Welcome to Botches Off Road. All right, that
intro is kind of short. That's OK. We'll roll
with it. Yeah, it's the tone. It's the tone,
man. We'll get it. We'll figure something out.
I'll get it right. I'll get it right. We'll get
it right. We're ironing out the new year tone
and the new year introduction. Yeah. So how about
you send in some voicemails of what you think
it should be? Because that was rough. That was
pretty rough. I do like Chad GPD's suggestion.
This is botches off -road. We break it so you
don't have to. I'd rather that not be our slogan.
It's super funny. I just don't want to have to
be known for breaking everything. That's rough.
Botches off -road. Bad lines, good times. Yeah,
very much. Bad lines because Alex tells bad jokes,
but also takes the worst lines. I take the best
lines. That's why he says, yep, sure. I take
the lines that look the most fun. And they're
bad. No, they're good. They're just harder than
your little soft incline. True. True, true. So
what's the... Anyways. Is this our... Year in
recap our our Spotify wrapped of off -roading
If you want to call it that I'm thinking you
know if we take a half an hour or so Just talk
about our favorite moments of the last season
of season 2 Before that though we do have a voicemail.
All right We don't know this one Alex smiled
a little bit because he could see a bit of the
transcription on it So yeah, I don't know who
sent it, but it's pretty funny. So I'll play
it now Yeah, just listen to your last episode
by the way your episodes are your your podcast
is fantastic Gavin I have to disagree with you
and I have to agree with Alex If you're forced
to eat turkey the only way to do it is trash
can style. That's all I had to say. You guys
keep up the good work. Damn it. Damn it. All
right. I don't know who that was. I still love
you. But man. All right, so I guess Alex is going
to have to make some trash can turkey for us.
I think that's in the works. At this point, I'm
going to have to. Yeah, I think it's in the works.
We're going to have to do it. Oh, man. What after
hearing that person's voice? I'm like 95 % sure
it's Joe Karen by the way probably okay? Make
sense I'm sitting here, and I'm like I'm like
I bet Alex paid his dad to call me Tell me no,
and I'm cool with that if you got anything you
want to say that's funny Yeah, you know what
fine. I'll concede, but I have to try it first
cuz Telling you man. There's smoke. I'll have
to make this that smoker turkey was the best
turkey I've ever had so Maybe it's because they
over seasoned it and I like overseas and food
so I like to feel soon, you know So oh, you'll
like my chili. Hopefully it turned out good.
I need your chili on the fucking trail. Are you
crazy? I'll try a couple bites Yeah, dude, you
don't do who you don't do trail chili, dude Hey,
we're doing trail Hey, you ready to poop, Alice?
Yeah, no kidding, dude. Oh. Don't plan on it.
And I'll be taking a modium right before I do
this trip, too, because there is nowhere. That's
my plan. Nowhere to poop on in this area, except
in the woods. Yeah, there is. There's literally
a shithouse. Where? Two of them. Where? At the
trailhead. Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry, I don't really
want to try. I ain't going to make it back to
that. I don't know how you guys do it, but once
I feel it, it's time. There isn't no... There
isn't no, yeah, just hold it and go. Alex just
leaves us in the dust. Yeah. Yeah. I just take
off, leave everyone behind. That's happened more
than a handful of times. Those trails are anything
like they were last year. I ain't driving fast
and I'm a need to. Well, was it a third gen weekend?
I was doing like 65 on the way back to camp.
You're through the trails. Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm
good. But yeah, well, get off the poo topic,
because we've had plenty of those. All right,
let's get into our - Well, that's - Yeah, let's
get into our year. That's the best moments of
season two is all the poo talk. Speaking of,
I made a lot of improvements this year on my
poo palace. Since we want to just keep it up,
we went from - Sitting on a bucket with a kind
of a pool noodle or the net pool noodles the
the clip -on seats That you could buy from Walmart.
Yeah, I Did those are trail one for a few not
gonna lie. I'm a big dude and trying to reach
my hand in there It's just not look man. I'm
trying to be honest with you. If you're a big
guy those things don't work You need something
that's got a large bowl so you could reach Are
you ready to hear what our poo are? We'll call
it a poo shack what our poo shack was for our
first overland trip. Oh is it a tarp over it
was a five gallon bucket with the bottom cut
off and a Walmart Ozark trail bat but uh Lid
yep, but you have the bottom cut off So we could
dig a hole poop in it and barrier. I think everybody's
got really bad stories about some of their first
poops camping. I am one of them that has more
than one with IBS, but we didn't we didn't even
bring a shelter for it. We just put it off in
the woods behind a tree. I've got a few of the
campers we go with. I'm walking in and I see
them shitting out there without a shelter and
their little bucket. I'm like, all right, turn
it around. Didn't know that's where you were
going, but. But yeah, no, we made a lot of improvements
on that, both of us, as a group, I think we all
have. I went from the bucket, which was extremely
uncomfortable, hard to pack away, to safe space
and everything, and just kind of an overall pain,
to we started using, I don't know, one of these
cheap, it was like a metal with a used style
toilet seat, and that was a lot better. For the
general purpose. It's been really strong. I keep
it in my little trash panda bag in the back whatever
you call them trash Roo and That's been great.
