Greetings from New Mexico

[Gregory Youngblood]

I'm finally getting around to joining the forums and getting this set up.

I am located in Alamogordo, NM, commonly referred to as just Alamo. This is near White Sands and a little over an hour from Las Cruces.

Overlanding started out as something my daughter and I could do to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Especially here in New Mexico where there's so many different things to explore. It all started with a Subaru Outback, which then led to getting a small RV trailer, which of course meant a tow rig -- a 96 FZJ80 Land Cruiser!

I had grand plans for the Land Cruiser. I began fixing it up and getting it built up, but then decided to do something unusual. I have a fifth gen, 2013 Ford Explorer. I'd been using the Explorer in mud and snow and it just pulled through like a champ. I was surprised because this is a cross over, not a real truck. So, being fond of oddities, I decided to shift my energy and began working on building up the Explorer as my overlanding rig. And it fit nicely with my outdoor photography business -- Backroad Explorer.

I'm now down to just the Explorer, and a few tweaks. :) I have more to go, she's a work in progress after all.

My daughter and I explore various areas around Texas and New Mexico. I am hoping to make a trip to Utah in 2017.

My set up, and some pictures:
2013 Ford Explorer XLT 4wd w/factory towing
17" wheels, BFG AT/KO2
Frontrunner Slimline II rack (mounting for axe, shovel, traction/bridging ramps, etc.)
CVT Mt Shasta w/Extension rooftop tent
OB #0762 badge on back :)



*edited to fix computer's overzealous spell corrections changing overlanding to overloading. haha *

 

[ASNOBODY]

Welcome! At least you have the most appropriately named truck for overlanding :) My brother has one too. Its seen all sorts of conditions and visited all kinds of unusual places, and pulled through like a champ. Have fun!

 

[Cavo]

First off, welcome to the forums. I too live in New Mexico, but being the 5th largest state, seems like everyone is relatively far from everybody else....lol. I am just outside of Las Vegas.

Awesome that you use your vehicle to overland with your daughter. I jumped in to overlanding, more than anything, to experience the beauty of nature and the outdoors with my family, mixed in with some solid adventure. The memories are invaluable.

As for your rig, nicely done. Oh and, every overlanding rig is a "work in progress"....lol

Cheers

 

[Gregory Youngblood]

Welcome! At least you have the most appropriately named truck for overlanding :) My brother has one too. Its seen all sorts of conditions and visited all kinds of unusual places, and pulled through like a champ. Have fun!

Thanks. I've been surprised at the capability of the Explorer, especially on the highway tires it came with. Once I put on the BFGs it has been even better. The only thing I wish it had is a low-range. Still, even without that, it still does quite well. Sounds like your brother likes his too. It's always nice to see these do more than cruising highways or going to shopping centers. :)

 

[Gregory Youngblood]

First off, welcome to the forums. I too live in New Mexico, but being the 5th largest state, seems like everyone is relatively far from everybody else....lol. I am just outside of Las Vegas.

Awesome that you use your vehicle to overland with your daughter. I jumped in to overlanding, more than anything, to experience the beauty of nature and the outdoors with my family, mixed in with some solid adventure. The memories are invaluable.

As for your rig, nicely done. Oh and, every overlanding rig is a "work in progress"....lol

Cheers

Thanks! Appreciate the welcome. Las Vegas, first time I drove by a sign saying how far away Las Vegas was I began to question my geography memory and skills. I didn't realize, that first time, there was a Las Vegas, NM. Haha. How do you like it there? It looks like there are some amazing views near you. I'm looking forward to getting up that way late summer hopefully.

Another fun thing to mix with the overlanding is geocaching, especially if you have (younger?) kids.

Thank you. And rightly so, they are never truly finished. :)

 

[Cavo]

Las Vegas is actually much older than the "other" LV. I love it here, in the fact that the mountains are so close. I look out at hermits peak and it is amazing.
Geocaching? Interesting, never even looked into that. Do you have experience in this? What makes it fun? How does it work? I have an almost 10 year old daughter and she loves the outdoors, so, something like this might be amazing.
Lastly, if you come this way, let me know, and we can make a trip together. Santa Fe National Park and an offroad place is a mere 40 minutes from me and is amazing. Taos is about 2 hours from me and has amazing places to visit as well as offroad places to stay too.

Cheers

 

[Gregory Youngblood]

Las Vegas is actually much older than the "other" LV. I love it here, in the fact that the mountains are so close. I look out at hermits peak and it is amazing. View attachment 17656
Geocaching? Interesting, never even looked into that. Do you have experience in this? What makes it fun? How does it work? I have an almost 10 year old daughter and she loves the outdoors, so, something like this might be amazing.
Lastly, if you come this way, let me know, and we can make a trip together. Santa Fe National Park and an offroad place is a mere 40 minutes from me and is amazing. Taos is about 2 hours from me and has amazing places to visit as well as offroad places to stay too.

Cheers

You have a great view! We are near mountains down here as well. I love going outside and seeing them too.

I've not been as active with geocaching lately as I used to be. It' s a lot of fun, especially for kids. It's like a treasure hunt.

With geocaching you're using a GPS to find hidden caches (or "treasure"?). Some caches are just a log book where you put your name and date down showing you've found it, others are actual caches of things, usually some kind of trinket or something. The big thing is take-one, leave-one. So if you have some little trinket or small toys that your daughter has, then when you find the "treasure" she can swap out one of her toys for something in the cache. Plus you can also put your name down on the log book. At one point years ago, some caches had small disposable film camera that you could take a selfie with to show who found it. I just did a quick search for Las Vegas, NM and there are about 40 within about 10 miles of the city. I'm sure there are even more as you go into the parks, forests, and recreational areas around there.

Some of these are quite challenging. The caches are hidden. Just getting to the right latitude and longitude is not always enough. Plus when you factor in the margin of error GPS can have, especially if you're in tree covered areas, then finding the cache can be a challenge all by itself.

It's good that your daughter enjoys the out doors, especially here. I've seen some little girls that don't want to get dirty. My daughter has her moments, but for the most part she loves the outdoors and camping. Especially sleeping on top of the truck. :)

I'll let you know if we get up in your neck of the woods this summer. Sounds like our daughters are about the same age.

 

[Cavo]

Really interesting. Might give one or two a try this next weekend. My daughter read the book, The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure by Paul, Caroline and it boosted her will to push herself even more. I highly recommend it.

Let me know about your visit, if you do. Either way, cheers and pleasure meeting you in the forums and happy overlanding!!!

Cheers

 

[Gregory Youngblood]

Thanks, I'll check out that book and see if my daughter will like to read it.

My little one loves our roof top tent. She was the first one up when I installed it and had it opened up.

I've got some accessories coming and some tweaks to make then we're going to put it back on the Explorer and hopefully make a weekend get away very soon.