S.C.A.R.R! (Post #455) 2/26/2014

I registered this morning for the yearly South Central Area Rover Rally, aka SCARR. I’ve been meaning to attend this event for the last three years. But as things are, something always comes up, vehicle problems, family problems, failing to plan. What’s that old saying?

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Well that stings a bit, but it’s accurate. So this year I sorted out the weekend, announced I was going, got funding to go, invited a friend to go with me, in short, I made plans to go.  Continue reading “S.C.A.R.R! (Post #455) 2/26/2014”

Trans-America, Oh How I Wish I Could Do That (Post #440) 1/30/2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdNJeDdaJOc

I am itching to get out and do this. How freaking awesome would this trip be? Sadly I don’t have a month to make a Trans-American Trip happen. But if I did, I’d start tomorrow.

What IS in our sights is the Circumnavigation of the State of Oklahoma. The Range Rover has never been as ready as she is now. I still have to replace the oxygen sensors and sort out a recent throttle position sensor problem that popped up over the weekend. I also have an annoying problem with dust getting in the cab when I drive down dirt roads. Windows up or down, a lot of dust gets in the cab. I need to investigate that as well, but she is about as ready as one could hope.

I feel the need to have a good shake down run with her and crossing the state on dirt roads sounds like the perfect trip. I blogged last year about buying the maps for the Oklahoma portion of the Trans-America Trip. It is a route entirely on dirt across the state. I have a co-pilot lined up in the ever adventurous Mr. Fisher. All I need now is the fuel money and off we go.

This would be a great trip for our new Red Dirt Rovers club. I think it should be run before it is attempted with people one barely know. A major concern I have at this moment is my own personal lack of trail experience (in my Land Rover) and a complete lack of confidence in my ability to lead a group off-road. I have driven off-road, but I have never had the responsibility of other people’s rigs on my head.

 

Happy New Year 2014 (Post #428) 1/1/2014

Today starts a new year.

I have a lot planned for 2014.

  • I want to complete the Circumnavigation of Oklahoma.
  • I want to drive across Oklahoma only on dirt roads.
  • I want to get my radio working in the Range Rover.
  • I want to go to Clayton and off-road.
  • And, I want to help get the Red Dirt Rovers club up and running.

Not an awfully ambitious list but one I think I can manage.

Thanks for reading, join Red Dirt Rovers, and Happy Rovering.

Accessories You Didn’t Know You Needed (Post #338) 5/10/2013

I’ve been looking for accessories for the Circumnavigation Trip. I’m pretty sure I need a few things to dress up the Range Rover.

First, I need a roof rack. I have one picked out. I think I’ll get the 50×50 rack. Its small enough to load the things I really need.

It’s not terribly expensive. I couldn’t buy a welding unit and materials for what it will cost me to just buy one already made.

I have thought about how I would load a canoe if I were ever to buy one. The short roof rack would not be long enough alone. I would need to add a Thule bar to finish it out if that ever presented itself as a problem.

I will need some fuel cans. The natural response would be to get some “jerry cans”. They are very “Rat Patrol” like and have a cool factor of 11. I have seen some other systems that I like equally well and they would be lower profile and less apt to be stolen.

This is the exact thing that came to mind when I first started thinking about auxiliary fuel tanks.
My neighbor has these strapped to his ATV’s. They ride flat and are perhaps easier to mount. They can be stacked as well.
Of course this would be totally awesome. Rear bumper mounted fuel tank and spare tire. This is from Rock Rover out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve inquired about a bumper for a Range Rover Classic. I’ll let you know what they say. If they can’t do it, this looks like a good reason for me to learn to weld.

Other than a ring-mounted mini-gun, I’m not sure what else I might need.
Look for more posts on outfitting as we get closer to our Circumnavigation Trip.

My OkieRover Facebook page got a message from Myles in OKC, he has a 1993 and wants meet up and talk Rovers…That will be fun. Always good to meet a fellow Land Rover owner.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

Circumnavigating the Great State of Oklahoma (Post #305) 11/24/2012

While we listened on the radio to Norman North High School defeat Owasso Community College* in the semi-final round of the state 6A football playoffs, my wife did some preliminary mapping of a route to circumnavigate the state of Oklahoma.

As I have mentioned before I would like to drive around the entire state of Oklahoma. My ultimate goal would be to drive exclusively on county roads. This would simulate as rough a passage as any jaunt around Africa. Oklahoma has notoriously bad roads and bridges (#6 on the Business Insider Website).

Mainstreet.com has us at #3. Sweet! Well, not really sweet unless you like driving on crappy roads.

Mrs. OkieRover took down some preliminary distance and time calculations. The initial route is on highways that edge around the state. It looks like it would take at least 4 days to accomplish the feat. We plan to make lots of stops and take lots of photos and video so this may morph into several more hours of travel per leg. The best part is if we run out of time we are at the most eight hours from the farthest point directly home.

I am thinking where possible we would use the state line roads. I know there is a lengthy section on the western border and across the northern border. The southern border is the Red River and has a good part of it lined with county roads. We will use these as we can.

The eastern border is mostly “mountainous” or what passes for mountains on the plains of Oklahoma. As such, the roads are a windy passage around the peaks and through the valleys. Not a lot we can do there.

I am thinking the trip will require us to outfit the Range Rover with a roof rack and fuel cans, “just in case”. It would be really awesome if I could figure out how to get the trip sponsored and some coverage by the local news. I will think about this more as we get closer to finding the dates for the trip. Spring Break would be ideal.

As far as the Range Rover mechanically, I think she would make the trip today if I wanted her to. The fuel mileage is not ideal but as I discussed in a previous post we have some things to work on in regards to that. I would like to get the radio outfitted. Having some boss tunes would be good but not absolutely necessary. The Mrs. and I most go radio-free on long drives. We just spend the time talking. And lastly, I don’t think the trip would be possible without air conditioning. Mrs. Okierover is fond of conditioned air.

To recap, it looks like 4.5 days of driving with a moderate level of stops. If the Mrs. is working the numbers she is game to give it a try. I really like to have 100% buy in and I believe I have it. I wish I could say we would sleep in a tent in the fields “expedition style” but that is not practical considering I would not want to “camp” in some farmer’s field without permission. This is Oklahoma and I can tell you I would not appreciate it if I found someone on my land.

Now I’m off to secure some URLs and to plan the next phase.

Thanks for reading. Go Timberwolves and Happy Rovering.

logo*This is an inside joke in our state. A joke the east side schools don’t appreciate. There are four east side schools that are enrollment-wise, twice as big as the biggest west side school. Each of these districts refuse to split like the west side schools have. The largest of them Broken Arrow has 4500 students enrolled 9-12th grades. Therefore the media on the west side of the state calls each of them either a college or university. There is even talk at the OSSAA, Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (the sanctioning body of high school sports) of making a 7A class, just for those schools. We on the west side of the state are all for this, of course. Since 1996 only Jenks High School or Union High School have competed for the state title in football.

UPDATE: We did not win. We were proud to have the chance to play though. Heads are up.