US East Running the Trans America Trail (TAT) from WV to the OR coast

[DEADBEEF]

Hey-ya’ll! I am so happy I came across this posting. TAT here we come! We (husband=Wayne, wife=Michele) were dreaming of doing the TAT this year 2021 as husband/wifey team. We have just signed up to go with the Overlanding group, so excited. We are newbies to the “pursuit of happiness in our 4x4 rig“ movement. Thus we are in the learning phase and soaking up all the great info from the experienced folks going on this trip. My husband and I are both recently “retired”, I.e. shut down the compilers, debuggers, and IDEs, left the cubicle behind and are looking for our next big adventures. We purchased a 2008 Lexus GX 470 as our trusty rig. So far she’s been great fun to drive and we are busily working on getting her outfitted as needed per the requirements for the trip. The transformation from “mall-crawler” to “rock-crawler”. Anyways kudos to armyRN for posting the invite, hope to see ya’ll on the trail.

Looks like we\'re \"neighbors,\" Lol. You might want to also check out the South Carolina Adventure Route (S.C.A.R.) Home | South Carolina Adventure Route (SCAR)

Thanks for the link...we will check it out. Might be a good route for practice and equipment dry runs especially if it’s in our own back yard here in upstate SC, Spartanburg.

 

[Solo Saga]

Great! For reference, there's a guy on YouTube (Sir William Goes), that has a series recording his SCAR trip.

 

[DEADBEEF]

Welcome to the TAT adventure, it will be an awesome trip.

Thanks T. Stanley for the warm welcome. BTW I really like your truck graphic “Last Dollar Overlanding”. It gets my creative juices flowing to come up with one for our “rig”, thanks for the inspiration.

 

[T. Stanley]

Thanks T. Stanley for the warm welcome. BTW I really like your truck graphic “Last Dollar Overlanding”. It gets my creative juices flowing to come up with one for our “rig”, thanks for the inspiration.

It potentially has multiple meanings, it could mean, “ I spent my “Last Dollar (so I could go) Overlanding” or “ you don’t have to spend your “Last Dollar (to go) Overlanding”, or where it actually originated, one of my favorite trails is Last Dollar Road near Telluride, CO. hence the name “Last Dollar Overlanding”.

 

[DEADBEEF]

Welcome Wayne and Michele! It'll be a grand trip. Thanks for signing-up. Have fun prepping your vehicle and getting your gear - sound like you've got a great vehicle to start-out with. There's tons of information on the OB pages, and you can always just ask us if you have any questions. Are you doing the whole thing with us?

South Carolina... I used to live in Greenville a long time ago. I have good memories of S.C. It is always fun to go back there.

Yes sir. We are planning on doing the entire trip as far as the TAT will take us. We have a few states that we have not yet visited, all of them out West. This gives us the opportunity to check them out while having an adventure getting there. I’m sure we will have some questions regarding gear; from the radio comms to cooking setups to personal hygiene and etc.

Greenville SC is a cute town, they have been doing a great job in revitaliztion. We live in Spartanburg, but neither Wayne nor myself are natives to SC, just picked it “out of the blue” one day, it seemed a nice place to live. Plus they have a great little airport GSP which came in handy for us while traveling to/fro work.

 

[DEADBEEF]

Great! For reference, there's a guy on YouTube (Sir William Goes), that has a series recording his SCAR trip.

Ah yes I have caught a few of his YouTube videos with his red 4Runner I believe. I will look up the SCAR, curious to see where in SC it goes, upstate or low country or etc.

 

[DEADBEEF]

Hehe! Did someone say Goooo UCF Knights...guess who’s a Florida boy too, my “ favorite husband“ Wayne.

Oh and our LexOR as we call her getting the Kanati AT Trail Hogs dirty

 

[Darunner]

My 2 Sons graduated from UCF as well !!
I guess i will hang Florida and UCF Flags on my truck when I come over

 

[DEADBEEF]

My 2 Sons graduated from UCF as well !!
I guess i will hang Florida and UCF Flags on my truck when I come over

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And gotta add USF Bulls to the list as well since I went to grad school there myself. We are big college football fans so each year the “war on I4” is always fun time.

 

[CountryRoads4x4]

Just joined the trip. My name is Scott and I'm considering bringing 2 of my boys along, Garrett who will be 8 by the time of the trip and Carson who is 6. We live in WV not far from the start point. We will drive though the town I grew up in and go right past my parents house. Some of the roads I am very familiar with but some I have never been on. I'm looking forward to getting some real overland experience. We typically stick to state park camping and stay in the immediate area. A few months ago I bought a 2017 F150. Last week I upgraded the all seasons that came on the truck to some good AT tires. Need to get a few more goodies before spring but we will be ready.

 

[DEADBEEF]

My 2 Sons graduated from UCF as well !!
I guess i will hang Florida and UCF Flags on my truck when I come over

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This is “the husband”, Wayne. I graduated from UCF, but it was FTU when I started there. So, as you can tell, I’m an old timer.

 

[bcmedicxj]

This trip sounds amazing. Glad to see upfront rules of the road. It makes everything so much smoother. I am a retired paramedic and have been off-roading for years but new to overlanding. The route through East Tennessee practically goes through my back yard. I plan on starting at the rally point and go as far as my wallet can stand. I hope to register in a few weeks when I can get a plan together. I have to do the GMRS thing and install my RTT on my M416 trailer.

