This last weekend we went to the Overland Expo PNW held in Redmond, Oregon. It was a three day event with camping, vendors and all the lifted and kitted-out trucks you could ever want to see.
The event was a three day expedition-palooza but we only attended that last day (Sunday the 9th) due to Jeremiah having to pull his shifts in the code mines and plans to attend with family. We arrived just after breakfast time, having of course stopped to sample some of the local fare. Mo's Egg House was a charming mom-and-pop styled breakfast spot there in Redmond. Jeremiah had Lox Benedict and I had a omelette scramble dubbed the Little Italy. They even served complimentary coffee cake before the meal was brought out.
So once we were fed and properly caffeinated off we went to Deschutes County Fair &. Expo center. I was quite impressed with the display of the Overland Expo signage and how well marketed everything was. This was my first expedition expo so I was very excited, about just about everything. We got checked in and then it was like letting a kid loose in a candy store, full of sounds of excitement and grabby hands. Right out of the gate there were two or three tire vendors (awesome placement really) which is very helpful for all those overlanders that are starting from the base truck format, sadly not effective for us as we need those chongo military tires. We quickly found a friend posted up in their LMTV (https://www.facebook.com/helicool)and we chatted with them for a bit, made plans to attend the LMTV round-up and checked out their awesome build. Then it was off to explore some more and we found the Victron dealers. They were able to answer a ton of technical questions that we had regarding our build, and likely saved us from an expensive mistake. The gentleman were very informative and I super appreciated that they took the time to talk with us.
We were getting fairly roasted at this point so we stopped in for some dippin' dots and then we spotted the guys with https://www.facebook.com/YankumRopes, we are working on an exciting idea with them. Everyone needs recovery ropes. Everyone. Jeremiah spent a good hour there and I think we may have gotten them thrilled about the prospect of owning an LMTV too. đ I know that a lot of people have tow straps and/or snatch straps but I think kinetic recovery ropes are the way to go. Not only are kinetic recovery ropes more durable than snatch straps, they are also less prone to failure and way more convenient when it comes to packing away after use. Of greater importance, however, they provide a softer snatch recovery, which is easier on recovery gear, easier on vehicles and inherently safer.
From there we meandered a bit more, I bought an awesome beach towel that can fold into it's own carrying case and I am going to battle test that product to decide if we need more for the truck. It's exhilarating to find so many products that I want to test before we leave the country. Continuing on our exploration we came across an author that Jeremiah likes quite a bit. We lamented that we forgot to bring his book to ask for an autograph. If you haven't you should pick up his book The Road Chose Me and give it a read. I've included his link here for you to do so https://www.facebook.com/dangrec.
About this time we were getting over heated and exhausted from all the walking but there was still so much to see. We didn't get as many photos as we would have liked, we spent more time gawking like we don't own a giant expedition rig of our own. My only gripe was that there was a decided lack of big expedition trucks like LMTV's or Unimogs.
All in all it was an amazing trip and I look forward to participating more in the next one, who knows maybe our truck Global Elsewhere will make an appearance! Enjoy the small gallery of photos we did take.
As always, thank you for joining us on our adventures. I can't wait to tell you more.
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