My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We didn't actually leave Lake Mead that day.....nor the following day either. Just as we reached the point furthest away from all the other campers I noticed that the last legal camp spot was available and since nightfall was not too far away, we pulled in to spend the night.....



We were alone then and that made me feel good.....but 30 minutes later a van pulled into our site to camp and parked within ten feet of my Jeep.....I knew it was too good to be true. We had words.....he was belligerent.....times are a changing my friends. The following day a trailer pulled in.....and yes he too ran a generator all day & well into the night.....



I had predicted that ATV's would breach the newly built ditch & berm first.....but nope.....it was an SUV that made it's way through.....



We made another trip to the lake.....





I kept Trapper on the leash.....I can't afford another incident like the last.....





Tanner is just beginning to show her the ropes so I'm guessing that she's fine with the restrictions.....



And we are gone now.....nearly two and one half months in one spot.....it's been a real challenge. I learned one thing about myself while camped here.....I'm still not ready to settle down in any one town. So I'm not too sure what's up next.....but we're going to work on our attitudes and try to bring back our smiles.....



Tonight we're camped on a new desert lake in a wildlife refuge.....haven't seen a piece of trash all day.....so beautiful here.....I've been smiling the entire day.....

Trappers spaying went well and that too brings a smile to our faces.....

 

[Riversdad]

Great pictures of the kids. They both look really happy.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Riversdad.....our world has improved greatly and yes, they (& me) are certainly happy (again).....



Last night I logged into XP and noticed in a thread that XP member Able Guy posted that he is currently dealing with cancer. I've been there.....and done that too. If you pray, pray for him.....if you think (as I do), think about him.....if you message, message him.....no doubt it will be appreciated.....



And so it was that the roads finally took us away from Lake Mead and many of the what I could only describe as the man made horrors of that wonderful place. We passed through Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday morning, headed north up Interstate 15, hung a left onto Highway 93 and oh man were we happy as we were heading north. You don't see it so much on Trappers face.....she's just ingested another sedative and a pain killer.....but yea, she's happy.....





After just a few hours on the highway we arrived at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.....our first night here was at a shared campsite.....not ideal but our neighbor was a young man.....quiet and respectful.....



A controlled burn was ongoing.....





The slight winds moved the smoke away from the campsites so there were no ill effects from that controlled burn.....







I thought that the smoke made for some interesting skies so out came the camera equipment (my Galaxy S9+).....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

A flock of Pelicans swam across the lake and it was nearly surreal as I thought in my mind of the differences between a flock of Pelicans here at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge as opposed to a flock of Pelicans at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.....here it is tranquilo.....and we were in need of tranquilo.....



We took our first walk along the flat wildlife refuges campground road.....



On our second day here.....a couple moved on and they had promised us their private campsite so we too moved on.....although it was not more than maybe 300 feet.....or so.....



Life was good.....





And just kept getting better.....





A bright light seemed to shine upon us.....





And oh man we were thankful.....

 

[grindmonkey]

Several months ago I made the decision to go with a new 2021 Ford F550 gasoline engine 4 x 4 crew cab with lots of planned aftermarket upgrades & I definitely wanted to keep my Northern Lite truck camper to mount on that truck......so I gave the Ford dealer in Bozeman, Montana a call and started the process of

Now it turned out that Ford had already quit taking contracts on 2021 models yet this salesman in Bozeman, Montana was still pushing me to put down a deposit. Fortunately I connected with Daniel Little at DBL Design somewhere down south in Texas. Now this guy is first rate.....he responds to all calls and emails in a timely fashion and he knows his stuff really well.....when I apologize for taking up too much of his time.....he replies "it's my job,

Daniel connected me with a Ford truck salesman (Dan Munro @ Grand Prairie Ford) down there in Texas and this guy has 35 years experience selling trucks.....I was impressed.....and as a side note he loves Golden Retrievers.....


So now the plan was to order a 2022 Ford F550 in Texas, and in 3 or 4 months when the truck arrives, then have it delivered to DBL Design for suspension upgrades, Fox shocks & upgraded coil springs, heavy duty bumper with 16,500 pound winch, fender flares and 41" wheels / tires, and

Unfortunately we've run into a huge problem and that huge problem is finding an appropriate location to install a full size spare. We've gone round and round for the past 2 weeks.....I've come up with 4 options.....none are really viable. Ford will begin accepting contracts on 2022 models on March 18th.....not sure that I can move forward with such a huge question unanswered.....a full size spare is, of course, mandatory.....

I am not an expert but you may want to keep in mind the GCWR. We talk all day about a trucks GVWR and what kind of payload we can get. I went down the route looking at F550.... cause... why not. I plan to use a service body and a truck camper. The truck will keep its truck registration (not changed to RV) because I will still plan to use the truck as a truck and not always with the camper. In the future we plan to potentially pull a trailer with snow machines. Tandem 3500lb axle with a trailer GVWR of 7000ish.

