On our way to the Overland Expo near Flagstaff, Arizona, we stopped in Tempe to visit Todd's Niece Stephanie, her husband Tony and their son C.K. Though it was just a short afternoon and evening visit, we enjoyed just hanging out at their condo, playing with C.K., and devouring a delicious lasagna dinner prepared by Stephanie. We missed the opportunity to take a nice family photo, but do have a quick candid photo of Stephanie and C.K.
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| Stephanie and C.K. |
The "Overland Expo" is an international event that educates and inspires people to get out and explore the world by motorcycle or vehicle. It is held twice a year, once in the western half of the US and once in the eastern half. It's an impressive gathering of "people like us" that like to travel off the beaten path, many of which are also full time travelers. As we entered the Expo camping area, we noticed several other EarthRoamers parked together and thought, even though the space around them was full, that we would drive by. As we approached, Craig, one of the EarthRoamer owners, asked if we wanted to join the rest of the group which we did. We had yet to meet other EarthRoamer owners and were now part of our own "Camp EarthRoamer". Everyone contributed to a spaghetti dinner on our first night, which resulted in us picking up the nickname "meatball guys". In addition to a large variety of vendors with expedition gear and vehicle accessories, the expo also includes several seminars and classes, and an "off-road" demo course. We took in some of the seminars on places we wanted to travel to or topics that were of interest, including a few cooking seminars. One of the best experiences of the weekend, however, was just meeting our fellow EarthRoamer owners and hanging out together. It's quite an eclectic group of people and we learned more from them than from the seminars we attended. We look forward to crossing paths with many of them at some point in the future.
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| "Camp EarthRoamer" at Sunset |
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| "Camp EarthRoamer" during the Day - Can you figure out which one is ours? |
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| Shonah enjoying conversation with someone other than Todd :) |
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| Alan's EarthRoamer on the Off Road Course |
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| Alan's EarthRoamer also had "air-ride suspension" which helped "lift" him out of a few tight spots |
Taking a recommendation from Chris, one of our fellow EarthRoamer owners, we headed to the Mogollon Rim part of the Tonto National Forest following the Expo. The area is a maze of forest roads that surround what looks like a smaller version of the Grand Canyon draped in pine forest. After 2 failed attempts to reach the Rim and a small argument, we finally found the following great spot to camp.
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| The view from our first camping spot along the rim |
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| Todd trying to capture a photo reminiscent of Western paintings he enjoys |
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| Camping on the rim |
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| Another sunset photo... |
1 comment:
Not a bad camping spot on the rim!
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