Outskirts Overland Podcast
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Outskirts Overland Podcast
Off-Road Camaraderie: Chronicles of the Express Rally Overland Edition, Cuisine and Community Adventures
Embark on an off-road journey with Tyson from Connell Adventures as we share the thrills and camaraderie of the Express Rally Overland Edition. Our latest episode is packed with tales of navigating the diverse trails of the Ozark National Forest, where Tyson's anecdotes bring to life the all-inclusive adventure that welcomes both novices and seasoned overlanders. Feast your ears on how the meticulously crafted cuisine by Overland Chef Jesse fuels the journey, and warm your heart with stories of the friendships forged around the campfire. We're not just talking about the drive – it's the pulse of the community that leaves an indelible mark on everyone who takes part.
Rally the troops and rev your engines; we're tearing through the Express Rally's offerings for the automotive community. From awe-inspiring off-road escapades in the Ozarks to the nail-biting mountain passes of southwest Colorado, this episode is a treasure trove of excitement for any adventure seeker. Listen as we share helpful advice for responsible off-roading, the importance of leaving no trace, and the evolution of our camping gear setups. Whether it's your first dip into the world of rallies or you're a veteran looking for your next adrenaline rush, we've got the stories that will ignite your passion for the open trail.
Finally, join us as we take a closer look at the practicalities and experiences associated with Express Rally events across the nation. Discover how these rallies compare to others in terms of cost, community, and the spirit of adventure. Plus, we delve into the versatility of Sprinter vans and off-road recoveries, proving that you don't need a fully kitted vehicle to be part of the adventure. So whether you're tuning in from a remote mountain pass or your daily commute, we invite you to listen in and perhaps join us for a real-life campfire chat. It's all about the stories, the memories, and the unbreakable bonds we create under the stars.
You so. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is Outskirts Overland. Welcome to week 13. Lucky week 13 is now. I have it listed.
Speaker 1:Today I got Tyson with me at Connell Adventures. He did the Express Rally Overland edition of the Express Rally this last weekend. So we're going to be talking about that a little bit. But before I get into all that, I got to go through my regular stuff.
Speaker 1:So, hey guys, I want to let you know I got a discount code for Onyx Off-Road. It is GlobalOverland236. It'll get you 20% off of Onyx Off-Road. If you're the hunting type, there is a 30% off Onyx Hunt right now for Mother's Day, because that's what everybody's mother wants is their on X hunt. But anyway, 30% off right now on on X hunt. And then again global overland to two, three, six, get you 20% off on X off road.
Speaker 1:Whichever level of package you guys decide to get package, you guys decide to get my friends, um, over at toyota trucks of arkansas. If you're a midwest toyota enthusiast, off-road enthusiast, check out toyota trucks of arkansas. It's actually a relatively positive not relatively, it's a positive group of guys with a lot of knowledge that are really willing to help um, I really like over there, and and then, lastly, if anybody from Go Fast Campers ever listens to this podcast and wants to decide to work with me because this thing's going to get huge and Go Fast is going to be begging me to get one we can get rid of this rooftop tent and we're going to go fast, ok, so if anybody from Go Fast ever hears this and wants to, wants to work with me, charlie at outskirtsoverlandcom, email me. Anyways, without further ado, I have Tyson at Connell Adventures with me here. Here's Tyson.
Speaker 2:Charlie, pleasure to be back. Sorry can't speak, obviously tonight.
Speaker 1:I'm always talking to Tyson whenever I'm on here. He's chatting and such.
Speaker 2:But he had a unique experience this weekend.
Speaker 1:He went to the Express Rally Overland Edition, which is just for the Overland Express Rally, and we'll get more into the multifaceted side of those things. But go ahead.
Speaker 2:The multifaceted side of those things, but go ahead and yeah. So, um, I actually got to, uh to experience it for the first time. Um, the company that I work for has been a sponsor of them for quite a long time. I'm not sure exactly how many, um, how many, uh, how how many years it's been, but they're always looking to to support the sponsors, to come out and enjoy what they do. And, yeah, man, it was way more than what I was expecting. They took care of the driver meetings, they took care of feeding us breakfast and dinner every day, had it all mapped out. You didn't have to lift a finger.
Speaker 1:I mean, I brought everything to cook with us just in case, but literally didn't use anything but my plates and Sovaware, yeah. So for those people that don't know this, it's kind of like almost like if you were new into overlanding or you wanted to look at some, get to know the community a little better. It's kind of like your all-inclusive overland trip, Is that one way to put it? Oh yeah 100%.
Speaker 2:It's like going to a weekend resort with your family. It's a bunch of like-minded individuals. You get every different gap from first time out to. I mean been wheeling since I was a kid, so it's nice to have that camaraderie around the campfire, meet new people. It was a blast people.
Speaker 1:Um, it was a blast, and also, I think, just for me, not that I didn't get to go, but you know, maybe Landers Toyota will hook me up next year. Um, so Landers Toyota is, uh, sponsors the event and that's how Tyson went um as a representative of that dealership. Um, but from, it's also kind of nice. You don't have to do any planning. They plan for you the camp for you, the food for you, and they had some really cool people there. So, talk, talk a little bit about the folks you met and the who was cooking and et cetera et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2:So our meals were provided, um by Jesse at uh Overland Chef, umremendous guy, very active with us, was not by any means afraid to talk to the crowd. He was having a good time, so that was a whole experience on its own. Man, the dude can cook. Man, we had all kinds of good food breakfast tacos uh, we had um the chili, the texas chili, with the uh, the little corn cakes. I mean, it was, man, it was phenomenal, like stuff that I wouldn't even have thought of making at a campsite, um, and it was really cool because, uh, he's all over youtube and uh instagram, so make sure you uh go out there and give him a follow. He, he goes through step-by-step on recipes and you know what he's cooking, how he's cooking. If he goes to events, he does you know cooking classes there as well. He's got knives, cookware, all that stuff for sale on his website. Just a genuinely good dude.
