#USAONDIRT a 5,000 Mile OffRoad Adventure Across America

[Sir William Goes]

Day 12 Yesterday! The coverage is spotty so that's why I've uploaded 2 in a row today. We are experiencing EXTREME technical difficulties with Laptop and phones so the pictures will come later. Today we woke up after an amazing night of camping. The temperature was phenomenal the wind was just right and sky's were clear. We couldn't have asked for a better spot to stay or a better price!! After hanging out long enough to make and eat breakfast and clean out the fridge we were back on the trail. We came over Mt. Waas in a pretty technical but easy trail and arrived at beautiful views of the Canyons. We traveled into Moab where I had planned to get a hotel room. Apparently they have something big going on in Moab because everyone was either book or way out of our reasonable range. While in the area we went to Arches National Park where we set out to see the Arches. A slight misinterpretation of the map led us to hiking up a trail that was 3mi long 1way. We were prepared for 100yrds and didn't know how long it was after we found out the 100yrds wasn't the case!! We finally made it and got to see an amazing natural Stone arche called Delicate Arch. We left there and came to the sand flats recreation area where we did a little bit of Offroading in the pretty technical Jeep trails through out the park. It was more so a test for to see if Kristi would be able to stomach the more insane ones!! She is out on the huge up hills and down hills and really off camber spots. It's okay though because she makes a great photographer. Tomorrow we will eat at the diner and then play a little more I'm these Trails then hit the road. We finally got a chance to use the solar shower today and we both enjoyed being able to take a shower for free!! Till tomorrow, Peace.

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[Sir William Goes]

With the beautiful camp site and weather this morning it was tough to get up. After Kristi finally telling me I had to get up we headed out of the recreation area and into town in order to eat at the diner. I had full anticipated that we would get a hotel in Moad however the rates were way out of budget so we camped instead. I finally got to you my solar shower that I built for the trip and even think that I impressed Kristi with the design when she used it after seeing me get clean!! Up until know I believe she thought it to be gimmiky and not working!!! While at the diner we had service so I was going to take the time to get all the phone files cleaned and transferred to the laptop to free up space and to get all the scattered date in order, I was wrong!! The laptop gave out and is blinking caps lock and scroll lock and will not power on at all so it's out of commission. Intead with the use of 4g we loaded a video uploaded some photos and freed up space. This trip has taught me a few things 1 I have horrible luck when it comes to electronics and 2 never buy a phone without a memory card 3 always buy a big memory card! I freed up about 6gigs between the phone, the videos take a tremendous amount of space. We traveled through the most beautiful scenery imaginable in Utah up and through Green River. It seemed that ever corner was something new to look at. Once we determined that Ephrim and or Yuba was too far we called it a night at the first pull off on BLM lad we found. I have an app that shows BLM land and as long as the map of the area you are in is loaded you're good to go. It was night when we came in but I'm telling you now I just know that the scenery is going to be amazing when we get up. Till tomorrow, peace.
I just got a new memory card so hopefully we have the memory thing figured out now!!
For pics go to
facebook.com/USAONDIRT

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[Sir William Goes]

With the beautiful camp site and weather this morning it was tough to get up. After Kristi finally telling me I had to get up we headed out of the recreation area and into town in order to eat at the diner. I had full anticipated that we would get a hotel in Moad however the rates were way out of budget so we camped instead. I finally got to you my solar shower that I built for the trip and even think that I impressed Kristi with the design when she used it after seeing me get clean!! Up until know I believe she thought it to be gimmiky and not working!!! While at the diner we had service so I was going to take the time to get all the phone files cleaned and transferred to the laptop to free up space and to get all the scattered date in order, I was wrong!! The laptop gave out and is blinking caps lock and scroll lock and will not power on at all so it's out of commission. Intead with the use of 4g we loaded a video uploaded some photos and freed up space. This trip has taught me a few things 1 I have horrible luck when it comes to electronics and 2 never buy a phone without a memory card 3 always buy a big memory card! I freed up about 6gigs between the phone, the videos take a tremendous amount of space. We traveled through the most beautiful scenery imaginable in Utah up and through Green River. It seemed that ever corner was something new to look at. Once we determined that Ephrim and or Yuba was too far we called it a night at the first pull off on BLM lad we found. I have an app that shows BLM land and as long as the map of the area you are in is loaded you're good to go. It was night when we came in but I'm telling you now I just know that the scenery is going to be amazing when we get up. Till tomorrow, peace.