We use some kitty litter or some of the absorption
pellets now That was probably one of my finer
Enhancements honestly as far as quality of life
goes on on my last year Yeah, and then you also
Originally, you were using that with your pull
-out thing on the side of the truck. Yeah, my
pop -out. Now you've got a quick pop -up little
outhouse thing. Yeah, which is really nice. So
if I'm camping with a group of people, I can
use the separate pop -up to just go pop it up
in the woods. It's away from everyone. They don't
have to smell it, hear it, whatever. When we're
solo, I use the other one. Um, because it's right
there. I don't care. Um, and we still use that
actually quite a bit for like changing. Um, you
know, it just in general, it's nice to have it's
not needed, but it's nice to have. Yeah. I, I
originally had bought one of those quick pop
-up like circle ones, like what you have. And
I Used it once and then I hated it. So I threw
it away if I'd known that Gavin was then gonna
immediately buy one I would have given it to
him But I bought a It's kind of like it's more
like a shower that I Mean, they're all shower
tents technically, but it's like this one was
built way better than that one this one Yeah,
this one has actual actual poles, and you just
like flip the poles down and slide them out.
It's built like the core tents, if you've ever
seen the core tent. Yeah. The external poles
out there. So very similar to that construction.
Which is fine in a tent that size. I think once
you get to the bigger tents, it's a pain in the
ass. But with that little one, it takes me like
a minute to set it up with a toilet ready to
go. Like, it's not a problem. Yeah. I know lights.
Yeah, and ventilates like crazy. Mine is really
nice because it has like three windows on each
side. So it ventilates really well, but major
improvements on that. What about cooking? We
had some major improvements on cooking all in
general in 2025. We've done a lot really. Our
whole setup has changed drastically. We have
rebuilt the packout kitchen. It is now, instead
of needing two sets of drawers and a foot, it
now only takes one set of two drawers, which
is a much smaller package. I mean, it fits in
my truck, and I have no room as it is. And then
we built those... Basically took plywood and
two by fours and built a platform over our cargo
space So we could slide a like Walmart pop -up
table into it Yeah, so you can use it as a counter
You know pull it out a little use it as a counter
pull it out all the way set it up as a table
That's phenomenal. That's the best idea I've
ever had about so that is like the best idea
of you we've come up with just a pullout table
that doubles as a pull out table for working
on the vehicle. And the best part is, saying
the best part is the total cost, like my plywood
and everything was scrap wood from building a
turkey barn. And the pullout table, I mean, mine,
my old roommate left it behind, but you can get
them at Walmart for like 40 bucks. Yeah. Yeah,
that's true. Depending what size you're looking
at. Yeah. I'm working on a new one for 2026.
And I'm really excited. I hope it works. The
filing cabinet drawers. I'm really excited for
those, dude. I think the one that I did get,
it's like this. So it would go perfect as one
of the top ones. And for everybody who didn't
see that, let's just say it's like eight inches
tall, 24 inches wide. Yeah, it's gonna go good.
It doesn't make any like sounds or rattling or
anything like that but I still want to like throw
some sound deadening in the Bottom of it. It's
gonna be really cool. It's gonna be some of the
I think I'm gonna rip out everything in the back
and and then take the seats out and Then redo
it from there. So that'll be fun. But I mean
my 2025 setup has been great. Honestly, I The
only reason I'm changing it is because I can
And I love efficiency and as we start doing this
more, I accumulate more stuff and I want to be
more organized. But this last year has been pretty
good for me. We, you know, I got my fold down
table. I've had that now for a couple of years,
did some enhancements there, added some new drawers
and stuff. So I was pretty well set out for what
I do. Fridge, stove, propane tanks inside. I
now have that mounted outside. I think the only
time I'll ever put that inside is if I get to
a risky area I'm worried about someone just cutting
it out to get it. Yeah, so Man if someone's willing
to cut your propane tank out though, like they're
committed because that's dangerous. No. Yeah,
just by strap Yeah, cuz it's just around those
that's dangerous. It's dangerous if they're doing
it to me I will literally just ran my truck into
theirs, but Which brings me to the point where
I need a steel bumper so I would be doing reverse
into their vehicle, so whoopsies. What was your
favorite trip of 2025? For me, I would have to
say the West UP trip. That was a large, that
was like a six, seven day trip. And we checked
off some of my biggest Michigan bucket list items.
And then some I didn't really know about. and
in seven days. And it was, I would say the driving
part, you know, the trails weren't really all
that I would have wanted them to be, but the
experience and the people that we did them with
and the sites, the kid was old enough to kind
of know what he was looking at too, so he was
like at awe at Porcupine Mountains. That was
my favorite. Favorite watching him just play
on a beach without having to, you know, worry
about strangers or anything like that. It was,
it was by far my favorite trip. I think that
I've done at all, um, in general, I think just
scenery experiences. Um, I didn't have any serious
mechanical issues and that was also the longest
trip, um, in distance and time that I've been
gone. with the family. So yeah, absolutely love
it. What about you, Mark? Uh, despite the headcovers,
I think Leatherwood was my favorite. Yeah. Yeah.
Despite having to replace my radiator and dealing
with all the headaches of it. In terms of wheeling,
Leatherwood was by far my favorite. But in terms
of total trip, Benji's Friendsgiving was my favorite.
Yeah, I really wish I could have went into that.
I always regret it like crazy, but I should have
been able to try and scoot in with one of you
guys, but it was just too close to the kid's
birthday. I'll have to really figure it out and
plan it out next time. It's just, it's three
days, three days past, and spent all the money
we could on his birthday, so. That is... Like,
hands down, that's the best trip we do, and we're
gonna continue to do it every year. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. It just... The people... And I'm not saying
that the overlanders in Michigan are bad by any
means, but it's a whole nother thing when you
get out there and you're hanging out with people
that, you know, there's less drama. Yeah. That's
the big thing. There's just so much less drama.
