Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

Picture of this amazing mythical machine?

 

Thar she be. Solid traveling machine. Can't go turbodb'ing, but can offroad, 9.5" ground clearance. The places it can get to with FWD it achieves it in max comfort.

 

I’m using a 16gal tank that is the same height as the bed sides. Connected to that 12v pump but it’s mounted on the bed side for 2yeara now no issues. Even frozen with water inside multiple times
You can see the tank ( wraped on silver insulation, pump on ther right )

 

You can get darn tootin' close. My uncle had 4WD VW Vanagon's for years before finally getting a lower-end Sportsmobile. Amazing what he did in those things. I don't think there's anywhere in Death Valley NP that he hasn't been. Though, his stories of Lippencott and Steel Passes are a bit sketchier than doing them in a Taco!

 

@turbodb You've been verbed...

verb
/vərb/
noun
GRAMMAR

1. 1.
   a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as hear, become, happen.

verb

1. 1.
   use (a word that is not conventionally used as a verb, typically a noun) as a verb.
   "any English noun can be verbed, but some are more obnoxious than others"

 

You just need to live somewhere with less people and trails. Then you can take your UTV/ATV/truck wherever and not have a problem. Trails are boring.

 

Photos really can't capture
the beauty of this place - the
views so vast and the colors
so bright. Eventually, we put
our cameras away and we
just looked out over it all.

Check it out for yourself: The Re-Tour Day 11: We Mountain Hop to Goose Lake



The Re-Tour Day 11: We Mountain Hop to Goose Lake



--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5] [day 6] [day 7] [day 8] [day 9] [day 10] [day 11]​

 

VWs are something special. We owned a '85 VW vanagon for 5 years. Repairs, no a/c with $5k to install and lack of peace of mind on our rig with 290k miles now = 2015 dclb + Drifter upgrade. If you've got a good VW, keep it! They are such awesome mcgiver machines. I'm hoping that by the time we reach retirement the VW California (a updated 'vanagon' absurdly named given its only available in Europe) will be ready for purchase in the USA.

 

Reminds me when Axon / Taser Intl. publicly announced they didn't like the verb "tase" as in "Don't tase me, Bro!" Public opinion decided that nobody else cared about their thoughts on the matter.

 

Our last camp fire had been both long and too short. We'd metered out all of our remaining wood - making it last - until the flames on the last logs finally went out. That meant we were working on less sleep that normal as we set out west - spirits high that the trucks were running, a bit bummed for the events from the day before.

But it wouldn't be long before the trucks would be patched up and we'd be on the road again - that we knew for sure!

Read the last day: The Re-Tour Day 12-14: The Stars Align on Our Long Way Home​

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The Re-Tour Day 12-14: The Stars Align on Our Long Way Home​

--- the whole story ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5] [day 6] [day 7] [day 8] [day 9] [day 10] [day 11] [day 12-14]





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We'd returned from The Re-Tour a mere three weeks before our departure date, but that didn't mean there were only a few short days to plan for our next epic adventure. In fact, quite the contrary - we'd been planning our trip south to Arizona and Utah for nearly a year - knowing that there was way more ground than we could cover in the two weeks we had allocated for the excursion.

Our plan was simple, if long. Start in St. George, Utah, and work our way east - first along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then through Glen Canyon National Monument (Lake Powell), and then through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to Bears Ears National Monument and Natural Bridges National Monuments. Then, finally, we'd work our way back north through Capitol Reef National Park, having seen the plethora of sights and plenty of dirt roads along the way. It was, to be sure, the most ambitious trip (for me) to date!

Read the first chapter and see all the photos at:
Exploring the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bears Ears and more! (Oct 2018)​

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Exploring the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bears Ears and more! (Oct 2018)


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...Monte sitting on the edge, any me laying out over it to snap shots down the cliff edge were more than Mike could stomach. "Stop it guys, I can't watch!" he finally said as he headed back to the trucks to wait, letting us know that @mrs.turbodb and @MissBlackdawg would surely not be happy with us....

To see pics of more of our antics, read: F.U.Rain Day 3 - Stop It You Guys, I Can't Watch!

Monte, just hangin' out on the edge.


F.U.Rain Day 3 - Stop It You Guys, I Can't Watch!


--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1&2] [day 3]​

 

It was a bit after noon, and as we pulled out of the gas station, I suggested that we eat lunch once we got out of town and back on dirt...Then, as we headed southeast, rain. Not just a little rain either - this was serious, truck-washing rain.

"And so it begins." said Monte over the CB, followed shortly by "F*ck you rain." It wouldn't be the last time...

Read the full story and photos now: F.U.Rain Day 4 - And So It Begins...​

F.U.Rain Day 4 - And So It Begins...



--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1&2] [day 3] [day 4]​

 

Our ‘89 Ford Sportsmobile in the Finger Lakes.

 

I made a terrible mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was cleaning out my backpacking gear bin and found my bear spray had leaked a little. Apparently it diffused through the bag, so when I wiped my nose just a few mins ago... AGONY. After pouring a half gallon of milk on my face, its down to a dull roar in my sinuses.

Pro-tip: wash your hands after handling bear spray

 

To FIGHT the bear, you must BE the bear.

 

It was as though someone had taken the brightest yellow paint available, mixed it with sunlight, and spread it throughout the landscape. We were truly lucky to be here - a week before or after and we'd have missed this spectacular display!

Check this out to see what I mean: F.U.Rain Day 5 - Amazing Aspen and Electrical Storms

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F.U.Rain Day 5 - Amazing Aspen and Electrical Storms​

--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1&2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5]



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Don’t mix up your CN and smoke grenades either...



Yeah, that sucked. Thanks battle buddy.

 

I don't want to be the bear if I have to deal with that again. Just give me the .454