Or watch in 720p high definition on YouTube.

Although I was home and the big road trip had ended, there was still more to be done. I hate to admit it, but I was actually looking forward to that work, because it was like the last act of the trip. As long as I was working on this stuff, the trip wasn’t 100% over, right?

I thought it might be helpful to quickly cover what (eventually) happens after rolling into my driveway with an utterly filthy Land Cruiser that’s loaded with piles of dust-covered gear and dirty clothes. Without going into a lot of detail, the list looked like this:

1. Clean up gear: Unload the Land Cruiser and stack everything up. Wipe dust off everything. Clean camera gear well, especially lenses. Recharge all batteries. Fully wash all kitchen items, utensils, plates, cups, etc. Clean out trash. Empty water cans. Unpack bags and wash clothes.

2. Repair/replace gear: Patch the sliced sleeping pad. Replace old dome tent (bad zipper, seam strips de-laminated) before next trip. Repair wonky sleeping bag zipper pull. Purchase and fill out new tire repair kit. Replace the big plastic kitchen tub with the broken latch.

3. Stow gear: Inspect, clean and properly stow recovery gear. Make sure tools & kitchen gear are put away, and replenished/replaced as necessary. When each item (or group of items) is clean (and repaired when necessary) and dry, put it away where it belongs.

4. Vehicle maintenance: Inspect and re-dress winch cable. Wipe down all interior surfaces to remove dust, and vacuum. Treat all seats with leather conditioner. Replace front brake pads and resurface rotors. Replace heater & PHH hoses. Replace auxiliary tank’s external fuel filter & add armor. Change oil – the engine worked hard this trip. Clean air filter. Wash dust out of engine compartment. Inspect tires and verify at correct pressure. General inspection.

5. Computer and paper: Blog posts, blog posts, and more blog posts. Sort and edit photos, build galleries and write captions. Upload GPS tracks and waypoints to the computer and review. Log geocaches and benchmarks. Upload and edit GoPro videos. Go through business cards. Sort through OX12 handouts, brochures, and paperwork. Put away maps, guidebooks, and journal.

6. Other stuff: Boil the filtered water from Marl Springs & put away in glass jar. Stick the travel stickers on things and put magnets on the fridge. Give the kid and Carrie their gifts. Start daydreaming and scheming about the next trip(s).

To wrap things up… Well, the trip was a blast, and in many ways I hated to see it end. Nine days was my longest road trip other than visiting family, and eight nights in a tent was also a new personal record.

The Mojave Road was great fun. The sandy river bed was not to be trifled with and in retrospect going around it was definitely the right way to go. We learned that lesson the hard way. The Land Cruisers may have made it the whole way, but we should have aired down immediately. The Sportsmobile was another story entirely and deep sand is no friend of 5-ton vehicles!

Other than that, our other challenge was trying to determine how long the road would take to drive. We’d read “two days, but it’s better if you have three” but it was hard to  determine exactly how we should schedule our progress based on that. In the end, we did do it in roughly two days. Because we didn’t know what sort of progress we’d make, we passed up a lot of sights, walks, etc. we could have done along the way. On the plus side, now that we have a better understanding of things, I think we’d all be happy to drive it again, and take the time to visit some of those missed opportunities. Maybe Dennis Casebier will make another unexpected appearance…

Overland Expo 2012 met my high expectations . I met a lot of people in person for the first time – far too many to list here! But they included The Hansons, Graham Jackson, J. Brandon, Ara, Katie Boué, Dave Creech, Patrick Ma, Martyn Davies, Duncan Barbour, the Xelles gals, Dave Druck, Kristina Hall, our camp neighbors Clay Fisher and CC, Tom Feuchtwanger & Janet Wilson, Gary Kardum, and so many others… I also got to see  people I knew from previous events and trips, like “Tacodoc” Dave, Mark Trump, Mitch & Apryl Moerch, Scott Brady, Christian & Persephone, Zach from Overland Gourmet, Gianni, Lou and Nancy Patterson, Ben Meddows, Benjie Edmonson, and MORE MORE MORE. Sheer madness. For me, the social aspect alone was worth attending.

I also very much enjoyed the classes and presentations. Overall, the quality level was very high. If I do anything different next year, it will be to fill my schedule up more, so it’s almost completely full.