Speaker 2:So, and thenaron greenfield is the one who runs, uh, the overland side of the express rally. So, um, he is. Yeah, that's uh. That's all, jesse there. Jesse actually just got Tacoma not too long ago and it's got the Mitz Alu cab on the back and it's fully fitted, got all the bells and whistles. It's a really cool rig to see For those of you that'll listen.
Speaker 1:I'm showing his Instagram right now Jesse, Overland Chef, and it's just Overland Chef. One word it says Overland Chef, it's just Overland.
Speaker 2:Chef one word.
Speaker 1:It says Overland Chef Cook Explorer.
Speaker 2:He was originally from Texas and he moved out to Colorado. I don't know if he was born and raised in Texas, I don't remember. He's out in Colorado now. He's got a list of events that he's going to be going to. He's definitely one to follow If you're a foodie like I am, like I'm a you know love to cook and Charlie's been there when we cook at camp.
Speaker 2:It's just something that you know I enjoy doing. So that was a real treat to not have to cook and have some really good food. So, but, yeah, back to Aaron. So, but yeah, uh, back to Aaron, aaron Greenfield. He's the one who runs the um express rally for, uh, the Overland side of of things. Uh, he's got a super cool built out.
Speaker 2:Uh, fifth gen forerunner running 38s and, um, that thing is just a beast, it'll go over anything and um, but uh, yeah, I, I mean it was just, it was a all-around, just awesome, awesome experience. Uh, ty and I were were the only ones that went, um, we kind of just did it, just us. And uh, we met, uh, this couple that originally was from venezuela, um, and they moved here, um, and not too long ago They've been in the States for a little while, moved to Northwest Arkansas in the Fayetteville area, and, man, they were just really, really cool to talk to, to learn about. They had a really nice built rig. They share the passion to go out there and hang out, and they've got their son that came with them. Super cool kid, he's got a birthday coming up. So shout out to him for his birthday coming up, go Messi. He's a big Messi fan.
Speaker 1:He's a big Messi fan, so I'm excited to grow that relationship with them and hang out with them as we progress and share different experiences and adventures with them. And I've got their Instagram up. It's just Express Rally, and Express Rally has multiple different, let let's say, levels of what they have, so not everything's off-road or on-road or exotics, or it's got a lot of different stuff, um, so they're doing a lot of good things for the car community, automotive community in general.
Speaker 1:So I I'm I'm pro that, no matter who you are, and I'm pro free food and not having a plan to. So, yeah, definitely, I'm pro, I'm pretty. I'm pretty about what they're about. Um, even though I didn't get to go um, but Tyson went to that. And then my friend Jay and Galant were at the uh, I had them on, I had Jambo Bobby on, but they were at the Jamboree and well, you know Jay's pretty well social media famous with his GX at this point, so I got to get on his calendar to get him on and talk about that, cause he's too famous for us now, um, so so, uh, that's all good.
Speaker 2:There was a lot of events going on this weekend. I mean we had Jambo, we had a express rally, was running theirs, uh, there was another group that was out with, um, uh, another off-road group. I mean it was a busy weekend in the ozarks and and I was just, I was just totally blown away because I've been going out to the ozarks for four or five years now and, um, I mean they, they took us on all new trails, uh, stuff that I've never been on before. So you know, if it's even somebody that's seasoned to that area, you know it was definitely worth going and doing for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you, I mean, you went kind of pretty open-minded, like you're the first one of us to actually go on the Overland Edition of the Express Rally. Now we've all seen a little bit of it on YouTube and social media, but you're actually the first one to go. So we all kind of came in, we all kind of put our feelers out.
Speaker 2:Our group of guys had a couple people at different events and so everybody kind of can get a feel for what's going on at those events, the events that are more geared toward driving and wheeling and camping versus just again like buying stuff yeah, I can tell you this event here uh, I've I learned, I even learned stuff more, more than any other event that I've ever gone to um in the camaraderie around the campfire at night, talking about the first time they went up this trail and first time that I had to use my lockers on my vehicle I think the furthest that somebody drove or that I'm aware of was Iowa, so he had like a 12-hour trip home or something like that and it was cool it was. It was cool because that was his first experience in the Ozark national forest.
Speaker 2:And he was just completely blown away on how well developed the Ozark national forest is. I mean, I feel like I kind of take it for granted because I live so close, but, um you know, I I don't realize like just how little there is out there that's pre-established, like the Ozarks.
Speaker 1:Well, and and if Benji still lives in Benji and Baker Overland just talked about this a couple of weeks ago like not only is there a ton of public land in Arkansas, the way that Arkansas manages public land is like it's not like Missouri where you got to go to a designated spot to do a thing. Like the Ozarks is kind of like I like to think of it like it's an open parking lot and you can park in any spot you want, like you can literally go do whatever. So like and and they were talking about it and I talk about it all the time too and benji's listening, so I'm gonna plug newfound overland podcast um, as well as baker overland on youtube. But they were talking and they baker and benji, I'd say are kind of like like me and tyson probably like that they're, they're, they're definitely close and they go on trips together and stuff and they're super cool guys.
Speaker 1:But they were talking about the Ozarks and Missouri has a little bit of it in the Ozark side of Missouri, but the Ozark part of Missouri is is like Arkansas, so like it's, it's, I mean it, it, it blends into all the same. So, but arkansas does it way different than anywhere else, like even colorado, like they're designated, like arkansas is like like if, if you were to call arkansas, if you were about, if you were to say where's a designated place in arkansas? Like literally, if there's not a house there, right, like period, you can go, exactly, you can go figure it out, yep, and it's just sick, like it's just sick, well it makes you sick because you've got to drive six and a half hours to get out here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I mean, at least I'm only six hours away.