Yeah, I just... Honestly... Again, not to dog
on anyone in Michigan, but the West has more
to offer. Plain and simple as far as everything
goes. The higher quality, I would say, environment,
but also you have more professional, more creators.
For me, that's a big asset for trying to... talk
to people, get ideas to go out and do it with
them and see how they do things. And there's
not really, there's not really any Michigan overlanders,
except one or two, like, you know, like trail
expedition and stuff. But like, still, there's
not really much, you know, to go out and then
talk with them all night and just hang out. I
feel like there's a lot more of that out West
that I could really get along with some of those
people. And I think I would. I honestly really
enjoy the friendships, but that's one of my bigger
reasons for wanting to move west, but other than
scenery. Yeah, I don't know, man. It's just Benji
always puts on such a good show, and the group
of people that he gets together, they're always
so down -to -earth and fun to be around. Like,
legitimately fun. Not just, I'm enjoying what
I'm doing, so I'm putting up with them. Like,
it's legitimately a good time. Yeah. Plus, you
know, we get to see Charlie, and Charlie's pretty
cool, so... Yeah. Is that Benji's dog? No, Charlie
is Charlie Rasinowski, outskirts overland. Sorry,
Charlie. It just, we were talking about Benji,
and then we went straight to a Charlie, and I'm
like, that sounds like it could be, like, one
of Benji's little dogs or something. Like, that's
something that Alex would say. No, Charlie's
just, like... He's one of my favorite people
because he has done pretty much anything you
could think of. He's figured out the right way
to do everything, and he's just someone you can
sit and talk to, and he'll tell you why this
is the right way and why it works that way. Yep.
Yeah, that's really cool. It's really cool to
have that knowledge base, too. I would also say
the knowledge base for Michigan -based overlanding.
If you're talking to a Michigan... uh, resident
is cool, but like, it's limited. You know, the
stories are limited. I like hearing stories.
I like hearing, you know, all the, all the cool
stuff and all the stuff you had to do to prep
and the gear that you need because you need it.
Um, not just because you want it because it makes
your truck more complete, but, um, a lot of the
times, some of this gear that I think a lot of
us add, I say us as in just overlanders in general,
but like a lot of us add aren't necessary for
our region Whereas in the West you kind of start
needing some of that stuff a little more Yeah,
like for instance propane fire pit in Michigan
You don't need it as much as you would somewhere
by wildfire central areas about a propane slash
self -standing Five minutes, right? So yeah,
it's something like that or Even like Starlink
you might not need it as much here but out in
the middle of absolute nowhere and You know,
Wyoming or Death Valley Death Valley Valley where
you need to get that communication out or you
need to be able to upload or you know, whatever
It just makes more sense to need it out there.
So yeah, just things like that like It's just
cool to talk to people about it and be like,
Hey, you know, what are you using? What do you
really need? Um, there's only so much you can
hear and take in from the people around you.
Um, it starts to all kind of get the same, right?
Like, like, yeah, we all get it. Winch tires.
Yeah. And another thing that's cool to me is
the way that we build Overland trucks here is
drastically different from how they build them
out there. Yeah. Um, you know, here. It's not
common, it happens, but it's not common to see
someone with stuff on the sides of their trucks.
But that's because majority of Michigan trails,
you're bushwhacking. The majority of a Michigan
trail, your truck might be wider than the trail,
both side to side and top to bottom. Whereas
once you get out west, I'm not saying they don't
have it, but it's a lot less than what we're
putting up with. Until you get into the PNW and
stuff, it seems like there's a lot less. the
tighter areas. I mean, yeah, I've seen videos
like Moab and stuff and some of the drops are
like, put your mirrors in type drops, but otherwise,
yeah, it's just really cool. It's cool to see
everyone's setups. And if we're all being frank,
I mean, there's just more people into that thing
West. So, I want to surround myself and the family
and live in that kind of lifestyle. and experience
that with other people that are really cool,
then yeah, I would much rather do that over there.
Just plain and simple, I guess. And terrain.
Terrain's another big one. You get a wider variety
and a larger of each of that variety. I mean,
like Oregon, for example, you can run into straight
desert mountains. I mean, there's just everything.
Yeah. Yeah, see what what was your least favorite
trip of season two? Hmm That's hard because I
have aspects that I didn't like about each one
I haven't had any like really big breakdowns
to make mine. I would say botches No, we did
that the year before right? No, we did it this
one. Yeah, the one where we camped right out
in the middle of that plane That one was as that
was was that to you what point were you that
area with all the lumps? Oh Where you put your
tat on the wrong side of the trail? Well, I wouldn't
say wrong side, but yeah Well, no, because you
put yours where all the bumps were and we put
ours over on the smooth side. I was just using
that for a reference. That's not what it was
one of my... That was the year before. You're
talking about Cadillac. Yeah, that was Cadillac
area. That was hard to remember. I just didn't
like that one as far as like the weather climate
was just kind of like for the other part of it.
But... Yeah, because it was nice and then kind
of rainy. Yeah, kind of crappy. And then what
happened? Mark had some issues. We had to oh,
yeah, see the actual see the actual boot, which
wasn't a that was fun Well, I think I don't like
doing that kind of stuff. So it was like So for
me, it was sucky that mark had to deal with it
You know what I mean? Like I know mark has a
different experience or that like you might like
working on his truck more than me But when I
look back on I'm like and mark must not have
liked that It'll much been much nicer to hang
out with a fire instead of working so late, you
know Kind of thing. I think I will say I think
of all the fixes. It was my reader. It was the
pain They asked for me so far. Yeah Yeah, that
was also leatherwood. Um, you know, I hate to
say it Well, except for the tensioner, I guess
tensioner new one, but on trail repairs Rear
was annoying. I Would say that my least favorite
and I hate to say this was leatherwood yeah,
and The wheeling was great. The rain sucked.
