The weekend of April 16th, 17th and 18th finds me, dare I say, on a mission.
Sorry, wrong mission. My mission, should I dare to take it, was to go to the Overland Expo of 2010 and sell Outfitter campers with the men of Outfitter.
This years Expo was held in the small southern Arizona town of Amado. Small? If you look up the definition of "small" you will see a picture of Amado. Having said that, dare I say, it was perfect. In this little out-of-the-way location the people that wanted to be here had to invest some time to get here. That meant the "tire kickers" were generally not around and the folks that did show were very interested in what was going on. Besides that, on location was a bistro, steak house, campground and the Amado Territorial Inn. At least it wasn't the Dew Drop Inn or the No Tell Motel, with a different class of people that the Whazoo could associate with, although on a smaller scale. I mean many of these folks were WORLD TRAVELERS, and not just the Southwest the Whazoo travels in.
While there, I met several rvnetters that made the weekend the best it could have been. Steve Standefer and his wife came down from the California Bay area and spent Friday afternoon with me. And a great afternoon it was. Capt. Eddie from Louisiana and his family was there, congratulations to you Eddie, you and your new wife. An English gentleman, Max, and his very nice wife stopped by and we talked for quite awhile. And Ed Kretch from Tennessee came by to see the campers with his better half. These folks made the weekend magical. There were so many other people met, the poor ol Whazoo's memory bank actually failed and had to be bailed out by the Federal Government.
Now on to a few pictures of some very different modes of camping and overlanding. Now I don't know what a "mode" is but I did look up Overlanding in the, dare I say, Whazoopedia and it says..."overlanding is the self reliant overland travel to remote locations where the journey is the principal goal." And I thought overlanding was when the airplane misses the runway and lands over there somewhere, overlanding. I'm glad to be wrong...this time.
Pictures to follow:
As you can see, tent toppers were by far the most used prevalent means of sleeping. So of course it seemed to me that we were in, dare I say, a tents situation.
I don't know, I was thinking of a mad guppy when I saw this dude. And what an unusual camper it made. Talk about a go anywhere rig. Tree branches, you're outta here!
The grates on the upper windows must be to keep the giraffes out.
On a slightly smaller scale
This gentleman is a member of the Turtle Expedition and what a website these folks have. Turtle Expedition ought to be in the "overland" definition somewhere. What a set-up!!
I fell in love with this little Brute, and gave him best of show. Brute is the company that modifies Jeeps to this outrageous degree.
I also met the young men of Hallmark and their fine campers. I was actually looking for "trails", as I had a tail pipe whistle to share with him.
Then there was "mutha trucka". A very large vehicle that must put out a 6.5 on the Richter scale when it goes wheeling.
It also comes with a garage. There might even be room for my Shania Twain poster collection in there!
Then there was this custom rig made by Four Wheel Campers, who were also at the show.
Of course Outfitter was a big hit, with the WHAZN8R having many different people on his back over the 3 day period.
The "Juno" was also there and elicited excited responses. Kind of like a good rvnet post does.
This behemoth camper was so big I just know you could fit Mr. Rogers neighborhood AND
the Sesame Street crowd in it and still have room left over for Spanky and his gang.
The back was decked out with a full porch and storage.
I also met Mark Wassmann, owner and designer of the XP Camper, and his friend Andrew from Switzerland. The XP also drew a crowd with it's non conventional look and impressive design. Marc is inside explaining features while Andrew shows the exterior.
There was also, dare I say, a bumper crop on display. (Have I used that one before?)
Have I mentioned there was something for everyone? For those that need an all terrain motorized wheelchair. Heck, a guy doesn't need one to want one.
There was also a fair showing of Sportsmobiles. The owners last name must be Morrison, first name Van. (drum roll please, that was a grasp)
This dude can pump it's own water out of a stream or lake and has it's own filtration system. It may also be able to jump a tall building in a single bound, be faster than a locomotive and I thought it was very cool. It has drawers and containers with absolutely everything you'd need for overland travel.
There was also a very large motorcycle presence at the Expo, as they seem to be a very popular mode of overland travel.
