Gunther's 10th Birthday Campout - 4Runner Boondocking in Northern Arizona

Gunther's turning 10, and what better way to celebrate than to get out of the heat, and enjoy some chill dispersed camping in the woods (and with lots of treats)?
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THE GEAR
GEERTOP Car Awning
(I supplied my own tarp poles, but if I did it again, I buy the telescoping kind.)
amzn.to/46EmJYU
My Amazon Storefront
www.amazon.com...
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RESOURCES
Coconino National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Maps
www.fs.usda.go...
Closures & Fire Restrictions
www.fs.usda.go...
The app I use to ID birds by their song is Merlin
apps.apple.com...

[@petrachen1537]

Happy birthday, Mr. Gunther! You always make me smile 😃

[@jennyb360]

Happy Birthday Gunther! You’re such a cutie 🎉🎉

[@sakurasu907]

🎉 happy birthday to sweet boy Gunther. 🐶 🎉 many more happy adventures to come! Cheers🎉🐶🎉 🦴🎉🧁 🎉 🍖 🎉🍻 🎉 🥂 🎉🥰

[@Roma-wr9co]

Gunther's got some low clearance issues! But he makes up for it with how cute he is ;)😅

[@traceykripp6282]

Just found you. I am a 60+ car camper. Started my camping journey as a Girl Scout leader taking 14 1st graders into the woods to camp. Did that until they were 14. I hope someday they do the same for their daughters. They are all 22 now.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Welcome! No doubt, they inherited the camping gene.

[@lisamurray8307]

Happy Birthday Gunther🎉! He truly is living the best life! I loves him❤

[@rofireskyte6931]

Happy Birthday Gunther! I love the care you show for him, from always checking he is comfortable to the way you pick him up keeping in mind his back. We can’t be 100% how he was treated before he came to you but I believe his previous owner loved him as much as you. And thanks for cleaning up after the jerks.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thank you! He’s my second dachshund. I had my beloved Jerry for 15 years. Such a softy for low riders ! 😂

[@thatcampingchic3817]

Happy Birthday Gunter.🎉

[@conniehamilton1781]

“Just out here living his best life.” Indeed! Happy birthday, Gunther! 🎈

[@kimberpix4837]

Happy Birthday, Gunther! You are so blessed to have him, and he is so blessed to have you!! ❤

[@ShoestringMartha]

100% true! 🥰

[@rob_cd]

I really enjoyed this trip. Very soothing and engaging. Love the aesthetics of your videos too. Happy birthday to the best man with the shortest legs in the world. ❤🎉🎂🍹🐾

[@ShoestringMartha]

Gunther says thanks!!

[@kristiecox7350]

Happy Birthday Gunther!!! Fun trip 🎉❤ Making me itch for a trip. Rip your sunglasses 😂

[@CindyCaVANas]

Don't you just hate it when people litter? If another person comes around and they think you are the one that did all the mess!! OMG! I wonder if a magnet is able to pick up the bullet casings. Would be easier to drag a large magnet along the area eh!! Happy Birthday Gunther!! Thanks for sharing your trip! 🙋‍♀👍🙂

[@ShoestringMartha]

Drives me up the flippin' wall! I would be *mortified* if someone assumed I was the litterer. 🫠 Unfortunately, Google says brass is diamagnetic, so it would all have to be picked up by hand. 😔 Gunther says thanks for coming along!

[@donnas2023]

😂😂😂 I had to stop the video when you said drink the juice Shelby 😂😂😂 from on of my favorite movies 😂😂😂 and welcome to MTV cribs lmbo. And HAPPY SO GLAD YOU WERE BORN DAY GUNTHER YOU DONT LOOK A DAY OVER ONE🎉🎉❤❤.

[@ShoestringMartha]

One of my top 3 movies! I can't tell you how many times Amy and I shout "are you HIGH Clairee??" at each other.

[@donnas2023]

@@ShoestringMartha LMBO😂😂😂 another favorite of mine is Beaches with Bette Midler and Barbara Hersey. My kids think I’m crazy 😜

[@ShoestringMartha]

Oh another good one! 😭😭😭

[@Myyt6908]

Great campout for the birthday boy. Happy Birthday Gunther!

[@victoriagoingforit6183]

Lucky dog. Happy birthday Gunther!

[@charlesruelas3962]

Gunther has a great deal of contributory value to your channel. Way to celebrate him! Like the 4Runner shot in the end. Wish I could cook, my cooking skill set is talking to those while they are doing the cooking.

