vanderpooch
Authentic Adventurer
I really thought there would be a lot more Overland Porn by now 
The Syncro laying on it's side was due to a broken CV.
The Syncro laying on it's side was due to a broken CV.
Big THANK YOU to the Hollister Overland team!
- Thread starter Scott Brady
- Start date
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
Hollister was an excellent venue for the event. Gear and I arrived just before sunset on Wed.
Our campsite:
This is what the place looked like on Thurs. morning before everyone showed up (gates opened at 4pm). This photo shows approx. 50% of the camping and vendor area. Vendors were in the open area in the middle and the campsites were tucked under the trees around the perimeter:
The guys from Overland Gourmet are awesome. They cooked us an impromptu feast of tri-tip and salmon on Thurs. night. It started out as a meal for 5 or 6 of us and just kept growing as people wandered over to their site. I'm guessing they fed >25 people by the time supplies ran out.
Note: I'm not much of a photographer so I didn't take many pics. I also had to leave on Fri. morning so I missed most of the good stuff. There's zero cell service/connectivity at the site (unless you have Satellite) so don't expect many photos until everyone gets home. There were cameras everywhere so I'm sure there will be tons of pics being posted this week.
Our campsite:
This is what the place looked like on Thurs. morning before everyone showed up (gates opened at 4pm). This photo shows approx. 50% of the camping and vendor area. Vendors were in the open area in the middle and the campsites were tucked under the trees around the perimeter:
The guys from Overland Gourmet are awesome. They cooked us an impromptu feast of tri-tip and salmon on Thurs. night. It started out as a meal for 5 or 6 of us and just kept growing as people wandered over to their site. I'm guessing they fed >25 people by the time supplies ran out.
Note: I'm not much of a photographer so I didn't take many pics. I also had to leave on Fri. morning so I missed most of the good stuff. There's zero cell service/connectivity at the site (unless you have Satellite) so don't expect many photos until everyone gets home. There were cameras everywhere so I'm sure there will be tons of pics being posted this week.
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
Update from Gear's Great Adventure
Gear, Barlowrs and myself are currently in Lost Hills CA...
Justin rolled the Chaser today at the Trophy and it appears that our field repair at the rally is holding BUT there is a new problem - the plate that holds the control arm to the frame is cracking... Unless we can get this welded somehow we are spending the night here.
More later
Gear, Barlowrs and myself are currently in Lost Hills CA...
Justin rolled the Chaser today at the Trophy and it appears that our field repair at the rally is holding BUT there is a new problem - the plate that holds the control arm to the frame is cracking... Unless we can get this welded somehow we are spending the night here.
More later
T.Low
Expedition Leader
I was hoping you were going to make it down here so I could covet your van in person!
Ha! Thanks for that. There's so much going on close to home; rides, overland trips, too much to choose from. Ended up going on a long dual sport ride with 16 local buddies. 8 Ibuprofen and a half day later, I starting to feel ok again.
Maybe next year when Herbie gets his van together we'll take a trip down that way.
Looks good so far; looking forward to hearing more about it. From one van guy to another, I hope the Syncro isn't too bad. Ouch.
Last edited:
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
We found a welder
Looks like we might make it home - we'll see how this goes
Looks like we might make it home - we'll see how this goes
Dan,
It was a true pleasure to meet you both and thanks again for helping with my KTM tire replacement....twice...
JP just pulled in with the trailer, I'll send a more detailed report tonight.
It was a true pleasure to meet you both and thanks again for helping with my KTM tire replacement....twice...
