Running From Monday!

[pawleyk]

Hey guys,

I’ve been lurking around here for a while, ExPo was invaluable for planning and for help with our build. The most valuable thing we gained from these forums, however, is the inspiration to stop dreaming and take to the road in the first place.
Thanks to everyone, seriously.

I do have a few other threads on ExPo, mostly for the truck and for the building of the custom aluminum bed, but no real trip thread. We’ve already been on the road 6 months, but I’ll try to catch you guys up on the basics..
My wife Taylor and I are driving my 2005 Chevy Silverado 2500HD. 4x4, with the 6.0L gas engine. Nothing too crazy for modifications (except maybe the custom bed), but I did re-gear it to 4.88’s, install a Detroit out back and install onboard air. There’s also a dual battery setup, and heavy welding cable to Anderson plugs front, rear, and center. They power jumper cables, the winch, and of course the camper.
The whole mess is carting around a 2016 FWC Grandby with the front dinette layout and everything we thought we’d need to make it a home- Isotherm 12v fridge, water heater, indoor/outdoor shower, a big *** battery and 390w of solar.

I put together short descriptions of mods and our reasons for what we chose on our page, with links to products/modifications and lots of pictures..

Truck Page- http://runningfrommonday.com/the-truck/I
Bed Page- http://runningfrommonday.com/the-bed/
Camper Page- http://runningfrommonday.com/the-camper/

Links to ExPo forum threads on the build-

Truck Thread- http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/149489-2005-Silverado-6-0L-heading-to-Argentina
Bed Thread- http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/155868-Custom-camper-friendly-truck-bed
OBA Thread- http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/159623-Viair-Mounting-Locatio

Our website is-
http://runningfrommonday.com/
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/runfrommonday/

The plan was to do the standard Pan-Am adventure, then (hopefully) ship the whole mess to Africa and drive it from Capetown to Cairo..

So far we're having a great time, but need to get into a better rhythm of learning and exploring. Right now it just feels like we're on permanent vacation, which oddly enough isn't quite what we're looking for.

We're currently in Belize and are considering shipping from Veracruz MX to Columbia to save a little money and time. It will be a bummer to miss so much of central America, but we're really just more excited about seeing Patagonia and then Africa. We can always come back. Sounds like a good excuse really..

Oh, and we upload pretty much all our pictures that are worth looking at to Facebook here- https://www.facebook.com/pg/runningfrommonday/photos/?tab=albums

 

[pawleyk]

We left Oregon on October 10th, 2016. 2 days after my 30th birthday. I drove my wife to lake Tahoe where she began the 2016 Rebelle Rally as a very fine kick off to our new life. After she and her partner took second place, I flew her to Boise and we continued on.
We made our way through Utah, spending a lot of time in Moab and around Grand Staircase Escalante (gods gift to basically everyone). We camped a couple nights on the North rim of the Grand Canyon, before picking up the last half of the Mojave road and rolling into San Diego. There might have been a stop in Vegas in there somewhere too..

We still miss Utah, and almost everyone we've met on the road mentions it. A few have even mentioned Grand Staircase by name, without us bringing it up first. Seriously, the American west is a truly magical place. We've seen some beautiful places, but I've grown a new appreciation for our home.

 

[pawleyk]

From San Diego we crossed into Baja at Tecate. My first time in Mexico I pulled my wife and everything we own down with me..
We met up with friends for the Baja 1000, and had the complete baja experience. Race trucks, donkey carts, remote beaches, and plenty of fish tacos.
After everyone else went home (and back to work..) we kept going South, enjoying even more desert scenery and the absolutely beautiful remote beaches. We bought snorkel gear and invested in a set of MaxTraxx. We even got to see a few gray whales and some baby turtles.
Plus we ate a lot of cheap ceviche and spent a lot of time driving terrible roads to nowhere. My favorite pass time.

After about two months in Baja (way too much time, and not nearly enough..) we took the trucker ferry across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan. TMC Ferries lets you sleep in your rig on the ride across, which is probably our most unique campsite to date.

