There were literally hundreds of expedition campers at this year’s Overland Expo. Which one would you choose to travel or work in? All of these examples have the basic comforts. A bed, a place to cook healthy food, a place to go to the bathroom and a place to get clean.

EarthCruiser on a Fuso from Australia.

Land Rover 111 out of Las Vegas

XP Camper from Grass Valley, CA

Pinzgauer with an AutoHome roof top tent

Another GXV monster. Where can they go?

This Unimog 500 built custom by GXV is very tall

GXV on a big International

The favorite of many at the Overland Expo was our own Turtle V. Big on the inside but small on the outside.

An M109 shop van mounted on a M35A2 6X6. That’s a truck!

This Unimog showed us what wheel articulation is all about.

At this year’s Overland Expo, there were some very impressive campers. GXV has made an honest attempt to duplicate a few of the concepts of The Turtle Expedition’s Tortuga Camper, but we still think it needs to be smaller to follow the roads we travel. Close but no cigar. On the final day, some of the big rigs ran the off-road training course. Perhaps one of the more interesting was a M109 shop van mounted on a M35A2 6X6. It came through the frame twisters gracefully.

The latest GXV Turtle is a nice looking expedition camper, but we wish they would make a smaller version.

Side by side, our own Tortuga Expedition Camper is significantly lower, narrower and shorter.

Traffic by The Turtle V was steady all day, and many commented that the overall design of the Tortuga Camper was still the best they had seen at the show.

This military M109 shop van mounted on a M35A2 6x6 came through the frame twisters gracefully.

For those of you who may have missed it, this year’s Overland Expo was a huge success. Gathering at the Mormon Lake Lodge facilities south of Flagstaff, Arizona, some 5,000 people attended the three day event to take classes on the tips and techniques of Overland Travel, watch travel movies, and stroll through over 100 companies displaying their specialized products, from roof top tents to cook sets to monster 4X4 expedition campers. Looking out at the meadow behind the motorcycle and off-road training courses it looked like a high tech refugee camp. Pioneers in the trend of overland travel, The Turtle Expedition was given an official send-off for our upcoming Trans-Eurasian Odyssey.

Hundreds of Overland enthusiasts were on hand for the opening ceremonies before starting the three-days of special classes and hands-on training courses.

Vehicles can be trained too. A spotter on the off-road demo course teaches a Sportsmobile to lift a tire and wave at the crowd.

The meadow behind the motorcycle and off-road training courses looked like a high tech refugee camp.

Once we had all the cabinets removed, Integrated Plastic in Rancho Cordova (www.integratedplasticsusa.com), made a quick repair reinforcing the fill tube corner and redoing the vent and outlet ports which could have been the next big problem.

With the leaking tank out, we cleaned up the damaged floor, replacing the 1-inch marine–grade plywood that fit over the main floor and steel top mounting plate. The process of reinstalling the cabinets, batteries and electrical wires was a reverse puzzle we hope never to be required again. As we said, we’re just glad that we discovered the water leak in California instead of in Tajikistan.

Integrated Plastic in Rancho Cordova made a quick repair of our leaking water tank.

Removing the damaged floor under the water tank we could inspect the main Nida Core sub-floor and steel top mounting plate.

The rotten water-damaged base under the tank was replaced with 1-inch marine–grade plywood.

Integrated Plastic reinforced the fill tube corner re engineered the vent and outlet ports, which could have, been the next big problem.

New News-Subscribers:
To see the full blog with photos please click on the title.

Traveling the backroads of the world, or anywhere for that matter, clean, safe, pure water is critical. When we designed the Tortuga Expedition Camper, we incorporated a 40-gallon water tank that feeds an Everpure water purification system using the FDA approved Superchlorination method. (www.everpure.com) All would be well except the shop that installed the tank under all the cabinets did a sloppy job of attaching the fill spout. It is just one of many items we have had problems with because we relied on craftsmen, (I use the term loosely), who had no idea of the quality mandatory in an expedition camper.

The water leak contaminated the 1” plywood sub floor that sits on the main NidaCore/fiberglass floor. Since the cabinets were built around the tank, they all had to come out to remove the tank. Needless to say, it was a Cesarean Procedure.  While the tank is being repaired in Rancho Cordova, we replaced the damaged sub floor and cleaned up some of the electrical wiring that looked like a problem waiting to happen. We’re just glad we discovered the leak here in California instead of Tajikistan.

The fill connection to our water tank was "taking a leak" every time the water sloshed in that direction.

Removing the damaged floor board under the tank was a messy job.

Fortunately only the wood directly beneath the tank was damaged by water.

News Subscribers:
To see the full blog with photos please click on the title.

