All posts by Scott

Belize Border crossing-Santa Elana

After spending the night in Chetumal Mexico, we were up bright and early ready to cross the border into Belize. Chetumal is  the last really populated city you will encounter as you head over the border. This is where it is recommended to stock up on any necessary supplies, as many things are not as readily available in Belize to purchase.  We loaded up and headed to Mcdonalds. This is a great place to get free wifi, and of course a familiar breakfast is nice also. After sending messages out to family, of our safe arrival, and eating, we decided to hit  Wal Mart to grab some last minute things. We saw that they were building a new Home Depot! This will really be great particularly for those living just across theborder in Belize.

People of Walmart
People of Walmart

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We grabbed some weights to work out while traveling, a campsite folding table, some snacks, and a few other items, and headed on our way. One last stop at the Pemex to fill up is recommended before you cross the border. Fuel is a little over $4.00/gallon U.S. In Belize, it is nearly $6.00/gallon U.S.

Pemex-OXXO
Pemex-OXXO

It is a short 5-10 minute trek to the border to leave Mexico. The signs are well marked. Its obvious, but in Spanish, Belize is spelled “Belice”. Coming from Chetumal, you will head back in the direction toward Cancun, where you will see the sign to exit just before a bridge.

Belice!
Belice!

At that point, you  are a mile or two away. As you pull up to the Mexico border, the directions are well marked. There is a small building to your right, that you will drive up to, where you will show your passport, and pay your exit fee of $25.00/ per person, U.S. dollars. They will take Pesos, or U.S. dollars. I am not sure about Belize dollars. He will waive you through after paying your fee.

DSCF0017 Leaving Mexico

If you have driven through Mexico, you most likely will have received a car permit for your vehicle. They issue a sticker to be applied in the center of your windshield, along with the actual permit paperwork. Keep this paperwork handy, as it is usually asked for at any of the stops in Mexico and when you leave Mexico. Most likely, you will not be informed by the person taking the exit fee, that if you are not returning to Mexico, or it will be a while, you will need to turn in your vehicle permit.

Mexico Car Permit

The process for turning your permit in is pretty easy. After leaving the booth and paying your fee, turn to the left and park at the building across the street to your left. Take your passport and vehicle permit papers in with you. If you paid for the permit deposit with cash initially, you will be issued cash back. If you paid with a credit card, or debit card, you will be credited the deposit back to your account. This fee is determined by the year of your vehicle. It ranges from $200-$400/ U.S. dollars, and is fully refundable.

Car Permit
Car Permit

The attendant will walk out to your vehicle to take a picture of your vin number to confirm it is the same vehicle as you brought in. At this time, either they will ask you or do it themselves, to remove the sticker from your window. The permit is good up until 6 months. You are able to leave your vehicle in Mexico even if you personally leave the country during the 6 months. Just make sure, you remember to turn the permit in within the 6 months or you will lose the deposit and be banned from bringing any other vehicles into the country.

Belize Sign
Belize Sign

You have officially “checked out” of Mexico! Now drive across the bridge to Belize, through no mans land until you come to a split in the road. Straight ahead is for cargo. All others turn to the left and follow the road to another stop. Look immediately to your left. There is a little white portable building with a covered front porch. Make sure to stop here and get your vehicle sprayed. It will cost $11.00 Belize  ($5.50 U.S). They accept U.S. dollars or Belize dollars. Dont forget to stop, or they will make you return to get it done when you go to cross. There are some exceptions, but just get it done. It takes 5 minutes, including paying for it.

Pesticide $11.00 BZ
Pesticide $11.00 BZ

Belize, straight ahead! Now leave the spray station and head toward the border crossing building. Ordinarily there is a parking lot. When we crossed, they were working on them, so parking is random. We pulled up almost to the border check point and double parked on the right. The border agent waived us into the customs building.

No Foto!
No Foto!

