#Hibernot (Post #439) 1/28/2014

What a great bit of advertising. I love the dog not moving when called with that, “I’m not getting back in the truck” defiance and little girl at the end trudging on behind her mum. Where do I get a #Hibernot bumper sticker? I’m all in.

I first saw this video on the Hooniverse website. I snagged this snippet from Land Rover UK’s website explaining Hibernot (Land Rover UK).

Winter. Hibernate? No Chance. #Hibernot

#Hibernot is about embracing the British winter, about enjoying winter in all its glory.

Explore what other people have been getting up to, tell us what #Hibernot means to you and search #Hibernot trails in your local area.

Doesn’t that make you want to go out in the 30 mile per hour winds with 48 mph gusts and experience the -10 F wind chill of the southern plains circa January 26th? Well no. But it does make me want to take my Land Rover somewhere remote and get out and enjoy, if only for an hour, the crisp clean air of winter and the sting of winter cold. The sting that reminds you of February, 1987 the winter that you stood in knee deep water running barbed wire for Dr. Kammerlocher. The sting that reminds you of the weekends you stood on the back of a M110 howitzer in freezing rain while serving your country in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The sting that reminds you of camping with your friends (just for the fun of it) in period clothing from the 1750’s on the the Javine Farm near Barnsdall, Oklahoma when it dipped to 12 F overnight. The sting that reminds you of the cold air and snow down on the river below the dam at Bull Shoals Lake, Arkansas when you took Mrs. Okierover on her first camping trip in 2013. Simply, hell yes.

Hibernot means not shunning exposure the elements, but embracing them. You would not know winter if you did not have summer. If sweat had never run down your brow while you were standing in the 120 F heat of the high desert of 29 Palms, you could never appreciate the winter blizzards on the southern plains.

We will never be as “hard” as we thought we once were back in our youth. We will never be as foolhardy again either. So get out and enjoy the winter. Get out and let the snow or cold rain fall on you with a “devil may care” (Idiom) attitude. Then get in your Land Rover, turn on the heater, and if they still work your heated seats, and drive to a coffee house or diner and get a warm drink, then drive home remembering the good old days.

Toby Keith said, “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.” (Youtube video)

Get out and enjoy your old self.

Thanks for reading, Happy Rovering, and Hibernot.

Monument Rocks, Kansas (Post #371) 7/29/2013

Monument Rocks.
Quite possibly one of my favorite out of the way places. Best part is you can drive right up to the pillars. And there is a good chance you will be the only one there when you visit.

We stopped by on our way home from Denver, Colorado in 2006. From central Oklahoma it is probably a little more than a day trip. It is, depending on the route, 7 plus hours from OKC. We came home through the panhandle of Oklahoma the time we last saw it.

Thanks for reading, take the road less traveled, and Happy Rovering.

Whiskey Creek Ford (Post #354) 6/17/2013

Crossing the Whiskey Creek Ford in Marshall County, Oklahoma. I diverted down Whiskey Creek while I was sight-seeing on the way to Fort Washita for their annual rendezvous.

The county has built a bridge over Whiskey Creek and the ford is no longer in use. RovErica totaled the Disco a year later bumping into a big pickup truck on the way back to Norman North during lunch hour.

View Larger Map

Thanks for reading, take the road less traveled even if they build a bridge over it, and Happy Rovering.

Hula Betty? (Post #350) 6/11/2013

One of my favorite blogs is The Last Great Road  Trip. Their posts are all under the pseudonym of Hula Betty. They have great posts and go on many grand adventures.

I had a Hula Betty on my dash back in 2004. I don’t know when they started their tradition. Sadly, she had to come off the dash when RovErica started driving the Range Rover Classic.

Interestingly, the top picture is just a mile from where the May 20th, 2013 F5 tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma.

The bottom picture is of a road that has since been widened to 4 lanes which resulted in all these trees and their natural canopy forming a near tunnel being  removed.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Diet Mountain Drew (Post #347) 6/5/2013

Back in September of 2005 we went out to a friend’s farm in Newcastle. We went to shoot and generally just hang out in the country. I let the kids drive the Range Rover.

We moved the seat all the way forward and all the way up so Diet Mt. Drew, then age 12 and small for his age, could reach the peddles. I was passing around the front of the Range Rover when Mrs. Okierover asked him if he was ready to go, he said yes and let off the brake and nearly ran me over.

He recovered and had a great time driving.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.