Onboard compressed air is a critical and mandatory component of any expedition vehicle. On The Turtle V, it is used for our Hellwig rear air suspension, (www.hellwigproducts.com), the front ARB Air Locker, (www.arbusa.com) and the twin Fiamm air horns, (www.fiammtech.com), in addition to operating air tools, airing up tires, and even reseating the bead on a tubeless tire if it needs to be broken down for repair. Compressed air is also handy for blowing off dust from anything.

Extreme Outback's new ExtremeAire Velocity compressors use a 3/4 HP motor, 100% continuous cycle, to pump out 1.5 CFM @ 100 PSI.

To solve this need, we mounted twin ExtremeAire compressors in a custom K&W side box, (www.customtoolboxes.com). Using the two Extreme Outback compressors, (www.extremeoutback.com), gives us the security of still having air should one fail. The new ExtremeAire Velocity compressors feature continuous duty with a ¾ HP motor that puts out 1.5 cfm at 100 psi. They will fill our 5-gallon AccuAir aluminum reserve tank in just over a minute, (www.accuairsuspension.com). High-pressure air lines from PowerTank, (www.powertank.com), connect to a pair of Campbell Hausfeld mini pressure regulators (www.chpower.com), that feed the ARB Air Locker and the Fiamm air horns. All electrical connections to the various solenoids were made with reliable Quick Cable butt connectors, (www.quickcable.com), that have built-in heat shrink.

AccuAir's 5-gallon aluminum air tank was a perfect fit between our compressor box and the truck frame.

Campbell Hausfeld mini pressure regulators monitor the air to our Fiamm air horns and ARB locker.

K&W Custom Tool Boxes fabricated a special box for our new compressor system.

Yes, we are packing and getting our home ready to rent but when it snows, what can you do? Sugar Bowl Ski Area is 50 minutes from our driveway to the slopes, and with a foot of fresh powder, we couldn’t resists. Now it’s back to loading boxes.

We took advantage of recent snowstorms to carve some turns at beautiful Squaw Valley Ski Resort. Taking the amazing gondola up to the top of the mountain, there was time to visit the Olympic Museum at High Camp where Monika could pretend she had just won the Women’s Downhill. I guess that should be a Swiss flag behind her. The view from the observation deck overlooking Lake Tahoe is worth the ride up, especially when you can ski all the way down. We could only wonder how this old sentinel managed to survive on a rock. If it could speak, what memories it must have of the changes since the 1960 Winter Olympics were staged here.

Finally, Winter has come to the California Sierras. We were quick to take advantage of the fresh powder at Squaw Valley.

The view from the observation deck reached by the Squaw Valley Gondola offers spectacular view of Lake Tahoe and the High Sierras.

Did Monika just win the Olympic Women's Downhill?

We can only wonder how this sentinel survived for decades on top of the mountain on top of the rock. Surely, the caption must be "Tenacity".

Winter has finally come to the California Sierras, and the slopes at Squaw Valley overlooking the north shore of Lake Tahoe were measuring their snow from recent storms in feet not inches. Instead of starting at the base of Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics, we drove to the Resort at Squaw Creek (squawcreek.com). In addition to a lift that reaches all of the Squaw Valley slopes, there is a free shuttle to Alpine Resort just over the hill. The Resort at Squaw Creek has X-country tracks, snow shoe tracks, dog sledding, fly fishing (yes, in the winter), a full spa, heated pool and jacuzzis, elegant restaurants and more. The fresh snow made for one of the best skiing days of the year. The views from the top of Squaw are spectacular. We finished up a perfect day with a late luncheon at Squaw Creek’s Sandy’s Pub.

Winter has finally come to the California High Sierras. Snow is measured in feet not inches.

The Resort at Squaw Creek offers ice skating, cross-country skiing, dog sledding, a full service spa, heated pools & Jacuzzis and a lift that lets you ski-in ski-out to the Squaw Valley slopes.

Fresh powder, fresh air, no crowds, blue sky and a view of Lake Tahoe in the background. Does it get any better?

When The Turtle V first started to have front wheel bearings self-destruct, we just carried a spare unit with us all the time and changed them every 20,000 miles. Then Dynatrac Products (www.dynatrac.com), came to the rescue. The factory “unit bearings” were a problem for many Ford Super Duty owners. Dynatrac’s Free-Spin™ Heavy Duty Hub Conversion Kit is designed to replace the factory unit bearings with fixed spindles and serviceable bearings. Factory unitized bearing systems, also known as “unit bearings”, were designed to make vehicle assembly easier but are prone to failure due to a very narrow bearing design and plastic bearing cages. When a unit bearing fails, the vehicle is often immediately disabled and cannot be driven anywhere until the unit bearing has been completely replaced. You have about 100 yards to stop and pull to the side. By then, pretty much everything up to the tin backing plate: spindle, rotor, brake pads, caliper—everything is trashed.

Please check out the article “The Bearing Thing” on our Home Page under the brand new Tech Stuff Button.