Speaker 2:That is true. I mean you could be 12 or you know more.
Speaker 1:And I was just watching a guy jailbreak overland. I'll give him a shout out to super cool guy. He's seven, 80 series and now he's got fifth gen for runner. It's super, duper, duper cool. And he just had a video where he was like I'm going to finally test out this new build in the Ozarks in Arkansas, missouri in the Ozarks in Arkansas Missouri, and I was listening to him talk about how hard the wheeling is and I'm just like man, am I jaded Like cause that's just what we do here.
Speaker 2:Like yeah, yeah, I mean it's definitely a different experience. And that's the cool thing about the Ozarks to me is you could literally go out there in a you know rav for all wheel drive and do a lot of things. I mean, we had that Jeep, grand Cherokee, out there with us, that that one time and he did fine, I mean all the water crossings. We just we, we had to be sure that we were going down a trail that he could make. But at the end of the day, like he did everything that we did, Just it wasn't like we were going over anything crazy extreme, but he literally followed the trails, the same ones that we went on.
Speaker 1:So yeah, he just had some AT3s like I think they were like one size. He was lifted all of probably an inch but like I guess I just don't know, like what, I wonder what it is and I don't want to get me and you are going to get on tangent either way, but like I don't know what it is. That is the. It's like the barrier to entry. Like do people watch these videos and just watch these creators go? It's really gnarly. And they're like oh, I don't know, I don't want to go to the Ozarks Because it's not. It can be. I mean, again, you can make it as gnarly as you want, but you can also go. Man, that one ain't for me, it's not nuts.
Speaker 2:No, definitely not. And that's what I like about going to the Ozarks, Because if you have somebody that's looking for extreme, I have the places to go. If somebody is looking for chill, I have the places to go and everything in between. So it's not like you have to go out and break your rig every weekend Like we. Just that's not what we're about.
Speaker 1:But if you do want to go out and break your rig every weekend or go on a big want to go out and break your rig every weekend or go on a big long trip with a bunch of people and break damn near everything on your rig, it's there. It's there. You can. Yeah, you could, definitely you can. You could break it every weekend, oh, absolutely yeah, hands down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no for sure, you know, maybe that's their, maybe that's their thing. You know, maybe they have a wife at home that says you're not buying new parts until they're broken and they're like all right, well, let's go to the Ozarks, yep, but you know it's, it's cool. Yeah, I mean it's. It's definitely cool to see you know like people testing out the rigs for the first time all the way up to you know they're seasoned and all the way up to you know they're seasoned um, and that's the cool thing about with going to the express rallies. Even aaron was like you know, hey, we're here to spot you. If you need spots, don't you know? Don't be afraid to ask. You know um, but we're, you know this trail is not very difficult. I mean, he was, he was instructing people when to put it in four low, when to put the route lockers on. So there was a lot of. Even though that it's elementary for people like us, right, um, you know it's, it may not be that way for somebody else. So they kind of cater to every everybody's you know um needs on the trip and also anytime that they do a guided trail run. Some of the money goes back to the National Forest. So not only are you supporting an awesome trip, but you're also giving back to the Ozark National Forest, which is super important to me, that there's other people out there that make money off of it and they don't put money back into the Ozarks.
Speaker 2:And you know, even Aaron, there was plenty of times where throughout the day, we would stop in the middle of a trail and he was grabbing trash and you know, due into the due diligence. You know there's, there's a trail in the Ozarks that we came across that when we first started going out there it was a single lane track and now it's seven or eight different bypasses that are are impassable, but the the main track is a hard bottom ground. You know aaron's, aaron's like well, I'm going to reach out to the national forest to see if I can, you know, get some guys out here so we can try to prevent this from happening. So you know they're they're really cautious about not leaving a big footprint and things like that. So it's really nice to see a group that is not only accommodating to giving you an awesome experience but also taking care of. You know our land, essentially.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, and that's always important for all of us that go out, you know, pay attention to what you're doing, how you're doing it, and there's tons of people that go out in these areas and again, we talk about people testing their rigs. In the Ozarks, there's plenty of gravel road and people just tossing their beer cans and everything else, just like any other county gravel road anywhere in America. So usually you'll find the trash there. I'm not finding trash on any of the obstacles that are in videos on my Instagram. That's not. That's not where the trash is.
Speaker 2:Maybe, maybe a fender liner or two that got washed up somewhere, but you know, like that stuff, I mean, heck, I lost my front valance in a mud hole and I looked for probably 30 minutes for it and I couldn't find it. So I mean it was just it was gone, it went into a hole and it's just couldn't find it. So I mean it was just it was gone, it went into a hole and it's just never coming back. But I mean I mean egos.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of lost egos there. You can't see it, but it happened yeah, and that's what's there.
Speaker 2:Yeah and for sure. And you know what's cool is that even like uh black, uh black elk, uh media that they they had there taking pictures and videos, they, they are just as nice as everybody else. I mean, you know they're super cautious about leaving a good, you know a big footprint and things like that. So it's really cool to see, you know that, that kind of thing going on with such a big, you know, such a big group. I mean Express Rally is huge, not just on the road stuff but on the overland side of it. But if you ever get an opportunity, I mean seriously, I would highly recommend at least doing it once, if not 10 times. I mean, every trip is different.
Speaker 1:It sounds like to me from what you were telling me and you went. I didn't. But it sounds to me like think of how much money we all spent trying to figure stuff out and there's an event like that, that kind of that you can kind of get your feet wet in but like I'm sure they they kind of went over comms. You all communicated through GMRS.
