Trans American Trail

[James Brackin]

My family and I have planned to go on the Trans American trail. We will be leaving the end of may and the preparations for the trip are just about complete. We have done this as cheap as possible. So i want e d to show everyone what can be done with a little hard work and help from family friends and facebook can do. Attached is the two jeeps we will be going in.

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[James Brackin]

First things first -- sleeping quarters #1. This is going to be my wifes sleeping area along with the addition of our 4 dogs. From the picture I think they are ok with the new sleeping arrangement.

Cost=
1 day of my time.

All the supplies I had laying around the house
- 2 sheets of particle board
- 5 2×4×8'
- screws

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[James Brackin]

Second things second-- sleeping quarters #2.
We purchased a used rooftop tent. Thanks to a fellow jeeper on facebook we picked this cherry up in Memphis TN and headed back to southern alabama the same night. Wow what a long night that was. But it was worth it for $350.00. We also purchased the roofrack it is sitting on from facebook for $150.00 and we installed them in one day.

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[James Brackin]

Third things third -- Cooking and food storage.
The refrigerator we took from my Garage. No more beer in the garage [emoji24]. But it will be worth it. The Colman stove was loaned to me from my father-in-law. Thanks again Jerry. The totes are from walmart and if they had any cheaper ones I could not find them. These cost me around $4.50 each. The housing for it all was out of 2 pieces of plywood I had laying around. Yes I realised I may have a little to much plywood on hand![emoji16]

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[James Brackin]

Ok so I will be traveling with 2 women and 4 dogs across America for 30+ days. Please don't send the guys in white coats I am sane.(for now). But having said that I will be traveling with two women. And i don't know about your ladies but mine will not use the closest tree for a restroom. So back to the facebook marketplace and found a camping shower for $20.00. So now we have a camp shower/ pop up porta potty. I just have to make the toilet. View attachment 51479

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[Tim N Michele Davis]

Should be a fun trip keep us posted please

 

[James Brackin]

Ok so I thought we needed a awning for when we are out in the desert sun. I looked at the premade ones from smittybuilt and would love to have one but the price is a bit more than i want to spend. And i wanted it to fold up. So folded it is about 5 foot along the side of the Jeep. When deployed it is 8'×8'. Not sure how it will ride down the road not being covered. But as for the cost all the part was less than $50.00.
4- 10' 1/2" electric conduit $3.00 each
Hardware $15.00
8'×9' Blue tarp $3.99
2- tent poles 17.00 each

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[James Brackin]

A little opportunity has presented itself.
Now instead of bringing the green jeep now it is the red jeep. So 3 months of preparation on the green one has to be transferred to the red one and we are leaving in 16 days. I guess I know what I am doing for the next couple of weeks.

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[36degreesNorth]

Check out TrailspinTV on youtube, He's a member here as well and is currently running the TAT in a 4 door JK

 

[James Brackin]

Check out TrailspinTV on youtube, He's a member here as well and is currently running the TAT in a 4 door JK

Will do.

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[36degreesNorth]

The jeeps look good where are you planning on starting the trail.

 

[James Brackin]

Well tomorrow is the day. We have both jeeps packed except for clothes and food and that is going to be remedied later this afternoon.

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[James Brackin]

After all of the work here is the final look of the jeeps(the before pictures)

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[James Brackin]

Day #1-- We left home --
So leaving the house at 7 AM did not work out. By the time the girls and the dogs got loaded it was about 9 AM. We made it about 3 hours. It rained most of the way. Great Start...
When it came time for lunch i thought i caught a break no rain. So we pulled over in a church parking lot. We opened the back of the jeep to start cooking our hotdog lunch on the Coleman 2 burner and just as i put them in the pan the rain came back. We are all soaked head to toe by this time. So the girls returned to the jeeps and i was left with hotdogs on the stove so i had to just stand in it and just laugh at how ridiculous I looked to the people passing. After that fiasco was done soaking wet we hot back on the road for another 3 hours getting into the camp sight about 5 PM. Clear skies all around us. So we started to setup camp no more then we get the tent open..... downpour.... and all the bedding in the tent is soaking wet. After cooking the second meal today in the rain I called it quits. Changing into some dryer clothes and going directly to bed.

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[James Brackin]

Day #2-- Only can get better.
Today we decided that after yesterday we would sleep in. I was up and had coffee made before the sun. So much for sleeping in. However the girls did sleep till 9ish we ended up leaveing camp about 11 AM so not much time to travel today but it was a better day. All meals have been dry. We ended up finding this little place that had some interesting cars and made camp before the sunset. So all and all a good day.

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[36degreesNorth]

Good luck on your travels the weather has been crazy down here the past few days.

 

[James Brackin]

Good luck on your travels the weather has been crazy down here the past few days.

We are currently in Georgia and so far rain is the name of the game

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[James Brackin]

Day #3-- admission of defeat
We made a last stitch effort to get on the highway and try to get north of all the rain. 350 miles later we are still in rain so we pulled over and had a long talk. We decided to head back to the house and regroup and make a new plan. 11 hours of driving is in our future.

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[James Brackin]

Day #4-- South bound and downed
Today soaked to the bone we started back home to dry out and regroup. As we head south the skies part and we see our first bit of blue. So with our spirits a little higher we found camp. We finally have a night with dryish camp site. Leaving me eager to get back to the trail. Ok so new plan - go home drain,dry and do
DRAIN- the jeeps from the water that leaked in from the solar panels
DRY- everything
DO- GET BACK TO THE TRAIL
I figure this should take about 4 dry days to get back. So i have not been defeated i just had to learn a lesson.

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[James Brackin]

Just thought I would add the best sight i have seen since Saturday ( a dryish camp sight)

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