My time at Ft Bragg has come to an end. Although technically still in the Army until the end of October, I have 3 months of leave to burn. What did we decide to do with that much paid time off…hit the road in the 80 series and just go see America of course! No real itinerary to stick to and no real predetermined destinations. The only absolute was meeting with some friends from our days in TX as they finished up their summer vacation up north.
The last couple weeks had quite a few late nights working off the final items on Jolene’s “to-do” list, organizing gear, and clearing out the house before the lease ended. The end result was not exactly what I had in my head, but it’ll work for now and be something to build off of in the future.
The original plan was to drive the 80 (Jolene) towing a trailer set up for continuous camping along the way. Wanting to cover ground, “overlanding” was nixed in favor of sticking to pavement. We’re avoiding the interstates as much as possible though to make sure we actually get to see places we’ve never seen before. The plan evolved a little bit to ease the logistics on the back end since we’re not returning to NC. My wife’s Highlander is along for the trip acting as chase/backup vehicle. It’s actually been nice since it allows us to switch up the riding partner combos with kids and dog.
Others may or may not find this thread interesting, but I plan on updating it until we’re finished as a record of our trip. Less chance of MUD disappearing from the internet than a journal book in my truck!
Ready to pull out on day 1
The last couple weeks had quite a few late nights working off the final items on Jolene’s “to-do” list, organizing gear, and clearing out the house before the lease ended. The end result was not exactly what I had in my head, but it’ll work for now and be something to build off of in the future.
The original plan was to drive the 80 (Jolene) towing a trailer set up for continuous camping along the way. Wanting to cover ground, “overlanding” was nixed in favor of sticking to pavement. We’re avoiding the interstates as much as possible though to make sure we actually get to see places we’ve never seen before. The plan evolved a little bit to ease the logistics on the back end since we’re not returning to NC. My wife’s Highlander is along for the trip acting as chase/backup vehicle. It’s actually been nice since it allows us to switch up the riding partner combos with kids and dog.
Others may or may not find this thread interesting, but I plan on updating it until we’re finished as a record of our trip. Less chance of MUD disappearing from the internet than a journal book in my truck!
Ready to pull out on day 1
, and played games with the kids. Although the circumstances leading up to it were less than ideal for that elderly woman, it felt good to be able to relax and not be pressured by an artificial timeline.
. I’m sure the party atmosphere and like-minded crowd could be fun for some, just not me…at least not in SD. Then again, I guess we basically do the same thing with LCs and other people don’t see the allure…or as my neighbor’s kid would say “Mr. David, why do you like driving that dirty old jeep?”