As we entered, I tried to snap a picture, to which, the customs official said, “No Photos”! So, sorry the picture is blurry. It was dropped a little premature. You walk straight up to the window and show them your passport. They will ask you how long you intend to stay, and where you are headed. They offer up to 30 days, without a renewal. After you get the stamp, you walk between the glass booths to another counter. Here you will show your passport again. We were asked for our registration, original title, and license plate number. They issued a vehicle permit for the same amount of days we were to be in Belize (up to 30). We were informed, and I didnt know this, but if you will only be in Belize, 3 or less days, you do not need a vehicle permit. They will write in your passport that you have a vehicle, but no permit required.

They do a separate stamp in your passport indicating you have brought  a vehicle in. You must sign a form that you understand you may not sell, rent, or leave your vehicle in Belize without paying duty. There are no fees for the temporary permit. No duty is required if you intend to bring the vehicle back out of the country. You will need to update your vehicle permit each time you have your passport stamped(each 30 days).

Vehicle stamp
Vehicle stamp

At this time. you are asked to bring your luggage in to be inspected. Each time we have crossed, we always tell them, “Our vehicle is very full due to travelling”. So far every time, they will make an exception and come out to our vehicle to inspect. We had to open doors and our luggage. We were issued the permit and sent on our way.

Open Door inspection
Open Door inspection

We jumped back in the Rover and drove it 50 feet to the checkpoint, where we were asked for our passport and vehicle permit again. Again we were asked to open the doors to let the official inspect. I made friendly small talk, which I have found to be extremely helpful in all border crossings, and we were told to have a nice day. We made it!

Passport
Passport

One last thing before enjoying the exploration of the beautiful country of Belize. You MUST buy insurance. It is the law, and they are more serious about that than actual crimes committed. You can be taken straight to jail if you do not purchase insurance, and your home country insurance will not suffice. We always buy immediatley after crossing at the large building directly in front of you after passing the check point, Insurance Corporation of Belize. The price is reasonable, and drops if you purchase longer coverage. Its about $30 for a week of coverage. Now you are ready, GO!

Belize Insurance
Belize Insurance

Next up: Placencia Belize!

Do NOT travel the roads of Mexico after dark!

We flew back into Cancun, Mexico to reunite with our overland outfitted Landrover.  A friend had let us leave it at her house for the two months while we were back visiting the States. When we finally pulled up to see it in good condition and ready to go, my heart leapt!

Scott & Angela
Scott & Angela

We were definitely ready to get back on the road. We loaded up our luggage, and new over lander fridge/freezer we had brought on the plane, hopped in, turned the key, nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. There wasn’t a light on the dash or overhead. How could this be? We had installed not one, but two batteries before our previous trip.

Dual batteries

Fortunately, we had installed a dual battery system, so that in the event one battery was drained, the other could still start the engine. I popped the hood, and turned the other battery back on. HONK, HONK, HONK! The alarm was going off. Well after a little playing around with resetting the alarm, all was well and we were able to start the car. There was no indication of any tampering with the vehicle.  I am so glad we had that back up battery. I will have to look into why one of the batteries was dead though. All I found suspicious so far, was a couple of bare wires that had heated up running my off road lights.

Cancun Parking
Cancun Parking

 

We said our good byes and hopped on the road headed to Chetumal Mexico. This is a town in Mexico on the border of Belize. Our plan was to drive the 5 hours and stay the night before crossing the border to Belize in the morning. The only drawback, was after playing around with the battery issue, we didn’t set out until 3 pm. It gets dark this time of year around 7 pm. I am not fond of driving after dark in Mexico, largely due to the poorly lit roads, unmarked traffic lanes, bicycles, and pedestrians, not to mention, the riff Raff like to come out at night also. We pressed on without any delays or incidences. The roads were very smooth and well marked. Being this is such a touristy side of Mexico, the roads were wide, well maintained, and marked. This was a pleasant surprise, compared to many. We stopped for gas at the Pemex. They did not accept credit cards at this location, though many do throughout Mexico. Fortunately we were able to find an ATM or “cajero” inside the OXXO, a national convenience store. The ATM fee was steep, $69.90 pesos (about $5.00 U.S.).

