Myself and my family will be heading to the overlanding expo in Bend, OR at the end of June so we will be looking for someplace to camp on our way back to Washington afterwards.
During the expo, we will be in Bend proper at an Airbnb and for the three days after we will be camping. We have been looking at recreation.gov and hipcamp.com for different sites but haven't found anything that has jumped out at us yet. Currently the leader is the Fall River campground but we are running into some space limitations.
We will be 6 humans (5 adult and 1 kid) and 5 k9s deep.
We be rolling with a Bronco 2dr with a Kingdom Camping Adventure Pro Mini, a 4dr bronco, a Ram 1500 and a Subaru.
The in-laws and my daughter are staying in the camper, I'm setting up a hammock tent, wife is sleeping in the back of the truck with my dog and the 4dr Bronco and Subaru will be occupied by my BIL/his girlfriend and a family friend respectively.
So we will be rolling with a decent sized group.
My ask is for location recommendations for areas that have trees (for my hammock) and are near fishable water. Preferably parallel to or north of Bend.
Thank you, and hopefully some of you will make it to the expo.

Hello, all.
I am miserable in my work and life state right now and am yearning for a change.
It feels like I'm floundering and there's no end in sight, I know a van won't fix my problems, but it's something I've wanted to do for close to 20 years. Back when I was younger it seemed like more of a novelty but at this point in my life it feels like the only option.
I have been spending more and more of my time combing through used car websites/craigslist/etc. for a good platform to start a build. Ideally, I want to do a box truck, but I understand the work that goes into converting one. That being said I'm okay with a Transit/Pro master build. Just as long as me and my girlfriend can both sleep comfortably.
I'd greatly appreciate some guidance and help with sourcing a platform or advice on what to steer clear of in terms of vehicles. And maybe a ballpark price for what I can expect to spend. I am by no means a rich man. I don't want to spend my life savings and have to take out a bank loan for a 4x4 sprinter.
Please help me work with $50k USD.
TYIA

I’m at a crossroad right now and need some advice. I’m working as a groundman currently and have been stacking as much cash as possible. I’ve now interviewed at three different halls for SWLCAT and am waiting on a call. The question is, do I keep driving my corolla and hotel it (AirBnB, Furnished Finder, Roomies, etc.) during the apprenticeship, or take on the camper and truck payment and have the freedom to go wherever whenever? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

I was recently on the unburyme website and it dawned on me to maybe payoff my truck and or RV to stop paying intrest. I've always been an excessive saver with no real plan. Recently my wife and I started to seriously dive into our finances. We are using the TMOAP budget sheet to track our expenses/income and are really starting to look at the nitty gritty of what we spend.
Yearly I earn $100-150k with $20k-30k tax free stipend. We are full time on the road traveling to different jobsites to work projects, 1-2 months long. Hence the pickup and camper. Typically work 6 to 10 months out of year.
So far this year I've earned $68k take home roughly. I bought my wife the mazda with $10k down in February and have about $4.5k already tied up on a vacation for July. Our typical expenses run about $4.5k a month total. Is it dumb to pay off the truck to pay "myself" the 8.76% interest? This would also lower our expenses by 1k a month. We've been thinking about the coast fire strategy recently too.
I'm 26 years old and my wife is 24. My question is should I withdraw some money from brokerage to pay off atleast my truck. Thanks for all advice!
$52k in Taxable Brokerage 75% VOO 25% cash settlement fund.
$16k Roth Ira Maxed this year. 100% VOO
$15k in Checking, typical move everything over $10k to Brokerage.
$35k Truck @ $866/month 8.76% 3500 Diesel essential for work. Older Low mileage. 5 year loan
$15k rv @ $300/month 7.7% 10 year loan.
$16.9k mazda for wife@ $522/month 3.99% 3 year.

