Spectre
Active Member
- Messages
- 44
- Location
- Chicago, IL
Hello H4O!
I've been lurking around for a while, seeing everyone else's adventures and builds, now I need some advice planning my first big offroad trip!
One of the reasons I got my Hummer was so that I could do more cross country camping and offroading, and now I'm finally looking at taking the trip I've always dreamed about. Shortly after I got my truck last year I found out about a meet up in Arizona called "Overland Expo". If you've never heard of it, basically it's part conference, part car show, part barbque, and part offroad training. They usually have around 5000-6000 people show up in the desert near Flagstaff, AZ.
Here's their short teaser video for last years Expo:
[video=youtube_share;b16JlKSEgb8]http://youtu.be/b16JlKSEgb8[/video]
Well, as soon as I heard about it I was hooked. It's a chance to learn and hear stories from people who have traveled all around the world with their vehicles, so I signed up last August. Now as it's getting closer (it's in May), I've started planning my trip.
Here is a rough layout of the route I want to take.
Starting in Chicago here are some of the major places I want to visit.
1) Chicago
2) Omaha
3) Denver
4) Boulder & Rocky Mountain National Park
5) Moab
6) Flagstaff & Overland Expo
7) Spaceport America in Southern NM
8) Albuquerque
9) Dallas
10)Chicago (OR...small possibility of going from Dallas to Tampa FL instead)
I'm pretty much looking at 2 weeks on the road, camping as much as I can and visiting some places I've never been.
These are just my first thoughts on places along my route. I'm thinking of crossing the plains in one day (1000 miles) to get to the Rockies. My challenge is that since I am travelling solo, I need to pick my offroad route carefully. I don't want to have a break down or get stuck miles from the nearest road. Also, New Mexico is quickly moving up on my list of places to do some exploring. Anyone with favorite places or best camp spot would be appreciated!
Now to throw a curve ball in, I want to video and photograph as much as I can. I still have my D600 (somehow I've avoided selling it), a GoPro Hero3 Black, and my friends Canon T3i. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think it will be really fun to have something when I'm done to look back on for memories.
So I have a few questions for you guys:
1) What do I need to watch out for with the Hummer in terms of solo exploring? I will meet up with some friends along the way, but good portions of the trip will have me pretty far from Pepboys.
I have a list of things I want done before the trip.
-New Battery (maybe dual)
-Fix some rusting lines
-Sleep platform
-Winch or Maxtrax
2) Does anyone have any tips on photo or video? I know there will be some, pull over, set up camera, turn around, drive past camera, stop, grab camera just to get shots, but if anyone has any thoughts on this let me know.
3) Do you have any "favorite" or "must see" spots along the route I've laid out? Don't be afraid if it's off the beaten path, that's kind of the point of this trip.
Any good breweries along the way? I love grabbing local beers from anywhere I visit.
I've been lurking around for a while, seeing everyone else's adventures and builds, now I need some advice planning my first big offroad trip!
One of the reasons I got my Hummer was so that I could do more cross country camping and offroading, and now I'm finally looking at taking the trip I've always dreamed about. Shortly after I got my truck last year I found out about a meet up in Arizona called "Overland Expo". If you've never heard of it, basically it's part conference, part car show, part barbque, and part offroad training. They usually have around 5000-6000 people show up in the desert near Flagstaff, AZ.
Here's their short teaser video for last years Expo:
[video=youtube_share;b16JlKSEgb8]http://youtu.be/b16JlKSEgb8[/video]
Well, as soon as I heard about it I was hooked. It's a chance to learn and hear stories from people who have traveled all around the world with their vehicles, so I signed up last August. Now as it's getting closer (it's in May), I've started planning my trip.
Here is a rough layout of the route I want to take.
Starting in Chicago here are some of the major places I want to visit.
1) Chicago
2) Omaha
3) Denver
4) Boulder & Rocky Mountain National Park
5) Moab
6) Flagstaff & Overland Expo
7) Spaceport America in Southern NM
8) Albuquerque
9) Dallas
10)Chicago (OR...small possibility of going from Dallas to Tampa FL instead)
I'm pretty much looking at 2 weeks on the road, camping as much as I can and visiting some places I've never been.
These are just my first thoughts on places along my route. I'm thinking of crossing the plains in one day (1000 miles) to get to the Rockies. My challenge is that since I am travelling solo, I need to pick my offroad route carefully. I don't want to have a break down or get stuck miles from the nearest road. Also, New Mexico is quickly moving up on my list of places to do some exploring. Anyone with favorite places or best camp spot would be appreciated!
Now to throw a curve ball in, I want to video and photograph as much as I can. I still have my D600 (somehow I've avoided selling it), a GoPro Hero3 Black, and my friends Canon T3i. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think it will be really fun to have something when I'm done to look back on for memories.
So I have a few questions for you guys:
1) What do I need to watch out for with the Hummer in terms of solo exploring? I will meet up with some friends along the way, but good portions of the trip will have me pretty far from Pepboys.
I have a list of things I want done before the trip.
-New Battery (maybe dual)
-Fix some rusting lines
-Sleep platform
-Winch or Maxtrax
2) Does anyone have any tips on photo or video? I know there will be some, pull over, set up camera, turn around, drive past camera, stop, grab camera just to get shots, but if anyone has any thoughts on this let me know.
3) Do you have any "favorite" or "must see" spots along the route I've laid out? Don't be afraid if it's off the beaten path, that's kind of the point of this trip.
Any good breweries along the way? I love grabbing local beers from anywhere I visit.
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