Pemex Gas
Pemex Gas

 

Back on the road, it was smooth sailing’ and very little traffic by this time. For the majority of the trip, the roads were 4 lanes wide with a divided highway. A fair amount of section in the middle was only 2 lanes. It was getting to be around 7 pm, and dusk was setting in quickly. You could see the sky, but darkness was closing in. I have to admit, you hear so many times, “don’t travel on the roads after dark in Mexico”. It almost builds an anxiety inside if you are caught out in the dark. We still had about an hour of travel left, so it was wearing a little on me. Do we try to find somewhere closer to stop, or press on to our know destination? We chose the latter. I’m glad we did. The roads were really impressive, with reflectors marking the lanes, reflective signs, and no pot holes! The traffic was enough not to feel alone and desolate. We can do this!

Hwy 307
Hwy 307

We rolled into Chetumal a little after 8 pm. There was lots of activity, as it was Saturday night. Vendors offering grilled food, and other goodies along the streets, along bright decorative displays overhead on the street lamps, of “Viva Mexico”. September is the month of Mexican Independence, so the fiestas had already started. We did it! We had travelled the roads of Mexico after dark and survived! I really don’t recommend it due to the reasons mentioned before, however, it was good to know it didn’t mean instantaneous disaster.

Viva Mexico Chetumal
Viva Mexico Chetumal

We had already had a hotel picked out from our last visit, called Hotel Marlone. For one reason, it is a very nice facility with some English speaking employees. The other reason, we had left two of our phone chargers in the room, and hoped to retrieve them on this trip. They also have a secure gated courtyard to park in. We were not disappointed when we arrived. We were greeted by some friendly smiling faces, directing us into our parking spot, and offering to check us in.

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After locating the English speaking manager, we were given our phone chargers. She had remembered speaking to us two months prior and labled and set them aside. She also informed us that they were setting up for a private party, that she was sure would be a very loud fiesta. She offered us a room up on the 3rd level, but she was confident we would hear the party goers from our room. She offered to let us leave our vehicle secured and stay at their sister property across the street, which we did. A/C, hot showers, nice room, and WiFi! Well most of that was true….while we did see a WiFi connection, we never were able to connect. Oh well, one night without being connected, wouldn’t kill us. Tomorrow morning, we cross the border. Watch for the next post as I will give the play by play on getting out of Mexico and into Belize, hassle free.

Posted by Scott Woodhams

Next Stop Mexico!

On September 5th, 2014 we will fly back to Cancun, Mexico to pick up our Land Rover. We left it there while we were back in Georgia. The plan is to head South into Belize, where we will meet up with some friends to caravan throughout Central America. Follow along as we will provide, stories, pictures, and general info about travelling through foreign countries via Overland style vehicles. This blog is designed to document Angela and my travels and adventures around the world. It is our hope that friends and family can follow and connect with us along the way. However, we are always ready to make new friends, so hopefully other people will find our adventures interesting and informative.  Follow us on this blog or Facebook. See you on the road!

Angela Land Rover

This trip has caused us to become homeless!

Yes, you read the title correctly. We have officially become homeless. You see, we figured since we will be gone for several months, that it did not make sense to have dual expenses (on the road and back home). We made a conscious decision to begin marketing our homes for rent. This was a tough decision to think that we might not have a home to come back to!

After about a week, Bernard called me and said, ” I have to be out of my house by the 25th of June and I will officially be homeless.” He found someone who wanted to sign a one year lease on his house. Wow! It was actually coming together. Bernard went into hyper mode, finishing the flooring, packing boxes, installing trim ,etc. As if there wasnt enough to do preparing for the trip. Just one more thing to do.

Angela and I began lightly marketing our home, with little enthusiasm. It is an unsettling feeling of renting your home, and not having a home to return to. However, we felt financially it was best. After a couple of weeks, we only had tire kickers, so it seemed we would not be renting our home after all. At the same time a little cottage in Sumter Forest, South Carolina presented itself. We decided to buy the house, “just in case”. It needed updating, but would work for a place to land when we returned.

All of a sudden we received a large amount of interest in our home. We actually showed it and decided on a qualified family that was excited about the home. The timing was just right for them, and for us. All of a sudden, with only two weeks left, we were faced with packing our belongings up, moving most to storage and the rest to the “new” cottage. The problem, other than the obvious, was that the cottage was not ready to move into.