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[Brandon Harvey]

I just found your thread and am excited to see future posts. Will you also be cataloging and posting routes?


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[Sir William Goes]

I just found your thread and am excited to see future posts. Will you also be cataloging and posting routes?


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Awesome, hope that you enjoy. Be sure to follow as well on YouTube using #usaondirt. As far as route I'll be posting the way back. The route out west is the Trans America Trail and the maps can be bought online.

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[Sir William Goes]

Day 15 we woke up in Yuba State Park with wind rain and cold. We decided that we needed to make a run for it and pack up before the storm came and boy were we right!! Unfortunately we had to do without our normal breakfast and coffee so we decided to stop at the local cafe / hotel and get our fix. The 4runner was driving off balance from all of the mud that we had gone through the day b4 and was in need of some mud removal so I stopped at the car was b4 breakfast and gave her, and myself, a good spray down. We ate breakfast and loaded pics and videos and then carried oon down the road. Unfortunately the first spray job made the balance and drive worse than b4 so I went back for another!! After I got that squared away we headed out of town in hopes to make it to West Windover where we could get a much needed room at a hotel. When we arrived we found the rooms to be too high and determined that we would rather have one in Idaho where the temps were already in the 30s. We traveled all through Utah and in then back out of Nevada. We started looking for campsite around a little town or what used to be a settlement named Kelton Utah. After hours we finally found a decent site, I got out to check it out and noticed what looked to be a small cave in the rock formation. While walking up the rock I thought I had heard something and wrote it off then while looking around I heard a loud noise in which I had never heard then hurried down the rock asking Kristi if she had heard it as well to which she worriedly said yes what was that. I had no idea what it was and we weren't gonna stay to figure it out, we were gone!!! After further thoughts I think it may have been a bear den, not sure though and don't care to find out!!! After driving 540 miles today we found camp at Curlew National Grasslands where the low is in the high 30s which is way too cold!!! We are super spent and don't wanna get out the heat of the truck but know we have to!!! Till tomorrow, Peace

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[Sir William Goes]

Day 16 we woke up to a wet cold tent this morning but the sun came out quickly to warm us up. It felt so good that I almost didn't wanna get out of bed. We both really would like to see Yellowstone National Park so we decided to get off the Trans America Trail and head to Yellowstone via boring roads aka interstate. I will say that have a speed limit of 80 sure helps and I really wish that the Eastern states would jump on board with the idea. We determined that after 15days of camping we would like a hotel and found one in Rexburg, Idaho. We also found a C-A-L Ranch Stores that had a 5lb propane tank with my name on it, and super friendly staff. I've never been so excited for something so stupid but you have to understand why. 1) I can't find one for less than 70$ at home which is insane because a 20lb cost 30$ 2) I think that the small disposable 1lb tanks are so wasteful because you can't refill them and they are just an overall waste of lots of material. We checked into the Motel 6 here in Rexburg and we are very impressed with the first impression. That may not mean much since we have been living outside for the past 15days!! None the less, we will enjoy no less than 2 hot showers a piece and will travel into town to do laundry and grab a bite to eat we will consider this a rest day!! For the life of me I can't understand why they would build a brand new hotel with no laundry room but hey no biggie. Here is the landscape we looked at today.Till tomorrow, peace.

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[Doug C]

What app are you using to find BLM land? Thanks


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[Sir William Goes]

Using Back Country Navigation

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[canadianoverlanders]

Awesome trip, thanks for sharing. We're really enjoying the write up and photos.