[@ShoestringMartha]

I bet that skill has its benefits 😂

[@jennifermorris7195]

Happy birthday Gunther! I love your videos, I’ve been solo camping in my SUV for a few years now, and get tons of inspiration from you. Thank you for your great videos!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thanks for the birthday wishes and kind words! 😊😊😊

[@ChristineD8093]

Happy Birthday Baby Boy….such a good camping buddy. Wind often dies down after the sun sets and is also still in the AM’s. When out at Edge of the world, I waited till those times to have small controllable fires. I did camp farther away from the edge as well. I love your videos, that takes me back to my enjoyable visit to AZ. I am looking forward to my trip here in Cali, next Thursday near the gateway to Yosemite…..not in Yosemite though, too many people for my comfort and introvert ways.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Absolutely true, but it being summer, the sun won't be down til nearly my bedtime. 😴 Have fun *near* Yosemite! 😂 and thanks for Gunther's birthday wishes!

[@tracker5849]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUNTHER!!! 🎉 GLAD YOU HAD A SPECIAL DAY OUT. Show off..LOL!!! sitting on a comfy bed..reading in front of a fan..yummy drinks n snacks....wow. rough life...LOL!!!!! looks like a great day!! Pizza looked good!! I'm gonna try that

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thank you! If you don’t have a pieiron, you can make the upside down pizza in a skillet, you just have to use a premade crust, rather than puff pastry.

[@tracker5849]

@ShoestringMartha thank you maam. I have a pie iron I bought for camp fire...but have never used it yet. But after finding your videos thats going to change...lol. I also have the Gas One butane camp stove. I recently got the tiny waffle machine...used it once..tried the sausage stuffed waffle. Only i cut the cooked sausage into tiny pieces and put it in the dough..turned out pretty good..the pancake machine used once..tiny pancakes with cut up straw berries in the dough.. and sandwich machine..still in box...maybe a ham..egg n cheese one day..or a grill cheese with thin sliced sausage????...now I need food. 😀 thank you maam for all your ideas and great videos. I will try the pizza soon

[@jessys9868]

Great video, and happy birthday to Gunther. Missed some pie iron, cooking! But let’s say it, nobody wants a cozy fire in the high 80s!

[@ShoestringMartha]

I still pieiron-cooked, just on the campstove. Tasty, but definitely lacking in ambience 😞

[@falconmoon2880]

Happy Sweet Gunther Thank You

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thank you! He just turned 11 last week 🥰

[@falconmoon2880]

@@ShoestringMartha Happy Birthday Sweet Gunther

[@katmogstad1692]

A good gadget for bugs is a teeny tiny rechargeable vacuum. It’s easier to catch them than try to squash or sway them. I’ve seen Tristan (SUVrving) using one. He may have a link.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Great idea! Would be handy for crumbs and outdoors crud too 🤔

[@meganshields8530]

Happy Birthday Gunther! That recent tree fall would have scared me away from that site. I had a tree fall on my 4 Runner a few weeks ago while off-roading. 😬

[@ShoestringMartha]

Oh nooooo 🥲 Maybe foolish, but my thinking was that maybe every fragile tree had already broken - the “lightning doesn’t strike twice” theory.

[@angeladavenport40]

This was such a fun video!! I love the way you are always so calm. I’ll finish a stressful day working, watch one of your videos and before I know it I am relaxed and planning my next camping trip. :-) I’m an American who lives in Australia so there is no shortage of places I want to camp at!!

[@ShoestringMartha]

That makes me so happy to hear, and I'm a tad (OK a lot) envious of your living situation!

[@angeladavenport40]

@@ShoestringMartha maybe one day you will do a camping in Australia and New Zealand on a shoestring budget series!! :-D

[@cillaloves2fish688]

Awesome adventure in the woods! What a great way to celebrate Gunther's 10th Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIL G!! I laughed when you said he liked ice!!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Of all the tasty things in the world - ice! He comes running for a piece, whenever I open the freezer drawer 😂

[@keithbrookshire]

That looked like a perfect outing for Gunther's birthday. Congrats on having a pair of sunglasses last you four years. About six months is my record.

[@ShoestringMartha]

I was pretty proud of that record -- my longest, by far. 😂

[@kitsunecamps]

happy birthday Gunther!