I was recently on the unburyme website and it dawned on me to maybe payoff my truck and or RV to stop paying intrest. I've always been an excessive saver with no real plan. Recently my wife and I started to seriously dive into our finances. We are using the TMOAP budget sheet to track our expenses/income and are really starting to look at the nitty gritty of what we spend.
Yearly I earn $100-150k with $20k-30k tax free stipend. We are full time on the road traveling to different jobsites to work projects, 1-2 months long. Hence the pickup and camper. Typically work 6 to 10 months put of year.
So far this year I've earned $68k take home roughly. I bought my wife the mazda with $10k down in February and have about $4.5k already tied up on a vacation for July. Our typical expenses run about $4.5k a month total. Is it dumb to pay off the truck to pay "myself" the 8.76% interest? This would also lower our expenses by 1k a month. We've been thinking about the coast fire strategy recently too.
I'm 26 years old and my wife is 24. Thanks for all advice!
$52k in Taxable Brokerage 75% VOO 25% cash settlement fund.
$16k Roth Ira Maxed this year. 100% VOO
$15k in Checking, typical move everything over $10k to Brokerage.
$35k Truck @ $866/month 8.76% 3500 Diesel essential for work. Older Low mileage. 5 year loan
$15k rv @ $300/month 7.7% 10 year loan.
$16.9k mazda for wife@ $522/month 3.99% 3 year.

On one hand I love the two door Jeep Wranglers. I've seen great setup's with a rooftop tent. Being small, nimble, and light on gear all seem attractive.
On the other hand I'm leaning towards a full size pickup with a pop up camper shell. Specifically a used F250 with a 4 Wheel project M topper. The massive storage, unlimited payload, and large living space is attractive as well.
These are obviously two very different philosophies and set up's. Do you prefer the larger or smaller builds frames? What are the pros/ cons to both?
Edit: $$$ - obviously the truck/ toppper costs more. This would be partially offset by getting a new Jeep and higher quality suspension/ mods... but still will be more. Is it worth the added expense to go bigger?

Gold Rush rewatch thoughts, observations, and questions. I currently have finished rewatching the first two seasons.
I’m a long time lurker but this is my first post. So let me apologize in advance for any formatting issues or any other posting errors. This is going to be long.
Dorsey: He seemed like a fish out of water. Which is apparently exactly what he was, a man with no manual labor experience. He made mistakes, no doubt about it. Yet he also seems like the whipping boy, everything was his fault.
I mean Dorsey says something about a kid leaving food out. The result: Todd jumps him. Let’s all forget about the bear that was just in camp because of that food.
They also should have given him more time to figure out the gold table. It’s new tech to all of them but Jack wants to blow it up from the start. I’m guessing Jack hated it because if Dorsey was doing the clean up Jack wouldn’t be able to skim gold off the top.
And now a question. If they were all such great friends why was Dorsey forced to live in a tent or in the back of a truck? I mean give the man a space on the floor of a campeRV.
Harness: I’m going to say this at the beginning. Harness’s little honeymoon in season 2 shouldn’t have happened. That being said he’s the man busting his ass in both seasons to get Todd’s trash equipment running.
S1, Harness is doing massive amounts of welding and rebuilding alone in extreme pain while out of his pain meds. Of course I doubt it happened that way. I’ve been clean for four years after becoming addicted following my own back issues. I know what withdrawal is like, there’s no way Harness did that work as he was suffering withdrawal.
In S2 Jack announces he’s a morphine addict himself. Which leads me to believe he was sharing with Harness on the down low. What wouldn’t Jack do for his gold hunger. He shares and Harness fixes the wash plant. After all, no guts no glory.
S2, Harness is the whipping boy. He’s blamed by everybody for not reaching the 100oz goal. It’s all his fault. He only fixed little blue. The wash plant that Todd didn’t even have until weeks into the season. They didn’t have a claim for weeks & didn’t start mining until half way through the season yet it’s Harness’s fault the goal was missed.
Okay Harness and the other’s did trash the gold room. Yet I can’t help but think Thurber was so pissed about all the others wanting to help with the final cleanup was because it meant he and Jack couldn’t skim off the top.
Fred: Okay he’s not a people person. But he was the man with the experience and the man sent in by the claim owner. The whole crew should have shut up, swallowed their pride, and followed Fred’s suggestions. Maybe then their S1 gold take wouldn’t have been so embarrassing.
Fred did nothing wrong taking the porcupine creek claim. He is NOT a claim jumper. Should the original owner Earl have been happy with his royalties on 14.64 ounces of gold? Was it Fred’s fault Todd didn’t make his lease payment during the off season thus losing the claim? Todd didn’t uphold his end of the claim contract and so Earl was legally able to sell.
I’m starting to see a pattern, a Hoffman screwed up but blames someone else. Anybody else seeing the same pattern?
Parker’s Mom: Yes she could have followed through with her threat to shut Parker down in S2. But it would have been incredibly stupid. She knew it and we the audience knew it. She was never going to follow through. Destroy her 17 year old son’s dream and destroy their relationship. Perhaps forever. When Parker turned 18 he would have disappeared to mine, likely going no contact. At least I believe his desire to mine was that strong.
This has gotten away from me, so I’m going to end it. For now, maybe.

