This past weekend I headed to the dunes of Pismo Beach in the central coast area of California to show my parents who were visiting from Pennsylvania what an average weekend at the dunes is like. I was driving the new 2008 Land Cruiser and my friend Frank was driving a 1999 Tacoma. The funny thing is Frank doesn’t even own the Tacoma, but the owner, my other friend Dave was egging Frank on to jump the truck. In the end of our scientific study we determined that a truck owned by your friend jumps much higher than a truck that you need to return to the boss in one piece. However the Land Cruiser did excellent in the sand, the big 5.7 V8 pulled great (though the lighter Tacoma did win a drag race between the two), the suspension soaked up the whoops, and the center console fridge kept drinks cold the whole time. Stay tuned as we’re planning to do a bit of modifications to the Cruiser over the next few months.