Fairly New from Georgia

[TBUNCH]

I have had my 2006 SMB for just over a year now and the family is loving it. All five of us (three small kids) have camped in it for up to a week. It is a SMB West 4x4 conversion so we hope to do some off-road camping in the near future. It is not fair to the van to keep it restricted to pavement.

Problem is I have very little off-road experience with vehicles. Grew up on a dirt bike but a 10,000lb vehicle is a little different.

Are there other southeastern SMB Owners that would like to meet up?

I know I saw some at Overland Expo in 14' when I went. We would love to do a Southeastern meet-up.

Any people within 500 miles are invited.

[Jboles]

Tbunch,
We are in Chattanooga but our van is not a 4x4. We are buildinng out our 2006 E350 HT but no plans for a 4wd conversion. However, we are a family as well, only one kid at this point. There are some others here in the southeast though.

None-the-less I'd be into meeting up but no real off road experience either. More of whitewater guy myself.

Justin

[rexracer530]

I'm in Oak Island, NC about 40 minutes from Myrtle Beach if your ever in the area message me. I don't have a SMB mine is an Advanced 4x4 conversion.

[TBUNCH]

We go to Chattanooga a couple times a year. Typically we stay at Racoon Mountain. Far from an Overland trip but the kids like it there. Just hoping to find some like-minded people to go on trips with. We will be camping in central Florida for a few days in February at the Ocala National Forest. Nothing off-road but there is some good canoeing down there. Let me know if you have any interest.

[SCBrian]

Originally Posted by rexracer530

I'm in Oak Island, NC about 40 minutes from Myrtle Beach if your ever in the area message me. I don't have a SMB mine is an Advanced 4x4 conversion.

I'm just south of you in the MYR area. In Georgetown County. Let me know if your headed this way.

Those in TN, Eric (86Scotty) is up your way. There is a crowd from SEES over on Expo headed for a meetup in Jan. Like minded folks, a few vans. Eric came last year. More info in the Southeast section on Expo. Here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...ion-Society%29

[86Scotty]

^^^What Brian said^^^

I'm not sure if I'm going to make that meetup this year but you should go if you can. It's a fun group. Lots of families will be there, and lots of offroad/overlanding enthusiasts but not a lot of vans. They usually have trail options for different levels of interest.

Offroading in the Southeast: The problem with offroad in the Southeast is that there just isn't a lot of it. I would jump on as many of the get togethers like above that you can because that way you have like minded folks and help as well as learning about good places to go. I do a lot of fire roads and light offroading but in our part of the country the offroad that is available is either just a gravel road or incredibly technical, meaning serious rock crawling for Jeeps and the like. I have found overhead clearance to be the biggest obstacle for an SMB. We're a LOT taller than Jeeps, which is why I've started carrying a chainsaw when I explore new places.

You MUST plan a trip to Moab and just explore. It's well worth the drive and will open your eyes to what a Sportsmobile was made for.

Oh, and I would love to meet up and explore a little! North Georgia has some good spots. Keep in touch.

[TBUNCH]

Thanks for the help guys. I joined the thread at Expedition Portal but did not see the specifics of the January meet-up. Since the thread is 80+ pages long I only got through the last ten before I gave up. I assume it is on Jan 15 weekend. If so I have to run my booth at the Atlanta Boat Show that weekend. If it is different let me know for sure.

[86Scotty]

It's always MLK weekend, if that's the 15th. I agree that some more of us in this part of the country should put something together. I'm thinking about how to do that.