< more recent | 16-30 September 2020 | older >
30 September 2020: Headed west along I-80 into the vast flat tract of farmland that spans the middle of the USA. Made a stop at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refgue to explore a restored prairie ecosystem, which had a quiet beauty all its own. Saw some buffalo grazing there and then there was cornfields everywhere, some with giant windmills in the middle. Ended the drive day in time to catch the sunset at Fairmont Park in Council Bluff, IA…
29 September 2020: Couldn’t drive by Toledo without stopping at the home of Jeep to see the plant where our Rubicon was built. There were lots of new Jeeps in the parking lot waiting to be distributed around the country. From there drove all the way to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois before setting up camp for the night …
28 September 2020: Got to hear the elk bugling in the Moshannon State Forest and even got to see a few in the wilderness, which was an amazing experience. Drove a segment of the “Elk route” through the PA wilds, which loops through a section of the forest, and then just took a few random dirt trails through the woods. Had an amazing elk encounter during a lunch stop at the river …
27 September 2020: The first leg of the journey was from New York to Pennsylvania, with a pause for the evening near the Bald Eagle state park, where it was clear that fall had arrived …
15 September 2020: Getting ready to hit the road again soon for another cross-country roadtrip to the southwest. Taking a different route and working on a few cool detour possibilities en route …
THIS MONTH:
Hitting the road again to begin the next big U.S.A. Roadtrip to the west. For this journey we will be spending some time en route exploring a few of the wild places in between New York and Moab. We are making the long drive west into its own overland adventure with camping, hiking and off-road fun. The focus of this trip is to appreciate America’s wilderness and get to know some of the lesser known public lands along the way…
COMING UP SOON:
A new Moab adventure is in the works for October, details to come soon…
The 5th Annual 2020 Ladies Offroad Challenge started on May 4th. Ladies will participate in a series of challenge tasks that are built to educate and encourage stepping into some unknown territories. The Challenge goes on through October this year with participants striving to “Do the Best They Can” at each of the tasks. Ten Participants from the Challenge will be invited to the very special Top 10 Weekend hosted by Charlene Bower…
Looking ahead to a return to Paris as soon as possible to reconnect with friends and some favorite places in the city of light. Timing is still uncertain due to the pandemic, but we hope the trip is back on the calendar for late fall/early winter…
TOLDEO JEEP PLANT
The Toledo Complex is where Jeep Wranglers have been assembled in the USA since the 1940s. Now owned by Fiat Chrysler, sections of the facility have operated as an automobile assembly plant since 1910, originally for Willys-Overland vehicles. The Toledo complex has assembled Jeeps since the 1940s, and comprises two factories: Toledo North and Toledo South, which itself includes the Stickney Plant and the Parkway Annex. The Toledo South Assembly Plant is the original Jeep CJ assembly factory. It was rebuilt for manufacture of the JK Wrangler for Jeep, starting on August 28, 2006. In recent years, basic assembly and painting of the Jeep Wrangler has been done in the Parkway facility. The antiquated arrangement at the old operation included operations spread through a disorganized array of buildings which required that vehicles and components be moved through multiple building levels. Final assembly of vehicles took place at Stickney, but facility constraints required that bodies first be painted at Parkway and then moved through tunnels and across bridges to reach the assembly line. Both the Stickney and Parkway sites were replaced by Toledo Supplier Park in 2007…
ELK RUTTING SEASON
The steep mountains and deep valleys of Elk and Cameron Counties make up “Elk Country,” where Pennsylvania’s wild elk herd — now numbering nearly 1,400 majestic creatures — roams freely. September and October mark the mating season (known as the “rutting” season) for the elk. While the beginning of the rut may vary somewhat from year to year, the unmistakable invitation or bugle of a bull elk can be heard echoing throughout the range. Bugling can be heard primarily during the rut or mating season. It starts as a low bellow and continues as a squealing or whistle. This is followed by several grunts. The elk form harems of 15 to 20 cows, which are controlled by a mature bull. The bull has earned his status to lead his harem by fighting off lesser bulls for the opportunity to breed with these cows…
Nesconset | Paris | Belgrade | Howard | Toledo | Silver Lake | Chesterton | Prairie City | Grand Island | Halsey | Gering | Buford | Hayden | Grand Junction | Moab | Chaco
MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
1-15 September – Long Island
16-31 August – Long Island
1-15 August – Summer Roadtrip
22-31 July – Summer Roadtrip
14-21 July – Summer Roadtrip
1-13 July – Long Island
16-30 June – Long Island
1-15 June – Bald Eagle
16-31 May – Central PA
1-15 May – Re-opening Trails
April – Lockdown NY
16-31 March – Lockdown NY
9-15 March – Roadtrip Home
1-8 March – Moab
23-29 February – Vegas to Anza Borrego
15-22 February – Southwest Roadtrip
8-14 February – Southwest Roadtrip
1-7 February – Glamis to Vegas
27-31 January – Yuma to Glamis
15-26 January – Nevada to Arizona
1-14 January – Starting the New Year
24-31 December – Holidays on the Road
16-23 December – Cross-Country Drive
9-15 December – New York
1-8 December – Paris
16-30 November – Paris & Rennes
1-15 November – New York
14-31 October – Arizona
8-13 October – LON TOP TEN
1-7 October – Girl Gang Garage
16-30 September – Women’s Wheeling
1-15 September – Long Island
Archive
EVENTS
LADIES OFFROAD NETWORK NONCON 2020
Recap from the Ladies Offroad Network camping and wheeling event, dubbed the “NonCon” as in “not the convention,” that came together after the official convention was cancelled due to the pandemic… [read]
RE-OPENING
Report from the first trail run with the Off Road Consulting group at Rausch Creek Off Road Park as the post-pandemic phased re-openings begin in Pennsylvania and some of our favorite local trails re-open to the public after the two-month shutdown… [read]
REFLECTIONS
EGYPT: CAIRO REFLECTIONS
A quick overview of impressions from a stop in Cairo during our recent scouting mission in Egypt and Sudan … [read]
SPECIAL REPORT
A look into south-eastern Algeria on the border with Libya and Niger: overlanding with the Tuareg in one of the most remote corners of the Sahara … [read]