[@54bonkers]

I buy the frozen margaritas and love them while camping in the summer! Happy Birthday Mr. Gunther! 🎉🎂🐾❤️

[@ShoestringMartha]

Oh I do love some margs 😏

[@tpod892]

Aw, he's a "Pawfect" 10, the Goodest Boi! Happy Bark-day, Mr. Gunther! Re: bugs: those Harbor Freight carries some fantastic rechargeable bug lights that I adore. They do attract and zap bugs; just finished using them on a car camping trip in the Appalachians and they kept my sleep bug-free (I usually turn on the zapping light at dusk and let it do its magic before I climb in to sleep). I also just realized that I put them away...still bug coated. Ew. RIP sunglasses. Were they prescription? 💸😭

[@ShoestringMartha]

My sunglasses weren't prescription, but did have some sentimental value. 😐 The lenses were pretty scratched up anyway, so I suppose I'm due a new pair. Good to know about the HFT bug zapper -- thanks for the intel!

[@William2N]

Would love to SUV camp but I’m in Fl and post menopausal I need air ☺️. Love your videos. HB Gunther!

[@ShoestringMartha]

I feel ya! I can bake all dang day in this oven that is Arizona, but just cannot handle the humidity y'all have down there! 🥵🥵🥵

[@susano7587]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUNTHER!!!! 🎉 🎂🎊❤What a serene camping trip you two had. I am jealous. My 4Runner “should” be finished at the body shop in about a week. Now that summer in Colorado is nearly half over, I have GOT to get some camping trips accomplished before the snow starts to fly. It won’t be long before the cold weather arrives. Some evil anti-camping force caused that woman to smash up my new (to me) Toyota 4Runner mid April. That evil force is trying really hard to keep me from camping but I am about to foil it’s evil plans. Gunther is such a nice, happy, and peaceful dog. My dog Ellie (Jack Russell Terrier) will turn 9 on October 22 and I am going to follow your brilliant example, and take her on a Birthday Camping Trip!! I really enjoyed your video!

[@ShoestringMartha]

WOOO almost 4Runner time -- for real this time! Still time to get some quality trips in, if not quantity. 😉 Thanks for Gunther's birthday wishes, and hi to Ellie!

[@susano7587]

@@ShoestringMartha Ellie wishes Gunther a Happy Birthday too!

[@AZPhotoGal]

First, a very happy birthday to Mr. Gunther!! Have you thought about a tri-fold “dorm” mattress? That’s what I’ve been using and I love it. They’re typically 4”thick foam that makes a nice seat/back when folded up.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Gunther says thank you! ❤️ Those are on my list of possibilities, but have 2 issues to contend with: 1) they’re typically too wide (I’d like to keep it

[@zildian1983]

I went to camp by snow bowl and same thing happened to me. Map said all good for camping and fire, get there and no dice!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Right?! I understand and support why its done, I just wish the information was a little more consistent. Might have saved me a couple hours of site research, and the space I used for my firewood crate.

[@vlynn8816]

Love your videos, you are so chilled and so is Gunther. Happy Birthday Gunther! It seems you do a lot of one nighter camping. Does your partner ever go with you?

[@ShoestringMartha]

Nah, she's not much into "roughing it" 😀

[@cosycovevlog3260]

HaPpYbIrThDaY little guy! 🎉🍖 I have those same magnets - they are brilliant! I’d never have thought of a movie screen… might have to invest in one of those if I can keep the bugs off😂 I got a Thermacell bug repeller to try. I’ll be testing it this weekend.

[@ShoestringMartha]

This one came with the projector, but they’re pretty inexpensive, sold separately. Curious how that Thermacell works out for you. I’ve been looking at those.

[@cosycovevlog3260]

@@ShoestringMartha it’s brilliant! I’ve used it a few weekends in a row now and haven’t had a single bite. It really keeps the bugs away - you don’t even see them once it’s been running for ten minutes or so. I’m so glad I got it!

[@ShoestringMartha]

@@cosycovevlog3260 Fantastic! Thank you for the update!

[@moscafroglover2127]

Awwww, Gunther is so loved❤ noooo not the sunglasses😫 well rats! Birthday tacos are the best!🎉

[@paulavaden5139]

Thanks for the video. Can you use your other hatch tent with the canopy so you can have the bug screen? Or maybe get or make a separate bug screen for the hatch? I'm always thinkin'. Happy Bday G! He's so cute.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Gunther says thanks for the birthday wishes! Last time I set up the GeerTop, I just clipped it to the SportzCove (kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoLFan-ooKeLotU), so I had the bug screen AND extra shade -- but then I can't close the hatch. 😐

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Thanks!

[@sandratorchia4803]

Enjoyed your trip. Love the peaceful setting and your calm narrative. 😊

[@freddrichner]

I use a Popup canopy, that way if I need drive away it stays. Also it has four walls. Works great.