An F550 with a GVWR of 19500 pulling a trailer at 7000 puts me at 26500. Many states require a CDL for a truck GCWR in excess of 26000. It doesnt matter what weight you are actually hauling, if the truck + trailer has a GCWR above 26000 lbs you can run into issues. (Fines in the $1000 range, not being able to move the trailer unless a CDL driver or lower capacity truck, etc).There are quite a few hot shot truckers that get nailed by this.

Now, would I get pulled over for it? Some states you have to get weighed with a GVWR of a F550. Would the weigh station report it? Who knows. I know there are exception for RVs and stuff but I havent found the loophole I am looking for yet. It may not impact your choices at all, just something to factor when looking at the numbers.

It has kinda pushed me to looking at the F350 or F450 to keep me under the 26000 threshold with a 7000-10000 lb trailer.

Take a look at the GVWR of your jeep (probably 5000-6000). You should have room with a 550, but if you wanted a trailer in the future to haul the jeep it may get close.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Riversdad.....just a follow-up on Sherptek truck beds.....they quoted me a price of "probably north of $55,000 with a 10 month backlog currently on orders".....and of course they mentioned the huge number of people getting into "overlanding" as the reason.....I moved on rather quickly.....the entire truck won't cost much more than that.....

grindmonkey.....I too am not an expert so I guess that I take comfort in the fact that lots of people have done builds like this before me and apparently these builds are everywhere. Just yesterday I spoke with Daniel Little @ DBL Design (several times actually) and he mentioned that he has done over 700 of these wheel builds and currently has a backlog with just one Ford dealership of 70 trucks. So yea.....I follow blindly (if indeed I do follow).....it's a work still in progress.....



We've now spent (5) five nights here in the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge and I (we) have loved every single one of them.....



Tanners' unsettled stomach last night had me out admiring the dark skies multiple times throughout the very, very long night.....





It's not often that I have the opportunity to see the nights' dark skies on an hourly basis.....



But I'd have it no other way really.....the discomforts of helping the dogs with their issues.....well, that's a small price to pay for what I get back from them.....





It was just two nights ago that the same happened with Trapper.....hers was an expected issue due to her prescribed medications after her surgery.....



It's just incredible how peaceful it is here to be walking along that gravel campground road staring out across the so calm & dark lakes surface at 3:00 a.m. .....



I absolutely love it.....



Some call it "living the dream".....

 

[grindmonkey]

Riversdad.....just a follow-up on Sherptek truck beds.....they quoted me a price of "probably north of $55,000 with a 10 month backlog currently on orders".....and of course they mentioned the huge number of people getting into "overlanding" as the reason.....I moved on rather quickly.....the entire truck won't cost much more than that.....

grindmonkey.....I too am not an expert so I guess that I take comfort in the fact that lots of people have done builds like this before me and apparently these builds are everywhere. Just yesterday I spoke with Daniel Little @ DBL Design (several times actually) and he mentioned that he has done over 700 of these wheel builds and currently has a backlog with just one Ford dealership of 70 trucks. So yea.....I follow blindly (if indeed I do follow).....it's a work still in progress.....



We've now spent (5) five nights here in the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge and I (we) have loved every single one of them.....

View attachment 649930

Tanners' unsettled stomach last night had me out admiring the dark skies multiple times throughout the very, very long night.....

View attachment 649931

View attachment 649932

It's not often that I have the opportunity to see the nights' dark skies on an hourly basis.....

View attachment 649933

But I'd have it no other way really.....the discomforts of helping the dogs with their issues.....well, that's a small price to pay for what I get back from them.....

View attachment 649936

View attachment 649934

It was just two nights ago that the same happened with Trapper.....hers was an expected issue with her after surgery medications.....

View attachment 649937

It's just incredible how peaceful it is here to be walking along that gravel campground road staring out across the so calm & dark lakes surface at 3:00 a.m. .....

View attachment 649938

I absolutely love it.....

View attachment 649939

Some call it "living the dream".....

View attachment 649941

I think that the setup will give you what your looking for as far as capabilities. Again it is the road I was going down but my use case as a truck alone (pulling a large trailer) brings certain limitations. If you plan to keep the camper on full time, which I would suspect, it may be worthwhile to look into the potential of changing the registration to an RV if you are close to the 26000 lb GCWR. This is how earthroamers and many others get around the 26k. You also have your rig dialed in to what you haul, so if the jeep is the heaviest GVWR item you pull it may never hit 26000, even with a truck at 19500.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

grindmonkey.....I have no plans to tow anything other than the Jeep. I think it's the perfect tow vehicle. I use it not only for its intended use, but I also use it as a cargo trailer (water, firewood, tools, etc). I looked to find the GVWR for my 1992 Jeep Wrangler. The closet I came to finding something was for a 2020 Jeep Wrangler and the GVWR for that is 5,000 lbs. I'm guessing it's a bit less for my old Jeep.....manufacturers are always trying to push that number up (I think).....so this is probably not an issue for me.....I have even larger obstacles honestly.....