Speaker 2:Yep 100 percent communicated through GMRS.
Speaker 1:That's a place where, like I don't mean to say it like we're in Clicks or in high school, but it seems like more of an open place for someone to ask those questions. I feel like when we're out sometimes people are afraid to ask questions because it's almost like they think they're going to sound like they don't want to ask the questions that they have yeah, and and a lot of people are afraid of, like, asking for help over an obstacle.
Speaker 2:I mean I can't tell you how many times I've asked you to spot me, me, spot you like. I mean it happens like in and on trails that I've been down a hundred times. It changes. I mean one time you go down it, it's easy peasy. The next time it's, you know, level 10, I mean it.
Speaker 1:It can change that quickly and there's times, too, where it's also appropriate to understand that your rig is more capable than you and to let somebody else drive your stuff over an obstacle. Oh, 100 yeah, and they're done that too, like and that, and that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, but I mean there, there is a lot of that in this space where people are a little like, scared to get the information from the more experienced people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean when you first started driving. I mean you sat in a passenger seat and watch your dad or your mom drive. You know, and you learned how to do it. I mean there's no different than your dad or your mom drive. You know and you learned how to do it. I mean there's no different than you know doing that if you're not familiar with. You know overlanding or off-roading or whatever you want to call it. You know trailing. You know, and it's it's also cool to to see what your vehicle can accomplish. You know a lot of people put these mods on their vehicle but they don't have anywhere to go do this on a weekend, like we do, you know, I mean and and here's one thing that I want to talk about, and you don't have a winch, tyson, but here's one thing I want to talk about.
Speaker 1:Um, I'm going to answer benji's question first. Benji asked how long have me and tyson wheeled together? Um, I think three years three years?
Speaker 2:yeah, I'd say probably three years now. Yeah, going on four or something like yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think so. I think it's something like that. And, uh, we both had the same rigs the whole time too, so yeah. I mean that's pretty and we're both three inch lifted, like we're our rigs pretty similar even, actually yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I I feel like you know you don't need a whole lot to do a lot out there. I mean, I I remember when I first got my forerunner I mean I was on, I was on the factory tires and a dealer tag and I was out there running around with with a lot of them. You know, forerunners are very, very capable, tacomas are very, very capable. Um, you know, if you get like a trd off-road, it comes factory with rear lockers for low. You know it comes. It comes factory with a lot of bells and whistles that can help you do what you need to do. Um, you know, the, the three inch lift and the and the bigger tires, that was just to have better ground clearance. I'm you know Charlie will tell you I'm more of the aggressive person.
Speaker 1:Anyways, when it comes to off-roading, I mean even at that, the first year we went to the ozarks together we took a dude in a damn near stock stick shift jeep, jeep, liberty through some like, and he and I mean I'm just saying like it may, like we're all like we didn't even tear it up at all but I was like absolutely, you can do it, let's go, baby, you know like amping them up like absolutely, let's get it.
Speaker 2:And he was he didn't get stuck. He. He did it for dale and and and made it over every obstacle. That that's hashtag, charlie's trademark. I'm getting a sticker on the back of his rig for doing it for dale, or a three or something, I don't know but that guy was a blast and I didn't see him this year at rito and I mean I wish I would have. I know I was kind of bummed that he wasn't there. I was really looking forward to him.
Speaker 1:But he was a good time. He was such a good time. Oh heck, we had a guy lose his front diff on the trail and finish in two-wheel drive. I know, yeah, it's so crazy. Actually that was a little more gnarly than the Jeep Liberty. The Jeep Liberty actually wasn't as having, I mean. Yeah yeah, for sure that the XJ in two-wheel was having to get the beans a little bit more gnarly.
Speaker 2:I mean poor old Jesse, with the chef Jesse, he ended up burying his Tacoma the last day. We were out there in a mud hole. Yeah, it was bad. It was like to the doors, I mean it was. It was real bad.
Speaker 2:So it was really cool though, because Aaron let the group continue on. We didn't have to wait for the recovery. You know, it's just kind of like he's like, hey, I'm going to break off from the group, y'all go this way. He went and handled that, so it wasn't holding up the whole group, you know, from getting to our next location and things like that. So that was really cool that they, you know, made a conscientious effort to make sure that we were, you know, all taken care of and no man left behind, kind of thing. So, um, it was cool. It was cool to see, uh, they, they did a heck of a job. We all.
Speaker 2:Day one you show up, you get all of the truck got Lander stickers, we got these cool shirts, you know. So got a poster, just all kinds of stickers too, to to put everywhere. I mean it was all. I mean that big old windshield sticker on the top of my 4Runner. I'm sure you guys have seen it. If you know me, that's another one that they usually give out. They didn't have any this year just because they were just out. All of that is included with your ticket.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, and that's awesome. One thing I was on a train of thought about winches. I want to come back to winches. Oh, yeah, winches. Yeah, tyson doesn't have a winch.
Speaker 1:I've talked about it numerous times here.
Speaker 1:I don't live close to Tyson, so I do go wheeling with some Jeep guys and they all have winches.
Speaker 1:So one thing that I did not know about synthetic rope winches is is it's really important to spool them appropriately under tension, because if you don't, when you pull on something, the synthetic rope will go down to the spool and it'll break the synthetic rope. Um, uh, so, so, like there's even points and times where, like you could just not know something, and it's nice to be in an environment where people are open to teaching you stuff, and my Jeep friends taught me I know so much about recovery now and all kinds of different stuff about recovery Because they actually, you know, you got two types of Jeep people that I've been with. You've got Jeep people that I mean they just want to see if it'll do it, and then you have Jeep people that are like you know, they got two big tires for their axles, quite frankly, and at the moment that it starts to hop, they're like pull line you know, because they don't want to be breaking axles, you know.