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[Sir William Goes]

Awesome trip, thanks for sharing. We're really enjoying the write up and photos.


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Great I'm glad!! Be sure to check out the videos too www.YouTube.com/c/sirwilliamadams

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[Louisiana Overland]

Following along on your youtube channel....thanks for sharing.

 

[IdahoGrizz]

Awesome! Trip of a lifetime. The TAT is on my bucket list. I just need to do it. Your report is inspiring, to say the least. Great photos and narrative. Thanks. Your adventure pretty well sums up what OB is all about in many ways. Thanks. I'll be looking again and taking notes. I wouldn't mind being able to PM you with questions when they come up in the planning, if you're agreeable to it.

 

[Sir William Goes]

Awesome! Trip of a lifetime. The TAT is on my bucket list. I just need to do it. Your report is inspiring, to say the least. Great photos and narrative. Thanks. Your adventure pretty well sums up what OB is all about in many ways. Thanks. I'll be looking again and taking notes. I wouldn't mind being able to PM you with questions when they come up in the planning, if you're agreeable to it.

Absolutely!! One of the inspirations of mine was a similar thread on a different site. Feel free to ask anything if I can help. I have found that you just gotta do

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[IdahoGrizz]

Absolutely!! One of the inspirations of mine was a similar thread on a different site. Feel free to ask anything if I can help. I have found that you just gotta do

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Thanks. Yes, Just do it! is more than a Nike mantra. Enjoy the miles and smiles.

 

[Sir William Goes]

Hey guys here is Episode 3. In this episode we travel from Mississippi to Arkansas on the Trans America Trail

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[Sir William Goes]

Day 17
We woke up refreshed after our first night in a hotel!! I literally took 3 showers just to savor the feeling! I think that Kristi enjoyed two herself!! We ate out the night before and did some laundry, pretty boring for a Saturday night but it was alright by us. We stopped at the local Walmart to pick up a portable heater for the temperatures that will be waiting for us in Oregon. We then traveled to Yellowstone National Park and saw some of the most amazing natural wonders that this Earth has to offer. We could have literally spent a week just exploring the park alone. It never ceases to amaze me that we are always rushing and never have enough time it seems to really soak it all in, I guess that's what happens when you only have a month to explore 15+ states!!! I rekon we will just have to continue to explore the rest of our lives!!! After enjoying a small portion of what Yellowstone had to offer we headed back down to the trail. We found camp on Bureau of Land Management Land called Pipeline Campground which is just fantastic. We couldn't ask for better sunset and it's right on the Snake River which feeds Mine and Kristi's inner #Cancer. Tomorrow we will be back on the Trans America Trail headed west. We plan to make a stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve if the time permits. We hope to make it into Oregon tomorrow since we are starting to be in a crunch for time. With the #wildfires and potential snow we are keeping a close eye on everything. Last year I was unable to do a large portion or Oregon due to the weather and I certainly don't want a repeat. Oregon looks to be beautiful but for some reason she doesn't seem to want to cater to my travels as well as other states. Here are some pics. Till tomorrow, Peace.

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[Sir William Goes]