We began immediately focusing on the renovation of the cottage. As would be expected, the want list grew rapidly, as we realized, we would be living here when we returned. This would require a substantial downsizing. So we have gutted the kitchen, living room, and bedroom. Yes, I said “bedroom”. That’s not plural! The cottage is only a one bedroom. The upside is the fact that it will be smaller areas to renovate. The down side is….well, didn’t you read the sentence prior…? We gutted the kitchen with only two weeks until we were to embark on this monumental expedition! So on top of preparing for the trip, packing our house up, moving into the cottage and a storage unit, we decided to perform our own “Extreme Makeover”. This should be fun!

Right around the time of the decision to put our house up for rent, Angela received a call that her Dad was being rushed into emergency surgery in Michigan. We scrambled to locate an airline ticket to get her up there as soon as possible. After checking several airlines, it was evident that tickets purchased on short notice require a premium. Fortunately, my cousin, was able to set us up with a great deal through her airline. Thanks Kendi! Angela was able to make it up there the next morning early and be there when her dad came out of surgery. She stayed for the week, to be there for him and help out her mother. When I called Angela to inform her that we had a family that was going to rent our house, she said “hold on a minute, I need to go throw up!” The realization that we would soon be homeless set in. The good news is that after a week, her dad is resting back at home, and Angela is also back at home.

For those of you following, we were also scheduled to meet with the writer from the Augusta Chronicle today, Kelly. We decided to meet at Starbucks for our interview for the article she is writing about out trip to Central America. It was a pleasant meeting and we were pleased with our conversation and the ease with which Kelly, made the interview. We are anxiously awaiting the article, as the photo shoot was a success (see previous entry). We were able to get the pictures in between torrential down pours of epic proportion. We will post a link to the article when it comes to print. We anticipate it will be available in the next week or two.

All in all, everything is going very well. We have decided to move the departure date one final time to July 9th 2012. This will give us the necessary time to make the moves from our houses. This has to be the last date change, as I have made resolve to be in Central America for my 40th birthday. That will fit nicely, as I turn 40 on July 19th! Stay tuned for news of our departure and the excitement as the preparations continue.

I leave you with one question: You have dreams, what are you willing to do to reach yours? Would you go homeless? Will you do whatever it takes?

Photo shoot in the rain?

After many hot sunny days this spring, we have encountered rain today. And boy, has it rained! It began at 6:00 am this morning, and has rarely let up all day. Don’t get me wrong. We need the rain. We need it desperately. Our local lake is over 9 feet below full pool. Designated swimming areas are high and dry, boat ramps have limited access, and “islands” are appearing causing potential hazards for boats.

Having said all of that, why did the rain have to hit this week? You see, I got a call on Friday from the Augusta Chronicle (our local paper), they want to write an article on our upcoming trip to Central America. Of course we are thrilled. After coordinating everyone’s schedules, it was determined that we would meet the photographer at the Savannah River on Monday at 3 pm with our expedition vehicles. This was the only day that coincided with everyone’s schedule.

The reporter is out of town until the following Tuesday, and Bernard and his daughter, Kristen are headed to Germany this Tuesday. So, Monday it is! Well, the rain chances for Monday are over 75%. Maybe we can get down there, get the photos in, and packed up between rain drops. We are setting up the vehicles, including the roof top tents, for the shoot. It is not wise to close the tents up when they are wet. Mold tends to be your worst enemy in this situation. With rain in the forecast for the next week, there would be no possibility of drying the tents out.

However, this is very exciting for us, as it will give the local community awareness of our upcoming trip. So, we will adapt and prevail. This will be an opportunity to allow individuals to follow our trip from start to finish, meeting the people we encounter, seeing the charities that are offering a helping hand to the needy, and experiencing the beautiful sights, we plan to share.

Tomorrow morning, Bernard and I will be performing some last minute preparations to his 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser. We plan to begin building the rear platform storage, replace the valve cover gasket, and a few other maintenance items. I have a few things yet to do to the Land Rover also. Hopefully we can find a dry place to work on the vehicles, as they no longer fit in the garage, with their suspension lifts and roof racks.

