So, a few months ago, we bought a sexy truck (2013 Toyota Tacoma, Double Cab Long Bed for those of you that are curious). It looks like this:
Isn't it sexy?!
Ever since Little Aztec Warrior (my Honda Civic that thought it was a Jeep) was returned to the leased car gods, Corbin and I had not only been driving a 1994 Mazda named Krunk that we bought for $300 and a bottle of Jack, we'd also been long searching for the perfect vehicle.
We contemplated a lot of different kinds of cars. I was sold on the 4Runner for a very long time, and my childhood dream car was a bright yellow Jeep, but we were also considering the Santa Fe and maybe even a Juke, among others. But when debating whether we'd settle for this vehicle or that, it always came down to function and efficiency. What we really needed was a vehicle that could keep up with us and go all the places we wanted to go with a little trouble as possible without being a huge pain in the ass to maintain or too expensive (read: gas guzzler). Then a move came along and we had a rent a truck from Home Depot, which is an experience I don't recommend. After further research, another almost full year of debating and some saving, we decided we were going to own a truck.
Now, you probably wouldn't automatically think of Corbin and I as "truck drivers". They have a certain...stereotype of driver. Most people upon meeting us or overhearing us ask if there is recycling around probably think we drive a Prius or something. And we had to really do some soul searching to decide if we were okay with people making assumptions about us because of the vehicle we drive (lets be serious, its not the truck, it's because I drive like Furiosa). We also decided that everyone needs a friend with a truck to help them move, haul stuff, or do whatever friends with trucks do. We didn't have one of those and neither did any of our friends, so we decided to become those friends.
Now, we didn't settle on just any truck. A lot of research went into what kind and what features we wanted and what we could definitely live without. Having had a Honda for a few years, we loved the durability and reliability that they had to offer, but their truck options are close to negligible. Ford and Chevy and Dodge just aren't as reliable as they used to be, though the F-150 is making a comeback in regards to durability. Nissan just doesn't have the history to back it up that we wanted. We wanted a truck that could roll in the dirt with us, take a beating, go where no truck should ever go and live to tell the tale. We wanted a truck that could take 200k miles before the engine started complaining. We wanted a Toyota Tacoma.
Our friend Mike had just recently bought one and after seeing his version of offroading in San Diego while in town, we were pretty sold on the make and model. Now for the features. Corbin is 6 feet tall. If he wanted to lay down in the bed of the truck with the top of his head and the soles of his feet touching the truck at the same time, then we needed the biggest bed option available for the Tacoma, which is 6 feet. We also decided that the TRD Offroad package wasn't a necessity, so the full Double Cab became an option for us. After we realized that Corbin could lay out completely straight in the cab passenger seat all the way back and fully reclined, we knew the Double Cab was as close to a must as a non-must can get. Surprisingly, Double Cab Long Bed (DCLB) Tacoma's aren't that common. Most people who get the full cab opt for the shorter bed, and vice versa. But, we found one. We bought Sherpa (officially named after the admirable Tenzing Norgay) in May after a few diligent weeks of searching, test driving, haggling, and driving our bank manager nuts. That's a story all it's own, and if you want to know the nitty-gritty of how we did it, let us know and we'll spill all the details.
But back to Sherpa:
We were thinking of admirable outdoors-people who had gone places and accomplished feats beyond our imagination. We starting thinking about Sir Edmond Hillary, who is credited with the first summit of Everest. But, Hillary would not, under any circumstances, have accomplished such a feat or gained such universal fame without the help of his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, who also happens to be pretty handsome as well, in my opinion. Sherpa will be doing a ton of the heavy lifting, keeping us cozy and safe, and doing almost all of the work on our adventures and without the help of, we would fail miserably. Our first order of business, is to make sure we get him outfitted and with a pack to match his venerable status and pay proper homage. However, we want Sherpa to get the credit he is due, and that starts here!
Please meet, Sherpa!
You sexy beast, you.