One thing I found surprising were the people that had no interest whatsoever in any of the sessions! I found that quite inexplicable. In reading a specialty forum a few weeks later, I finally found some dissatisfied attendees, but I don’t think that it was in any way the fault of the organizers. Those folks too made it clear they had no interest in any the sessions, or seemingly anything else at OX12. I suppose that like anything, no single event can be all things to all people and make everyone happy. Again, I went out of my way to poll attendees, exhibitors, and staff at the Expo and I got 100% positive, enthusiastic feedback.

For OX13, arriving would seem to be a must, especially if attendance increases again.

The long stretches of highway travel were tedious, but not unbearable. Breaking up two long days (about 450 miles each) at the end of the trip would have been nice. With just one more day, we could have cruised up 395 and that would have given us many options. A full two weeks would be another step forward in “overlanding” and I’d love to be able to manage that.

Speaking of long trips, this was a good shakedown cruise for those. One thing I discovered is the necessity of being able to repair, adapt and improvise. If, for example, your sleeping bag zipper stops working on a long trip, you now have to get through several nights somehow. I had five equipment malfunctions on this trip! All were relatively minor, and I was able to work around them. But repair can be a lot further away on a long trip.

If you’re curious about those breakdowns, in no particular order they were:

1. My aux fuel tank filter leaking, after being bashed with rocks. Clamping off the hose solved the problem & there were no further issues. It’s been replaced with a metal-bodied filter and tucked behind a metal skid plate.
2. One zipper on the door of my 20-year old tent got stuck. This was inconvenient, but the other zipper worked & I could still open & close the door flap. Tent retired & replaced.
3. Another zipper, on my sleeping bag this time, stopped working. Again, the second zipper still functioned, although I had to be careful with it. It was very cold overnight (below freezing) so this could have made me very uncomfortable had the problem been worse. I was also able to supplement the sleeping bag with a couple of the  I repaired the zipper pull after the trip.
4. An LED in my new Goal Zero charge controller stopped working. This caused me anguish until I figured out the controller was still working, and it was just the LED that had failed, not my solar setup. I was able to monitor the charge with my IBS dual-battery kit display. I will have Goal Zero replace this once their new charge controller (which unlike the old one was designed in-house) comes out.
5. The first night I discovered a large slit in my sleeping pad and it wouldn’t hold air. Surprise! And I’d neglected to bring a patch kit. But this is why I like Thermarest style sleeping pads, because even without holding air the thick (3-inch) foam was comfortable enough on its own, even on a gravel-covered surface. The same wouldn’t have been true for a foam-less air mattress. I patched the slice after returning home.

So thankfully these issues all turned out to be minor inconveniences.

Well, that pretty much wraps things up for the big road trip. I’ve been undertaking some equipment upgrades and plan some posts covering that activity. And looking forward to the next trip…

Until I woke up on Monday morning, I had been so busy that the end of Overland Expo 2012 hadn’t really had time to sink in. It was a bummer that the big trip was nearing its conclusion, but on the positive side there were still two days left, including another night of camping and a visit to that Grand Canyon place.

We reluctantly packed up after breakfast. We helped J. load his bike into the bed of his pickup and then said our goodbyes to him and others like Lou and Nancy who stopped by our camp on their way out.

You could almost hear the spiritual sigh as Anthony and I hit the road. We enjoyed the last drive along the beautiful local scenery as we made our way back to Flagstaff, where we topped up our tanks again. Soon we were back in unfamiliar territory, climbing past 8,000′ elevation and heading northwest towards the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

The woods around Flagstaff thinned and vanished and we found ourselves back in scrubby, flat terrain. We eventually knew we were nearing the park because of the sudden increase of tourist attractions and gift shops. We arrived at the park entrance station, paid our fees and drove up to the visitors center parking area.

We walked to the south rim and I finally had my first look at the Grand Canyon after all these years. I’d passed close by a few times, so it was a relief to have finally made it. It was as impressive as I had expected, although I had a feeling it might even be more stunning when viewed from the canyon floor.

We spent a couple of hours there, admiring the remarkable scenery and snapping photos. We even ran into some folks we’d met at the Expo. It was hot, but not uncomfortably so. We finished up with a quick pass through the visitors center building and then the “book store” which I guess is a loftier name than “gift shop”! Still, I was happy to pick up a sticker for myself, as well as a cute stuffed animal for my daughter.

While we were there, a worker at the store was telling a couple that had arrived via shuttle bus that there were only vending machines snacks and energy bars for sale. They stormed out, angry that no full lunch service was available, loudly proclaiming “How stupid!” while the other patrons shook their heads.