 

[T. Stanley]

Just joined the trip. My name is Scott and I'm considering bringing 2 of my boys along, Garrett who will be 8 by the time of the trip and Carson who is 6. We live in WV not far from the start point. We will drive though the town I grew up in and go right past my parents house. Some of the roads I am very familiar with but some I have never been on. I'm looking forward to getting some real overland experience. We typically stick to state park camping and stay in the immediate area. A few months ago I bought a 2017 F150. Last week I upgraded the all seasons that came on the truck to some good AT tires. Need to get a few more goodies before spring but we will be ready.

Welcome to the TAT crew, this will be an amazing trip

 

[T. Stanley]

I finally got the Last Dollar Overlanding Edition graphic decals yesterday and today I got my truck in our heated shop and got them on.

the guy promised he would make the “Last Dollar” bigger, I guess he forgot!!! I’m not all that happy with the way they look. you have to be within 10 feet of my truck to read it

 

[Happy_Wanderer]

Good day all, I am new to the app/website. I just joined the TAT and really am looking forward to it. To start my name is Corey, I am a retired US Marine. This will be my first Overlanding in a group. I done a few coast to coast and Florida Keys to Toronto Canada's, but nothing hardcore as cool as the TAT. Like I said I am extremely excited about this because I was going to do something like this alone and its always better in a group (well sometimes). My son served 4 years in the Corps and then went into the Army he is stationed in Washington State and I figured I'd go visit him. Anyway don't want to tell my whole life. I am rolling a 2014 Jeep JKU, Apex badlands winch, Smittybilt RTT, by the time of this trip I should be lifted 2-2.5" and running 33's or 35's have not decided yet. I will bring plenty of crayons so food will be colorful in my ride. I look forward to meeting you all and experiencing this journey together. My wife and daughter are looking at joining if their schedules workout.

 

[T. Stanley]

Good day all, I am new to the app/website. I just joined the TAT and really am looking forward to it. To start my name is Corey, I am a retired US Marine. This will be my first Overlanding in a group. I done a few coast to coast and Florida Keys to Toronto Canada's, but nothing hardcore as cool as the TAT. Like I said I am extremely excited about this because I was going to do something like this alone and its always better in a group (well sometimes). My son served 4 years in the Corps and then went into the Army he is stationed in Washington State and I figured I'd go visit him. Anyway don't want to tell my whole life. I am rolling a 2014 Jeep JKU, Apex badlands winch, Smittybilt RTT, by the time of this trip I should be lifted 2-2.5" and running 33's or 35's have not decided yet. I will bring plenty of crayons so food will be colorful in my ride. I look forward to meeting you all and experiencing this journey together. My wife and daughter are looking at joining if their schedules workout.

Welcome to the TAT adventure, we already have several retired/veteran military folks on board, we are glad to welcome another vet to the roster

 

[armyRN]

I finally got the Last Dollar Overlanding Edition graphic decals yesterday and today I got my truck in our heated shop and got them on.
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the guy promised he would make the “Last Dollar” bigger, I guess he forgot!!! I’m not all that happy with the way they look. you have to be within 10 feet of my truck to read it
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Hopefully you can keep a straight face when folks come up to you and ask if that was a special Toyota overlanding edition vehicle and you tell them "Yes - very limited edition". I'm liking it.

 

[armyRN]

This is “the husband”, Wayne. I graduated from UCF, but it was FTU when I started there. So, as you can tell, I’m an old timer.

Yup, when I first went there in 1978 it was still "FTU". It might even still say it on an old transcript. I guess I'm an old-timer too.

I had a sister that graduated from FSU, and another one that graduated from Gainesville.

Why do I live in WA? One of the reasons is that it is the furthest state away from FL (and my wife [raised in OR] said "No" to Alaska).

 

[armyRN]

This trip sounds amazing. Glad to see upfront rules of the road. It makes everything so much smoother. I am a retired paramedic and have been off-roading for years but new to overlanding. The route through East Tennessee practically goes through my back yard. I plan on starting at the rally point and go as far as my wallet can stand. I hope to register in a few weeks when I can get a plan together. I have to do the GMRS thing and install my RTT on my M416 trailer.

Another lil' Army trailer. I'm liking it. It is fun to see how folks set-up their lil' trailers.

 

[armyRN]

This trip sounds amazing. Glad to see upfront rules of the road. It makes everything so much smoother. I am a retired paramedic and have been off-roading for years but new to overlanding. The route through East Tennessee practically goes through my back yard. I plan on starting at the rally point and go as far as my wallet can stand. I hope to register in a few weeks when I can get a plan together. I have to do the GMRS thing and install my RTT on my M416 trailer.

Thank-you. It will be an amazing trip. I hope you can make it happen.

We have the potential to have a large group on this run (twice as large as some would recommend), so having rules and expectations up front helps things go a lot smoother. It can be like herding kittens if you aren't organized and focused as a group. Time management (like everyone up and wheels rolling early in the morning, gas stops, lunch stops, etc.) becomes critical keeping a large group moving. I think we can do it and still have everyone enjoying themselves in the process.

And another medial person on the group - excellent!

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, we're not trying to keep up with the Overlanding Joneses on this trip - nobody needs the latest bling. You can have a ball overlanding and do it on a budget - that's my plan anyways.