We drove to the Arctic Ocean… twice… and experience the solitude of the tundra, amazing wild life and giant expanses… but no snow. Now we’re making up for that and making a few snow runs in preparation for the next off road adventure.
The rig can go just about anywhere… but occasionally you want to go where the rig is not allowed, a bit north of the last trail marker. The boys and I put in a quick training run. And what are we training for? No, you need about 20 dogs for the Iditarod and I have 3 dogs because my wife said I could 3 dogs not 20!
We are training for Survivor Arctic Circle… Ok so Jeff Probst and CBS are not on board with this idea yet… and it is really hard to show half naked hotties in -30 degrees where anything sticking out is likely to fall off. But the Igloo cam has potential and of course there is the Ice Hotel if you looking to chill out in the ABSOLUT ICEBAR…
Just checked our Google Analytics and found it fascinating to see where in the world you are reading about our off-road adventures from. A quick look at the globe shows:
Americas – 85.01%
Asia – 6.71%
Europe – 5.55%
Oceania- 1.52%
Africa – 0.96%
not saying – 0.24%
Wow it is a small world. Let us know where you’re visiting from and what you think of the off-road adventures. Tell us how you celebrate the differences that make us one big family. Tell us where your next adventure will take you.
Thank you to Working Web Solutions (WWS) for setting up the shopping cart. Without WWS’ help we’d be hawking our shirts out of the back of a truck. Thanks also to Custom T-shirts, Screen Printed T-Shirts for providing all the custom shirt work.
With only a few days to go before the big Arctic adventure starts, it was time for me to get a hair cut and the rig to get the once over. Eddy and the guys (gender neutral, non-specific use of the term guys) over at Heartland Toyota put the rig on the lift and ran it through its paces. They checked all the fluids, belts, filters and breaks and gave the rig a clean bill of health.
It was great to hear from the techs, who see these rigs all the time, how they liked the mods we’ve done. They also said they would keep an eye on our progress by checking the website and want to see us as soon as we return. These guys can crew in our pit anytime.
We are thrilled to announce Toyota’s Open Road Blog is joining forces with Last Great Road Trip to bring you coverage of our adventure. Look for video coverage of our rig, a Toyota 2007 FJ Cruiser, and interviews with our adventurers as Toyota and Last Great Road Trip spread the word about adventures, celebrating diversity and the bonds between fathers and sons.
With our departure moved up to Thursday, August 23, you now have a choice of Blog sites to follow the adventures. Be sure to let Toyota know you are as excited as we are that they will cove the trip.
You’ve got to watch this… It is long but well worth the time… what else where you planning to do with an hour of your life. It’s an Internet hour not like a real hour.. You spend more time than that at work surfing Amazon and ebay. Top Gear races a Toyota against a Dog Team to the North Pole.
It is a little further north and a lot more winter than we are going to face but we can only hope to have as great a time. But with less pain and agony.
Let us know what you think!
Maybe next time I’ll let get Chinook, Glacier and Tundra to lead the way… BTW: the dogs are blowing coat and the garage is filled with so much fur there is no room for the rig.
Thanks to Taylor Made T-Shirts we have the commemorative Last Great Road Trip t-shirts. This makes it official we are over the top… Custom car graphics, T-shirts, world wide press coverage and our own blog.
Mike at Taylor Made was great. He had his guys over there at Taylor Made take a version of our banner and create a silk screen. Than they ran a few shirts and look how cool the Hula Bettys are in her Last Great Road Trip T-shirt. The shirts are sure to become a collectors item… ok maybe not a collector’s item but tell us what you would do for one.
We are planning to give the shirts out to folks we meet along the way.
In ten days the adventure begins. To celebrate the start of the count down we’ve added a new crew member to the adventure’s team. Hula Betty will be joining the road trip.
Sure to some she is an iconic dashboard bobble doll but to us she is more than that. She reminds us that this is suppose to be fun and what ever happens this is still going to be a once in a life time opportunity to spend exploring Alaska and Canada together as we cover 5,000 miles over 14 days.
Since we can’t take ourselves too serious, look for Hula Betty hiding somewhere in the pictures of the trip. See if you can find her in future posts.
Everyone who backpacks in the wilderness knows about the ten essentials you should always carry. Every backpacker I know also has their own formula for those ten items that minimizes weight and meets the requirement. When your adventure is expecting to see temperatures from 20 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and is looking at long stretches where no one else frequents, you have to be strategic in what you bring. That is especially true since we are not pulling a trailer and not looking to over load the rig with the kitchen sink while still trying to remain self-sufficient for most situations.
We are getting closer to the list of our ten… ok 142… essentials. While I’m sure the list will change… still seems a little long for a guy who backpacks on a minimalist mantra. As the project manager in me comes out… we make punch down lists to check off. The punch down currently reads:
Emergency stuff:
assorted tie downs and bungees
rolls of 100 mile an hour tape (duct tape)
Hand held Flashlight, a car spot light and a few head lamps along with extra batteries
The question posed to me today was: “How are two guys driving a truck to the Arctic Ocean a celebration of diversity?”
The rig, zero diversity celebration
Two guys, zero diversity celebration
Arctic Circle destination, zero diversity celebration
Getting friends, colleges, and a few total strangers to think positively about the social diversity in our communities… Priceless!
Help to increase awareness of the need for communication, understanding and respect among people of all ethnic, racial, sexual and age diverse backgrounds and join the conversation.
Every time we read comments left on our website or facebook page about the lives, beliefs and traumas of others we are moved. When all 6 billion voices in the world are valued regardless of race, creed, color, sexual preference, age or status we will have a big celebration where everyone is invited.
Travel & Adventure – an overlanding, off road, camping and road trip website dedicated to helping others explore the road less traveled.
We drove to the Arctic Ocean… twice… and experience the solitude of the tundra, amazing wild life and giant expanses… but no snow. Now we’re making up for that and making a few snow runs in preparation for the next off road adventure.
