Some time after midnight having spent the last 12 hours in a daze I head off to park my truck and go to sleep.Īnd that's my Overland Expo East Toyota story. and 5 hours later, after It's all done I'm talking to Mike and he says "hey you wanna come back to our camp and eat dinner and drink beer with us?"Ĭome to find out Mike is Mike Sweers and Bob is Bob Kupina, some people here might know these names, they knew several people from the forums here like Kurt from and these guys are salt of the Earth man, they spent the whole night drinking beer and answering all my dumb questions about AHC, DSC, ATRAC, they gave me a koozie that says "I suck at overlanding," (4th pic with Sheldon), and then around midnight Bob says "why don't you show us everything you have done to you rig?" SO I spent about an hour going over all the mods to my truck and getting constructive feedback on things to look out for and maintenance to keep up, generally having a great time. I'm having a blast (obviously), they are having a good time watching me play with the toys they all helped design (I don't know if any of them actually had anything to do with the 100 Series). Mike takes his 79 Series over a particularly tough little climb (2nd pic) and gets out and looks at me and says "You're gonna try that too right?" While we are out there I realize all of these guys know each other and I ask Sheldon "who here doesn't work for Toyota," he looks around and says "Just you." Now I'm starting to realize I'm out on the trail with 15 Toyota engineers and project managers and other assorted genius types who are now starting to push me to do more and more stuff with my truck. So I think that pretty cool and eventually several other guys come over and introduce themselves (Mike, Sheldon, and a dozen more) and we take off for the trail. You may think the Southwest desert or the Rockies take the cake when it comes to overlanding, but don’t underestimate Appalachia. Mac looks at me and says " Do you know who that is? That's the senior project manager for Toyota Development in Michigan." Overland Expo East Where: Arrington, VA When: October 9-11, 2020 This is the East Coast’s take on the Overland Expo. So while I'm briefly chatting with Mac this second guy comes up and says "hey we're leaving in five minutes to hit the trail." I ask him if they are going to do some wheelin' locally and he says "yeah you wanna come along?" Of course I say sure and he indroduces himself as Bob walks away to do some last minute stuff. So Saturday I was driving around charging up my batteries and looking at rigs when I came across this really nice looking 60 series (1st pic) and I stop my truck to get out and to take a look and chat with the owner, a guy who turned out to be named Mac McKenzie. I volunteered to work a tent (Geyser, look it up) at OEX East to get a free ticket in, but still had a lot of free time to enjoy myself. Special thanks to OutdoorX4 Web Editor Rick Stowe and Copy Editor Susan Dragoo for contributing several images for this recap.I would like to share my experience with Toyota at Overland Expo East and I think most of you will appreciate it.The following is a sampling of the many vehicles and people we saw while in Virginia for Overland Expo East 2019. The event was full of new products, interesting vehicles, and most importantly great times. OutdoorX4 Magazine has been a proud Title Media Sponsor of the event since 2014 and each year we have had the pleasure of meeting new people, seeing old friends, and sharing in the experience that makes vehicle-based adventure such a worthwhile endeavor. Sprawled out over 387 acres, Infinity Downs Farm proved to be an excellent venue for this year’s iteration of Overland Expo and with the grace of weather gods, the event enjoyed its largest attendance since launching on the east coast in 2014.įor those not familiar with Overland Expo, the event is held twice annually on the west coast and in the east coast (a new event in Colorado is scheduled to be held in August 2020 – more details to follow) with a focus on all-things related to adventure travel. This year, Overland Expo East moved from its homebased in North Carolina to the Infinity Downs Farm in Arrington, Virginia. Now in its sixth year, Overland Expo East has complimented its West event, held annually each May in Arizona, to provide attendees and exhibitors a weekend of camaraderie while offering various courses of instruction and a host of on-site events for those new, as well as those experienced, in overland and vehicle-based travel. Overland Expo East descends upon Arrington, Virginia for three days of good weather and great experiences
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