At this point guys I have to share the sad news that before I knew it the summer had taken off and got away from me. My wife and I celebrated our 10 yr anniversary in Hawaii, I returned to southern Japan to visit relatives for the first time since the
largest earthquake disaster in recorded Kyuushuu history, I upgraded the entire content management system (backend) of our Marlin Crawler website (replacing the prior system I built 8 yrs ago), restructured both our sales and warehouse crews, and my wife and I started the process of purchasing our first house.
As for community outreach, between May and October Marlin Crawler both sponsored and attended 32 different 4WD events, Forest Service CPR/chainsaw classes/trail work parties, and led three Adopt-A-Highway clean-ups. Members of 11 different 4WD clubs, it's no secret as to how serious we consider community involvement and it takes time to get things setup/prepared. This is a core, fundamental difference that separates Marlin Crawler from other companies in that this was first a hobby that grew into a company; Supporting the community is where our heart is.
I was so busy that other than the Moab trip I posted earlier, I only went to one other event the remainder of 2016: Our 15th annual Marlin Crawler Round-Up at the Rubicon........in my 1981 Hilux......where we eclipsed the $100,000 dollar mark in total donations to the Rubicon Trail(!).
I went from a "3rd Gen Tacoma forum pro-lurcher" to a complete off-site ghost. But at least I made our Round-Up, which since 2004 my Hilux has never missed a single one. After I got home I remember telling the truck how this will be her last Rubicon trip for a while...
I actually almost missed this one because I couldn't get my internal/company work done until Saturday morning the day of the event. I drove straight up to Rubicon, wheeled in solo, made it to the Springs Campground in time to oversee the dinner & raffle, and returned home the next day.
Check out this 35-year old Toyota Rock Crawler with 19 times more torque than a 2016 V10 Dodge Viper and still get'n it done overloaded up Cadillac Hill in the partial wet.
"I Love What You Do For Me, Marlin Crawler!"
Fast forward to November, and with both our annual Round-Up event (
photo gallery) and the October Off-Road Expo (
photo gallery) out of the way, it was time to finally get crack'n on the Tacoma!!!