Keep an eye out for the upcoming article that will be in the Augusta Chronicle. We will share the link when we receive it as well. Has rain ever put a damper on any of your planned activities? Please share……

We leave in 18 days, so what is the plan?

Our departure date is less than 3 weeks away! Bernard stopped by the house so we could go over our travel plans. We mulled over maps, discussed people we hoped to meet up with along the way, and time lines. I had to keep reminding myself, “It is the journey, not the destination”. I have a habit of choosing the shortest (read fastest) route from point A to point B. If you have ever traveled with me, you know that when we stop for gas, make sure you use the bathroom, get something to eat, and stretch your legs, because we will not be stopping again until the fuel tank reads “E”.. With the use of my GPS, this has actually gotten worse. The built-in arrival time seems to push me even harder to try to maintain or beat the arrival time. But, with this trip, we have agreed that we are going to be laid back, travel if we want to, stop to see the sights, or even, take a detour, yes a detour. As you notice we have adopted the tag-line on our blog site and our journey as mentioned before, “It’s the journey, not the destination. Leading fast paced lives and travelling as we have in the past, I hope this is not a problem! We intend to get off the beaten path and mingle with the locales. Tourist towns, and attractions will be secondary at best. We hope to avoid these over priced areas as much as possible.

So as we began to map out our route, we decided to take it in small sections, so as not to over plan. The first leg, was determined that we would stop in Mobile Alabama. This should be a good days drive after leaving Augusta Georgia. We will stay overnight there, enjoy the town and the ocean, and then on to our next stop of Lafayette, Louisiana. Bernard has secured us accommodations and even a cooked meal using an online community called www.couchsurfing.com This is a community of travellers (not gypsy’s) that offer their couch for people travelling through their area. It is a great opportunity to meet people and hear their stories of their travels. When you need a place to stay, you just put out a couch request and wait to see who responds. There is a rating system and bio’s of the hosts and travellers so you can match compatibility. Check it out it’s a pretty cool concept, that we hope to take advantage of as much as possible along our route.

In Louisiana, we have been offered an open invitation to have a real Cajun meal prepared for us by the infamous Chef Bourque! He is a family friend from my childhood, that I have not seen in well over 20 years. We are looking forward to this stop, as it will be as an authentic Cajun experience as possible. Check out Chef Bourque on youtube here:

Chef Bourque

After we leave Cajun country, we are off to Beautiful Houston Texas! Bernard has a cousin here that has agreed to fire up the bar b q grill. There is nothing better than a grilled meal prepared by a local in Texas. You know, they say everything is bigger in Texas! I hope the meals are no exception. Bernard’s cousin (to be named later), has agreed to let us use his yard to pop up the roof top tents. The neighbors ought to get a kick out of that. Hopefully he doesn’t live in a restrictive neighborhood, with the nosy neighborhood association. I imagine there isn’t a bi law in place for roof top tents…..yet.

After we “camp” in Houston, it is off to a city that Angela and I have vowed to visit for some time, San Antonio Texas. We are really excited about this stop. We cannot wait to ride a gondola down the canal and walk the sidewalks along side. Bernard, having been in the military, and already a world traveller, has friends here as well. They too have agreed to put us up, and show us around. As an alternative, there are several military installations locally, that offer camping facilities. if needed. We intend to stay for 2 or 3 days to take in all of the sites and activities that this historic area has to offer. I am sure there will be an entry in the future dedicated soley to this city, so watch for it!

When we finally decide to leave, we will be heading for the Mexican border! Finally our Central America trip begins. It is approximately 2-1/2 hours from San Antonio to the border crossing. The plan is to get up early (6-7 am) and get through the border crossing as early as possible. We hope this will help with traffic and our rusty skills crossing the border with limited Spanish abilities. Once we cross the border, it is about three hours to Monterrey. This will be our first official destination in Mexico. From there, the sky’s the limit. We are totally open to any direction we feel like going (although ultimately we will be headed to the west coast). We intend to travel along the coast all the way down to Southern Mexico. So as we figure out our direction, we will post them for you. Do you have a recommendation or “must see” to share? Please let us know by “replying”. Stay connected!

