Well...
Friday on Golden Spike, I was the last of the five trucks to break. (There were only five trucks on the run!)
I was trying (stupidly) to go up this relatively steep little hill. It didn't look hard for Mike (White 2nd gen Amigo) so I kept trying. Front and rear locked. I bumped it hard a few times and eventually got up. Only to hear on the landing (thats right, when I bumped it the last try I got a little air) a loud POP. Well I thought that was just the junk bouncing around in the back of the Amigo. Just a few feet further down the trail I start hearing (bang, bang, pop, bang... etc). I thought I had broken a tooth or two on the rear ring gear (since the rear end would drag and slid once in a while), but after taking the diff cover off and inspecting it the conclusion was that the locker (electric) had broken in a semi-open postion. How did that happen? Who knows? But thats how it is.

When I go straight down the road it rides okay, but when I turn at slow speeds it sounds like all hell is breaking loose. Banging and popping. Tires sometimes grabbing the road. It looks like I don't know how to drive a 5-speed! People at gas stations definitely looked at me funny when I tried driving in slowly.

So early Sunday morning at 5:35AM MDT I drove my truck away from the Moab playgrounds all loaded up with Debbie, my mom (Susan), and all my crap. I dropped my mom off at Denver airport at 11:30AM and Debbie and I proceeded east.

At 1:30AM in Illinois, I got off to get gas. When I got back on the highway the whole rear axle starting popping and jolting every few feet. So I had to get off the highway at the next exit. I found a small parking lot and did figure-8's both in forward and reverse in hopes to unlock the rear end a little. You know what! I worked for the most part. We were able to continue.

Driving straight through the night with Debbie driving a good portion (she is awesome isn't she?!!!) we arrived at the George Washington bridge in NYC at 7:35PM EDT Monday night. 36 hours straight! 2200 miles one way! With a nasty noisy truck! But we are home.

Thanks everyone for the great time!
I will see you all next year!

Damon