Winch!

Last night Jim & I installed a Warn 9.5XP winch on my Jeep! Today we're going to test it out!

traffic jam

Badlands campsite, before the rain!

made it to the Badlands

campsite in Badlands Nat Park

So It Begins!

Hi Everyone!

Well it's time! I'm off on my adventure! Thank you all for your support, help & encouragement during my planning of this trip!

Here's a short itinerary of where & when I hope to be:

Driving from NY to CO & back, June 8-29, 2009

-Lancaster, PA about 06/08
-Oshkosh, WI about 06/09
-Black Hills, SD about 06/11
-Pine, CO about 06/15-06/24
-Santa Fe, NM about 06/25
-Hot Springs, AR about 06/26
-Lancaster, PA 06/28
-home, Locust Valley, NY 06/29

I'll be posting pictures at www.mtbono.com as I go along

You can check my progress at SPOT tracking http://tinyurl.com/timbono

I have my laptop & cell phone with me and will check in when I can

Thanks again!

-- Tim

The trailer is done!

Adventure Trailers completed building my new Chaser trailer yesterday and it's been shipped to NY... Should be here by the middle of next week!

Today I installed the 7 pin trailer wiring harness and CB antenna. This weekend I'll do the electric brake controller and finish up the CB. The Tuffy security deck should be in next week as well.

The trip is coming up fast! I have to work June 2, 3 & 4 and hope to be on the road by the 8th!

-Tim

Quick Update

still on schedule for a June 7th departure! The trailer is almost done! above is a couple preview pics from the factory...

and here's an overview of the latest proposed route

I won a tent!

Thanks to some good luck, I won this $2400 www.autohomeus.com Overzone tent! Thanks to the Disabled Explorers group for selling me a raffle ticket!

Fundraiser raffle & auction for Disabled Explorers

February 6, 2009 - Overland Expo.2009 is pleased to announce that our fundraiser raffle & auction will benefit Disabled Explorers, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources to disabled people so they may adapt, overcome, and explore the world. As of February 6, our grand prize sponsor is AutohomeUS, who is providing an OverZone rooftop tent for the fundraising raffle, to be held Sunday afternoon, April 26, at the Overland Expo. More prize sponsors will be announced in the coming weeks, along with details on purchasing raffle tickets. Disabled Explorers will be on-hand at the OX09 to demonstrate their specially equipped vehicles, teach courses, and present slide programs.

Overland Expo

So, I've decided to do more research on the trailer. I used up some frequent flier miles on Southwest and booked a quick trip to Arizona next week for the Overland Expo in Prescott.

All the major vendors will be there including Jeep, Adventure Trailers and Autohome (the tent company I am interested in).

I'm flying out Saturday 4/25 and will be back on Tuesday 4/28

I'll be staying in Prescott and I'll try out the SPOT some more and maybe do some geocaching as well.

test posting from the cell phone

pretty awesome, I can post updates right from my cell phone. hopefully the picture shows up too! -- MTB

Planning

So I've recovered from my horrendous "on-the-job" knee injury and and have continued planning my trip. Tonight I worked on the first leg of the journey. Here's what I have so far...

• Stopover at Mom's in Lancaster, PA
• Visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH
• Visit my grandmother in Oshkosh, WI
• Stopover in the Mt Rushmore area
• Continuing on to Pine, CO for several days

Also, I'm considering a southerly route home, along I40.

***UPDATE 04/16*** may have to reconsider Cleveland after this:

QUICK UPDATE

• Did a test run of the SPOT Messenger on a run to Atlantic City, you can see part of my track here ---> http://tinyurl.com/d45gzm

• Havent heard back from work yet on the time off

• Considering adding a RTT now instead of next year AutoHome tents

• Considering adding a side expedition from Pine, CO to Moab, UT with Jimbo

• Speaking of Jimbo, check out his new site Jim's Year of Adventure

Thing are beginning to be set into motion

So I put in for 4 weeks off... Hopefully if it all gets approved I'll be off from June 5th to July 2nd.

The plan is still very flexible. I'm going to start from my mom's in Lancaster, swing by Oshkosh, WI and then head to Pine, Colorado for at least 2 weeks. I have to be back in PA by June 27th for a party... but everything else is in flux.

I did pull the trigger on the most expensive piece of gear I wanted for the trip. I've been working with www.adventuretrailers.com of Montclair, CA to start building me a custom adventure trailer.

Hopefully it will be in before June!

Here's a shot of a similar Adventure Trailer

An ambitious idea...

This summer I plan to embark on an epic journey. I want to drive approximately 6000 miles in solitude, to clear my head, de-stress , do some soul searching and occasionally do a little sightseeing, camping and four-wheeling. I'll be driving my 2008 Jeep and documenting my experiences here using all kinds of technology.

So fa I am excused from work the last two weeks of June. I'm hoping for 2 more weeks of comp time on the front end. Preliminary stops are Lancaster, PA; Oshkosh, WI; Mt. Rushmore, SD and Pine, CO. I haven't worked on a route home yet.

So check in often, feel free to comment or offer suggestions and criticisms.

Thanks! Tim

PS: That's not MY jeep... But mine will be VERY similar by the time I embark on this journey!