Speaker 1:So that's. I learned a lot about all kinds of different recovery stuff and that's from going and using it, and I mean there's some there's definitely a lot of people out there that have recovery gear that have never had to use it.
Speaker 2:Not that it's a bad thing, but I mean you know, if you're, if you're not seasoned in something and it's been two years since you broke out everything for the winch, you know, and that was your first time using it I mean there ain't no telling, you know, I mean you could have mechanical failure, you could have. I mean. So it's, it's like everything else, you know, it's it's repetitiveness. You know, as you use it more you're going to have it down pat. I mean I can't tell you how many times we've been on a trail and somebody doesn't know how to use a high lift jack or it's so rusted you can't use it because it's just mounted on the outside of the rig and they've never used it. So they're super cool to have if you know how to use them and if they're maintained, um, you know. So that's definitely a group that you know.
Speaker 2:If you needed a recovery, they were ready. I mean there was a couple sections that you know were a little more aggressive and Aaron was very adamant on making sure that once one vehicle passed the obstacle, you stayed close by. So the next vehicle made the obstacle. So if there was a point where we had to do a recovery, it was real quick. You know, we didn't have to back the group up or you know do anything wild. So it was. It was pretty cool.
Speaker 1:So, uh, let me put it up here, jason just asked is the express rally only in in Mo. It's actually in Arkansas. It's not even in Missouri.
Speaker 2:And they do it nationwide. Um, it's not just in Arkansas. This portion just happened to be in the Ozarks they just got done with. If you pull up their website, it's got some of the places they got. But yeah, I mean it's all over. And even the road rally stuff is not just here in northwest Arkansas. I mean it's literally all over. If you do the 2024 events, I think they have some more planned for the remaining of the season.
Speaker 1:I'm just on ExpressRallycom, but they've got the Riggs and Coffee, they've got the Southwest Express. That one's here, that one's in New.
Speaker 2:Mexico to Arizona.
Speaker 1:The Express Rally. Blacktop Sunday. It's all over. So this is not just Arkansas at all, definitely not.
Speaker 2:And they're the ones that are responsible for putting on the rigs and coffee every Saturday. Most of those are in major cities all over the place, so that's pretty cool. Scott Huddleston is the one who runs Express Rally. Super cool guy. Just bought a brand new fifth gen 4Runner, so I'm really hoping to see that rig pretty soon. They usually all have the cool bells and whistles Yep, there's your Overland Ozarks, that's the one that we just went on.
Speaker 2:Whistles yep, there's your overland the ozarks, that's the one that we just went on. Um, and you know, the cool thing is is yeah, these, these probably aren't the least expensive events that you could go to by any means, but the the, it, it covers your, your group. So if you go with you and a spouse, if you go with you and a friend, you know you, you guys, could split the cost. Um, you know it, it covers, it covers the team. So you know, if it's, if it's, you know, four of you go and you go, you, you, everybody could split it. You know it's not, it's not like you. You know each person has to pay that to to go in. So I thought that was pretty cool too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. And no, it's awesome, it's everywhere. Jason just said I live in Colorado. Hopefully, Jason, you saw I highlighted one that's in Colorado. It's already coming past, unfortunately. Yeah, that's the one that they just got.
Speaker 2:It's Colorado, but yeah, I mean, every year they come out with new events. I encourage you to go follow them on Instagram, facebook, all that good jazz, because they announce it. I think that they do pre-registration deposits and then the amount just has to be paid before the trip, so it's kind of like a layaway. I mean you could find one next year that you want to go to. That's seven, seven months out, and uh, for this, for this event, jason, it was 7.99 a rig, um, but that also included all your, all your stuff.
Speaker 2:I mean everything, even even down to the food. The only thing that we had to pay for was lunch. On sunday we stopped at uh oark cafe when we were, when we wrapped it up, which that's a staple to stop in the Ozark anyways, um, and then, uh, we had to pack our own lunches, but I mean sandwiches or whatever on the trail. I mean that's cheap, so it's not like you had to cough up. You know food for four days and you know, uh, fuel. I mean that was the only other expense not eight dollars, eight hundred dollars yes, seven, seven hundred and ninety nine.
Speaker 2:Yep, I mean, if it was eight dollars a ticket boy, they would be sold out I'd be there.
Speaker 1:Let's go, absolutely yeah, but yeah, I mean it.
Speaker 2:It was definitely. Uh, you know, going into it I saw the prices of the tickets. I was like man, I don't know if it's worth seven, 99,. You know, you kind of get that uneasy feeling. But after Charlie and I talked, I mean we did, let's see, we did big iron, we did Ozarks or the rendezvous in the Ozarks. We did. We were talking about doing more. I mean, if you did those three events alone, um, you would be at well over half of whatever this this event cost and right just in in those three events and I learned more trails, met more people that I could hang out with and spent way better time in the Ozarks than I've ever had at any other event. I can just tell you that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's exactly right. When we look at it, it is expensive and it is definitely expensive and it is definitely expensive. But if you were new into this hobby and were looking to invest into it, I almost see something like this event as like like, if you were new, this event, I think this event would be phenomenal for you, like not new-new, but like you just built your rig and you're interested to get involved. This would be a way to go because, just like Tyson said, like we've, we've gone to what four or five, six events together, it's cost us quite a bit more than that one event. That would have taught you a lot, really.
Speaker 2:I feel like you know, all the events are good to go to just one time to to get the experience of the event. The event, um, I really I like the rendezvous in the ozarks but it's almost becoming repetitive. I mean, it's, it's, it's not really just about the event at something like that. The rendezvous is about meeting other people. Um, it's a good place that they have. I mean, would they have like 900 vehicles there last year?
