SFO - PHX - PRC

Christian took us out for a great breakfast at Squat & Gobble before loaning us a car for the day. Armed with a few pointers on the best options for our San-Francisco-in-an-hour tour, we managed to squeeze in a drive around downtown, a walk from the Embarcadero down to Fisherman’s Wharf, and a bike-taxi ride back to the car before our flight to Arizona.

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Prescott to Death Valley

My first “assignment” in my new position with the Journal is to move a Bigfoot up to San Francisco. A Bigfoot is a well-insulated, 3,000-pound “cabin” that sits in the back of a pickup truck, in this case a GMC 2500 Diesel. It needs to be there by the morning of June 3rd.

Dani has joined me on this 1,200-mile test drive so we can evaluate the pros and cons of an “overlander” this large, though we will be sticking to tarmac for the most part. The plan is to retrace part of a trip we did back in June of 2000, and hit a few of the little places we missed last time – like Bodie and Yosemite. For sentimental reasons (and a luggage-free return flight) we’ve left most of our gear behind, and will figure the route out as we go using a paper map and our open eyes.

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Mixing Business with Pleasure

It’s been a few months since I wrote an “on the road” entry. That’s the downside (and upside) to rural living: you can do a 100+ mile wilderness trek and be home for dinner, but you get far less of that long highway to ponder life like you do on a multi-day excursion. Yes, I actually enjoy those long highway hours…

Today I find myself climbing up the hill to the overlanding Mecca: Prescott, Arizona. Its funny, when we started marketing Enfluence a few weeks ago, my friend Drawk asked me what I really wanted to do if I could do anything. My answer was continue exploring farther and farther out into the world (preferably via Land Rover on dirt roads), and find a way to make a living doing it. While I enjoy design and production very much, it has always felt like a means to an end. So naturally when Scott asked if I would be interested in doing what I do for Overland Journal I jumped at the opportunity. Work I like to do, on a product that’s right at the core of my own interests? It’s win-win.

Taking that opportunity means leaving our rural lifestyle for the big-little town of Prescott, but I count that in the “plus” column. As much as I love it out here, I’ve missed having an open downtown we can enjoy. It’s pretty clear Danielle feels the same way.