[J_Norris]

Hi Steve
Congratulations! Sounds like you made a great choice. Your trailer is very similar in age to ours, and ours has been a great way to refine our vision of what we really want in our new version of camping without making a big investment that we’d regret (although the tradeoff is certainly a lot of learning and time in maintenance!). This forum is an amazing resource for owning an older TM.

We do have a little more powerful truck, but I would guess the overall power-to-trailer-weight ratio is similar to yours, since our trailer is a heavier model and has gotten heavier still with repairs and additions.

I have not been to Gold Butte yet, but have seen beautiful pictures from there and plan to visit someday.

Good luck at the DMV, and you guessed correctly: I’m not a practicing geologist and am not good at geology, but I do have a degree in it and I love to read about western geology. We often take along geologic field trip guides when we’re out and about. From your description, I'm sure our paths will cross someday even if we don't realize it, and I'm guessing we'll see you more on the forum as you progress with your improvements.