Gear and Gadgets

My Ford Explorer Sport 2 door is parked in San Mateo, Calif, 7 miles from San Francisco International Airport. Conveniently there's a railway that runs from SFO to right where my car is parked. The past few months I've been worried about my car's soundness since it's been sitting out in the open for 5+ months. I've arranged for someone to turn it on once every couple weeks to keep the engine lubed and the gas from being stagnant. Hopefully it's in good enough shape that we can start road trippin' right away!

The tires are in excellent shape, I'm surprised how good they held up after driving Connecticut-Alaska-California last year. I had zero flat tires and the suspension held strong too as I blazed through unpaved Dempster and Dalton highways, the latter which took me and my pal Roger to the Arctic Circle. I remember him asking me if I knew how to "power slide" and ended up drifting the tail of the car from side to side kicking up the dust. Fun times. I have to admit I was never a fan of American cars, I always swore by Japanese and other imports for their proven reliability and quality. But I have to say, this Ford is built tough and it handled all types of weather and terrain without a hitch. I mean it took me to the Arctic Circle and back! I am now a fan of Ford and Chevys.

Funny or not-funny enough my check engine light is on. It comes on and off and I had it checked out in Connecticut prior to departing to my first road trip and was told it was not a "big deal."

I bought a car radio (gotta be Pioneer, all other brands stink) in Candada that plays mp3 and has a USB port and Bluetooth (I think), so that we can share and listen to good music while on the road. I was surprised I made it all the way last year with just the stock CD player, I think the journey was so interesting that you could drive in complete silence and still not be bored.

Oh yeah about gear and gadgets...well the radio is not installed, so that's a new gadget addition. I'll be using the same Canon point-and-shoot camera I used for all my photos last year, very trustworthy inexpensive camera. I have many sets of batteries and SD cards for it so I never run out of power. There's a power inverter installed under the glove compartment that can charge cell phones and devices. I have a digital Panasonic flash-memory camcorder that takes better video than the camera, but I don't bring it when hiking because it's too heavy. I got a nice tripod made by Benro that I got after the previous one broke. This one is lightweight and has quick release flip locks and an easy to adjust ball head for quick set up so I don't miss good shots.

I'm looking into getting the GoPro Hero 3 HD Black Edition because it performs great during fast action, is lightweight, can be mounted anywhere and is waterproof. In my previous road trip I focused mostly on taking photos but if I can get my hands on this item I'm pretty sure I could shoot some sweet vids.

I got my first smartphone last year for the purposes of finding stuff quick while on the road, and I'm definitely bringing it and using it often. There is no easier way to find the cheapest gas near you, booking things, looking up reviews for food, getting deals and coupons, etc. This is a non-negotiable item beecause it saves you so much time and money!

Laptop. My laptop is bulky, but we have space in the car and I use it to edit video and photos while on the road. I can go to any local library, connect and share and update this thing.

Other gear includes weatherproof jacket, pants, boots, wool socks, gloves and layers for different types of weather. We are going to be hiking and camping in the national parks, so I have my tent, two sleeping bags--I got my first sleeping bag last year, Coleman brand, and it was enormous, so along the way I bought a down sleeping bag, much lighter and warmer at Canadian Tire, gotta love Canadian Tire--sunglasses, bear spray, dried and canned food items and backback with chest and waist straps and built-in water pack.

On top of the car I added a Swiss Cargo roof rack box that helps unclutter the inside of the vehicle. I also started carrying a fuel container so we don't run out of gas in the middle of the desert.

That's about it, it's good to keep it light and simple while traveling. Stay tuned for more blabbing!