It was so muddy. So they had set up our own little
campground. We're all like 60 or 70 of us had
crammed in and it rained and that just turned
into a giant fucking mudfest. What I heard something
they just cleared it out and seeded it so it
wasn't fully developed Right. Yeah, they just
cleared it like Couple not even a month before.
Yeah, I don't know. I haven't talked to them
much As far as like the owners or I haven't heard
much from them But it sounded like that was one
of the bigger groups that they've had at one
time. It was yeah I needed a large area the issues
around that were more it bothered me because
originally we'd been told that we could just
camp on trail and Kind of be spread out more
and we ended up being clumped together The rain
sucked and we weren't in areas that the rain,
you know, we could would have been out of the
rain a little bit and then I Don't know That
trip would have been a lot more fun with like
the six botches rigs and maybe one other person.
There were just too many fucking people there.
Yeah. I think if I was to go back and think about
it, I'd say the first kids camp we had this year
for no other reason other than... I can't remember
if they're the same, but we'll just go with that
they are. We had the one visitor that was really
bad with their kids. I mentioned in your podcast
before, but it was just horrible. And there's
not much you could do on state land that isn't
breaking a law when it comes to getting people
to leave. So that sucked because that was just
a bad experience. And that was my first really
bad experience with people. So yeah, that sucked.
Otherwise, I want to say it rained torrential
downpour and then yeah, that was that trip and
then after It got like 98 degrees and there was
nothing any of us could do to get away from that
Like it was fucking hot and humid and it was
just all disgusting That was the week where we
had literally just you and me and Derek for Rigs
and coffee that he wasn't it. Yes. Yeah, that
was that week. That was horrible, dude. Just
Excuse me. Just a nasty nasty day So yeah, I
mean as far as and that was more a camp situation
as far as like the people thing that kind of
ironed itself out the first day and that was
before anybody else even showed up really so
Once everyone else showed up. It was fine You
know, they kind of did their own thing. They
kind of knew they screwed up, but although I
think that was probably my least favorite. What
was your most troublesome camp or as far as like
repairs go? Was that Leatherwood for both of
you guys? I don't think he had any major daring
trips. His was all after. Yeah. Um, have I had
any major personal... Oh, well, you technically
had a bit of a shake and we had to tighten up
stuff on the way out from Weatherwood. Right.
Oh, yeah, but that was like... I know. ...a couple
bullets. It's not a brace. I know. I don't think
anybody really had anything bad this year. Oh,
you had, you had our bachelor trip, Alex. Oh,
and I dropped my timer on it. Oh, my god. And
that, okay, the break itself wasn't that big
of a deal. It was just the fact that we hadn't
brought any of the tools to fix it, and we were...
I even asked, do we need this welder? He's like,
nah, we should be good. Well, that's because
we had cut the trailer out of the equation, and
we were running low on space. Yeah. Man, that
sucks. I think... I don't really have anything
that went bad. I would say the worst is that
I thought my alternator was running out on the
Labor Day trip, and it turned out that it wasn't
my alternator, but my battery had been bouncing
up so many times that it wiggled my negative
off the terminal. I mean, that was... I know
that sounds like, oh, that was bad, but we were
panicking at that time because we were in the
middle of nowhere. And well, I guess that was
I guess the first half of this year I was chasing
shakes like crazy. Yeah. Yeah. I think once you
what wasn't it once you put on the the extended
travels when everything's just kind of started
melting away. Yeah. Yeah. When I went to long
travel, not a single problem since. Yeah. But
you were kind of chasing down things left and
right. It was like, uh, shakes here and there.
Um, uh, what was it? Alignment issues, um, tires.
I never really, I never really had alignment
issues. Well, um, I don't know. It felt like
we always, we had to keep aligning, but I think
that's just because we - Well, that's cause I
was - Parts. Yeah. Well, I was constantly taking
the front end apart and trying to figure out
what was wrong with it. Yeah. So. But really,
nothing super serious. I have a feeling my 2026
is gonna be different. Hey, my 2024 was fucking
awful. Yeah, I'm not looking at this. All of
2023, I didn't do anything on the truck. I just
drove it. And then come 2024, it was like, this
is broken, this is broken, this is broken. Yeah,
and the thing is is I don't like wheel hard but
You know, I I also like if the problem isn't
there I also don't address it either like and
once the problem is there I save it for later
because typically when it shows up, it's the
worst time Always mark. Do you remember you remember
when I used to do the whole it ain't broke yet.
I'm not gonna worry about it. Yeah Yeah, it'd
be one thing if I could be like Yeah, I do have
a extra couple hundred dollars to just redo all
the stuff in the front like Like I have the whole
cart saved I've literally There were a couple
of months in 2024 that we literally lived off
ramen noodles because I put all of our money
into the truck. Oh, yeah Yeah, it'd be one thing
on me. The kid just cannot I Don't know. It's
I just don't want to give him a lower quality
of life. Just because I was like any I don't
know stupid But I will I will be cutting back
obviously a little bit just to try and make some
up If I sell this truck Which now has been going
on forever Yeah, I didn't think I'd have this
truck for this long honestly at the price especially
since OBO pretty much means name your price nowadays
on marketplace, so But I planned on buying the
whole pretty much a whole new not front end,
but like might be putting that towards the rear
axle now. Too bad. It's too bad that that isn't
like 88 to 91. The first half of that generation
Chevy. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure it'll be because
it would sell so much faster. With that being
a 97, it's like the least sought after LBS. Oh,
it's a 94. It's still got the refreshed interior
though. Yeah. And it's TBI instead of carbureted.
