need tint, give him a call.

The FJ is looking pretty sexy if I do say so myself. My build plans are under way and it about 2 weeks I should have some new goodies on the ride. Sadly, you will probably have to wait a while to see them as the build will be completed in Four Wheeler Magazine. I’ll post up when it starts popping up in the magazine so stay tuned.

The new city center is pretty cool. There are some snaps in there of Aria the new hotel and some of the blown glass art.

Don’t miss the pano from the Hooker Bar! haha

Oh, we also took in the Bodies exhibit at Luxor. Really really neat stuff, definitely check that out. (I um found those photos because um there was no photo taking allowed yes)

2010 Toyota FJ Cruiser 4×4 V6

Another gorgeous day on the mountain…

The recent storms have toppled dozens of trees along Maple Springs. Fortunately, the Rangers and Warrior’s Society members have done a great job keeping the trails clear.

Around the 3200ft mark I hit snow. I really enjoy riding around the fluffy white stuff.

After passing Four Corners and heading for Modjeska Peak, the snow got deeper but there was still plenty of room to ride.

Making my way to Santiago Peak.

Coming around the last few turns I spotted an amazing cloud burst ahead.

Stop. Poser-time.

Arriving at the peak only 5 minutes past my goal time.

Epic day…

Quite a few bikers and hikers were relaxing at the top today.

I love riding my bike. It takes me to beautiful places.

On my way back down a Ranger and friend were removing some of the larger pieces of wood from the trail. Thank you!

It got good and dirty today coming back down through all that water run off and melted snow. Good times.

This is not a day to be indoors…

Looking back on the urban jungle…

Almost to Old Camp

Someone felt patriotic and left at note at Old Camp for the USAF

Making my way down to The Luge stopping to take in the views…

Just before hitting The Luge flag where the camera turns off and high-speed fun begins…

Thanks to the guys on STR (www.socaltrailriders.org) that did some corner clean up on The Luge. The trail is in great shape, super tacky and ready to welcome bikes. Ride hard!

Before we passed the trail head, Chris’ lame Kenda Small Block 8 tire was spitting Stan’s fluid all over him. This tire is his nemesis. The only reason he was running another one is because he won the tire in a raffle. As he said today, “This is the last SM8 I will ever run.”

Craig and I making our way through some of the hike-a-bike sections. Chris walked this too. ha!

The best part of HJ are the switchbacks. There are something like 18 of them and they are all doable. I cleared all but one today. Much improved from walking most of them during the CC last year!

Craig making his way up enjoying some amazing views. This is probably the last day of sunshine OC is going to see this week.

The Warrior’s Society did trail work on this section of the trail just yesterday. I must commend them on their hard work. The trail looked and rode awesome.

My fav pic of the day. Me, getting some singletrack love.

So about half way up Chris decided that he didn’t get enough trail work in yesterday and promptly made his way off the mountain. He took a pretty good tumble but the big guy is doing just fine.

Craig once again enjoying some great vistas

Descending HJ Video

Don’t know the guys name in black but that’s Erik behind him all smiles with Debbie just back.

You can’t see Chris but he’s up there in front of Mykyta, the other hammerfest.

One of the main reasons I ride bikes, friends. It was great to see Kathy back on the bike as well as Donna making an appearance! Okay, so I got some shit for this photo because I put my hand on Erik’s shoulder. Shut it.

Later that night, Chris got called to a show in HB his work was displaying at so off we went. Kickass sunset on the way!

This basically proves, he is just a big tool. Ha!

Today, we had planned on doing the entire Counting Coup course as part of our Vision Quest training. You can see Craig and I making our way up to Chris and Mykyta in the lead.

The weather was absolutely perfect for bike riding today and apparently hiking too…

This sucks! Half way through Blackstar, I run up on a razor sharp rock and there goes my rear tire. Not much was going to save this tire, at least nothing I had with me. When this happened, the other guys had gotten a little bit ahead of me and I couldn’t reach them via cell to let them know I would be returning to the truck. ON FOOT. 8 miles back! 8.

Token bar shot. Too bad I was walking next to my bike when I took it. The hike back sucked, plain and simple. Hiking in stiff bike shoes is not fun. I now have blisters the size of quarters on the back of each foot, my right knee is killing me and my back hurts. I was fine up until about mile 4 then it just kept getting worse and worse. Nothing like 8 miles of hike-a-bike.

When I finally made my way back to the pavement and less than 1 mile from the truck, I felt a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, I spent only 40 minutes using the object on the right and over 2.5 hours using the object on the left. Ugh.

As I made my way back to the truck I noticed the guys were already back. They went all the way to Motorway, down and back to the truck in roughly the same time it took me to hike back. Ridiculous. At first, I thought, why didn’t they come and get me at the BS gate at least! Then I remembered, I have the truck keys in my bag, dammit. Here I am, head hung low, feet in pain, walking back ready for a nap.

After a few hours rest, I headed over to my sisters place for my nieces birthday, she’s already 8! My mom made her a giant ice cream cake in the shape of a cupcake, go mom! I had to do a fist pump because of the excitement!

I hope you chose to read this post and not just look at the pretty pictures because I have something to say. While making my way back to the truck I passed 26 bikers and 8 hikers. Out of the 26 bikers only 14 asked me if I needed anything or if I was okay. Out of the 8 hikers not one asked if I was okay, 2 did smile and wave though. All I have to say it, if you see someone walking their bike down a trail that they should be riding, something is most likely wrong. Whether or not you feel like you can help, you should always ask and make sure they are okay. They could have bike problems, be dehydrated, starving, physical problems, who knows! I couldn’t believe the people that didn’t even ask, I even smiled at them and looked expecting them to say something at least.

To make things worse, a few of those same non-talkers who passed me on their way up also passed me on the way down and yet again, nothing. Then, when I reached the pavement and kept walking, they didn’t even offer me a ride as I walked off passed the cars parked at the gate. Unbelievable.

I hope you had an eventful weekend, with more ups than downs!

Chris took a little video of the guys coming down the Motorway, here it is.