Friday morning started off with a fun tour of the local fire roads with a big convey of sweet off-road rigs.

The WA Overland Rally has been on my radar and schedule ever since I had such a good time at Overland Expo in May. I learned so much and got to meet so many amazing people that it really was a no brainer to try to go to every similar event I can. The Rally also fit perfectly between my broken wrist recovery in Portland, OR and Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, UT. A fun surprise was talking David Priddis, who I met at the Santa Cruz Paddle Fest this past March, into taking a small detour on his RTW trip to join in on the fun. This also allowed for an EXCITING off-road adventure on the way to the Rally. There will be a post on that soon:)

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Great basic intro to winching class with Warn

DSCN1488 — Great Friday night presentation with Janette and Tom from Adventurous Spirits about their RTW travels.

Friday:

The day started off with a fun trail drive through some scenic WA fire roads. We had a big convoy of very diverse off-road and overland rigs. The afternoon was full of very informative clinics on things like HAM, SAR, off road driving skills, general back country medicine, differentials, bug out bags and basic winching. Tons of really high quality info to absorb and lots of really qualified input to the discussion from a diverse group. The evening was full of amazing cooking by Ara, a campfire, raffle and great presentation about RTW travel by Adventurous Spirits.

Fun Sat. morning trail run/photo shoot with the ExOfficio crew. David Priddis showing us how its done in a proper overland rig.

The crew at Mater Pull put on a number of quality presentation & demonstrations.

ARB put on a off-road lighting clinic Sat. night.

Saturday:

Saturday started off with trail runs of varying degrees. I don’t think anyone went on the easy run, a huge group went on the intermediate run and a few others created their own even more challenging trail run. I actually ended going on the 4th option, an intermediate trail drive/photo shoot with the crew from ExOfficio. There should be some sweet pics of David’s Defender 110 in some future literature from ExOfficio. Dusty trail run, but tons of fun in the woods with a really good crew and some sweet rides. The afternoon was full of more learning about things like hands on medical, advanced recovery and info about Team Rubicon. Check this group out as they are doing amazing things in the area of disaster relief and are always looking for more help. The evening was again capped off with quality cooking from chef Ara, an off road lighting presentation, big campfire and tons of raffle prizes. Of course the free-flowing beverages and quality chats around the campfire were the highlights.

ExOfficio showed off their line of quality clothes well suited for the overland adventure traveler.

Outback Proven showed up with some sweet show specials on MaxTrax and a very well sorted FJ.

Sunday:

Sunday everyone stirred a little later and broke camp. Some big trail runs were planned, but I don’t think anyone went on the organized runs. People were headed off in all directions to make it to work on Monday morning. I ended up spending the first half of the day sorting out some issues with the Sportsmobile and the second half doing business online in Leavenworth, WA. Very unique mountain town that should for sure be on your travel list.

DSCN1502 — Land Rover made sure they had a new rig at the Rally. Not sure why they chose to send a supercharged RR Sport, but Ray from Expo Portal/Overland Journal made sure it got used properly:)

Ara & Spirits new rig is quite sweet. Be sure to check out all their adventures at: The Oasis of My Soul.

I really like these little diesel 4×4 Mitsubishi vans! Christine & Jay brought this sweet ride down from BC & offered up great info all weekend.

DSCN1495 — There was no shortage of sweet rides on 2 & 4 wheels at the Rally!

For sure the coolest Syncro I’ve ever seen! Crazy upgrades include a full internal roll cage! This sweet ride is Joe’s, from Das Mule. Check out their high quality and innovative products for VW vans.

Some big rigs showed up for the fun as well. Mogs are just plain cool:)

My two disappointments from the Rally where missing the ExOfficio welcome party Thur night, due to long off-road driving day, and not being prepared with the right ingredients for Ara to help me make some amazing food with his ninja chef skills. ExOfficio came through with quality drinks at Sat. night’s fire and Ara put up with my pathetic eats on his grill and stove.

I want to thank Expo Portal and the many sponsors for making this event happen and bringing the overland tribe in the PNW together.

See you ont he road,

Bryon Dorr

David Priddis made some great connections with such companies as Master Pull and ExOfficio. Be sure to follow his RTW adventures at www.Walkabout2408.com.

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