JP just pulled in with the trailer, I'll send a more detailed report tonight.
pacrimguru
New member
yes, yes, a big thanks to all!!! i'd like to share my expereince...
the Overland Rally - a newbie's perspective!
i went to the overland rally in hollister at the hollister svra this weekend and wanted to share the wonderful experience with everyone.
first off i want to extend a huge thanks to everyone i met. i traveled up solo and am a total newb and was made to feel like i met up with old friends. a big thanks go out to rover brethren leigh, dan, mike, and ron and family. i also latched onto a mitsubishi contingent, mike, ray, and carlos - a very big special thanks to you guys too. thanks to rob to for offering to caravan up with me from so.cal. i was truly a pleasure to meet everyone of you! to the staff of overland rally, i million thanks for making it happen. i have nothing but great things to say about you guys. i look forward to doing this again!
my trip started out on friday morning at 3:30am when i left LA. my intention was to get to the camp site by 9:00 in order to take advantage of the whole day's activities. to my surprise, i got a call from ron at 4:30am just checking up on me. that was a very nice gesture!
i arrived at the check in gate at 9:20am, just barely missing the first classes of the day. i lucked out and was able to slip into the tire repair course help by martyn davies of adventure trailers. martyn is a seasoned traveler with tons of great overlanding knowledge. i ended up talking to him for hours about his various exploits. i then got a personal class on load management and storage solutions from paul may, founder of equipt expedition outfitters. he was very kind in listening and answering to this newbies many, many questions. paul's company brings in top notch products from south africa. for my thrid class of the day, i met up with martyn from AT again and he went over onboard air systems with me. he even came with me to my D2 to see what solutions would be the best for me. now that's personal attention! adventure trailers really is a one stop shop for tons of custom build outs from air systems, to living quarters, to well... adventure trailers.
i perused the amazing displays that everyone brought out. overland journal had 2 cool vehicles, a land cruiser and a jeep. snowpeak really blew my mind with their tents and other little gadgets, as did overland gourmet. their kitchen set up was awesome.
day 1 ended with presentations from charlie rauseo, competitor in the dakar rally and ben slavin on his motorcycle travels to tierra del fuego. both we eye opening presentations accompanied by great slide shows that i could have stayed up all night watching. i have a new found respect for those who compete in the dakar rally. ben's 6+ month, 23,000 mile one man ride from new hampshire to the tip of south america is inspiring as well as amazing. i really enjoyed his presentation as well as getting to talk to him about his journey.
day 2 started out with breakfast (thanks grasscat mike) and lead directly into driving classes. i took beginner 4wd taught by j. brandon followed by advanced 4wd taught by scott brady. both were quick and informative. they sure helped this beginner out. i participated in a driving exercise and got to watch as other people demonstrated their skills on hollister svra's obstacle courses.
my third class of the day was vehicle recovery taught by thor and jon jonsson of viking offroad. as the class began, someone ran down a hill ran up to thor and showed him a picture on his iphone of a synchro westfalia vw van turned onto its side near the crest of a steep and very high mountain. it was clear that this guy needed help so we turned our class about recovery into and actual recovery!
the class loaded up into a caravan and drop up to the scene. it was a lot further up than i expected it to be. our class had to wait at the base of the mountain to watch everything unfold. the van was clearly upturned and it was quite a sight. after a couple of hours, thor and the team got the van up right. although i didn't get to learn about recovery, it was great to see one happen. those guys made it look easy!
after all that excitement, i had to cut my trip short and return home for a small family emergency. i wish i could have stayed to see the other presentations that night as well as partake in the pig roast, but family comes first. okay, enough of my rambling, here are some pics for you to enjoy.
the best vehicle there imo (i'm a camel trophy fan!):
this was really cool, a series rover with a chevy v8 and school bus transmission!
scott brady's "j8" experimental right hand drive, diesel, military jeep!
