Central Arizona, middle of May. 800 miles south of here and you’d expect a little warm sunshine – but you’d be disappointed.

We were off to spend three days at the Overland Expo West, with a quick stop in Kanab, Utah, to drop off a cat (Stevie) and a dog (didn’t get his name) at the renowned Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.  A remarkable place, Best Friends provides  specialized care for creatures like Stevie. I grew fond of Stevie while volunteering so it was a real treat to see her off to a new shelter that could see to her needs.

Packing for this basic car camping trip was quick and dirty. I put all the stuff we needed in one container, and the stuff we didn’t need in another. And I told myself, don’t get these mixed up. Huh. Imagine our surprise when going to make coffee the first morning and finding everything BUT what we needed. Sure we could’ve restocked the kitchen (yuck, shopping)  but where’s the fun in that? Those cardboard go-cups last a really long time and eating off the same paper plate every meal is possible. You scrape, and I’ll erase.

Overland Expo totally rocks. Classes on tools, recovery, food and first aid plus round table discussions, gear everywhere you look, cool overland rigs, well-traveled people, and more. Participants staying at the Expo site camped in rigs varying from super-styled overland trucks to tents on the ground. We even viewed a 2008 Toyota Series 70, nicely outfitted. But sunshine was in short supply and a late spring storm brought miserable conditions. The tenters, those who sucked it up and stayed, must have been cold to the bone. A newly-retired couple we chatted with that had never, ever, camped before disappeared with the first snow flakes. The four-wheel drive course had to shut down when mud forced one of the spankin’ new Land Rovers off a makeshift bridge – yes, I’m aware of the irony.

It took so long to walk anywhere through the ankle-deep mud that participating in the after hours gtts was all but impossible which was too bad. Just standing there in a tool class, my shoes sinking lower and lower into the mud, was colder than I’d been in a long long time. When it came time to leave, a group of 4x4ers showed up to tow rigs out of the mud – they made some cash that morning. Well worth all the trouble though and I wish we had time to attend another Expo. We learned so much and had a blast doing it.