Speaker 2:or something like that it was quite a crazy number, but so I mean you're bound to meet some people there. I mean, we we kind of did our own thing, um, at the rendezvous last year where we just kind of put out a group chat that said, hey, anybody wants to wheel with us, come join us. And we ended up with, I think, like 12 rigs that time or something crazy so it was. It was pretty fun. Uh, we had a good time doing that and you know, I I recommend all the events. Uh, you know, get a feel for what you like, but I definitely will be, um, going on express rally again, uh, at at, whether it's free or paid, uh, I will be going. Uh, aaron Aaron's group of guys that put it out are just phenomenal.
Speaker 1:So right, and and and again. That doesn't mean that's the only event of that type, but it is one that now we have an experience, a person that's done it.
Speaker 2:I couldn't imagine like doing a Colorado trip. I mean I would, I would hands down like that would be huge. Because you went to Colorado by yourself, you know it can be very overwhelming trying to plan campsites, food stops, gas. I mean imagine having all of that. Don't die, don't die. Yeah, Imagine having all of that.
Speaker 2:You know't die, yeah, imagine having all of that you know not having to worry about that. I mean, I think that it would make colorado way more pleasurable for you guys I don't know if there's anything making colorado more pleasurable for me.
Speaker 1:To be honest with you guys, I went to colorado, pretty sure I wasn't afraid of heights and left Colorado, pretty sure I don't know if I've recovered From the anxiety nine months later.
Speaker 2:I'm giving you one more year and we're going out next year, bro, like I'm giving you one more year To recover from your From your heights problem and we're gonna go yeah, we can go for sure, and I'll lay in the back yeah, you're like, I'm not driving.
Speaker 1:No, I'm out dude, and and I went with my girlfriend, ladina, and like I mean, she got out the truck, she was like I'm not even riding. Like she got out and walked and I mean, and you're walking like edge too, because you're even afraid you're going to fall off walking. It's just set appropriate expectations. We're going to Colorado and everybody's like you've got to go to Colorado. I've never been. Don't plan nothing. I'm like we're going to totally ride, which is southwest Colorado. We drove so much I did I couldn't even enjoy Okay. So, like Johnny just said, colorado in the winter is so beautiful. I was so scared, shitless the whole time that I the only thing that was beautiful was when I like laid on my living room floor when we were done. Like I was so bad, like because it doesn't stop, like you're okay. So people think the Ozarks is crazy. You go on these mountain passes it's full commitment period like there is no. Like you start going and there's no not going now.
Speaker 2:So you're gonna learn a little bit about yourself if you go to colorado and do some of the passes I mean, do you think, like, do you honestly think, that some of that is is just from you being out there on your own, though you had no backup, like so if it, if something happened, you're?
Speaker 1:I mean, that's it bro, that you, I went alone. I know there's no shortage of other dudes out there. Okay, there's other like okay, so like there was more people in crested butte with built-out rigs than rito just doing life. Wow, gotcha, like it's just so, it is. There's people out there, for sure. But there's like dude, not only. Yeah, ladina was like it wouldn't have mattered who was there. Yeah, on some of them, I mean dude, just death, it's just. I mean you're just like oh, my God, yeah, and and, and. How many times Ladina's comment? Now, ladina, how many times were we just like I pray, like we're going down and the person coming up has right away? We're just like I hope nobody's there because we didn't want to back up.
Speaker 1:I was like oh, I was like I don't want to do this anymore, like it was. But you can't not like if you start. So if you go and you're like I, you can't not like if you start. So if you go and you're like I'm doing this, you're in it, that's it. Like that's all there is to it. You're, you're, I mean, there's no turning around hell, there's hardly room to pass each other right. Right, you know, unless you take the death route off the side, you know like I mean, if you're that worried, maybe it was the way to go, buddy even if you're not headed that way.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you're like I think I'm going that way, yeah, yeah, yeah I mean I, I definitely can, can feel, I appreciate the feeling, because there are some trails in the ozarks where you're going up a mountain and it's like sideways and you know you get that little bounce and you're like, oh, that was like real tippy towards, like you're up above where the trees are alive, I mean in the ozarks you're just gonna roll into a tree, true, the trees don't live up high, bro.
Speaker 1:It's no good, no good, yeah, not for me I hear you, I did it, cool, it's cool. I mean I, I, we hear you, I did it, cool, it's cool. I mean we did it. Okay, I did it. I'm here to live, my truck's here too. Ladina's still here. You know, man, I'm getting anxious even talking about it. It's so scary, I was just so scared.
Speaker 1:Palms are sweating right now, boy Dude, I cannot, cannot, I can't express to people, like, if you're watching, like, like, oh fear, pass on tv. Like I'm telling you guys, it looks like it's like this, that shit's like this, yeah, like, and it's about this wide, like, guys, I mean you really. This is a point where having a drone maybe would have saved me a little.
Speaker 2:Just to be able to see what was up in front of you, like go ahead. Like how bad is this?
Speaker 1:Because all you can see is all you can see in front of you until Until you're up there and you're like, oh crap, this is way gnarlier than what it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well. And now ladine is like I think we can do the smoky mountains better, and this year I'm like we're doing the ozarks. Yeah, yeah, I'll go to the ozarks and I'll flip my shit. I don't care. Like it's not, I'm not gonna die, like I mean. Yeah, be more dangerous to be out of the truck than in the truck, like I mean in the ozarks, I.
Speaker 2:I think the only thing that I'm really concerned with is is water, I mean the water crossings. They, they have a mind of their own and the more people pass, like the deeper the routes get or the ruts get, and you know. So that's that. I think that's the biggest challenge is is making sure. But I mean, if you're ever worried about it, I mean there's bypasses. I mean, when we went out to woolham, for you remember, we were like, yeah, we're going to cross the Buffalo right here and everything's Gucci, and we pulled up and it was nighttime but we woke up in the morning that the Buffalo was flowing. Boy, I mean there, there was no crossing it.
