Ever find yourself out in the wilderness, having a great time, but all of a sudden needing to find a potty?  While this potty is not revolutionary, it definitely provides for a convenient place to take care of business when you are out on the trail or camping.

While some don't mind taking care of business in the great outdoors, there is also the option of using a tent for a little potty time privacy.  I typically pitch the "potty tent" right next to my sleeping tent, which reduces the walking distance in the middle of the night when someone (usually a kid) needs to go potty real bad.

I use a five gallon bucket and lid combination, which is perfect for carrying all of the needed equipment to set the camp potty.  And depending upon the trip, a second bucket can provide for a trash can and hauling device which can be sealed with the lid.

The basic components include:
 - Plastic trash bags, 13 gallon size
 - Cat litter
 - Toilet paper
 - Wet wipes
 - Cleaning wipes
 - Toilet seat designed to snap onto a five gallon bucket (find it at REI)
 - Wag bags (designed for working with the bucket system. Find them at REI), but not completely necessary.

Assembly is easy.  First insert the 13 gallon trash bag, followed by a wag bag (or skip the wag bag and double up with two of the 13 gallon bags).  Then pour in about 3 pounds or one-third of the 10 pound bag of cat litter.  Note, the wag bag also includes a small amount of powder to absorb liquid.  I prefer the absorbing power of kitty litter.

Install seat and you are ready to take care of business.  Do you have this set up or use something similar?  What is your wilderness camp potty setup?

I can't count the number of times I have been to Pismo Beach, it's almost as if I was born there.  As just a young kid, I remember camping every year at Pismo Coast Village and playing on the dunes.  That evolved to camping on the state beach (Oceano Dunes) with my motorcycles and occasionally bringing my Jet Skis for wave riding.

Pismo is the only beach in California that allows vehicles to drive on the sand.  And we have seen that available off-roading and camping space shrink in previous years.  So, following my installation of the Mopar Cold Air Intake, I put the kids in the Jeep at 6AM and drove up to Pismo in time for enjoying lunch on the beach.

I thought the kids would be more surprised of our driving right onto the beach, but to them it all seemed normal for some reason.  I was excited as all of my previous trips to Pismo were mainly focused on motorcycle riding, but this would be my first run in the dunes with the Jeep.

But before we get there...let's back up and note that traffic in Los Angeles has only gotten worse.  My original plan was to take the 405 North to the 10 West and drive the coast North through Malibu and up into Ventura.  That plan was altered by stop-and-go traffic, so I quickly jumped onto the 90 West and headed into Venice to take the streets, which was not much better for traffic.

We eventually made it to the coast and gained momentum as we passed through Malibu.  Heading up Rice Road, we jumped onto highway 101 and moved at a good pace until we were coming down the pass toward Buellton.

I looked back and saw my little guy on the verge of a nuclear meltdown.  Unable to determine the problem while in motion, I quickly found a safe place to pull off the road, which turned out to be this very cool organic farm.  But without getting side-tracked, I pulled my little guy out of the back seat and before I could get him onto solid ground he was blowing chunks.

After emptying his stomach, he passed out in the front drivers seat of the Jeep.  Here he is all decked out in his favorite matching Jeep outfit.

After a few minutes passed, I put MotionEaze (great for eliminating motion sickness/nausea) behind his ears and transferred him back into his seat where he continued sleeping.  And in some magical way I pledged to smooth out the ride.

Despite some lost time on the side of the road near Buellton, we made it to Pismo Beach by 11:30AM.

We drove to the southern most accessible point on Pismo Beach to set up our blankets for a lunch together.  While we enjoyed lunch and played in the sand, it was hard not to notice a particular Black Ford Raptor doing hot laps up and down the beach.

In the meantime, an unsuspecting couple stuck their white Silverado in the sand near the shoreline.  It was not long before Mr. I'll Save You came to the rescue with his Raptor.  His recovery plan for Mr. and Mrs. Unsuspecting was to pull them forward toward the deeper beach sand, instead of backwards onto the harder packed shoreline.  With a quick and heavy foot, the Raptor was sunk into the sand and sitting on its frame.

Fortunately the yellow Silverado showed up to help save the day.  At this point all three trucks were strapped together and not working in unison.  Mr. Bumble Bee in his yellow Silverado eventually stuck himself in the sand as well.  Fortunately Chevrolet does not offer that yellow color any longer.

A short while later, the Park Ranger arrived to investigate and help coordinate the removal of Mr. Bumble from his sandy situation.