MaxTraxx ******...
https://youtu.be/yANCehtIfMw

Whales!
https://youtu.be/5jKbVEPTDCU

 

[pawleyk]

We figured we'd make a quick visit into Mazatlan, the scramble for the mountains after only a day or so. We ended up spending three weeks in the city, it's a magical vortex of good food, live music, and a very forgiving police force who don't mind international contingents of hippies living in their cars on the streets.
We met up with a really cool German couple (http://dancing-fireflies.com/) who were just finishing up the build on their '97 bay window VW. I offered to help them with a little wiring, and ended up living in an autozone parking lot for 10 days working on the van after a fateful “last” trip together into the mountains.

At least I finally got to use those torque wrenches I brought along.. Plus the girls were bored, so we ate really well. Also movie nights.

Here's a link to the VW forum where the whole saga of van repair went down..
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=671666

And a link to our friend Peter's thoughts on being towed flat towed on a 15' strap 50 miles or so through Mexican backroads and Mazatlan traffic..
https://www.facebook.com/SophieMutlu/videos/1074996175944007/

View attachment 395138View attachment 395139

 

[pawleyk]

It was pretty tough to tear ourselves away from our new friends and from Mazatlan, but we finally made it into the mountains. About a month later than planned. We visited (and tasted) Tequila, and made our first high altitude camp since Arizona on the flanks of the namesake volcano.
Initially we intended to visit Guadalajara, but bailed on more city time for a long backroad drive through the mountains. Camping beside reservoirs and in remote roadside quarries. Everyone was nice, but we did get some funny looks from locals as we tooled through their tiny villages. One marvelously mustachioed man even flagged us down to make sure we knew our way to the highway..
We eventually landed in Guanajuato, one of those places we'd only seen on blogs and Instagram. The feeling of following in the footsteps of others on a grand adventure didn't really set in until the sun set over the bright buildings of the city.
It was everything we'd imagined and more. Tons of good street food, endless twisty streets to explore, and a really rich and vibrant history.
Wishing we could stay longer, we left after only a couple days to make our way into San Cristobal for a week of much needed Spanish lessons. We also hiked out to a very remote coffee farm and learned to make tortillas by hand on an open fire. Probably the best part of the whole day, and it wasn't even part of the tour. We just asked if we could help with lunch.

 

[pawleyk]

Taylor's sister was scheduled to fly into Cancun to meet us, so after our Spanish lessons ended we put in some of the longest driving days of our trip. A couple 9 hour days aren't bad, not when you have A/C and the scenery is so much fun to look at. All the highway driving even squeezed a little over 11mpg out of the 6.0l..

Mexico is a really diverse country, lots of deserts, beaches, mountains, and jungle plus tons of combinations between the four. Despite being stopped SIX times in one day at roadside inspections, the drive went well.

After picking up the sister, we made our way around the Yucatan swimming in cenotes and bothering the local wildlife.

We also began meeting tons of other overlanders, it became rare not to share a parking lot for the night with another couple of unemployed bums. We hadn't seen all that many fellow deadbeats, but the Yucatan seems to concentrate everybody a bit before entering Belize.

After making tracks all over the peninsula we spent a few days in Baccalar to rest up, then crossed into Belize for a little fried food and English.

Here's a quick video of our time around the upper Yucatan-
https://youtu.be/eirXRL1l0Mc

 

[pawleyk]

And now we're in Belize!

It took about a week to stop trying to use our limited Spanish, but we're back on track now. I just hope we don't lose too much of the little we had gained, Belize is a small country, we'll be in Guatemala in no time..

So far the warnings we'd heard back in Mexico turned out to be untrue (big surprise, everybody everywhere is afraid of everyone else..) and Belize has been awesome. Very laid back, with tons of beautiful water and of course some epic snorkeling and diving.

The whole country has a small-town Southern America feel. They even do country wide obituaries each week on one of the radio stations..

Snorkeling Caye Caulker-
https://youtu.be/4C_u2EmfXY0

 

[locrwln]

Been looking through your homepage. Thanks for linking the parts that you used through out.
.
Jack

 

[pawleyk]

Been looking through your homepage. Thanks for linking the parts that you used through out.
.
Jack

Thanks, I get tons of questions about which parts I've installed, so it's nice to have a reference I can send people too. I'm happy to talk about it all day long, but people seem to appreciate the lists and links once they get back home.