Westbound and Down: The LGAA planning thread

Welcome to the official "Westbound and Down: The Life Goals Achievement Adventure" planning thread. It'll be much easier and much more organized if we keep discussion about this forthcoming trip here, rather than in the other places it's been discussed thus far. As such, I present the Planning Thread.

The idea for this trip has been stirring in my mind for a solid ten years and is now hopefully coming to fruition after Rob (@bski22 ) and I got to discussing a Moab/Colorado trip at the recent AOAA Last Fall Bash. It's entirely a bucket list trip for me, something I've obsessed over and wanted to do since before I could drive.

It's a simple premise: drive west, see cool shit. Mountains, trails, passes, and so on; I, and I'm sure many of you, want to see more of the country via 4x4 and driving west is the perfect opportunity to do so. Should this all work out, it'll be an incredible adventure. Tentatively we'll drive out I-80 and back I-70, or vice-versa depending on what we decide.

Preliminary timeframe would be either fall of 2018, spring of 2019, or fall of 2019. Obviously this depends on numerous factors, including but not limited to: how much time everyone wants/needs to plan and prep their truck, who can join when, when we can grab a leader to show us around, and, selfishly, it's now very dependent upon when we set my wedding for [I proposed to my girlfriend the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving (and yes she said yes )].

So, if anyone would like to partake, whether you're from the Northeast or anywhere else, this is the thread in which we will keep tabs on attending members, when we're going, the route we're taking, how everyone is getting out there, and so on.

It would be helpful if everyone could post when would be best for you to do said trip and what specifically (if anything) you'd like to see, where you'd like to wheel, and any other interesting places you'd like to go/see (such as hikes, breweries, etc.). I'd like to do some camping but also (given my surgically repaired spine) wouldn't mind a little hotel staying or even getting a big Air BnB house to stay in some nights.

In this first post I'll keep a running, current-ish list of everyone who would like to attend and where said members would like to go, along with anything else relevant. I'll definitely need some help so maybe some others can pitch in?

Interested members & what they want to see (some of which I pulled from the AOAA Last Fall Bash thread):
@Roody (Ross) -- fall 2018, spring 2019, or fall 2019 (depends on wedding) -- Moab, the CO passes (Engineer, Black Bear, Imogene), Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, Monument Valley, Grand Staircase, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Antelope Canyon, Crested Butte, Crater Lake, Lake Powell / Alstrom Point, etc. -- definitely want to do some hikes
@bski22 (Rob) -- early fall 2018, "late autumn is best," last two weeks in August or first two weeks in September 2018/2019 -- Black Bear & Imogene Pass, Garden of the Gods, "as much of CO as possible" -- hikes
@fatfurious2 (David) -- June/July 2018, fall 2018 works -- "Any time, anywhere (thoughts of an overlander)" -- Garden of the gods, the Passes, possibly the Sand Dunes of Colorado, 4 corners -- would camp or do hotels/motels/AirBnB
@Rackness (Jason) -- fall 2018 / Spring 2019 - Moab, Brice/Arches, Monument Valley
@Lux (Jim) -- Morrison; spring 2019 or early Sept 2019; late August / early September 2019
@Redmann (Mark) -- 2019 -- would camp but prefers hotels/motels/AirBnB (2 nights in a row camping max)
@Lots2Learn58 (John) -- fall -- camp as much as possible but w/strategically placed hotel stops
@EatSleepTacos (Randy) -- cannot do May-August 2019; can make 2019 work if need be; would do fall 2019
@El Dahs (Greg) -- fall 2019 is best -- wants to camp most of the time
@Elan (Wes) -- "Anytime. Anywhere. Fall is better than spring but spring can work." -- 2018 preferred - would prefer to do hotels/motels/AirBnB but willing to camp -- Poughkeepsie Gulch
@TacoTabe (Kevin) -- 2019
@ADV4R (Kevin) -- Early fall like September 2019
@Jcyr (Jack) -- spring/fall
@JCjeeper (Jeremy) -- fall 2019
@Blues0010 -- lives in CO
@motodude95


Suggested leaders/guides from the west:
@Sub-Zero (Ryan) -- suggested by @fatfurious2 -- willing to lead as of 11/2017
@tacot0wn -- suggested by @fatfurious2
@Chux -- suggested by @bski22 (Rob)


So, without making this initial post longer than it already is, if you're interested: post your available times of year, what you want to see, and anything else you want to say about a possible adventure out west.