Yeah. So bop, womp, no big deal. Honestly, with
the issues that I think are fixed on it, it's
probably a vacuum issue. We might just... when
we dropped Sienna's car, she just might drive
that back to work, back and forth. That was an
original plan anyway, until it started giving
us all the shit. So whatever. It is what it is.
I mean, it's not like she has to go far. No,
it was seven minutes to work. So we'll get it
figured out. Otherwise, yeah, we didn't really
have any big issues in 2025. Mark's had probably
the biggest, but they weren't like massive, right?
Like you had your exhaust. You've had your alternator.
I had to rebuild my front end of the early part
of the year, because I tweaked the fuck out of
my knuckle. Yeah, when you hit the tire. I forgot
about that. Fucking tractor tire. Hey, dude,
tires will jump out and bite you. Was it 2025
that I bumped my lower control? No, that was
last season. That was last season. Yeah. Yeah,
I can. So that was the first, uh, third June
weekend. Yeah. Otherwise, I think we did good.
What about comms? Did we make any big comms changes
in 2025? I don't, I don't think so. Comms are
pretty, you know, once you got a system that
works. I think Mark relocated. But I think we
built your comms system this year. No, that was
last year. It was last year that we did the whole
spider configuration Yeah, yeah It's honestly
kind of weird because I feel like I haven't known
these guys for super long but at the same time
like We've now been doing this for this is a
second year if anything, I think we finalized
then the wire being tucked away and stuff, but
yeah, yeah And I know you just got, like, a new
handset or whatever. Yeah, that was last season.
That was last season. That was a season, right?
This summer. No, he had that for botches yearly
last year. Oh, wow. Yeah, so it all kind of matches
together. Yeah. Looking back, it's getting hard.
Yeah. I don't know. No, I did give the turn knob
this year. OK. Think I got it. Oh, I got it before
on poker run ah Because I see in the poker one
video. Yeah, I don't think I got it for the yeah
Yeah, well All right. Well moving on from last
season What? Well, you're right. I think I got
it back in September slay. I was before botches
yearly sheets What? what is your 2026 upgrade
plans new rear axle honestly I don't know we'll
see on that I guess after we do the New Year's
poker run and I check it we'll kind of see how
mad it is but yeah it's definitely something
I'm thinking about otherwise Redo on the whole
rear end like I mentioned before making a bunch
more storage Getting a second battery and then
running all the wiring to that off of Andersen's
and I Have probably not much more. I don't know
if I'm gonna change my tent game up. I guess
that depends on I was really hoping a case you
would get back to us been able to try that out,
but they haven't so I don't know if I'm going
to spend the $400 or $500 when we have a good
tent still. You know what I mean? Right. Like
if we end up needing it, that'd be one thing.
But I just can't pull myself together to do that.
But yeah, probably those would be the main ones.
Little things here and there. Definitely going
to try to fix some of the interior wiring, make
everything a little bit more. I don't know, hidden.
Just make everything smoother, more efficient
and probably maintain the truck a little better
this year. Try to slow down some of this rust
removal, et cetera. My 2026 plans almost completely
are interior. I plan on pulling the whole interior
out, sound deadening everything, doors, firewall,
everything. Running all the rerunning wires because
there's still wires in there from people before
me like it it just needs everything ripped I
mean I plan on pulling the dash off and cleaning
up wiring behind the dash everything And then
I'm gonna get some new seats for the front of
the driver and passenger because mine are Beyond
torn at this point like they're barely fucking
holding on Yeah I might upgrade my radio. I really
want a GME to eliminate some of my issues I've
been having, but... Yeah, GME would be nice.
I would not mind that. I think the radio is kind
of a nice one to change, but for now mine works.
I might get a Starlink or something. I don't
know. It just is so dependent on need. based
off of what we're doing. So if I register, hey,
the second battery is nice, but I need this,
or hey, this diesel heater needs this or this.
It's just one of those things where I upgrade
as I go, just based on need. What about you,
Mark? Sorry, Alex. Camp wise I think I'm pretty
much set at this point. The swag is fucking amazing
I've now got two of them because we got Jackson
one and Then the dog swag and I just camp setup
is pretty bang on at this point. Are you playing
with the hot wheels? How do you know because
the wheels have been squeaking pretty cats Am
so sorry listeners. I definitely been driving
my CJ seven around my desk this high the time.
It's It's a cool one Yeah, I mean, it's cool.
I mean, it's even the top even comes off. I kept
hearing the squeaky and I'm like It's got the
golden eagle. Can't can't do it anymore You know
Daisy Dukes, you know put Yeah, it is Dixie But
well, what about you mark? What are you doing?
Um, I'm gonna start trying to figure out putting
35s on. 35s. I got some other stuff I wanna do,
but I don't know if I'm gonna get to it this
year. It's just a lot to do. One, I want a solid
axle swap. The issue is that's just a lot of
stuff to do and prep to do, so I don't know if
I'm gonna get to it this year or not for that.