Brilliance finally struck the large crew and they decided to man-push Mr. and Mrs. Unsuspecting back onto the packed shoreline.

Kaelyn sat in the sand and watched in amazement as the event unfolded.  She would occasionally ask me why I wouldn't help.  My answer was that I was entertained and too busy taking pictures of the event.  I think she was enjoying the show as well.

Finally with Mr. and Mrs. Unsuspecting removed from their predicament, it was time to dislodge Mr. I'll Save You.

Alas, enters Mr. Black Smoke in his diesel powered white Ford FX4 to help end this story.  However, it was not without help from the Lone Ranger and his shovel that helped to clear a path for the Raptor's removal.

The upside?  Those trucks left some deep holes to play in!  

Of course it was not long after that Mr. and Mrs. Innocent arrived on the scene and stuck their white Sierra down to the frame in the deep sand.

Now that Mr. I'll Save You was no where to be seen and this couple was stuck deep, I felt compelled to help.

The first step was getting their tires aired down for better floatation.  Second, hook up the tow strap from hitch to hitch.  And third, was putting the Jeep in 4 Low with the front and rear axles locked.  I used second gear and popped them right out of their predicament.  They were delighted and I felt it was a nice way for the kids to see how we can help other people in need.

And of course the kids then decided to have a tug-o-war contest with the Jeep.  I think it was a tie game.

Here's Kaelyn saying "The Jeep Can Do Anything".  Or is it, "Daddy, can we go get some ice cream now?"

We will definitely look forward to making another trip to Pismo Beach, most likely a camping trip so we can do some more wheeling in the dunes and get more action photos.

After the events on Pismo Beach, we drove up to Morro Bay to spend the remainder of the weekend.  We spotted this Wrangler Rubicon Brute conversion on the streets of Morro Bay.  Very nice.  Would you drive it?

In addition to having my morning latte at The Rock Espresso Bar (275 Morro Bay Blvd) each day, I happened upon a vegan eatery called Shine Cafe (just up the street from The Rock).  Everything is fresh and organic.  They also use mostly local farmers for their food.  I have eaten vegan before and Shine Cafe makes some of the best tasting food, including green smoothies.

My organic vegan burrito at Shine Cafe.  Delicious.

I am looking forward to enjoying more recipes like this on upcoming overland trips.

The Mopar Cold Air Intake system for the Jeep Wrangler is an easy engine upgrade.  Mopar claims engine performance upgrades, while I claim only a more pleasant audible growl from the motor at higher RPMs.

The kit includes the intake tube, filter, and mounting hardware.  Installation takes one hour and requires basic tools to complete the process.

In stock form, the Wrangler air box is designed to provide maximum protection in deep water crossings, short of going to a snorkel system of course.  If you regularly cross deep water or are planning to forge a river soon, you may want to maintain the stock system to prevent a case of "hydro lock" (similar to drinking too much beer on Friday night and not being able to remove yourself from the couch until relieving yourself of said beer).

On the other hand, it could be argued that the small air intake of the stock system limits the motor's ability to breath freely, which could limit performance, perhaps...so we will assess the performance element of this upgrade later in this review.

The installation process took one hour to complete.  Overall, the installation process is easy, however, the mounting of the black metal air box frame required standing on my Warn front bumper in order to get a long reach into the engine bay.  Standing on the bumper, the installation of two washers and accompanying nuts needed to be mounted onto bolts coming through the bottom of the black air box mounting frame and then torqued with a ratchet.  If you are good at doing things upside down in the dark, then this will be easy.  I was able to get both washers and nuts installed the first try without dropping anything.

The end result is this pretty silver pipe and exposed air filter in your engine bay.  Your friends will all be amazed.

After installing the Cold Air Intake system, I drove the Jeep 285 miles to Pismo Beach.  Overall, fuel economy showed no difference, averaging in the low 17 MPG range.  Though, if it's fuel economy you desire, you may want to consider a Prius. 

In regards to power, the Mopar Cold Air Intake website states "they [Cold Air Intake] provide noticeable horsepower and torque gains", which I have to disagree with.  Even if this system provides an additional 5 horsepower, increasing stock engine power from 285 to 290 horsepower, that is a 1.75% increase, which is insignificant.

If you are looking an easy engine upgrade that will provide an audible performance improvement at 4,000 RPMs and you have extra cash to burn, this is the product for you.

If you are concerned about hydro lock, then maybe this is not for you.  So, I will keep my original equipment air box on the garage shelf in case of an anticipated flood in Southern California.