Hey Kid, quit playing with your tongue...
There was Mogzilla, and nothing stops this dude. All you rhinos and elephants out there, look out!
I named this guy "Action Jackson" as he looked to be prepared for, well, for ANYTHING! With the front half of the trailer being the camper. Another one-of-a-kind set-up.
This little guy was so cute, he brought a Teardrop to my eye. (Was that a boo I heard?)
Many of us, including yours truly, stayed in our rigs overnight. Of course that meant getting up early to get ready to show.
This was the daycare center. No, really! And the WHAZN8R and I camped 2 feet away on the other side. However, the kids were fantastically well behaved, as are all overlander children. Something about being told of hungry coyotes roaming about looking for loud children surely helped.
I was thinking this rigs name was Jack, as "in the box". A different take on a tent topper for sure.
So it's the end of the show for us, and all are packed and ready to head back to the real world.
And this is the end, dare I say, of the mission. The east end to be sure, but the end just the same.
Thanks for reading,
Dave Rogers
Post Script:
What a fantastic event to be invited to participate in. Many thanks to Outfitter for having me, I hope I was a help. Everything was perfect including the weather. And never in my eyes have there been so many different set-ups and modes of overlanding in one place.
The exhibitors I met became like family. I spent an evening with Marc of XP Camper and Andrew having rum and coke, talking about camper designs. How much rum and coke? Well all I know is that the smoker I drank, the player I got, and I'll leave it at that. I will certainly say that anyone with an interest should be there next year. I know I will be, one way or another..dare I say.
On Edit: I wanted to add that I am not a paid salesman for Outfitter and did not receive payment for the Expo. The payoff to me was the fun and friendships I encountered.
As well as saying what a fantastically organized event this was by the Overland. All staff was extremely helpful and cheerful, with Roseanne Hanson being the overall ringmaster of the greatest Overland show on earth!
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You've done it again! You've given every truck camper manufacturer at the show equal billing in photos in this thread; you've opened up a world that perhaps only 1 in 5000 truck camper owners know of; you've given many, many newbies here new camping options never before shown in a comprehensive and prolific "tour" of an extraordinary event!
Kudos to you! And thanks to all your extraordinary hard work and TIME you've put into this production, that I hope will be repeated next year! Brilliant journalism.
I'll give this Post a special category in Trip Reports.
Dave, very well done...what an amazing display of technology.
We think we are pretty lucky to have "off the shelf" (turn key?) get up and go with TC's. Truth is, there are many ways to skin the ole' cat.
Some, more expen$ive than others!
Thanx for the report and all the pics...
Bill
2006 D/A CC
25'Airstream Excella
Adventurer 810WS
Camping all around New England
Good People Drink Good Beer-Hunter S Thompson
Driver only carries $50....worth of ammo.
Thanks for the great report!
I've owned both Outfitter and Hallmark and excited to see what Hallmark is coming up with their NEW hardside. Great pics and now have peaked my interest to attend in near future.
FlyFishn
2012 Lance 1685 with 4 Season Cert
2008 Dodge Durango Hemi, Diablo, Sens-Trac with Blue Ox Sway Pro
AZ9, You are sure an early bird there, posting at 4:14 am. I was glad to see also, and with your rig it looks like you should be there next year.
Howdy Weymard, Yes, many innovations are European and highly coveted in the US. How's the new truck doing??
Silver, hey you! Thanks for the picture of snow the other day. You cooled off the entire southwest with that shot. PLEASE, re-post it in July!! Best to you and Mrs. Dunes.
Hi Ya Brad, Cool and interesting they were. It was like a county fair for off roaders.
Mr. Bill! You are so right about different ways to skin that cat. I was amazed at the intentcity of it all.
Clarryhill, Say, I'm glad to help pique anyone's interest in tc's and modes of camping. There's that word again, "modes". I going to have to figure out what that means someday. Thanks for your reply...
Ah, trails, I knew I'd pull you out with that one. And yes, the whistles are free.
gtkato, so I'll look forward to meeting you next year then!
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Or maybe it wasnt free 
