Lately, I have found myself frequently daydreaming of life on the road. It started off with dreams of overlanding with an off-road trailer pulled behind a 4×4 rig. This dream was (and I suppose still is) inspired by the adventures of Expedition Overland. This group of friends started off on short trips into the wild. They filmed their adventures an uploaded them to YouTube. Over time, as they gained more experience and knowledge, their plans, vehicles, and trips continued to grow. This started my longing to dive into this type of camping.
We had a Subaru Outback which served us well. I loved the space it afforded (when compared to other midsize sedans. The All-Wheel Drive system is also a plus. But we noticed that camping with the Outback, even with just the 3 of us, got a little cramped.
The idea of pulling an off-road trailer was also appealing and we eventually traded in the Outback for a 2017 Lexus GX 460. For those who are unfamiliar with this vehicle, it shares a lot of similarities with it’s American cousin the Toyota 4Runner. To the rest of the world, the Lexus GX 460 is known as the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. As a product of the Land Cruiser heritage, this luxury mall crawler is a very capable and dependable vehicle whose capabilities are rarely tested by most owners in the United States. Interestingly, a GX460 is very close in price (and sometimes cheaper) than a Toyota 4Runner of the same year and similar mileage. But the GX460 comes in a V8 engine rather than the V6 of the 4Runner.
Several months after picking up the GX, we finally made our first modification. I wouldn’t consider myself “handy” at all. Rather than trying to figure out how to do all the work, we decided to have a roof rack and roof-top tent installed by Rhino Adventure Gear at their Southern California location in San Marcos.
The reason for choosing to go with a rooftop tent came from my disdain of setting up and taking down a ground tent. Due to both Allison and I working full-time, our camping trips tend to be short, 1-2 night long jaunts into the local mountains. A roof-top tent, I figured, would address my biggest barrier and encourage us to take more frequent trips. So far, it has done the job.
Our first trip was a one night test run into the San Bernardino mountains. Allie made a reservation for us to go to Crab Flats. Apparently this is a popular place amongst off-roaders. There were tons of people with lifted vehicles and toys like ATVs and dirt bikes. It wasn’t the most quiet campground as one would frequently here these vehicles running around the trails. It is also important to note that to get to the campground, you need to go down some forest roads. So while we made it there without any problems, the fact that we have stock ground clearance made me nervous at some points. Also, there are only vault toilets and no shower facilities.
The second camping trip with this set up was to Heart Bar Campground. This is another campground in the San Bernardino National Forest. Unlike Crab Flats, this site was closer to a main highway and there was plenty of room. There were several people there with Class As and 5th Wheelers.
It’s been fun. We have a few more trips planned this summer. Here’s to many more adventures.