I have a ‘23 TRD Pro and tried to have a camper shell installed last week. When the shop went to install it, they tripped something in the Hybrid System which kept the truck from starting. After a week at the dealer, the topper is still on but not working because the dealer refused to hook it up being as it was 3rd party. Now the original installer doesn’t have the confidence to try and hook it up again. I’m curious if anyone here has installed a camper shell on their 3rd gen hybrid and if so, how did your install go? Would you be willing to share your installer information with me so I can have my shop reach out to them?

I currently drive a 2022 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X, which I love. I am starting a business though, and for the next few years I need to squeeze my budget where ever possible. This truck will be for recreational use only, and will need to be 4x4 and have the ability to tow a 1500 lb teardrop camper.
I have roughly 12-15k to spend. The three options I am finding most in the PNW are-
2010ish Colorado/Canyon with the 3.7l inline 5cyl. 70-90k miles.
2010-2015 Ram 1500 Tradesman with the 3.6l V6 or 4.7l V8. 50-100k miles.
2008-2010 Dodge Dakota with the 3.7l V6. 50-90k miles.
I know of none of these pickups are top of line, but they seem to be what is in my budget.
Does anyone have any advice on which of these models will be the most reliable? Or maybe a suggestion on an additional make/model to look for?

https://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/d/san-antonio-2011-toyota-prius/7746602296.html
https://austin.craigslist.org/cto/d/cedar-park-2008-prius/7745978788.html
Hi all, hope it's okay to share links. Looking to buy a second car (truck owner). Would like some feedback on these options and tips for buying privately. Thanks