We hit the road again, this time heading south to Williams and then west again on I-40. We drove through Williams looking for a place to grab lunch, and discovered a funky old downtown area that was a couple of blocks long. It certainly had personality, even if it was hard to gauge what exactly that personality was!

From there the drive was pretty much a highway cruise, taking in the sights of the American southwest along the way. At another dusty, hot stop for fuel we finally nailed down our camping plans for the night, which had only been loosely-defined up to that point. We’d considered heading back up to Balancing Rock on the eastern end of the Mojave Road, but then Anthony had a great idea: we could camp at the Pleasant View School campsite again. This had a number of advantages: it was only a short distance off of the paved roads; we knew it was a great campsite; we’d be able to see Kelso and some new areas of the Mojave; we’d be further west when we started home in the morning; and best of all the camp should be cooler than the lower, furnace-like areas.

Speaking of which, we stopped for gas at the expensive and surly Goffs service station. The doors and windows were plastered with cranky signs that explained a wide variety of homemade rules, how the owners were trapped there and how things were not their fault. It set the tone for the inside, where a tattooed woman behind the counter quickly blurted out “I don’t make the rules.” without pause after asking me to leave my drivers license with her while I filled up. On top of the angry tension that radiated from the station, it was also 105ºF outside, and then Anthony’s Land Cruiser seemed to be vapor-locked again.

He cranked for a while without success, and we both dreaded the idea of needing any sort of assistance here in Bad Juju Land. We were thankful that after waiting several minutes with the hood popped, Hank the Tank fired up again! We both took a deep breath of relief and got the heck out of there.

The sun was reaching the horizon as we headed west on 40, then north on Kelbaker Road to Kelso. It was a nice drive through the desert here, with another nice Mojave sunset to watch, but it got much hotter again as we descended about a thousand feet into Kelso. We turned onto the Kelso-Cima Road and cruised along it to the turnoff for the Mojave Road as darkness settled over the desert. We turned on our lights and made good speed to the campsite, where we settled in under the stars. Anthony had a very nice curry chicken dinner planned, and we waxed poetically about the camp, the night sky, and the trip in general. And cold beer.

We slept well, thankful that the wind remained mild, and in the morning began the final long stretch home. We stopped in Kelso on the way out, and enjoyed our quick tour of the finely-restored old rail station. The Mojave roads were a joy until we reached 40 once more, and it again turned into a long highway slog home.

Many hours later, as we approached the bay area and the point where we’d go our separate ways, we made our goodbyes via our radios. From there, I made best speed back to San Jose, where I pulled up at my daughter’s daycare at exactly the usual pickup time. She didn’t know I’d be picking her up, but after all this time would she still remember her dear dada? ;^)

It was wonderful to see my little monkey again and we had a joyous reunion, although she did object to my prickly 9-day beard! More good times followed when I got home to Carrie, and to my own shower. And my own bed, after eight nights in a tent! It was nice (but weird!) to be home, sad to be done with the road trip, and I was in a mental fog from the long drive and general fatigue… And I had to be at work the next morning. Ouch.

It had been an epic trip, to me anyway, and I’d love to do it all over again for Overland Expo 2013.

• Day Eight Miles: 460
• Day Eight Miles offroad: 9
• Trip Miles: 1,467
• Trip Miles offroad: 172.8
• Days without a shower: 2

• Day Nine Miles: 498
• Day Nine Miles offroad: 9.2
• Trip Miles: 1,965
• Trip Miles offroad: 181
• Days without a shower: 3 – until I got home!

Overland Expo Road Trip: Day 8-9 photo gallery

Sunday marked the one week milestone for our road trip, as well as the final day of Overland Expo 2012. The day started off routinely, with me dragging my sorry rear out of my sleeping bag and making the morning greetings to Bryon, Anthony, and Clay. After the big Maya End of the World party (to say nothing of the after party) the previous night, everyone was a little more subdued for some reason…

On this final day of OX12, there were no early morning classes. Instead, two hours had been reserved for spending time with the vendors, something that undoubtedly pleased them. As further incentive, there were said to be some free breakfast snacks available, but more importantly I distinctly recalled that the word “mimosas” had been used. We duly made our rounds and I can’t speak for anyone else, but I was very happy to finally locate a mimosa, even if it wasn’t in a 64oz. size as I’d been hoping.

