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We would
like to thank the following sponsors that supported us on
our 2007 road trip.
without their support and help
this trip could not have happened and gone as well as it did. We can not
thank these businesses and their efforts enough to show our appreciation
for their involvement.
 Adventure Trailers of Upland California, without the suspension
system they did on our M416 trailer we would have certainly fought the
road and the original suspension the whole way. We were continuously
amazed along the way with how well the trailer pulled and absorbed
everything we through at it for terrain from old rough back roads, sharp
unexpected diversions, crossing the highway medians to having to pull
off of the road as we drove to let traffic by. This suspension system
work phenomenally well and we are excited to get this thing back to the
team at Adventure Trailers for more of their equipment upgrades starting
with the “lock and roll hitch”. We hope to be equipped with our own
Chaser model trailers for the next road trip since we plan to be in a
outdoor setting and will be using them to live out of along the trip.
Check out the M416 military trailer that they customized for us
to take on our road trip.
www.adventuretrailers.com
 NAPA
Auto Parts of Snowflake; along the way we had various times that we
needed tools, fluids and parts. NAPA sent us out for this trip fully
equipped for this long journey and without their support and supplies we
would have had trouble early on in the trip. They provided us with cross
country support at any NAPA along the way which we stopped at many times
in order to replenish our fluid supply. Our large cooler that we had
filled with drinks for ourselves provided us with the much needed
refreshments to keep us hydrated on the hot back roads. Without a doubt,
there is no question that we would not have been able to get our
roadside repairs done that allowed us to get back up and running and
back on our way without the support of Snowflakes NAPA store. They were
great in providing contact info along the way when we needed to track
down a dealer or help.
 Surplus City Jeep Parts of Oroville California, had we not had the
great tarp kit for our M416 we would have fought a loosing battle trying
to keep our gear and electrical equipment dry and out of the elements.
The tarp kit (cover) fit so well and locked down all of our gear that we
were never once worried about our equipment and gear getting ruined by
the elements. We did have a good three days worth of rain that we drove
through and we needed to assure that our stuff would stay safe and
operable along the way. They also supplied us with our spare tire, tube
and wheel for the trailer (thankfully we didn’t need to use them) but we
did wear out our tires after the trailer ran 4,000 miles there and back.
We’ll be buying our new tires from them for our trailer. Had we had any
major breakage that was not readily available they would have provided
us with those replacement parts specific to our Willys Jeep…. Thankfully
we didn’t have any major breakage.
www.cj-jeep.com
 JPFreek.com Magazine, these guys were in communication with us the
whole trip to see how our progress was going and to keep up with any new
adventures we had. They will be covering the story in their upcoming
issue. JPFreek.com Magazine is an online PDF publication that will be
going into print in March 2008 and is generated to those type of people
that live the “outdoor or adventure” lifestyle. They have great product
reviews on various types of camping, travel, and adventure gear as well
as stories from many different expeditions taken around the globe. They
are a rapidly growing a fan following and this is one magazine that you
will soon be seeing and hearing much more about. These guys are here to
stay and we look forward to seeing our story and seeing the adventures
that other people like ourselves will be experiencing.
www.jpfreek.com
 Expeditions West of Prescott Arizona, Scott Brady is not new to the
expedition lifestyle and was a huge supporter of our trip and gave good
advice on things that we should do and look out for along the way. The
Expeditions West team just finished an Artic Ocean expedition as we were
headed out on ours and in addition to that they just put out and great
new magazine as well called “Overland Journal Magazine” I have had a
chance to quickly review the first publication and am amazed at the
quality of print. This is also a publication that you will most
definitely want to check out, it is a cross between National Geographic
and an off road style of print.
www.expeditionswest.com
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It all began in March of 2007 when an ad was posted on our website for a 1948 Jeep Willys that was for sale by the original owner. As soon as we read the ad we knew that we had to have it. Although the Jeep itself is rare and unique, it was more about the history of the Jeep and its owner that intrigued us. Colonel Nick Fallier, the 85 year old original owner of the Willys was a decorated Fighter Pilot in World War II and he bought the Jeep new in 1948 when he returned from his overseas tour of duty. He had cherished the Jeep for over 59 years and it was even a regular on the old television series "Gentle Ben". Since nobody was driving the Jeep anymore the decision was made to sell it.
We immediately bought the Jeep and booked our flights to Florida to pick it up. At that point our plan was simply to spend some time with Nick and then drive the old Jeep back to Arizona and call it a day. We thought that the 2,200 mile trip in an old Jeep would be a cool way to spend a few weeks and see some great sights along the way. Once we got going it didn't take long to realize that we had made a huge mistake by limiting ourselves to only a 2,200 mile trip...we were having way too much fun to end the trip in Arizona. It was soon decided that we should drive our 48' Jeep through all 48 States and do it in honor of the war veterans that spent countless hours and miles in similar Jeeps, but in brutal conditions. We anticipate the entire journey to be in excess of 18,000 miles and we will be doing it over a 4-5 year period starting in May 2007. We will end the trip back where we started in Tallahassee Florida so we can spend a few more days with Colonel Nick. There will be no short-cuts on this trip. The shortest route to go through all 48 states is approximately 9,000 miles. Considering the fact that our Jeeps average speed is only 30 mph we are forced to stay off of the Interstates and stick to the back roads the whole way. Because of this we are estimating our total mileage to be between 18,000 and 20,000 miles which should equate to 628 hours of driving. Go here to check out our forecasted statistics.
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