Henry is a dreamer with a stubborn determination that keeps him on his determined course; time will tell if he has a final destination in mind. He is a wandering donkey.
Our Series III and 110 Land Rovers are the vehicle equivalent of his kindred spirits with their slow pace, crotchety mechanics and required sense of humour. Since the early 1990's he has roved, cursed and lay under them - stubborn and determined.
Henry's interest in travel and the outdoors took hold while studying English Lit during his undergrad at the University Of San Diego – a farm boy a long way from his Ontario, Canada home. Daydreamer, aspiring writer, shade-tree mechanic, outdoorsman, nudist (only in Baja, Mexico) and Viking - all with his signature "irish farmer" scent; that is Henry.
Henry applied his characteristic determination to his pursuit of Michelle – perhaps it was her challenge that her continued presence depended on his ability to keep her entertained. They married, and Henry now entertains both Michelle and their daughter Astrid; the dancing bear gets no rest.
Michelle is grace in a summers dress while clutching a purse containing a calculator and ledger and wearing lace, g-string undies. She has the ability to befriend anyone. She can budget, compile, and compute anything - but she is completely befuddled by currency exchange rates.
Michelle is also determined, but she is more of a delegator then a doer - and she married her donkey. On the road, Michelle is all contradiction. She will childishly stomp her feet if the nights accommodations have a number in the corporate name (e.g. Motel 6), but she will sleep soundly in a shaking metal garden shed with a rampaging engine and whining transmission while crossing the desert at 45 mph (the Series Land Rover experience). The pageantry that accompanies these contradictions amazes and amuses.
Before meeting Henry, Michelle had never been camping. Her previous road trip experiences began with soda cans wrapped in tin foil by her grandmother and ended with an hour long drive to an outlet mall. She had, on the other hand, found her way to Italy and Portugal with a backpack.
Michelle loves travel, literature (including Teen lit), Yoga, motherhood, and can dagger-smile with the best of them.
Astrid in her teens still loves stories, art and music. The tales of Blue Kangaroo have been traded for anime and manga, but she searches for answers with the same stubborn curiosity. She prefers order to the chaos inflicted by her father, she shares her mothers analytical mind, and her love of stuffie animals has matured into aspirations to become a Veterinarian.
Astrid will pull a hair from a roadside burrito and keep eating. She’ll discreetly deal with Moctezuma’s revenge on the side of a highway, climb back in the Land Rover and say “let’s keep moving.” She finds it funny when her dad gets harassed by Federales and finds it hilarious when she emebellishe the story later. Astrid will flip flop her way into a motel full of amused Federales preparing m4’s and belt fed weapons for patrol and march to the front desk to find free mints. Astrid is a tough, confident chica who rarely complains...
A “shear pin” is a weak link in a mechanical system designed to break during excessive loads and protect vital components. The concept is often tossed around Land Rover circles when discussing Series Land Rover axles. It has been argued, amongst the Land Rover faithful, that the weak axles are the shear pin of the Rover driveline; that the axles are designed to break at a specified torque to protect the transfer case and differential.
There has also been a compelling case made that the shear pin explanation was concocted as an excuse for poor engineering or cost cutting measures. After plodding around in a Series III since the early 1990's, Henry find's himself on the cost cutting side of the debate.
Henry took the name “Shearpin” as a internet forum name after discovering the humorous coincidence between the enduring Land Rover engineered weak link debate, and the questionable soundness of the creative logic he uses to defend the variety of follies that are a part of our adventures. The need for frequent roadside repairs, for example, could be the result of genuine component wear or dodgy replacement parts. Or, they could be the result of a tinkerers skill masked by an elaborate explanation. In our family the debate continues - who or what is our advenure's shearpin.