Speaker 1:And we went a couple months later and I crossed it and it was. It was carrying my truck. I almost had to hit it with some speed because if I would have gone too slow it was picking me up. And that's one thing that you're going to uniquely get in Arkansas and not elsewhere. And Johnny said snorkel.
Speaker 2:A snorkel definitely saves you, but at the end of the day water can still only go so high. I don't care what anybody wants to say. You have a computer. You have open pores in a motor. If it gets any kind of water in there, it can be catastrophic.
Speaker 1:In my experience actually, I have a snorkel, but in my experience, if the water's high enough and the current's hard enough, that's far more dangerous than just deep still water yeah, 100, and it's you know it will carry you away I haven't had like the urge to buy a snorkel by any means yet.
Speaker 2:I mean and and you know we go, we do water crossings and everything else. So you know it's definitely not something like you have to feel, like you're required to have it to to be able to do it.
Speaker 1:So right, I've. I've felt sketchier in water crossings when I can just kind of feel it moving the back end of my truck.
Speaker 2:Like you know, I'm surprised it even does that with all the weight you have back there now.
Speaker 1:Dang, that's what I'm saying, man the current. It's the current it's, it's enough. If there's enough current, it will I mean it will move your truck and that's really what you gotta be. In my opinion, that's the scarier part of the Ozarks.
Speaker 2:Well, this weekend we were super stressed about the weather. I mean the, the rain, the thunder, the lightning, all that stuff you have to take an account for when you're staying out in the middle of the woods, you know, and, uh, aaron was dialed in on the weather. Uh, we all had, um, you know, our, our Midland radios have the weather channel there, so we were, you know, definitely keeping an eye on that, but I mean we, luckily we didn't hit any kind of um, um, you know, crazy weather. I mean it didn't start really coming down until we were almost done with the trail, which was really nice, because the last trail that we went on was a pretty big climb with, like shale rock, you know, that real slick crap that just becomes like a water slide when it rains. So that was that was really.
Speaker 2:Probably one of the best things about the trip too is that we really dodged the weather which kind of it happens. You know you can't, you can't plan for weather to be right when you want to go out. So sometimes you go out and it's going to be rainy, sloppy, nasty, mess. Sometimes you go out and it's going to be freezing cold, and you know you. Just you have to pay attention to that. You know and plan for it there's.
Speaker 1:There's just times where and I talked about this earlier and we've talked about it like that's just where you got to adopt the thought process of trail conditions are going to change on a weekly basis. Pretty much yep definitely and I mean that's, that's all you can. That's all you can guarantee is that the weather is going to change, the condition of the, that, the terrain I've got.
Speaker 2:so I got some sweet rig ideas to being out there just seeing what people are using. You know the the drawer system that. That one of the guys that was there that had built himself really gave me a great idea for my own personal drawer system. Looking at Aaron's forerunner man, he's put some wrench time in that sucker for sure, but he even did a secondary fuel tank. He's got a secondary 25-gallon fuel tank under there so that's activated with a switch.
Speaker 1:It's a transfer pump.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which is super cool. I mean it's not something that you see every day, right? So you know it's. It's cool to see the stories behind people's rigs and you know what their thought process was and why they did something, and you know it's, it's just like listening to this podcast. I mean, if you take anything away from it, you know, just learning what gear to buy, what gear not to buy. You know, talking to aaron, I was like you know how did you fit 38s under there? And he was like man, it was a lot, and he goes honestly, it'd be cheaper for you just to get portals and do portals, to do what I did, because he went through the whole re-gearing process and I mean just everything that has to go into putting 38s on. And you know, portals are 20 grand, but it's also a lift gears, new braking system, uh, the whole nine yards for the four runner at least, um, so that's, that's a huge.
Speaker 1:You know deal that I that I learned that too yeah, and and it's also like I like our group of guys, because we have some guys that are definitely more like lighter weight wheeling. And then there's there's some of us that are just like I mean, and just in the term of overland, like we're more transient. We go from place to place to place, our rigs are a little heavier and in ways, because we all have rooftop tents and carry a lot more gear, we're not, we're not going wheeling, trying to rock crawl and make our rigs lighter for the for that you know, like in australia they'll call it touring, in america they call it overlanding, but we're truly just off-road travel from place to place to place. We are definitely not rock crawling.
Speaker 2:No, definitely not. But we're not going to shy away from a tougher trail to get to an epic camp spot by any means. If our group is down, we're going to go do this trail to get to this campsite. But it's also better when you have more people out there because you have more spotters. You got more vehicles to assist with things. You know, if you get in this weird situation I mean, you know, chris got in a weird situation, you know, a couple like a month ago when we were wheeling with him you know we were able to handle it right away. No, no issues and everything worked out great. So I think just having a group of guys to go with uh is definitely um in my experience and I like to go with people. So you know, I I like having the backup.
Speaker 2:So I'm gonna pull chris up real quick yeah, you got that, yeah, that pic yeah, I'm gonna find the picture of him and the other thing, too, is like we we were looking at um, you know, doing our trip. You and I were for um. You know, the ozark overlanded. Uh, you know the rendezvous we're we're gonna do our own four-day adventure out in those arcs.
Speaker 1:There's Chris's forerunner, way up in the air.
Speaker 2:And three, two, two other vehicles had already passed that, that location. So in in no issues, but you know it's, it's definitely something where you know it. In that situation, if you were by yourself, that would have been, that would have been also.