Can't wait to make this happen

 

First

edit: Finally got a minute to type. I was in the car and saw this pop up and I was so f’ing excited! Last two weeks in August or first two weeks in September I can squeeze in. 2018 or 19’ ... this some next level excitement! Awesome first post and congrats on engagement big guy!!

 

Awww man this is exciting! I might have to bring a bike too.

 

I’ve done this trip 10 days total i did from Massachusetts to moab last may 2017 it was great and I’d be down to do it again. Pretty much any time in the spring or fall works... 5 days of some serious wheeling is a blast

 

I love you took my title. I'll be watching.

 

Subbed so hard! Very well written first post.

 

Definitely fall of 2019 is best for me. Down for some cool shit!

 

In In in

 

In. Also @Roody i can do 2019 if it comes to that. And if it does, I might need to attend some other cool trips in NE (@mach1man001 was planning a waterfall tour) that come before Fall 2019.

Congrats on getting engaged!

 

I don't care when. I would say 2019 if anything. Everyone seems to want fall, so I'll stick with that. If we could do a 10 day trip, that would be ideal. I only get 2 weeks of vacation at work and I use one every year for me and the girl.

Congrats on the engagement!

 

Innnn! I'm down for a fall trip! But I'm able to make either time frame work! It won't be my last trip out there so im down to go anywhere

 

Jeremy (Jeep guy) says he's in

 

Yeah if we had to vote between those three time periods, I'd vote for fall of '19.

 

Thanks Rob! Glad we could get this thing going. Stoked to see how it plays out!

It was the best one

Thank you! The waterfall tour looks great. Might have to join...

Thanks Mark! 10 days seems reasonable, can always stretch it to a full two weeks for those who want to (we don't all need to caravan back east together).

 

Based on the above posts, I'm thinking we tentatively-- and I repeat, tentatively-- plan for fall of 2019. It's a long ways out but it gives us just under two full years to plan exactly what trails we want to hit, what things we want to see, to prep the trucks (I definitely have further mods I want to do), and, crucially, save to fund this ordeal.

We can make it a 10-day trip with the option for a full two weeks for those who can swing it.

Maybe we can take different routes out west and then back east so as to see different things?

Thoughts?

 

I'm down with this! And for the ease of planning, I think it'd be easiest to just plan a route over X amount of days, and then people do planning on their own end on how to get to that route, and also leave early if need be. Takes some stress off you as planner.

 

I think I'm the only college student and I can't plan 2 years ahead if I'm still going to be taking classes but any chance we could do late august into early September orrr is that pushing it, not a huge deal just wondering.

 

I definitely approve of this. Its a pet peeve of mine, to not pass the same thing twice in the same trip.

 

A few other thoughts...

Mandatory vehicular items:
Front recovery point
Rear recovery point
CB

Also: I don't want or need this to be a full-fledged overland excursion. I'd be happy spending a few nights in random hotels/motels or especially in big houses like the one we had at the AOAA Last Bash. For me, a huge part of the bigger adventures is basking in the enjoyment of it, which includes a bit of relaxing...not necessarily living out of the truck for 2 weeks straight. But of course, I'm up for whatever everyone else is.


Does anyone know when the passes in CO start to get snowed in?

 

I'd be ok with splitting a house for a few nights as well. Mandatory items should be sliders, tires, and lift as well if that wasn't obvious lol I don't know what these passes look like but we should be prepared for anything. I'm gonna do a ton of research this week and educate myself because I know basically nothing about Colorado