I've been thinking a lot about the people that I met as well as the thousands (?) of people that I didn't meet while camped at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.....my guess is that I had little in common with the masses that came.....but I did meet some like minded people.....some really good people. I got this text message last night from a young couple that I'd met there.....it's their imitation of the Tanner & Trapper picture that I recently posted. They are full timers with a sense of humor.....they too left Lake Mead a bit disappointed.....they tell me they're now in Texas and loving it.....



Now we are in a campground (free) where there are lots of rules & regulations.....not something that I'm a fan of but maybe with the direction that society is moving in, I'll need to rethink my positions.....



We just spent our sixth night here and I can honestly say that I (we) couldn't be more pleased. We've made friends with the campground host that has an 11 year old Yellow Lab that looks just like Yukon.....we talk multiple times daily.....





It just seems odd to me that we as a society have to have all these rules & regulations to protect what we own.....what is it that drives people to abuse Mother Nature.....





I met a couple my second day here.....



And I mention that cause I've been real down on people as a whole.....



And this couple that I met.....are some of my most favorite people that I've ever met on the road.....



Sometimes it's odd the timing of things.....more about them & that in an upcoming post.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

So I've been working with DBL Design in or near Dallas, Texas and with the local Ford dealer and another local company which provides and installs flat beds. Trying to design and build the rig that I now desire while living on the road and being a few thousand miles away has proved to be challenging.....almost more than I care to handle. I was close to throwing in the towel when this near perfect rig pulls into the campground.....



This rig is owned by Tom & Kelly.....full timers now for 7 years.....living in a BigFoot 9.4 truck camper.....the exact same truck camper that I too owned and loved.....for 13 years.....



Summer of 2017 my refrigerator malfunctioned and my BigFoot 9.4 was a total loss in the fire.....it was and is the perfect truck camper.....



Once they were settled in I headed over to their campsite for a visit.....and I'll just say that I was thankful that I did. That night they treated me to dinner (I nearly never accept these invitations on the road).....these people were (and are) interesting, different.....and I sure enjoyed my visits with them.....





I could hardly believe my stroke of luck here at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.....



Tom is an Industrial Design Engineer and was more than willing to help me with some of the challenges that I've been facing with the design of my new rig (if indeed there will be one).....





So Tom & I went to work on the first day that we met.....we took measurements together and kicked around some ideas. Then Tom took a few pictures and sent me a picture.....an F550 with my Northern Lite.....



Tom & Kelly stayed for 4 nights and we hung out everyday and I really loved my time spent with these guys.....



We had one last dinner together on their last night here.....and Tom sent me one last rendering which I absolutely loved. All the issues are not yet solved but without the help & encouragement from Tom & Kelly I wonder where I would be today ? Tom is a member here on XP.....I have no idea of his XP name.....

Thanks Tom & Kelly.....if you happen to see this.....it was a blessing meeting you guys on the road.....

 

[tgil]

Very nice, meeting someone like Tom that could help you work out your design! I like the looks of his concepts. My first question would be how is that spare secured? Just my inquiring mind...

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Riversdad]

Good people are drawn to good people. Glad it worked out for you, and his concepts do look great.

 

[Sierra Valley]

Thats a good looking rig right there! Hope you see it through fruition.

 

[Sierra Valley]

stion would be how is that spare secured? Just my inquiring mind...

Tie downs would seem like the only way being its sandwiched in there.

 

[Arjan]

Nice - looks visually just right.

Could work very, very well.

Interesting to see where this meeting will lead you...

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

tgil.....so I'm not exactly certain of the answer to your question. Daniel Little @ DBL Design has suggested cutting off the headache rack, installing spare tire carriers mounts (I want 2 full size spares) that he manufactures, and then reinstalling the headache rack (I would prefer it to be reinstalled but apparently that's not required). In some ways this looks so simple but the reality is that it is just the opposite.....

Riversdad.....I was so fortunate to meet Tom & Kelly.....we've talked, texted or emailed nearly everyday since they left.....yep, good people.....

Sierra Valley.....thanks.....I like the look quite a bit. The 41" tires, 2.5" lift, and the flat bed will raise the overall height approximately one foot.....which will make it a bit over 12' which is similar to the Earthroamer.....my Renegade Motorcoach was 13' 5" and that was too high for me. I'm trying to wrap my arms around this new idea.....

Arjan.....I was in quite the hurry when I initially started down this road but now I'm slowing down.....way down actually. If I were to order today, it would be completed in August, 2021 and I'm not so sure that I want to be in Dallas, Texas in the peak of the summer.....



Now in our ninth day here at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge and life continues to be good.....Trapper has healed well.....





The plan was to stay two weeks and we're fast approaching that goal.....







Poor Tanner continues to struggle with his stomach issues.....the lake water looks good.....it is not.....



So we walk and enjoy the views.....lots of time out enjoying the night skies.....living our lives in the moment.....





And sometimes wondering what's next up for us.....