I’m 6’5″, but the D2 is taller!

Wow! We did the install of the tires and lift on the Discovery 2, and it is tall! I took measurements before and after the installation to see what we gained. The Treadwright 265/65/18 Guarddogs were put on first. The measurements showed a 1″ increase in ground clearance. This was a little disappointing, as I anticipated more…The next day, Bernard and I drove to the Fort Gordon craft shop. We tore into the lift kit and began installing it. We chose a 2″ Ironman 4×4 Heavy duty lift kit from www.camel4x4.com . The 2 inch kit was best for our application to avoid having to make further modifications (ie. brake and ABS extensions, control arms, etc). We also went with the Heavy duty spring with Ironman’s foam cell shock. This was the premium combination to accommodate our intended uses and to carry the extra weight of the roof rack, tent and gear. We were able to have the complete lift system installed in approximately 3-1/2 hours start to finish. Everything was labeled nicely, and instructions were easy to follow, though it was pretty self explanatory. A couple of tips for those who may be considering installing a lift themselves. A 13mm ratchet wrench makes removing the shock bolts mush easier. Secondly, I recommend dropping the cross member below the front drive-shaft. This allowed the front end to drop low enough to install the new coil springs without a compressor. All in all it was a great experience and the final product was amazing! I love the look. Even with the weight of the rack and tent, the lift holds great. After measuring, we actually gained 3 more inches of ground clearance in addition to the tires. This netted us 4 inches total! This was one of the most transforming features so far. We will be testing this equipment on our travels through South America Check it out now! What do you think? Any suggestions for future modifications?

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Ironman 4×4 lift kit & Treadwright tires

We TKO’d the suspension with help from the Champs dad!

We knocked out our Ironman 4×4 2 inch lift suspension install on our Discovery with the help of none other than Mr. Mercer, the Father of Champion Boxing Legend “Merciless” Ray Mercer, an American professional boxer, former Olympic Gold Medalist and WBO heavyweight title holder. Mercer was the 1988 United States Amateur Champion at Heavyweight while in the US Army and compiled an Amateur record of 64-6. He won Gold in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul as a heavyweight. In 1989, Mercer fought Barry Flowers (USAF) which contributed to a K.O. win in the 7th round. Ray’s Dad, who resides here in Augusta, Georgia and is car enthusiast gave us a helping hand while at the The US Army’s Ft. Gordon, Ga., Automotive Car Care Center. It’s a shop where you can basically build an entire car if you chose to do so. With over 20 bays, an engine room, paint both, weld shop and helpful experts on hand to guide you in any automotive endevour, you’ll always find help, experience and knowledgeable professionals there. Just as we’re getting into the nitty gritty of installing our lift on the Discovery, Mr. Mercer graced us with his presents and offered a helping help. A short while later as the install was complete, Mr. Mercer told us he was glad he could help. But, we kindly offered a ” No Sir” we thank you Mr. Mercer. We would also like to add a special thanks to the Ft. Gordon, Automotive Craft Shop too! Thanks, Teressa, Dave, Barry, John, Rob and a shout out to Mr. Mo ! (Mr. Mo, I promise I’m going to get that Beetle motor out of there soon!) Now our Discovery sits very nicely with the lift and new tires. Central America here we come.

A little delay in our departure date….

Well, as in any planning things change. Change can be good or bad. In this case, it is good.We had been planning a departure date of June 4th 2012 up until this point. However, Bernard’s daughter (who was supposed to join us on the trip), was notified that she was accepted to the University of Charleston! Congratulations to Kristen Barbour. Her orientation will be toward the end of the month. Her Father, Bernard Barbour, being the great dad that he is, decided to take her on a “graduation trip”. So they are flying to Germany for a week, before we depart to Mexico. So, at this time, we are tentatively planning a departure date of June 25th 2012. That is the beauty of overlanding. You can be flexible and still enjoy your plans. Remember “it is the journey, not the destination”. It’s not about arriving, but driving! Stay tuned, we have much more to come…….