Yeah, like I mean, I want to do like control
arms and stuff, you know, switch out that, um,
get a removable sway bar, uh, do those apex sway
bar removals, but just, just delete them. Yeah,
I know. I, I think I, I want to just delete them,
but I also, uh, I think the option to use them
and not use them on, you know, is also really
nice. So We'll see. I don't know. I'm going on
two years like no sway bars So say two years
of no front one year of nowhere. I hear Tinker's
adventures. I think is what it's called He does
a really good video and comparison to the amount
of travel you get for doing just the front just
the rear both And it's really interesting actually.
So If you guys want to check that out, you should
I've watched it. And that also changes depending
on setup. Like with the long travel, one, I can't
run a sway bar. Two, if I did, it would restrict
my travel in the front a lot. Absolutely. And
then in my rear, the way I've got that set up
with the links that I've got, sway bar would
only limit it. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't make sense.
Absolutely. Don't offer the road driving that
I do. It'd just be nice to have Something to
keep me nice and tight up there while I do any
of the major road driving Does anyone know how
many miles they put on their car this year? I
Think I put quite a few on specials last couple
months working closer to town right I Say I bought
mine with 240 ,000 when the odometer quit which
was last season was 267 I bet you that this year
I've put probably 50 to 60 maybe even 70 ,000
miles on that thing holy shit dude I don't even
think I put anywhere near that on that I think
I haven't put 50 to 60 ,000 miles on my car on
the three years that I've had it I mean, you
got to think how long, how often I was doing
trips like out of state, up North. I guess it
didn't feel often to me, but yeah, I guess the
last, uh, you've done probably more in terms
of like how many you've done this year than I
have as long -term trips, but yeah. Yeah. For
trips that were. I was about to say, I think
about with Alex or a little more. Yeah. But you're
definitely more because you're driving all the
way to Holland. I'm sure So I have put Jump I've
probably I've done six trips this year that were
over 3 ,000 miles. Yeah I think I'm Probably
five trips that were over six thousand one trip.
That was like fifty one hundred So you're doing
like Three thousand ish miles one way Yeah, just
about total a lot of its back -and -forth stuff
It's a lot Like even doing like how far it's
not like more than like 1600 miles to get to
Friendsgiving, right? No, no, no, no, that that's
the one that's like total is like just under
five thousand Yeah, cuz a lot of it isn't a lot
of it wasn't just I drove there It was I drove
there drove probably a thousand miles in that
area and then back. Yeah, I I know my is I mean,
I even had one trip to Florida this year You
went to found it back in the truck Was that this
year? I don't think you did. Oh that might have
been that might have been last season What my
mom? Yeah. Yeah, I have like that thing's been
all over man. Yeah. Yeah I think I, I probably
only put 15 to 20 ,000 on mine at the most. Um,
I would probably put it closer to 15, honestly,
cause I feel like last year I was at like 130
ish and this year I just hit like 157. I wish
I had an odometer so I could be realistic here,
but you know, it is what it is. Yeah. I mean,
Haven't put a lot on there and the truck is still
is still low miles for an 07. So mark Mark, I'm
good life. Yeah, okay his eyes look like It looked
like he was like hard -zoned. Yeah Yeah, dude,
I I hopefully I we get some more out -of -state
trips next year Like I said, I'd really like
to I'm not saying I'm tapped out on Michigan
because I'm definitely not I don't think anybody
really can But I'd love to do some long trips.
My two weeks vacation just kills whatever. Like,
only having two weeks is the fucking worst, dude.
Yeah. Yeah, I would love to go out west and maybe
go up to, um, you know, Oregon or something.
Thing is, I have to do it with other people.
Like, I, in good conscience with my experience
level, going out of state across the country,
um, in the middle of nowhere. I have to do with
people that kind of know the area. So that, that
more depends on that, but I want to do some in
Ohio. We were talking about that. I want to do
some Ozarks stuff. I would like to, I'd love
to do for friends giving and, um, and what is
it? Missouri. And it'd be cool. That's Ozarks
Is it Ozarks a little further south than friends
giving but either way it's like right there,
dude It's like within it's like within three
hours. Yeah. Oh, I don't think 30 minutes Is
it three hours all Daniel Boone is right there?
Yeah, Daniel Boone. Daniel Boone's a good time.
Yeah, you're right Cuz no, not doing what's That
they've got a big spot right there. Yeah, okay
This is like Daniel Boone Kentucky byways. It's
called like yeah, you're right. Daniel Boone
is Kentucky. Hold up. Let me get this figured
out Yeah, cuz I'd like to do Daniel Boone. I
think that'd be really cool And I don't think
I'm gonna get to Washington, Oregon area, but
I'd like to get to I Don't know the Dakotas maybe
the Black Hills. That'd be cool Get out there
for a little bit Canada would be cool There's
a lot on Canada's side of the UP. I'd love to
do a trip where we do the Canadian side of the
Superior. Dude, Lake of the Ozarks is like not
even an hour away from Crocker. I just, I didn't
think Ozarks were in Missouri, but I thought
they were in like Arkansas or some shit. Well,
they are also Arkansas. Yeah, it's 30 minutes
to Lake of the Ozarks. Well, either way, that's
even better. Um, still be able to do something
like that. Um, yeah, that's for 2026. I'd like
to be able to get out and do some bigger ones
out as much as I can, obviously, but, um, those
are the big ones I want. What about, uh, it's
Mark. It's Mark Twain national force. Mark's
first name, man. We should remember that. What
about you, Alex? Any big trips that you want
to try and get out this next year? Are you doing
Leatherwood again, or are you going to skip out
on that? I think we're skipping Leatherwood this
year. Are you replacing it with something else?
Possibly an Ozark strip. Was it Ozark that we
were doing? I thought we talked about Land of
the Lakes, too. Oh, yeah, or Land of the Lakes.
