NJ_OVERLAND
Member
My very first adventure travel trip down to North Carolina from New jersey started after receiving a phone call from a sibling of mine saying "Hey we're going to be here, you should come!" Which is great but with only about 10 days notice there was a few things to figure out. I didn't have my tent or camping gear situated, I didn't have a camp site reserved, my commuter cars fuel pump died the week of the trip which then turned my 4Runner into my commuter and on top of that I had a photo shoot scheduled in upstate New York the night before departing. That drive resulted in a broken muffler on my truck so that tail pipe went in the back of the truck and some mechanics wire went around the muffler. With all the commotion of the week I needed some form of itinerary to give me some sort of heading before my drive. I planned to go down for a day before my family would arrive, to test this new endeavor of adventure traveling I hoped to get into. I went on recreation.gov and booked my camp site at Oregon Inlet Campground on Cape Hatteras Seashore. So I had a location to head and a 9 and a half hour solo drive.
Meet Tonka my 2000 Toyota 4Runner. I've had my truck for 3 years now and wanted to get into adventure travel since day one. Iv'e camped in the back many times but I knew a true camping setup was necessary and I was finally able to do it. Tonka has a 3in OME lift with a slight body lift, 33 x12.5 Nitto Ridge Grapplers, sliders, a Yakima roof top tent with a Rhino Rack awning all attached to some Rhino Rack Cross bars. Thankfully the truck is supercharged to help push this setup down the road.
After 3 fuel stops and a quick run into Tractor Supply I made it to the Outer Banks. I applied for my Cape Hatteras OVR permit a day or 2 before I left and the office to pick it up happens to be at the Bodie Island Light Station. And for ten bucks I made my way to the top.
After my quick race up two hundred thirty some odd stairs I was anxious to set up camp for the first time. As I was setting up my camp I started worrying, what am I going to do for the rest of the night. I'm by myself, have didn't have any beer to offer, I had a sandwich for dinner so can't offer any of that so when I finished setting up my sleeping quarters I did what I knew would kill some time. I grabbed my camera to go for a walk, before I could lock my truck a group of guys shouted out, "What exit on the parkway are you?" I explained I live far north from the parkway, I'm from the very tip of New Jersey, a beautiful area of farms, the Appalachian Trail, and good farm stand ice cream everywhere. After I met the rest of the group I was welcomed into the conversation. Before I knew it was late, I was full, maybe a little buzzed, I haven't even seen the ocean I drove 9 hours to see, I didn't take a single picture. But I wasn't by myself. In fact I wasn't by myself the entire evening. We spoke about trucks, life, goals and why are we here. 5 strangers as of only a few hours and I had started to learn about these guys I would now call friends.
The next morning I was woken up by the humidity. The wind had stopped and the tent was now acting like a sauna so I grabbed my camera to see what my campsite had to offer since I didn't make it past the picnic table the night before.
Adventure travel had occupied a more spaces than I thought in the camp ground. That morning, before the rest of my new friends woke up, I was thinking to myself. You're doing it, you got in your truck and you went. Nerves aside, broken truck, worried about the time by yourself. The community of adventure travel lived up to everything I had thought it would. The camaraderie that I was a part of all because of a common interest is what this stuff is all about. This quick, barley planned, last minute trip solidified why I wanted to start doing this. This forum is full of people like the ones I had the pleasure of meeting that night and I can not wait to gain more experience and begin to travel more. I hope my intro story wasn't to sappy or not enough truck photo for you as a reader, I would like to say thank you to those men, this forum, and hope to meet more of you out there.
Meet Tonka my 2000 Toyota 4Runner. I've had my truck for 3 years now and wanted to get into adventure travel since day one. Iv'e camped in the back many times but I knew a true camping setup was necessary and I was finally able to do it. Tonka has a 3in OME lift with a slight body lift, 33 x12.5 Nitto Ridge Grapplers, sliders, a Yakima roof top tent with a Rhino Rack awning all attached to some Rhino Rack Cross bars. Thankfully the truck is supercharged to help push this setup down the road.
After 3 fuel stops and a quick run into Tractor Supply I made it to the Outer Banks. I applied for my Cape Hatteras OVR permit a day or 2 before I left and the office to pick it up happens to be at the Bodie Island Light Station. And for ten bucks I made my way to the top.
After my quick race up two hundred thirty some odd stairs I was anxious to set up camp for the first time. As I was setting up my camp I started worrying, what am I going to do for the rest of the night. I'm by myself, have didn't have any beer to offer, I had a sandwich for dinner so can't offer any of that so when I finished setting up my sleeping quarters I did what I knew would kill some time. I grabbed my camera to go for a walk, before I could lock my truck a group of guys shouted out, "What exit on the parkway are you?" I explained I live far north from the parkway, I'm from the very tip of New Jersey, a beautiful area of farms, the Appalachian Trail, and good farm stand ice cream everywhere. After I met the rest of the group I was welcomed into the conversation. Before I knew it was late, I was full, maybe a little buzzed, I haven't even seen the ocean I drove 9 hours to see, I didn't take a single picture. But I wasn't by myself. In fact I wasn't by myself the entire evening. We spoke about trucks, life, goals and why are we here. 5 strangers as of only a few hours and I had started to learn about these guys I would now call friends.
The next morning I was woken up by the humidity. The wind had stopped and the tent was now acting like a sauna so I grabbed my camera to see what my campsite had to offer since I didn't make it past the picnic table the night before.
Adventure travel had occupied a more spaces than I thought in the camp ground. That morning, before the rest of my new friends woke up, I was thinking to myself. You're doing it, you got in your truck and you went. Nerves aside, broken truck, worried about the time by yourself. The community of adventure travel lived up to everything I had thought it would. The camaraderie that I was a part of all because of a common interest is what this stuff is all about. This quick, barley planned, last minute trip solidified why I wanted to start doing this. This forum is full of people like the ones I had the pleasure of meeting that night and I can not wait to gain more experience and begin to travel more. I hope my intro story wasn't to sappy or not enough truck photo for you as a reader, I would like to say thank you to those men, this forum, and hope to meet more of you out there.
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