I call it work….she says I’m playing!

It has been a few days since I last wrote. There is a good reason for that. I have been Busy, with a capital “B”. After ordering a multitude of parts, accessories and “stuff”, it began arriving. I ordered an extra heavy-duty front driveshaft for the Land Rover, as this is a weak spot on the drive line. The new shaft comes with heavy-duty u-joints that are greaseable. Take a look at the picture and you will see the difference in the new shaft. I was very pleased with this purchase. All three joints contain a grease zerk to offer future maintenance. I installed the shaft with little problem. As recommended, I replaced the 4 nylon lock nuts on each end of the shaft. This required  3/8-24 nuts. Lowes carried them, so easy replacement.

New Heavy Duty drive shaft on left

Next on the list was the brush guard. I had it sand blasted and powder coated by a company in North Augusta South Carolina called Custom Machine.

Company that powder coated the brush guard

It turned out pretty nice. The prep work was not as good as I had hoped, however they did give me the option to use another sand blaster that did “show quality”. I decided against it, since this is an off road brush guard after all. This task of installation proved to be a little more time-consuming and difficult. First, I had to order a mounting kit, as the person I bought it from (used in Atlanta), did not have all of the required mounting kit. I found a company out of Utah called BPUtah. They were friendly and helpful even taking my order over the phone after hours. The kit arrived within a few days. In order to fit the new brackets, the front bumper assembly had to be removed and holes cut out for the brackets.

Brush guard back from the powder coaters

While working on the bumper, I got the call. The call that the Baja roof rack had arrived! Now this is one of the most exciting things I had been waiting on. This was what truly marked this vehicle “Expedition ready”. It was the key component to getting ready for our trip. I stopped and went to meet the UPS driver as it was in a semi truck. It was quite an undertaking getting it in the back of my truck, but I was determined. I hurriedly returned home to get a look at the prize. I was concerned and noted on the drivers slip that the box had sustained damages. I hoped that it had not passed through into the rack. I called Southeast Overland and spoke with Steve. I told him I hadn’t yet looked, but that the box was damaged. Fortunately upon opening the box at home……no damage! Yes, it looked every bit as glorious as I had envisioned, even sitting on the driveway. It seemed to say “Are we ready yet”. Now I was juggling installing the brush guard and wanting to see the roof rack installed. One thing at a time. Finally I was able to get the brush guard installed and secured.

Brush guard installed!

So it was about 7pm, and dusk was starting to fall. I tried to talk Angela into grabbing the other side of the roof rack and helping me set it on top of the Rover. She did make a valiant effort, but she could not lift it that high. Fortunately, the instructions said to call a friend. So, I called Rich Hinson who happened to be close by. He agreed to come by and help set it on. Man, I wanted to see this on the roof! Rich, Jenny, and Evan stopped in and we commenced to setting the rack on the roof. Viola! It looked great. We are really getting somewhere now. It is really looking like an expedition vehicle.

It was too dark to get pictures by the time I was finished securing it down, but man it looked tough in the flood lights! I went out first thing in this morning and snapped a couple of pictures.

Roof Rack – Not Damaged!

I drove it 20 or so miles and noticed a howl. I will need to check out the mounting and wind deflector to see if I can figure out where it is coming from. Oh Well, all in a days work. Or so I say. If you ask Angela, she says I’m playing with my cars…..

Bernard is in Florida this weekend. One of his “to do” items is to meet with Luis Vassallo of OGE 4×4 (another possible expedition partnership?). Take a look at how Bernard’s rig is coming along.

Bernard Barbour and Luis Vasallo

I received another notice of delivery today. This is probably one of the most important accessories. The roof top tent manufactured by Ironman 4×4 is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! I cannot wait to get this. Along with the RTT (Roof top tent), is also the 2″ Ironman lift kit. It is going to be one exciting day. Stay tuned for installation and testing info. For those of you not so into the technical side of the preparation, hold on, we will be departing soon and the topics will shift to the trip. Angela told me this info was “boring for girls”. Well, hopefully you will hang in there for the long haul.