mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Ok, so not so much of a true overland adventure(yet), but we saw some great stuff on our trip from Portland, OR down to Petaluma, CA to pick up the new-to-me Autohome Columbus Variant roof top tent (medium unit, purchased off of ExPo classifieds, thanks Dave!!). It will eventually be fitted to my G-Wagen, but for this trip, my Audi Allroad was the high speed transport.
The drive down I-5 was pretty boring of course, but just outside of Napa, we spied a white FJ70 Troopie headed towards us on the highway. Anyone on here? Great winery tour rig! :drool:
After picking up the RTT(huge thanks to Barton, stevegsmith's brother, for the temporary storage---the overland community rocks!!!), we headed back up the Cali coast's Hwy1 and then Hwy101. About 1hr NW of Petaluma, CA on Hwy1, I noticed a green brick with something white and familiar on the roof, turning in to a state campground. "Autohome!" I shouted as we hurled past, slamming on the brakes. We quickly turned around and inside the campground gates we found a trio from Norway. Geir, Ivana, and friend(didn't get her name), had been away from home since April, traversing the world in their FJ60 (4L) diesel. The map below shows their Europe/Asia route so far. They entered the America's in Alaska, came down through WA, OR, now Cali, and will be zig-zagging across the lower SW and over to the east coast. Keep your eyes open for them! (They hadn't heard of ExPo so I informed them about this great community. Hopefully they hop on here at some point. And sorry, not the most artistic pics I've ever taken, just some quick ones)
They have an Autohome Maggiolina(small), of which they lost the cranking handle(to raise the RTT) somewhere in Russia they said(my Columbus is an auto pop-up using gas dampers so no crank, or else I would have given them mine). I wasn't able to determine what they were using instead to wind the RTT open. Anyways, they were super friendly and happy to see other overlanders. Sadly we needed to maintain progress north so we weren't able to stay with them for very long. However, since it was so damn hot inland (95deg+), fog immersed the entire coastline and Hwy 1/101.
Ok don't laugh but our camp spot for the night was Ukiah's Wal-Mart parking lot (read; stealth camping for cheap, as this was purely a last minute drive-down and drive-back trip, plus it was Labor Day weekend so all state campsites were full...and I'm not comfortable enough with the Allroad's roof load capacity to have another 300lbs up there). With the rear seats folded down, the Allroad has plenty of room in the back for 2 people and my 3yr Pointer, gear in RF seat.
The next day we stopped at every Redwood State and National forest/park along the 101, for I am in love with these gentle giants. We hiked, we explored, we scouted for future camp sites, we looked up in pure awe. For those of you who haven't been to the Redwood's, please put it on your bucket list. Words CANNOT describe the beauty and tranquility they offer. "The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always...they are not like any other trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time." -John Steinbeck
Somewhere along the northern Cali coast, the sky cleared up over a vast stretch of beach. Handfuls and handfuls of vehicles were pulled off to the side so I slowed to see what the commotion was about. A large herd of elk right on the sandy beach!! The largest bull had quite the number of ladies with him. :elkgrin: Many pictures were taken, and my Pointer desperately wanted to go out and play with "those big ginormous" dogs, but of course wasn't allowed to.
All in all, a great quick trip with some overland-related goodness. I hope my Columbus RTT and G-Wagen will bring me many more wonderful memories(and completed adventure/expedition threads here) ahead.
-Jeremy
The drive down I-5 was pretty boring of course, but just outside of Napa, we spied a white FJ70 Troopie headed towards us on the highway. Anyone on here? Great winery tour rig! :drool:
After picking up the RTT(huge thanks to Barton, stevegsmith's brother, for the temporary storage---the overland community rocks!!!), we headed back up the Cali coast's Hwy1 and then Hwy101. About 1hr NW of Petaluma, CA on Hwy1, I noticed a green brick with something white and familiar on the roof, turning in to a state campground. "Autohome!" I shouted as we hurled past, slamming on the brakes. We quickly turned around and inside the campground gates we found a trio from Norway. Geir, Ivana, and friend(didn't get her name), had been away from home since April, traversing the world in their FJ60 (4L) diesel. The map below shows their Europe/Asia route so far. They entered the America's in Alaska, came down through WA, OR, now Cali, and will be zig-zagging across the lower SW and over to the east coast. Keep your eyes open for them! (They hadn't heard of ExPo so I informed them about this great community. Hopefully they hop on here at some point. And sorry, not the most artistic pics I've ever taken, just some quick ones)
They have an Autohome Maggiolina(small), of which they lost the cranking handle(to raise the RTT) somewhere in Russia they said(my Columbus is an auto pop-up using gas dampers so no crank, or else I would have given them mine). I wasn't able to determine what they were using instead to wind the RTT open. Anyways, they were super friendly and happy to see other overlanders. Sadly we needed to maintain progress north so we weren't able to stay with them for very long. However, since it was so damn hot inland (95deg+), fog immersed the entire coastline and Hwy 1/101.
Ok don't laugh but our camp spot for the night was Ukiah's Wal-Mart parking lot (read; stealth camping for cheap, as this was purely a last minute drive-down and drive-back trip, plus it was Labor Day weekend so all state campsites were full...and I'm not comfortable enough with the Allroad's roof load capacity to have another 300lbs up there). With the rear seats folded down, the Allroad has plenty of room in the back for 2 people and my 3yr Pointer, gear in RF seat.
The next day we stopped at every Redwood State and National forest/park along the 101, for I am in love with these gentle giants. We hiked, we explored, we scouted for future camp sites, we looked up in pure awe. For those of you who haven't been to the Redwood's, please put it on your bucket list. Words CANNOT describe the beauty and tranquility they offer. "The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always...they are not like any other trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time." -John Steinbeck
Somewhere along the northern Cali coast, the sky cleared up over a vast stretch of beach. Handfuls and handfuls of vehicles were pulled off to the side so I slowed to see what the commotion was about. A large herd of elk right on the sandy beach!! The largest bull had quite the number of ladies with him. :elkgrin: Many pictures were taken, and my Pointer desperately wanted to go out and play with "those big ginormous" dogs, but of course wasn't allowed to.
All in all, a great quick trip with some overland-related goodness. I hope my Columbus RTT and G-Wagen will bring me many more wonderful memories(and completed adventure/expedition threads here) ahead.
-Jeremy