Today started out as many others have for me, COLD!! I feel sorry for me because we haven't even begin to get into the cold temperatures yet and still here I am whining about the cold. The campsite we found last night was awesome, the only way it would have been better would be to have some warmer weather but other than that we couldn't ask for more. We quickly set off back to the trail and after some short bit of pavement we were back on farm roads. Kristi and I have never seen so many potatoes in our life. With the truck after truck after truck, semis pulling multiple trailers full, you would think that Idaho is the only spot potatoes are grown. Like I'm astonished at the fact that we as a society can even eat all these potatoes!! Really, we have been here only a few days and gathered a snapshot of the day to day activities and if this is normal that's an ass of potatoes!! Anyways, shortly after the farm land it turned to prehistoric lava rock which was really neat, although it made for extremely low travel speeds because the road was pretty rough. We were originally gonna stop at Craters of the moon but did some research and found that we wouldn't have seen much more that we already had gotten to see driving through and around the actual monument so we made the decision to press on. Shortly after a brief stent in Arco, we started up the mountains where it had began to rain. We dealt with muddy roads nearly all day from that point on. The high mountain passes were really cool but the storm and weather made for not so ideal conditions and bad pics. We came across a group of college students that were part of the Student Conservation Association, they had managed to get their full size Dodge Ram in quite a pickle on a road that looked as if the heavy rain literally swept it away. We stopped to see if I could help and my Little Ol' Apple (Toyota 4Runner) pulled them to safety. I was happy to help and even happier that I could this time since that last person we tried to help we couldn't. From there we continued on into Ketchum where we had read that we could find the best potato in Idaho. This was must since we had seen so many potatoes I was now craving one. I had the best prime rib sandwich I have ever tasted and the atmosphere was pretty cool too. The baked potato was good, but no difference than the potatoes I've had before!! We then tried to make up some ground and decided that we would make our way into the sawtooth national Forest and try to get over the mountains and camp on the other side hopefully lower so the temperature would be high and also maybe beating the rain. After about 2hrs of driving we came to a complete stop on Forest Road 227 where it was blocked because of a mudslide. It looks like this has been an issue for some time because their are cement barriers blocking it. We had to backtrack and the route was to take until well into dark and included some more mountain passes. Not wanting to attempt this in the dark and rain we decided to hunker down at a campsite in the forest and we will get up in the morning and head out. We have opted to use the big tent that Lauren let us borrow because it holds the heat better and we have a living room of sorts since it's raining. The low is supposed to be in the 30s here. At this point we are dreaming of when we can get to SoCal where it's 85!!! Till tomorrow, peace.

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[Sir William Goes]

Day 19 was tough we woke up cold and wet and looked out side to see heavy snow!! We have gone through all the seasons this trip and we are ready to go back to summer!! We drove nearly 400 miles and made it over the infamous Wolf Mountain which last year had stopped me in my tracks. We made it down the mountain and found a nice camping area in which we decided would work. When unpacking we found the big tent to be filled with water, not wanting to tackle that at the moment we left it open in hopes it would dry and set up the little tent. We decided to leave the rain fly draped over the ten and velcro on the rails but opted to not allow it to act as an awning which is definitely the way to use this particular tent in the low temps. I woke up to slight wind and rain and hurried to let down big tent so it wouldn't get anymore water in it. From there the wind and rain turned to just steady rain. Nice to sleep to, bad to camp in!! Now we have 2 tents that are soaked. We stayed warm though and the bugs are non existent in these temps. we are now pressing on to Port Orford and will make it no matter what today!! Then it's off to the warm temps again!!! Till tomorrow, Peace.

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[Sir William Goes]

Day 20
Today we woke up to more rain. It was actually a nice temperature for us since we had found a way to let the rain fly stay up against the tent and not opened as if trying to catch a breeze. The problem was that 1) it started raining so everything was soaked 2) it had also started to condensate all on the inside so everything was wet. We gathered the energy to get up and then started packing in the rain. I put big tent in the roof basket hoping it would dry with the wind. That worked out well till we came across more rain!! At this point we have two soaked tents and really there's nothing we can do about it. I really don't know what a solution would be to this problem. The Trans America Trail took us near CVT so we stopped to have a look at some far more luxurious caping tent than what we have, these mount on the top of the 4runner and would be very cool, I still don't know how you would avoid wet though. From there my grandma called who is also on a traveling adventure and they were stopping in Eugene will traveling to Canada. We decided we would get off the Trans America Trail to meet them. Afterall we were in serious time crunch and at this point had run out of days to be on the TAT. We took boring roads into Port Orford OR where we arrived at 10pm local time. We made our plots in the truck and that's where we are camping tonight. Again, bot tents are wet and it's still raining!!! We are excited though to see the sunrise since we are right on the ocean, and to think people spend millions for this view!! P.S. We can't wait until we get sunny weather and we are just ecstatic about going back into the desert at this point!! Till tomorrow, Peace.

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