Overland Expo 2015: a view by an outsider

silversand wrote:

And to think, all I did was go to the moon, and dive the Obyss. Would that be Outlanding and Underlanding?

....that would be an outlandish obyss-mal down-under standing landing :B

...I wish we had any sun at all! I think we've had a total of 17 days of sun since January 1st....and that was 6 months ago :B At least the temps hit 63F today. We're still using the heating in the house, and its July, for crying out loud!

People think finding something new is dead, not really:)

silversand wrote:

And to think, all I did was go to the moon, and dive the Obyss. Would that be Outlanding and Underlanding?

....that would be an outlandish obyss-mal down-under standing landing :B

...I wish we had any sun at all! I think we've had a total of 17 days of sun since January 1st....and that was 6 months ago :B At least the temps hit 63F today. We're still using the heating in the house, and its July, for crying out loud!

Hold the horses Silver, I'm on the way lol!! It was cooler today at 108, yet my aluminum ladders still feel like I'm picking up a bbq grill. Let's go to the beach, North Carolina sounds good, ummm, not. BTW, that was an Outlanding statement hah!

And to think, all I did was go to the moon, and dive the Obyss. Would that be Outlanding and Underlanding?

....that would be an outlandish obyss-mal down-under standing landing :B

...I wish we had any sun at all! I think we've had a total of 17 days of sun since January 1st....and that was 6 months ago :B At least the temps hit 63F today. We're still using the heating in the house, and its July, for crying out loud!

And a good 4th to you too Bill! It's summer in Phoenix and all my work is outside, as usual. But I'm grateful for work. I just wish I whaz in either of those cool locations. Have a real good 4th with your family Bill.

whazoo wrote:
And to think, all I did was go to the moon, and dive the Obyss. Would that be Outlanding and Underlanding?

whazlanding...the most extreme adventures!

How goes it Dave?

Happy 4th!

Bill

And to think, all I did was go to the moon, and dive the Obyss. Would that be Outlanding and Underlanding?

Robert: yet another lost world (undiscovered ecosystem) is discovered in Australia.

'Lost world' discovered in Australian rain-forest
Tuesday, October 29, 2013"

"Scientists have discovered a mini eco-system full of strange creatures in a remote territory of Australia. The 'lost world', as scientists are calling it, is believed to have remained undisturbed for millions of years." (Site: Unknown Country; The Edge of the World)

Australia is so vast, I'm sure we will be discovering "lost worlds" on that continent for at least the next Century.

Jefe:

What I wouldn't give to be able to travel the Baja in the '60s :B Forget about the Darien region, there are huge regions of the Mosquito Coast of Honduras, and RAAN and RAAS in Nicaragua yet unexplored! I was part of an effort to bring overlanding tourism into the Western regions of the Mosquito Coast of Honduras (which culminated in a book, and obliquely into an A & E TV documentary). "We" pioneered overlanding from Limon to near Palacios in the early '90s. Started with HiLux trucks, and pushed farther and farther into the coastal jungles (fording rivers, and many, many miles of mud). Most of our travel was in the black of night (far too hot in daytime), pushing through frontier cowboy towns (real cowboy towns, replete with wild-west gunfights in the streets), and all kinds of natural dangers (tropical storms, hellacious floods, the odd hurricane). That was from the early to late '90s (I pulled out in late '98 because of heat-related health issues: ie. working in 50C with 100% humidity 24/7 almost all year round can really wear on ya... LOL).

As far as I am aware, there has not been one single contiguous overland expedition across the Honduran Mosquitia, then across the Nicaragua RAAN and into RAAS, ever. Notwithstanding vehicles that have been "shipped" into the region via ocean-going cargo vessel from time to time and shipped back, a few at a time (land-locked in the region by rainforests / nearly impenetrable swamps / jungle), no one has made the crossing. In "the day", 4x4 vehicle floatation devices (portable ones) were very crude and prone to failure. One had to build a log raft, and rope the vehicle across the numerous rivers that cut across the coastal beaches. I could see the possibility of the first ever crossing by a light-weight pop-up truck camper sitting on an appropriately equiped HiLux, with newer truck floatation technology. The endeavor would be the equivalent of a Darien crossing into Colombia.

Another one I worked on (in 1992, just before the EZLN guerrillas invaded Chiapas; just after the mass return of refugees back to Guatemala) was the possiblity of an overlanding trail from Tziscao Village (in the Chiapas jungles of Mexico, bordering on Guatemala) all the way into the El Peten jungles of Guatemala. Bits and pieces of 4x4 tracks existed back then, however, there was no contiguous road (like today's relatively recently fully paved road, paid for by oil company money!) into Guatemala through Chiapas (and, across the Usamacinta River!).

OBXcamper wrote:

silversand wrote:
....on the otherhand, Easterners have no good weather to speak of any time of the year. Site the Overland Expo East last October: a total mud fest on set-up day due to torrential rains (probably more rain in one day than the entire Southwest had all year LOL!). Then, we had a deep-freeze (see my photos in the thread on OE East) where my 3/4 empty cup of tea dregs froze inside the camper overnight (we easterners don't need no stinkin' heaters...LOL!) :E

OBXcamper, Billtex wha' da' ya' think?

Yes, when reading the Oe West reports it reminded me of our Oe East weather. One big difference, the west expo is pretty flat, Taylor Ranch, not so much.

Re: Expedtion Portal forum...it is hard to find good event reports with all the sub forums. Here is one long thread with some good photos starting on page 20. Hope it's ok to link here.

clicky

I revisited the link last night, one thing that really stood out was how many of the posters commented "they finally got to try out their gear" at the mud fest.
Lol.

Australia is full of newly discovered Off Road places

Expo Portal
Great site and truly world wide
Some great equipment both home brewed and professionally procured

I do have to chuckle at a couple of phrases commonly used.
When someone gets a shiny new whatever brand vehicle and
proclaims he is making it "Expo Worthy" or "Expo Ready".
Translates to a lift kit and big tires.

But yes, here in the SLC area we are treated to some really legitimate
world Expo Vehicles from many lands