Family Overland Vacation

[oneshot1001]

Hitting the road/dirt tomorrow. :smiley_drive:

"North Texas family of six with extra time on their hands gets ambitious...."

Hello travelers, I'm Nick and my wife has agreed to all of this. Taking four kids each under 40lbs in our Land Rover LR3 over the Colorado sections of the Trans-America Trail heading west. Gonna hit some parks in UT and AZ, drop through Vegas on the way to the Pacific. (My wife hasn't been over/past the Rockies before). Next we do the kid stuff at Disney and Legoland and head back this way.

Rough idea:


I've also been playing with the road trippers website and you're welcome to vote for my trip in the contest there called 'Overland West' (cannot post link apparently).

More to come

Instagram oneshot1001

 

[unkamonkey]

It seems to be an invalid attachment.
Have fun on your trip

 

[oneshot1001]

Got my tools, tow strap, and diapers. Say a prayer for us and the LR3. We're off. (I'm seeing the attached map on safari and through tapatalk app, but I re-added it)


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[gunpainter]

Have fun! We just got back last week ourselves, and my daughters and I (11, 7 1/2) are leaving for our adventure (no momma this one) on the 21st.

Branden

 

[oneshot1001]

Staging complete

Enjoyed a smooth highway ride up the Texas panhandle today. Steak at the Big Texan in Amarillo to say farewell tonight. Sorry if the rest of y'all don't get it. (Home of the free 72oz steak). Then we added some paint to Cadillac Ranch off I40 before heading north.

Starting to get worried all the Colorado passes aren't open. (Imogene). Anybody know otherwise?

 

[HouseVVares]

I tried Imogene about 3 weeks ago during our summer trip and it was still closed. Good luck with your trip.

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[gunpainter]

Enjoyed a smooth highway ride up the Texas panhandle today. Steak at the Big Texan in Amarillo to say farewell tonight. Sorry if the rest of y'all don't get it. (Home of the free 72oz steak). Then we added some paint to Cadillac Ranch off I40 before heading north.

Starting to get worried all the Colorado passes aren't open. (Imogene). Anybody know otherwise?

Buddy of mine was just up there last week and did Imogene, Black bear, and some others.....lucky bastard. I wanted to do just yankee boy basin while I was out in that area and my wife said no.

Branden

 

[oneshot1001]

OK to CO successful

One muddy puddle crossing and one we went around easy enough. Got passed by six bikes. (Video on IG).

Using iPad mini to navigate was perfect. Verizon model dipped in and out of service.

Played with the terrain controls a bit through the mud and a climb

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[oneshot1001]

Would you believe I'm averaging 19+ mpg on/off-road. Most of the day by choice was kept around 25-35mph with some sections ranging from crawl to 60+.

All passes open according to San Juan Fs.usda.gov website as of today!

 

[eloist]

Awesome man. I hope to do some long trips in our lr3 with the little one and the hound dog. Praying the Rover gods keep you trouble free.

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[oneshot1001]

Up into the San Isabel national forest the views were constantly improving. Once we passed into the national forest we hit the 4x4 only roads which is exactly what I was hoping for. Testing our clearances and suspension travel along gorgeous ridges. The LR3 makes most of it easy with the options to raise height, terrain controls, and hill descent control. Happy to report they all worked brilliantly.

I've never really used such nice features off road. I definitely noticed the different throttle response in the special programs. My lovely wife took the wheel through some sections and had a blast.

For the record the rear seat entertainment system works just fine while using hill descent control. I was quite pleased the kids didn't want to watch movies all day like on the interstate.

 

[oneshot1001]

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[AggieOE]

Oh man that looks awesome! Glad to hear your wife is having fun and getting into the off road portion of y'all's trip. LR looks killer in its natural habitat!
I'm from Mansfield, TX so I know those views are not what y'all see everyday. lol

 

[oneshot1001]

this trip is turning into many great memories. I find myself struggling with the thought of leaving the trail and returning to our normal. If nothing else I've at least gained much more confidence we can hit the trail without months of prep. The LR3 is totally stock on road tires and it tackles everything effortlessly. Most of these roads we could have done in our old Suburban 2wd. (It would have clearance issues with many points though.

Near Cotopaxi there was a section blocked off by a sheriff. we detoured a bit pleasantly along a river with rafters passing by. There was also one unique sign along the roads that said 'locals only'. We mostly just get waved at by anybody we see though including authorities.

NE of Salida CO

Got to the hotel last night and a guy standing there in the parking lot saw our dusty car with Texas plates. (I had to wash it once already because mud was in the drivers side wheel causing a wobble at higher speeds). The guy says "I hope you didn't do it to here in one day." He was shocked to hear we've been off-road for several days. "Yep, since Oklahoma." This journey seems overwhelming to many we know, and yet we aren't even camping this trip. The hot tub and pool was nice for the kids today.

 

[oneshot1001]

Colorado was thrilling! Finally had to leave the TAT due to spending so much time playing in the San Juans.

We did Marshall, Engineer, and Imogene passes. Saw one other Discovery, Jeeps for days, some Toyotas, tons of ATVs, and a few other trucks. We seemed to be a novelty when rock crawling to the others. The Bridgestones just walked up and down these mountains.

We successfully drove the TAT from OK to Telluride CO in a stock LR3 without a single issue. We also ventured off on a couple more challenging detours.

On to some adventures in Utah....and Arizona....and....