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Every time that I see a 4Runner like your’s - in a grocery store parking lot - I think of your YT shows…❤️ Bought some of “your” magnets from the Amazon store. Heavy duty! Surprised no forest critters or deer near your camp..

[@ShoestringMartha]

Same! I thought for sure I would spot some deer in the meadow beyond the hammock, but nada. Someone way off in the distance was running their dogs periodically, so maybe their barking kept the critters away.

[@shereeoskolkoff3922]

Happy birthday Gunther🎉

[@lindahopson5003]

Happy birthday to Gunther! Sorry about the sunglasses... bummer.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thank you! I suppose 4 years is a pretty good run for not losing them 😄

[@ramonapuckett3059]

Great video! Thank you for all the nature sounds, love it. Happy late birthday to Gunther ❤sorry for all that trash, when will people realize they’re trashing our home? Safe travels ✌🏼

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thank you and Gunther says thanks for the birthday wishes!!

[@HTC9184]

🎉Happy B’Day to Gunther!!🎉What a perfect way to celebrate!! 🏕️The “Drink your juice, Shelby” had me rolling!! Can’t wait for the cooking video. Thanks for sharing!❤❤ All was perfect except for the morons of the week segment! I despise people that litter. SMH 🚯🚯🚯😤😤😤

[@robinwilson8435]

What's your bed/couch platform? You're a total gearhead like me. Just discovered your channel. You're giving me good, new ideas for gear. Is that an app you used for Forest Service roads? How did your awning attach to your rig? I live in Oregon and groups of us in our area clean up the forest (and often riverbanks (ugh), including a couple of guys who remove abandoned, trashed RVs. More and more often places are being closed due to people overstaying their time (14 days) and leaving their garbage behind. BLM and USFS just don't have the manpower to take care of it. They reimburse us for the dump fees and mileage. Recently we took over 3k# of trash from a single site right next to the river, which included bottles of human liquid & solid waste. I shudder to think of what's going to happen in the next 5-10 years if these practices by 'humans' (term loosely used) continue. Thanks for trying to do your part to keep our forests clean and litter free. Somehow folks have missed the 'pack it in, pack it out/take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints' mantra.

[@ShoestringMartha]

The platform in homebuilt, and wayyyy back in the archives, here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5TWqZyunq6Hirs The FS roads are found on a .pdf map, from the FS website, boring details about that, over here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX3cY3qBasyLnLs The awning is attached with suction cups and hooks, more details on that here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpDUaH1pfbGYsM0 Conditions out there sound pretty rotten, thanks to humans. We get a lot of that out here in the desert too. Anywhere, where people are left to their own devices, they feel like they can do whatever. Unfortunately, all who enjoy the outdoors are paying the price, as public land restrictions increase, in response. 😒

[@Roma-wr9co]

I always leave a place better than when i got there. I went to a site in San Juan mountains, Co, where there was a whole broken up cabinet and tons of trash. I ended even raking the site after I burned some + 3 giant contractor bags. I stayed 1 extra day over the 14 day limit but i'm pretty sure the ranger that kept driving by after seeing the giant loads of trash by the road p'd up, didn't mind. Washington State boondocking was really bad too.😮 Makes me so sad. I had a friend (ex), tell me she left behind coffee grinds. I almost lost it telling her it's poison to the animals!!!🤦‍♀️

[@nebc_yukonyeti]

Happy birthday Gunther🎉🦴🐾 Big fan of the Duolingo dinger 🛎️ I’m trying to make my Spanglish more fluent. What language are you streaking on? 🥾⛰️🇨🇦❤

[@ShoestringMartha]

While my Spanglish could use a lot of refining, and would be much more useful, I'm dusting off the 6 years of French that I studied, way back in high school and college. 🥐🇫🇷

[@colinjveitch]

I like Gunther's bowtie. Did the ranger tell you if you could have a fire? Tons of gun shells, yuck! Oh AZ, is all I can say. I do like that movie screen. Fun!

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thanks! It's a cat collar, but Gunther doesn't know that. 😂 The ranger didn't stop, they were just headed somewhere else on down the road. I should've flagged them down and asked though, so I could know for sure, either way.

[@barbarajeanne8351]

🎉

[@joanndavis4843]

I am enjoying this peaceful, quiet, honest time during the rest of this video now that the music is no more. Just the sounds of the cicadas and the wind through the trees is enough for me, and for you too it seems. Though I feel there might be a bit more music later as you wrap this up, I won't hold that against you [smiley face]. Hope my feedback made some points at least for the musically impaired and challenged viewers out here who just like it simple, without the bells and whistles, sort of speak.