That morning I noticed that a lot of attendees had departed from the camping area, and that the vendor area had also thinned out some, although to a lesser degree. Like the campers, I think a lot of vendors had long drives ahead of them and/or day jobs to get back to, and had left early. The lesson here is that if you ‘re interested in purchasing a product, I wouldn’t wait until the last day unless you were sure that the vendor was still going to be around.

It was during this time that I took a closer look at the offerings from My Camp Kitchen. I’ve been meaning to get my kitchen gear sorted and their Outdoorsman product looks like it would suit my needs well. It would hopefully allow me to store most of my kitchen gear in it instead of in an overfilled, broken plastic storage tub, with other bits tucked away here and there. It would also provide some additional work surface, while at the same time freeing up a lot of the space taken up on the camp table.

I like how you can save a bundle by purchasing an unassembled, unfinished version, and that the folks at their booth were also super-nice people. I think this will be my chuck box solution.

At 1000 I had my first session, the “Couples Survival Guide to Overlanding” which was held in the rustic upstairs of the main lodge building. I had originally signed up with the plan of attending with my wife, but unfortunately she had to back out of the trip. I went anyway since I’d signed up, and I was really glad I did. This presentation by the Hackneys (www.hackneystravel.com) exceeded my expectations by more than any other class or presentation at the Expo.

There was a wealth of practical information and it was presented in a basic, lively and effective manner. There were a lot of good recommendations and I left thinking about how I would apply what I’d learned, both before and during future trips.

My next session was the “Perfect One-Container Vehicle Tool Kit” by Jonathan Hansen. I’d read about his toolkit project in Overland Journal and knowing Jonathan’s thorough, analytical approach to such things, I was eager to see learn more about it.

I was able to see everything in person, and made a note that I wanted one of the useful and huge tool rolls he’d found. There had also been some new additions, including Facom’s strikable screwdrivers and digital adapter disk that turns any ratchet into a torque wrench. More stuff to budget when I can! OX12 is a dangerous place…

After some free time where I watched a group of big vehicles tackle the Land Rover offroad course, my final class of the Expo was “Knives and Edged Tools for Overlanding” taught by Patrick and Gianni from Triple Aught Design.

Overall, I was pretty familiar with the material they covered but I was still interested in seeing things from the perspective of these two major knife nerds. The class covered edge types, different types of edged camp tools, sharpening and maintenance. I was happy to see that they discussed doing edge touch-ups in the field, with Patrick recommending a folding dual-grade diamond sharpener from DMT.

Wrapping things up for Overland Expo 2012 was a big BBQ dinner, along with closing remarks from Roseann Hanson and others. Roseann was happy to announce that Overland Expo would be returning to the Mormon Lake Lodge in 2013, which would also allow them to keep and build upon the offroad course. The response from the audience was enthusiastic.

After thanking the many people that helped make the event a success, she also brought out a large, framed and signed Camel Trophy print. It would be auctioned to support an overseas orphanage that one the the instructor supported. I don’t recall his name but he was obviously moved by this unexpected generosity and it was an emotional moment for everyone present.

We enjoyed the good barbecue dinner, sharing a table with Lou and his FJC club buddies and Ara of The Oasis of my Soul. It was my first conversation with Ara and I had been curious if he’d read Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider book. We had a brief, interrupted chat and I found Ara as interesting and compelling as his website would suggest, and I liked him immediately.

After the nice dinner and a margarita, everyone continued to socialize while enjoying the conveniently-timed eclipse that was taking place. There were some inexpensive viewing glasses (like paper 3D glasses) being handed around, as well as the “binocular method” being used. But best of all was a dedicated solar-observing telescope that one of the attendees had brought with him. This allowed “direct” viewing with some magnification and you could easily see flares and sunspots as well. Pretty cool stuff, and the eclipse was a fun way for everyone to share another common experience.

After sunset we did some cleanup and then we had a final campfire BS and booze session, minus the campfire. There was some lively debate and scotch and bourbon and cigars until it was again time for everyone to crash. Tomorrow was Monday morning and all of us were planning on heading out early on our separate ways.

Overland Expo had truly been a memorable, educational and fun event, and everything I had hoped it would be.

• Day Six Miles: 0
• Day Six Miles offroad: 0
• Trip Miles: 1,007
• Trip Miles offroad: 163.8
• Days without a shower: 1

Overland Expo Road Trip: Day Seven photo gallery