Trip report: Expo 2013, 3 states and the stealth TC
March 2012: Despite all expectations, Myself, Silversand and Silverdunes have been able to gain a slight sun-tan over a lunchtime beer soaking up the unseasonable 26c at Bromont near Montreal. After enviously flicking through a copy of Overland Journal magazine, talk turns to Overland Expo 2012. A few of the RV.net clan are thinking of attending. I thumb through my diary on the Blackberry. Could I finally make use of all the British Airways miles I’ve accumulated to get a flight over to Phoenix? However I look at it it isn’t going to work without flying directly from South Africa complete with company laptop, suit, etc. So much for that great idea.
June 2012: We are with Joerg68 and Flaxi at the big German offroad and adventure travel show with our truck camper. Hmmm, what about the same sort of thing, but in sunny AZ? Plus Sally has now quit the demon tobacco and won’t be chewing her finger nails off during the necessary long haul flight. Maybe we could make a joint vacation out of a trip to Expo? Maybe we could rent a truck camper too? The seed is truly sown.
Oh to get into the boondocks like Whazoo, Jefe and DJ.
Long hours googling shows all the rental companies ideas of an RV is 28ft long and about as manoeuvrable offroad as a small apartment. Rental truck campers are about as common as Dodos. An Australian company comes to the rescue and we are able to hire a 19ft RV that I am assured is actually a truck camper with a cloaking device, not a class B.
The next question is – who else would like to come to Expo? I mention the idea to Roseann, the organiser of Expo. She is keen to have a load of us attend (she even took the time to watch our Sahara trip report video from end to end and was able to identify what I thought was some anonymous Arab music I had used as a soundtrack). Further, she is happy to allocate us a private area in the camping field.
At this point bka0721 volunteered to help on the ground. He had been talking to others about attending Expo, so this fitted in nicely. Behind the scenes he put in a lot of effort working out camping arrangements, even volunteering to assist Expo as a sort of camp host. So many thanks to Bryan for all his help.
Thursday - Where's my window?
Before we know it, it is May 2013 and the time for the big trip has arrived.
I treat Sally to lunch in the British Airways First Class lounge. We are in coach, but benefits of all the $$$ I spend with BA means no sitting on hard plastic seats or queuing.
It also means I can book the exact seats I want nearly a year in advance – this comes back to haunt me as it turns out I’ve managed to book one of only two seats on a 777 with no window – doh!
Stay tuned...
June 2012: We are with Joerg68 and Flaxi at the big German offroad and adventure travel show with our truck camper. Hmmm, what about the same sort of thing, but in sunny AZ? Plus Sally has now quit the demon tobacco and won’t be chewing her finger nails off during the necessary long haul flight. Maybe we could make a joint vacation out of a trip to Expo? Maybe we could rent a truck camper too? The seed is truly sown.
Oh to get into the boondocks like Whazoo, Jefe and DJ.
Long hours googling shows all the rental companies ideas of an RV is 28ft long and about as manoeuvrable offroad as a small apartment. Rental truck campers are about as common as Dodos. An Australian company comes to the rescue and we are able to hire a 19ft RV that I am assured is actually a truck camper with a cloaking device, not a class B.
The next question is – who else would like to come to Expo? I mention the idea to Roseann, the organiser of Expo. She is keen to have a load of us attend (she even took the time to watch our Sahara trip report video from end to end and was able to identify what I thought was some anonymous Arab music I had used as a soundtrack). Further, she is happy to allocate us a private area in the camping field.
At this point bka0721 volunteered to help on the ground. He had been talking to others about attending Expo, so this fitted in nicely. Behind the scenes he put in a lot of effort working out camping arrangements, even volunteering to assist Expo as a sort of camp host. So many thanks to Bryan for all his help.
Thursday - Where's my window?
Before we know it, it is May 2013 and the time for the big trip has arrived.
I treat Sally to lunch in the British Airways First Class lounge. We are in coach, but benefits of all the $$$ I spend with BA means no sitting on hard plastic seats or queuing.
It also means I can book the exact seats I want nearly a year in advance – this comes back to haunt me as it turns out I’ve managed to book one of only two seats on a 777 with no window – doh!
Stay tuned...
