Overland Expo 2012 Part 1
We would like to thank Overland Expo for inviting us to this year's event and to everybody who came by and said hello! What a wonderful experience; we had a great time. We could not have asked for better neighbors at the event. The Adventure Trio, Ara and Spirit, the Rough Riders, and the Crew from Adventure Motorcycle Magazine were kind enough to take us in even though the only bikes we have are of the peddle variety. Everybody was very friendly, and we could not be happier with the turnout for our cooking demonstrations.
A big thank you, also, to our blog followers who attended. It was nice to meet all of you. You gave us some great encouragement and motivation to continue with our blog and photography. We left the event feeling proud of what we have accomplished in just over two years of doing this. We have a lot to learn, but we are having fun, and that is what is important to us!
Our Journey Down:
We started our journey to Overland Expo on Wednesday May 16th. We didn't have much vacation time from work, so we quickly drove down to Bluff, UT and camped at the Sand Island Campground. For those of you who are interested, this is a wonderful campground along the San Juan River just west of Bluff. It is popular with rafters and the Sand Island Petroglyph site is nearby.
The Main Event:
We arrived at Mormon Lake Lodge, around mid-day on Thursday, to discover a sea of roof top tents and knew we had arrived at the right place.
We had a wonderful time teaching the Overland Cooking Daily Demo. Friday brought nearly 25 attendees; there were over 35 on Saturday, and we closed with a good group of 20 on Sunday. We are working on posting the recipes, and in a few days we will have links below.
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| Cooking right off the back of our 4Runner! |
Recipes:
Saturday: Cold Szechwan Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Sunday: Chipotle and Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
and
Peppercorn Caramel Glazed Pears with Blue Cheese
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| Krista and I in the act - Photo taken by Robert Sloman (Thank you Robert!) |
I must say, I was mesmerized by all the vehicles at the show. There were vehicles as humble as a second generation Mitsubishi Delica van to massive Global X Vehicles. As a mechanical engineer, I was in heaven looking at all of the modifications and build designs.
On Sunday night we had the opportunity to listen to Ted Simon speak to the group. In 1973, Ted quit his engineering career and began a 4-year solo journey around the world on a Triumph motorcycle; he was the first person to travel around the world on a motorcycle. Today at the age of 80, Ted has started a foundation dedicated to helping overlanders and travelers share their experiences in foreign countries to promote world understanding. We were so moved by Ted's words, we have decided to dedicate our Idaho Overland Expedition to promoting The Ted Simon Foundation. Thank you Ted for being an inspiration to us all!
Cooking Gear on Display:
GrubHub USA was displaying their new folding camp kitchen, complete with work surfaces and plenty of storage.
My Camp Kitchen was displaying their beautifully crafted chuck boxes. These things were really a work of art.
This type of 'kitchen in a box' is becoming quite popular among campers, and with good reason. Your cooking gear stays organized in one location, and can easily be removed from the back of your vehicle and quickly setup. We really liked both designs, and both companies were very friendly.