Of course, excited beyond belief, I still had to negotiate 350 miles of California traffic before I could unwind. In a traffic slowdown I called "The Guy's" & let them know that everything went great & I was headed East.

A text message ensuded down the road asking for a couple of pictures & I realized that "The Guy's" were just as excited as I was. A Rest Area "Photo Shoot" quickly became a top priority.

The truck itself was suprisingly in good shape considering what it had been through. Good front corners.

Rear corners were in okay shape.

A little history trying to escape!

Halfway up the rear compartments were flip up steps to make it easier to get to the extra fuel & generator.

The roof was real solid. A bit of surface rust from the plywood that had been up there, but overall not too bad.

The story in the book tells of village childern getting on the roof of the truck most everytime they stopped. The cab roof wore the worst effect of this, but I think that it could be popped out.

Also in the book it tells of the woes of the original skinny mud-n-snow tires. Any loose soil encountered meant sinking up to their axles in the soft stuff. These tires are 9.50-16.5"s and they floated much better through the loose terrain.