I really want to. I really want to do Land Between
the Lakes. Where is that at? Kentucky or Tennessee?
Tennessee. No, it's exactly between the two.
Yeah, I want to do Land Between the Lakes really
bad. Yeah. Oh, I was thinking Land of the Lakes.
Isn't that Wisconsin or Minnesota? Land of a
Thousand Lakes or some shit? All right, no, I
I want to say it's Minnesota. That's the land
of a thousand lakes. No, I said Wisconsin is
uh, oh Did you I thought I I don't know why I
didn't hear that. Okay. Yeah, Minnesota's like
land of a thousand lakes or something like that
That'd be cool. But even though they have less
lakes than we do, but you know, whatever They're
definitely not as cool as us for sure Yeah, I
was thinking about this other Small tangent,
but I love how New York just gets like the major
brunt of like Buffalo of Like the Great Lakes.
Yeah snow effect or like yeah effect. I just
think that's like do areas so I had a I had a
friend that lived right there in Buffalo, and
they get snow, but it's nothing like what they
get in the northern U .P., lake effect -wise.
The stuff they get from Superior is so much worse
than what comes off of Huron. Yeah, but I think
you would, like, expect it, being on the lake,
you know, having the lake around you, but, like,
being a little farther away from Lake Superior
and Michigan, you're like, damn, they just get
hit. It's funny. What about you Mark? Any big
places you want to go this year? I've kind of
already said what Alex said, land in the lakes.
Yeah, yeah. Land between the lakes. Yeah. Land
of the butter. See, a land of lakes butter. And
then obviously we'll have our, we'll start up
Chords and Caff here probably end of January.
Hmm. Oh yeah. Now that we're out of all these
holidays time for that to come back. Yeah, and
then We've got third gen weekend coming up that's
we don't have that scheduled yet No, we don't
We need to get on that. I'm also going to turkey
run with family in April Why does that make sense?
What is what makes them turkey run you being
a turkey farmer and all? Oh, we've been doing
turkey run longer than I've been a turkey farmer,
and I never caught that. That's pretty funny.
Yeah. Well, I mean, it's been a good year. We
haven't had a lot of breakdowns, haven't had
a lot of issues, and we've been a lot of places.
I'm really looking forward to, I think, almost
as much as us going, just the new changes we
make, the new friends we make. There's a lot
of possibility if Alex stops messing with the
CJ. I'm so sorry. There's a lot of possibility
with us growing more and expanding as a podcast
and meeting new people. I'm really excited for
that. We've already had a few things that have
come up that we won't share until it's solid.
It's just fun. It's really cool. The voicemail
segment has been probably my favorite part of
this whole year as far as a podcast go I we've
had some really good interviews. We had some
really good ones last year I'm sure you guys
have had some I know you really like Dan and
I Think just my favorite part is the funny voicemail
thing. I think that was just so so I have on
here I think that's funny because that is a segment
I was so scared to bring up because I thought
that you would be against it. No, no. I thought
it was great. I am so glad that you liked that.
I think that's my favorite because I think the
engagement from listeners is probably the coolest
part. If you're thinking about it logically,
the engagement from listeners is also great for
episodes. But I like hearing from people. I like
hearing from our listeners, and I like hearing
their opinions on things, even if they're wrong,
like trash can turkeys and stuff. It's OK. But
it's cool to hear. It was cool that Benji threw
out our first voicemail that we have. We already
had one here waiting for us. It's about what
we expected, honestly, for. the amount of, you
know, time between voicemails. So it gives us
something cool to add. I think that was a really
good, really good addition. Yeah, thanks, Jimmy,
for pushing me to do that. Yeah, it was a good
idea. What about you guys? As far as like our
2025 podcast side, what was your favorite either
episode, moment? What do you got? Oh, I got to
think back. Yeah. You almost have to look back
on the episodes, because our episodes are meld
even more. Yeah. My all -time favorite episode,
which has almost no downloads, by the way, is
Porn Stars and Jelly Beans, because it was so
funny. Yeah. Yeah, that one's definitely rated
a little higher, so I get it. I get it. We got
to keep it toned down a little bit with that.
But yeah, no. we had a really good year for people,
um, for content. We had a pretty good year for
that. The, uh, the 5K truck challenge. Yeah.
I really enjoyed that. That was so fun. That
was fun. I really liked having, um, an outside
influence on that. Um, I think that just like
helped, um, I don't know, it just like helped
bring it together as like a... as a challenge
between the three of the four of us, three of
us. Tax evasion for dummies was pretty good.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we've had a few good ones.
Let me here. Let me click onto it. I got to look
at some of our episodes here. The most information
packed one that we had this year was the Great
Lakes Four Wheel Drive Association interview.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, those are pretty bad. That's
when you almost need to sit and listen like I'll
listen to it every once in a while just to Remind
myself why things are the way they are. Yeah,
the more flight one. That was great That was
amazing. Yeah Mark we did do your comms upgrade
this season season 2 episode 17 What that's when
you went to a single din radio and we put all
your mounts and stuff in oh I guess you do count
that one. I wasn't counting that and you sure
corn, corn, stars and jelly beans was a season
two episode, season two, episode 14. Yeah. Oh
yeah. You're right. You're right. We did do that.
Singled in. Yeah, that's, um, Oh, I like some
radio. That was technically more nav though than
comms, but comms was part of that. Yeah. Dude,
we should start throwing a radio chatter card
in here and there because I also like those.