Speaker 1:also again, chris has a rear swing out. Chris has a rooftop tent. Like we're heavier. I think that, matt, I think it does matter, I'm sure it does to a certain degree, for sure.
Speaker 2:I mean, if, if you don't think that weight matters, I mean it totally matters, um for sure. But you know, like chris is just like the rest of us we're. We're slowly but surely building our rigs, we're figuring out what we need. You know, after that trip, you know chris was like man, I'm gonna probably get a front bumper and a winch, you know, in case I ever need to use it. You know, that's that's. You know, that's how you learn what gear you really wish that you had at whatever time. Uh, what was that? Do you remember rendezvous? Or was it big iron, that company that was selling the handheld winches? Do you remember those? You know, like a come along. No, this thing was was a handheld winch. You, you hooked it to your vehicle and hooked it to like a tree strap, and it didn't have to mount on a vehicle, it was handheld never seen, never, I've, never, I don't, don't remember that at all they were.
Speaker 2:I thought that was the coolest thing because you didn't even have to have a bumper um for it.
Speaker 1:I can't remember him if it was at rendezvous. I was too busy drooling over sprinter vans.
Speaker 2:Yeah you were I'm surprised you didn't go home with one bro. They're selling them and it's.
Speaker 1:I was egging you on. It's amazing. I don't have a sprinter van yet guys.
Speaker 2:I just that's yeah so it I look at them every time. Warren has it. It's a Warren 885000. It's a pulls-all, half-ton corded AC portable electric winch.
Speaker 1:Oh, and they actually have different, different sizes too let me find it at warren here. I'll get it pulled up here for everybody, yeah, but um, I, I think what we're talking about. Um, that one's just uh cookies. That one's not uh, that one's a thousand pound. They probably have heavy i'ma look. They probably have heavy, I'm a look.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they probably have heavier duty ones, but you know, I I thought it was really cool that you could have something like that and it's I mean, it's about the same cost as a winch. But a lot of people don't understand is when you do a winch like uh uh, our buddy Cody, he has a 2018 Jeep Wrangler and that actually has a spot for a winch in the factory bumper. But a lot of people don't understand that you know you would have to have some kind of aftermarket bumper to be able to put a winch, a winch plate, on there in order for it to be a solid winch point. And I think that Warren's you know thought process behind this is to be able to have something where you didn't have to have that replacement bumper to be able to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'm going to go to my own page here and see if I can't find my bumper. Um so, here's my personal Instagram is what's up right now, but I have my bumper when I put it on, so there's the bumper with the winch in it. But here we go. This has, so there's my bumper. I had it on the ground in a picture. Somewhere there's me cutting my truck up. Anyways, dang it.
Speaker 2:I thought, I had a picture of that somewhere, but I guess I don't hear but that's, you know, I mean that's, that's something that that you know most most people don't understand is like you know, charlie, and I talk about this all the time, you know you, you make one solution to create another problem somewhere else correct and that's not the case all the time, unless you just have, you know, 30 grand sitting in the bank account and just go in there and slap it on the table and be like, hey, I want everything.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean Like that's the only way that you're going to get away from you know, I think creating solutions and then creating another problem somewhere else is, you know you, just you would have to have an unlimited bank account to be able to cover whatever.
Speaker 2:But I mean it's just all a learning experience, it's a learning curve. You know, by no means do you have to have a lift and snorkel and you know big old off-road vehicle to be able to go out here and camp. I mean, cody was out here in a two-wheel drive montero sport with a yurt whenever we first started camping. You know I mean like, and now it'll work just fine, oh, thousand percent. And now he's got a jeep, he's, he's. He recently purchased a rooftop tent. I think it's so funny to watch.
Speaker 1:We all started ground tents and then we started, you know, getting to rooftop tents and you know it's just funny to watch how it grows into a big hobby the wheels, and the wheels start turning too, and it's almost like as we talk about, like everybody, nobody wants to be the last one struggling to get their crap together no, definitely not, for sure not and now at this point, like we all either have faster stuff or we've just had our stuff long enough that we're like you know, we can't.
Speaker 1:We got figured out Like we can be ready to go and I don't know, half hour, 45 minutes, like completely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a hundred percent.
Speaker 1:Which is, which is us messing with everything we've left out overnight too, like tons of stuff out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think that really any of us really like pre-pack. The night before we usually kind of get up, we'll put our chairs up and stuff like that, just so they don't get wet or mildew. You know, like the, the dew from from the morning, and I mean for the most part we're still putting up tables and cooks, you know all that crap.
Speaker 1:So yeah, pots and dirty pots and pans.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. And then if you cook breakfast, you got to put all that up after you pack. I mean, it definitely happens. So I feel like, yeah, our group definitely has a pretty dialed in.
Speaker 1:So yeah, for sure Well we're about at an hour. We kind of we've covered what I think I want to cover having Tyson, but we also have lives outside this podcast.
Speaker 2:We could probably sit here for five hours and talk. I mean, let's be honest.
Speaker 1:We talked for two hours last night.
Speaker 2:If you guys want to, you know, come and camp with us. Come sit around the campfire, we'll chat your ears off, I promise.
Speaker 1:For sure, and if you have a Jeep Liberty, we'll bring you to, absolutely We'll get through it. So, anyways, guys, guys, I appreciate y'all coming by, I appreciate everyone listening and, uh, make sure you go follow tyson. Uh, connelladventures, make sure you go follow my friend chrisoffroad. Express rally, all that express rally oh, what was overland chef? Check these people out. They're cool people. They're doing good things for the communities around here. Again, toyota trucks of Arkansas great community of people too. That's on Facebook, if you're the Facebook type, um, and we'll leave it at that and I'll see you guys next week. I've really enjoyed it and I'll catch you later.
Speaker 2:Thanks, charlie, for having me on. Take care buddy.