2000 ford Excursion camping/backcountry vehicle

[elpoffroad]

Well we are heading on a little adventure next weekend to Snow Lake NM and since my sister and father are heading with us we will be keeping the 3rd row seat in, so alternative ways of storing some gear were being looked at. I finally decided to get a used enclosed carrier that was on craigslist for 20 bucks. I will have to make some custom mounts for the carrier but have a plan to make an easy mount tomorrow. I wanted to get the roofrack done but with kids feeling ill the opportunity didnt arise. I am hoping to get a little work done on the excursion before hitting the road if time permits.

 

[elpoffroad]

Getting ready to hit the road

We were planning on going to snow lake but with a late departure and family wanting to get to a campsite ASAP we decided to go to Lake Roberts in the gila.

Our Camp view was beautiful. This is the view right as we exited the tent.

Took a few pictures of the campsite set up.(my boy and me chilling, picture was taken by wife)


Daughter loving it up in the mountains

We ran out of wood to burn so the wife and I decided to leave the kids with grandpa and head out to get some wood loaded. Once we found some we had a chance to take pictures in the beautiful dusk.


We decided to also cruise the gila and found a rocky road up the mountain to take a better panoramic shot.

It was a great trip. First time camping for my sister. Overall had a blast and cant wait to do it again

 

[elpoffroad]

On a high note what started this trip is what made it special to me.

As we were leaving Las Cruces we realized we had forgotten to get drinks out of the cooler so we decided to stop at a store at Akela Flats to not mess up how well organized we were. As the family went to the restroom and I chose my drink I overheard a gentlemen that was having trouble with his credit card to put gasoline.I noticed that he was driving a nice cross country motorcycle and thus naturally caught my attention. As My father was paying for the drinks I went outside to offer the gentlemen in case he couldn't get his card to work for me to put gas. His card finally did work and thus we struck a conversation. Turns out he was from Australia and he was travelling the world on a motorcycle. He had just finished doing his leg from panama to the United States. He had no specific destination but just the sense of adventure and discovering new things daily.​

Since I come from Hispanic heritage I felt a great connection with this individual and felt like what a privilege for him to give me the time of day to tell me a bit of his story so I gave him pilonsillo (which is a caramelized condensed milk with pecans) candy. We had to hit the road again wished his safe travels and off we went but wow what an amazing individual. I will always keep that memory of our conversation and next level inspirational event in my life. It was an honor to be part of the memories of that person. May the road lead you to your final destination safe and sound brother.:wavey:​

It was a great trip... restarted my adventure flame for sure.:1888fbbd:

 

[elpoffroad]

Tomorrow I will go spend the night with my boy and my nephews and niece in preparation for the thanksgiving parade. We have normally just relaxed and headed out in the AM so we are going to change it up a bit and do a little camping out now that they are older. Let's see how tomorrow turns out, it's going to be a fun new tradition.

 

[Chris Cordes]

Awesome stuff! It's crazy who you meet on these random adventures

 

[Sock Puppet]

You're making some great family memories, there. Keep it up!

 

[elpoffroad]

Yeah the memories don't stop coming and will hopefully guide them for a life time. Yeah its crazy the individuals that we meet in the middle of nowhere. We are planning of going off into NM again but this time by Timberon for Christmas break, get a little winter camping going. Lets see what gets planned. Only thing holding me back these past 3 weeks is that after going offroading in my wife's Grand Cherokee a guy t-boned me and my kids in the jeep. Gratefully my kids suffered no injury, yet i wasn't as lucky. I broke my hand, dislocated my shoulder and got a mild concussion. Hopefully by Christmas I am back in full swing so I can get back to having some overlanding fun.

 

[poorboy1964]

Liking what your doing here great trips and memories

 

[elpoffroad]

Yeah the kids love the excursion big enough for everyone to have their personal space and then some...plus they keep a bunch of toys always in it so they can stay entertained.

 

[elpoffroad]

Well the planning has begun. We are planning a 7 day to a 14 day trip in the excursion. I will be setting up a sleeping platform for me and my wife inside the truck. We are looking at exploring more of New Mexico and beyond that where ever the road takes us. I will be adding some interior lighting on a toggle switch for when we are inside the truck relaxing. I will also be adding a retractable table to the rear door kind of how rphil did in his excursion. I am also thinking of adding a hitch luggage carrier in order to carry a little more gear. Beyond that I am thinking of adding a secondary battery and some magnetic screens for the windows in order to roll down the windows and the mosquitoes not overrun the interior. Any other ideas guy?

 

[ExplorerTom]

Personally I wouldn't do a hitch for cargo when going into unknown offroads. I'd go with roof storage before hitch. But even then, I'd try to not need any exterior storage. Less is more. You've got 2 people for 2 weeks.

 

[mezmochill]

Put a hightop on it, it will be ************!

 

[elpoffroad]

Personally I wouldn't do a hitch for cargo when going into unknown offroads. I'd go with roof storage before hitch. But even then, I'd try to not need any exterior storage. Less is more. You've got 2 people for 2 weeks.

I do agree less is more and we do want to keep it simple.

Put a hightop on it, it will be ************!

I wanted to buy a rooftop tent but my wife isn't fond of heights ..high top is on my list of wants but talk about amount of fabrication.

 

[Chris Cordes]

yeah skip the hitch rack at all costs. Find room in the interior / cut supplies / and if necessary run another box or something on the roof. How many kids will you be carrying?

 

[5HUB]

Possible trailer? I'm just getting started in a build.