kcowyo
ExPo Original
.
"One day I took a tour through the country, and the diversity and beauties I met within this charming season, expelled every gloomy and vexatious thought."
- Daniel Boone
"I still tour like a man possessed, because I am."
- Ted Nugent
It doesn't hurt to be Irish, and to have all of that luck on your side.
Luck, they say, is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. But sometimes you just get lucky, which happened to me recently and resulted in the tale I am about to tell you here. I am not an ungrateful or selfish man. So to those who will follow along here with me, I wish that luck will present itself to you one day, in a similar fashion.
After all, we all deserve to get lucky sometime.
******************************
The preparation began here on the Portal, with me reading about seemingly forlorn desert locations in the southwestern US. Places with funny names that stuck in my head like Anza Borrego, Kofa and Mojave. These places were fairly foreign to me. But they appealed to that part of me which loves the remote feeling at the end of a desolate road. Places where the silence is deafening and the views expand your personal horizons.
So I decided whenever the opportunity came up, that I would go see these places.
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge -
In addition to the many spectacular trip reports, I also watched the roof-top tent boom here. I read and learned about all of the various manufacturers and models and the features, benefits and drawbacks (not many). I took the opportunity when travelling with roof-top tent owners, to inspect several different brands. They all looked like good kit.
However, I bought a full fledged camper instead. Something in me likes to do things a little differently than most. So I got all Frank Sinatra, and did it my way. And I love my Four Wheel Camper. We have racked up some serious miles and stayed in amazing places. For it's sentimental value and capability, I would name it among my most valued possessions.
But those roof-top tents sure looked cool.
Mark Stephens Eezi-Awn & Greg Stephens Maggiolina, in Kofa NWP-
My favorite tent by far, was the Autohome Columbus model. I loved the low profile, the simple set up and the headroom that the clam-shell design offered. When Autohome introduced a Carbon Fiber model of the Columbus, weighing only 82 pounds and in a more neutral gray color, my attentions went from admiration to full fledged pursuit. It would be the perfect compliment to my 60 series Toyota Landcruiser, which along with our Engle fridge (and a new power steering pump...) would complete my version of the ultimate, 'round the way or 'round the world, Landcruiser.
With a few inquiries and a healthy dose of that luck o' the Irish, I was able to locate a Columbus potentially for sale. Money talks and cash speaks even louder. I had finally secured a Columbus Carbon Fiber, the most technologically advanced roof-top tent in the world. All I had to do was pick it up in Arizona, where apparently roof-top tents grow on Toyota Tacomas.
Almost on cue, as I was making arrangements for a "quick down & back" trip to Arizona, I get an invitation to a party in the same area, for the same weekend. I like to party... Before I could even send in an RSVP, gas prices suddenly plummeted to under $2. Next thing I know, I have the maps out, I'm emailing friends along the way and I'm taking 10 days off to tour the southwestern US.
Preparation, meet opportunity. We're about to get lucky....
.
"One day I took a tour through the country, and the diversity and beauties I met within this charming season, expelled every gloomy and vexatious thought."
- Daniel Boone
"I still tour like a man possessed, because I am."
- Ted Nugent
It doesn't hurt to be Irish, and to have all of that luck on your side.
Luck, they say, is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. But sometimes you just get lucky, which happened to me recently and resulted in the tale I am about to tell you here. I am not an ungrateful or selfish man. So to those who will follow along here with me, I wish that luck will present itself to you one day, in a similar fashion.
After all, we all deserve to get lucky sometime.
******************************
The preparation began here on the Portal, with me reading about seemingly forlorn desert locations in the southwestern US. Places with funny names that stuck in my head like Anza Borrego, Kofa and Mojave. These places were fairly foreign to me. But they appealed to that part of me which loves the remote feeling at the end of a desolate road. Places where the silence is deafening and the views expand your personal horizons.
So I decided whenever the opportunity came up, that I would go see these places.
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge -
In addition to the many spectacular trip reports, I also watched the roof-top tent boom here. I read and learned about all of the various manufacturers and models and the features, benefits and drawbacks (not many). I took the opportunity when travelling with roof-top tent owners, to inspect several different brands. They all looked like good kit.
However, I bought a full fledged camper instead. Something in me likes to do things a little differently than most. So I got all Frank Sinatra, and did it my way. And I love my Four Wheel Camper. We have racked up some serious miles and stayed in amazing places. For it's sentimental value and capability, I would name it among my most valued possessions.
But those roof-top tents sure looked cool.
Mark Stephens Eezi-Awn & Greg Stephens Maggiolina, in Kofa NWP-
My favorite tent by far, was the Autohome Columbus model. I loved the low profile, the simple set up and the headroom that the clam-shell design offered. When Autohome introduced a Carbon Fiber model of the Columbus, weighing only 82 pounds and in a more neutral gray color, my attentions went from admiration to full fledged pursuit. It would be the perfect compliment to my 60 series Toyota Landcruiser, which along with our Engle fridge (and a new power steering pump...) would complete my version of the ultimate, 'round the way or 'round the world, Landcruiser.
With a few inquiries and a healthy dose of that luck o' the Irish, I was able to locate a Columbus potentially for sale. Money talks and cash speaks even louder. I had finally secured a Columbus Carbon Fiber, the most technologically advanced roof-top tent in the world. All I had to do was pick it up in Arizona, where apparently roof-top tents grow on Toyota Tacomas.
Almost on cue, as I was making arrangements for a "quick down & back" trip to Arizona, I get an invitation to a party in the same area, for the same weekend. I like to party... Before I could even send in an RSVP, gas prices suddenly plummeted to under $2. Next thing I know, I have the maps out, I'm emailing friends along the way and I'm taking 10 days off to tour the southwestern US.
Preparation, meet opportunity. We're about to get lucky....
.