[@roadtriplover.]

Great video. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GUNTHER!!! 🎉🎉🎂🦴🦴👏👏😀 Your setup is really ingenious and I love that you keep trying new things. I wonder, what is the round, black thing that was hanging from your fauxmolle and then the OS handle over the door? Some sort of hotspot or something?

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thanks! 😊 I think your talking about the bluetooth speaker? I was listening to podcasts during the day, and then I connected it to my laptop for the movie. That way, I could keep the volume really low and confined to my space 😉

[@roadtriplover.]

@@ShoestringMartha aha! A speaker!

[@weecho27]

Love me some Gunther. How does the Geertop awning do in the wind. I have a Roam 6'x8' awning that is just a big sail.

[@ShoestringMartha]

I’ll go into detail in my upcoming video on shade, but will say, it depends on the staking. In 40mph gusts, other than moving the legs up and down, it stayed in place. I would get telescoping legs, rather then sectioned ones, like I have. You can stake down the back wall, for extra security, but my tarp poles were too tall for it to reach the ground.

[@barbarajeanne8351]

After 35 years in the book biz I gotta know, whatcha reading?😃

[@ShoestringMartha]

I’m typically a non-fiction reader, but making an effort to expand to some classic fantasy - the Lord of the Rings series. I’m on The Fellowship of the Ring. Unfortunately, just a couple chapters in, I had to return it to the library 😣 Guess I just have to buy it.

[@barbarajeanne8351]

@@ShoestringMartha if I may suggest a fantasy series V.E. SCHWAB series Shades of Magic. Also anything by TJ Klune. House on the Cerulean Sea especially. My favorite of 2022. I try to read a non fiction for every 2 fiction. Mostly science or true crime

[@ShoestringMartha]

Thanks for the reccs!! Added to my (very long) reading list. 😅

[@paulas_lens]

The trash, poo trash and gun trash issue I just cannot fathom. Don't they find the outdoors beautiful? It is like crapping and trashing your own living room in your house?

[@ShoestringMartha]

Yeah I don't get the mentality -- like, "I'm never come back here, so it's not my problem, and I don't care if it's someone else's problem." Selfish.

[@paulas_lens]

What is the longest stretch you have been able to camp out for? Was there anything about this disprrsed camp spot that gave you worry (other than all the trash)?

[@ShoestringMartha]

If I added some sort of bathing set up, and possibly rooftop storage, I probably *could* go 4-5 nights. But the max I *have* gone, is 2. I think I'd probably get bored after 3 nights in the same spot. 🙃 There wasn't anything fishy about that particular spot. It was just 1) it was the first time I camped with absolutely no one in sight or that I could hear. Other the the FS vehicle that went by once, and Pedro and his dad, who went by twice, there were also no cars. Also it was new to me. 2) Just a couple weeks earlier, there was a random bear attack, resulting in a fatality. It was 80+ miles away, and a total -- first time in 20 years sort of fluke -- but it still jangled me a little.

[@victoriagoingforit6183]

​​ I read about that. The poor guy was sitting there drinking his coffee and the bear attacked. Bears love the smell of coffee and it stimulates them. It is like catnip to them. I would not be surprised if making the coffee out there attracted the bear. Moral of the story. If you're going to make coffee outside in bear country, be bear aware.

[@joanndavis4843]

I enjoy your videos. I can't really say that about all KZbin van life videos though. I give up liking 👍 when there's any kind of music taking up the peace and quiet that y'all get to enjoy being on the road. I think it's a personal choice when someone feels like enjoying a song or two, or maybe even more. But putting background music everywhere, everytime, anywhere, and all the time just to fill in the empty spaces in all these videos is unnecessary. Stores do it to keep shoppers buying. Do you tubers do it to keep viewers watching? We're all adults here, maybe. So please consider not everyone is oblivious to what is going on behind the curtain here. Still, be safe out there.

[@ShoestringMartha]

Choosing the how much and when of music is, for sure, a personal editorial choice and a hard balance to find. I think a lot of people use it to create energy. I prefer boring. 😂 Some of the Japanese campers I watch release two versions of their videos - one with music and one without. It's taken a while to get there (as shown by my older content), but my loose guideline for music is: let the environment shine. But if the environment (e.g. traffic, noisy neighbors) stinks, cue up some chill tunes. Thank you for watching, even during those times. 😉