???!
sweet camping set ups:
the Overland Rally - a newbie's perspective!
i went to the overland rally in hollister at the hollister svra this weekend and wanted to share the wonderful experience with everyone.
first off i want to extend a huge thanks to everyone i met. i traveled up solo and am a total newb and was made to feel like i met up with old friends. a big thanks go out to rover brethren leigh, dan, mike, and ron and family. i also latched onto a mitsubishi contingent, mike, ray, and carlos - a very big special thanks to you guys too. thanks to rob to for offering to caravan up with me from so.cal. i was truly a pleasure to meet everyone of you! to the staff of overland rally, i million thanks for making it happen. i have nothing but great things to say about you guys. i look forward to doing this again!
my trip started out on friday morning at 3:30am when i left LA. my intention was to get to the camp site by 9:00 in order to take advantage of the whole day's activities. to my surprise, i got a call from ron at 4:30am just checking up on me. that was a very nice gesture!
i arrived at the check in gate at 9:20am, just barely missing the first classes of the day. i lucked out and was able to slip into the tire repair course help by martyn davies of adventure trailers. martyn is a seasoned traveler with tons of great overlanding knowledge. i ended up talking to him for hours about his various exploits. i then got a personal class on load management and storage solutions from paul may, founder of equipt expedition outfitters. he was very kind in listening and answering to this newbies many, many questions. paul's company brings in top notch products from south africa. for my thrid class of the day, i met up with martyn from AT again and he went over onboard air systems with me. he even came with me to my D2 to see what solutions would be the best for me. now that's personal attention! adventure trailers really is a one stop shop for tons of custom build outs from air systems, to living quarters, to well... adventure trailers.
i perused the amazing displays that everyone brought out. overland journal had 2 cool vehicles, a land cruiser and a jeep. snowpeak really blew my mind with their tents and other little gadgets, as did overland gourmet. their kitchen set up was awesome.
day 1 ended with presentations from charlie rauseo, competitor in the dakar rally and ben slavin on his motorcycle travels to tierra del fuego. both we eye opening presentations accompanied by great slide shows that i could have stayed up all night watching. i have a new found respect for those who compete in the dakar rally. ben's 6+ month, 23,000 mile one man ride from new hampshire to the tip of south america is inspiring as well as amazing. i really enjoyed his presentation as well as getting to talk to him about his journey.
day 2 started out with breakfast (thanks grasscat mike) and lead directly into driving classes. i took beginner 4wd taught by j. brandon followed by advanced 4wd taught by scott brady. both were quick and informative. they sure helped this beginner out. i participated in a driving exercise and got to watch as other people demonstrated their skills on hollister svra's obstacle courses.
my third class of the day was vehicle recovery taught by thor and jon jonsson of viking offroad. as the class began, someone ran down a hill ran up to thor and showed him a picture on his iphone of a synchro westfalia vw van turned onto its side near the crest of a steep and very high mountain. it was clear that this guy needed help so we turned our class about recovery into and actual recovery!
the class loaded up into a caravan and drop up to the scene. it was a lot further up than i expected it to be. our class had to wait at the base of the mountain to watch everything unfold. the van was clearly upturned and it was quite a sight. after a couple of hours, thor and the team got the van up right. although i didn't get to learn about recovery, it was great to see one happen. those guys made it look easy!
after all that excitement, i had to cut my trip short and return home for a small family emergency. i wish i could have stayed to see the other presentations that night as well as partake in the pig roast, but family comes first. okay, enough of my rambling, here are some pics for you to enjoy.
the best vehicle there imo (i'm a camel trophy fan!):
this was really cool, a series rover with a chevy v8 and school bus transmission!
scott brady's "j8" experimental right hand drive, diesel, military jeep!
???!
sweet camping set ups:
pacrimguru
New member
everyone could use a hammock:
kitchens and food:
class pics:
beginner 4WD
yea, believe it... it's stick too!
he made it though unscathed!
advanced 4WD
vehicle recovery class
turns into a real recovery
kitchens and food:
class pics:
beginner 4WD
yea, believe it... it's stick too!
he made it though unscathed!
advanced 4WD
vehicle recovery class
turns into a real recovery
pacrimguru
New member
presentations:
thanks for looking! if anyone else has a story to tell or pics to add, please do! i'd love to see and read about it.
- jerry