Yeah, I'll be honest. I think we kind of just
forgot about them. And yeah, I think we did it
so often, though. I think we were trying to cut
it down. Yeah, we ended up trying to cut them.
Yeah, we ended up trying to cut it down, but
I think we cut it down too much. Radio chatter
was fun. I like doing that. Maybe we throw in
a radio chatter in with some of the voicemail
segment. When we get a voicemail, we'll do a
radio chatter. Oh, hold up. We could do a radio
chatter card that prompts voicemails. That's
a good one, too. Yep. So like, you know, one
week we say, you know, here's the topic this
week, and then callers can call in and answer
the radio chatter. Yep. We had our no rap this
week, sorry, from Alex. Yeah, that's a great
episode. It's like a minute long not even oh
Yeah, yeah, okay. You're right. Yep. I think
half of it is the intro Did I even do the intro?
I don't even know oh Guns crepes updates and
more I like that one The world is cooked. I like
that one as well. That was a good episode Yeah,
dude. We had we had a lot of these But lights
is there anything? Is there anything we want
to do to To the podcast anything we feel needs
to be done Like for me one thing I would like
to get back on a schedule We let it fall out
and it's just it's not fair to listeners. Yeah
I know for me. I want to start getting different
segments some different like content. That's
part of the reason why I got these mics. I wanted
to do fireside chats, as I would like to call
them, something like that, where we could do
campfire chats with people who we're hanging
out with, or do them at like some rigs in, or
like a cords of calf. We'll do a campfire chat
with someone who shows up, talk about the rig,
talk about what made them do it, that kind of
thing. And I talked to Shane about this. Uh,
once F1 season starts up, I want to get Shane
to do, like, every week a 10 -minute, like, just
quick breakdown on the race and his thoughts
on the outcome. Yeah. It would be cool to have
a, um... I still want to do this, a 10 -minute,
like, overland news update. Like, hey, this,
this, and this is going on, and then just keep
it to that and move away. It just... It just
doesn't seem like overland news happened. Like...
It'd be like once a month maybe yeah, and that's
like you know I wanted I wanted to do that whole
show based around this and it just news wasn't
happening fast enough to get shows which is good
and bad, but I'm just talking about like exciting
products Exciting news as far as like legislation
or anything like that Horrible happenings anything
that didn't go well like Um, us losing some of
our favorite, uh, influencers this year, unfortunately.
Um, we, I think we have one podcast member who's
stopping the podcast. We lost a, um, a really,
really, really popular overlanding, um, team.
And it's just, uh, it would be cool to do like
a, uh, just a 10 minute just like that to just
like, Hey, here's what you need to know. This
is what's going on. This is where it's happening.
Hey, have a good day. And just like, and do it
as it comes, as the news comes or as the products
come out. I think it would be cool to hit some
of the expos or hit a expo and do that. I'd like
to hit a expo. I just wish they weren't so goddamn
expensive. They are. That's the thing is like,
I'd love to hit like an Overland Expo and then
make a list of like some of the most exciting
products. Maybe, maybe even do like quick. bring
the mic out, hey, this is, you know, botch is
off road, we're at this expo, hey, tell us about
your product. And then have them tell us about
the product on the podcast. Yeah. And then connect
all together, you know, just cool stuff like
that. The other thing with expos is I'd only
want to do like one a year. Yeah. Because it
would take, doing an expo would take away so
much money that I would lose a trip that year.
And I don't want to lose going out in the woods
to go sit in a field with a bunch of other people.
Yeah, I think if I did the Expo, it would have
to be a trip, a part of a trip. So I'd have to
do like a couple days before it, go to Expo and
then head home, which that would be fine with
me. Because at that point, I did my camping.
Let's go out. Let's talk to a bunch of people
that I've been wanting to meet or wanting to
socialize with for a long time. and move on and
go home, you know, having a quiet time. So, um,
another thing I really like is all of our goofy,
uh, album arts, episode art. Yep. Um, did you,
did you see the one for, uh, the time we did
a recovery when we were supposed to be recording?
I kind of grew a piece through it. I don't even
think I did on that one. It's, it's a car down
in a ditch. With Toe Mater and a third -gen forerunner
pulling it out and a snowman off to the side
saying, oh no Yeah, I think I liked my my new
segment alert the voicemail messages that art
the that one was good. Yeah Wow, Sesame Street,
right? Yeah Yeah, I couldn't remember his name
for a second. That scares me. I Also would like
to get back to doing chapter art Um, we fell
out of it because we were all so busy, but I
think it's an important thing for us to keep
doing. The other thing is, is not only we were
too busy, but a lot of the times our shows aren't
structured enough to make chapter art like, or
I'm sorry, chapters, um, kind of like a necessity.
Like we go back and forth a lot, so. We talk
two minutes about one thing, and then we're back
for a minute on something else, and then five
minutes on something else. So maybe we get more
structure this next year, I think, as we get
better. With podcasting, I think we've done that
naturally. We've stayed on topic better, and
we're better at reminding ourselves that and
not saying things like, um. So the more that
we do it, the better we get. So I appreciate
you guys for sitting through even the hard times.
or the the low times when we're kind of not doing
anything where we're just chit chatting appreciate
you guys for listening it's gonna be an exciting
year we're gonna have more content on all the
platforms I am helping helping push some content
onto botches because you know when we're when
we're wheeling together only so much of us can
you know video and do that we need a camera guy
man you need a camera guy We'll just hire one.
Yeah, once we hit it big we'll hire our own camera
guys Yeah, man, I mean that's an hour It's been
real we'll catch you guys later. I appreciate
you guys. Thanks for a great year. Yeah