I female age 15 was living in a camper in Rhode Island with my mom age 31 and my dad age 33 along with 2 siblings my mom got into a car crash. Which gave her a concussion so I had to take care of my family and was like a house wife every time I got off from school. My dad didn't help unless it involved my siblings with his game console or with nothing other than steal my mom's stuff to go through it to make sure she didn't catch him cheating on her. Which she did but I hid it all which he had a suspicion of, but my mom was acting like a child at the time.
I wasn't focused on the remarks my dad would make. Whenever i was In shorts he would talk about how my butt looked like mom's but bigger, and how I was better than her. While my mom was getting better my was about to be 15, but something I did notice. While my dad made dirty remarks he was reading a online book, and I caught him multiple times. In my parents bedroom alone rocking his stick, and why I mentioned this. Is because that book he was reading was my whole bathroom situation, but with Mafia people in his book. While this was going on my mom was mostly recovered by the week before my birthday.
But my dad gas lighted her that I did nothing while he did everything, and my mom believed him. For 2 days before he tattled on himself about looking through her phone, and finding some evidence of him cheating. Which made them fight and argue which they were doing before the crash. During the week before my birthday I got a road rash which will be a scar. Forever a reminder of how my dad was able to look at me in the camper. The shower doors were made of glass and if the temperature was lukewarm then you could see everything on the other side. I turned 15 on the day of my road rash I got into the shower around 8:00 p.m. while washing my wound my father went in there and didn't say a word. Just started brushing his teeth and looking towards the mirror which at the time was not looking my way.
I was okay with it at first cuz I thought it would just be for that day, but the next 3 weeks. It went to a transition of him looking at the mirror then to him leaving the bathroom door open lean on the wall towards the shower staring. Playing toxic masculinity podcast of how young women should do what men tell them. I wasn't on social media a lot so I didn't know what "alpha" male ment, but women would refer them as that or they would refer them selfs as that. But then to every couple of days during those three weeks was like him pushing boundary after boundary to the point where I can't handle it. Cuz he tried to touch the doorknob to open the glass doors.
I told him that I wasn't comfortable two times along with my younger siblings telling him to get out because they saw him in there because the door was open. Which he told them that it was okay, that he was my dad, and if anybody deserve to be in there it was him. During the third day of the first week of this happening I wanted to prove to myself that my father wasn't like his stepfather. Which was a S A @bus€r of mine when I was 4 through 6. Because I thought it was because of my schedule of me getting in the shower late, so I changed my schedule throughout the last 2 weeks. During the time of him pushing boundaries I would change the times where it would inconvenience my mother . During her naps or whatever she needed to do to get better cuz she had appointments, or she would be like dead asleep. She would need me to watch my siblings, but I was busy in the shower.
They were messing with her while she had a headache, and my father was complaining about the hot water for dishes and other women chores. I need or my mother needed to complete, but the part that makes it the most messed up is that when it was 20 minutes of me being still in the shower. He would walk out and I would hurry up and get out and he would go back to his game console, smoke a cigarette, and not go to bed for a couple of hours. On the last day of the third week my mom asked me about it cuz she was finally starting to be aware of everything. I told her to wait and I would get in the shower as soon as I got home. He will be in there, and she didn't believe me.
But once I got home, and got in there he was in there with the door open. My mom grabbed him by his shoulder, and ripped him out and yelled at him and told him if he ever did that again that she would go get her shotgun. Cuz now she's more aware than she has ever been after the crash. His excuses that I was taking a shower late, then maybe I should be taking showers so late, then maybe I should be using all the hot water, and that I'm his daughter he changed my diapers so if he wants to be in there he can be in there. if i want the door open for some air he can have it open cuz he also pays the bills and owns everything and that I should be grateful. Which made my mom come up with a plan to start secretly moving after that day. I called my aunt and my uncle who did not believe me and thought there was a better explanation, but they did see my point of view but still thought I was being dramatic.
They question my father and he lied and said it was for 3 days more arguments started, and one day when I had a school day off. My dad as soon as he found out stayed home while my mom had to be at a appointment. She thought he already left but instead he went to chilled some where, and came back to have a conversation with me. Told me that I was delusional, and that if I was uncomfortable I should have told him. When I told him I did and that he didn't say a word he said that he must have not heard me. Once I told him that I said it loud and clear, and that all he did was sigh. Along with looked like he was about to cry and was mad. He said that I'm just like my mother, and that we deserve each other. Then went on to if he had to have boundaries with me, then I have to have boundaries with my mother and we can't get changed in front of each other.
Because we are both bisexual, and then proceeded to tell me that I don't know what's going on. Then told me that I should be ashamed because I don't know how it feels to feel like a predator in your own home. Which left me speechless because I know what it's like to have predators around you every corner, and he knows this and when I told him that. He told me to grow up, and that my hormones should be kicking in. I should have already forgotten about his stepfather already. My mom came home and my dad said he wanted a divorce which my mom says working on it. Then took me for a drive, I told her all about it, and then a couple of days later.
I woke up to my mom crying and naked because my mom had sex with my dad. When he was done and he got her done he kicked her out of the room. When she was wondering why he said she was more convenient then to go get a stranger and do it in the back of a truck. My mom told me to go back to bed and I did at the time not fully knowing what was going on till that day. That my mom going back on her word thinking she needed him. Telling me not to break up the family, and that if he agrees the counseling we're staying even if I said no and don't like it. Which he didn't of course, and also I told her that I would kill her and him and that I have thought about it. Was in their room multiple times with a weapon think about killing them both because of the things they do. Which made my mom understand that she needed to grow up and leave him now. Which is sad for me to say, but we finished up packing. We got a U-Haul and before we left my mom thought it would be fair to him if my siblings had a board game night with him.
Which later I left cuz I couldn't handle that my siblings get a perfect dad. While I always got a cursing, child beating, lying, and disciplining me for no reason father. Couldn't handle that my mom didn't leave them for a military, hasn't killed my father, or believe me on many occasions. Or didn't do anything because of him, and because of her always needing him. He went to go find me a hour later and talked with me said the same things as the other conversation. When I brought up multiple predators in my life and how he did nothing. For example, I had a high school boy threatened to r@p€ me in the third grade, and him and his friends chase me around and has kissed me and touched me multiple times for 2 years. He said that he couldn't because that high school boy was a friends son, but told him to stop but this friend was a mistress of his.
Which later to find out that it would have been 4 years of harassment if my mother didn't threaten to burn his house. Which again shows that my father is a liar and my mother even proved it to me by showing me pictures of text between the high school boy, his mother, and her. At the end of the conversation a dark side of me popped out, and just went to try to go grab the nearest gun to shoot him. cuz my father did was lie, gaslighted, manipulated, and acted like a brick wall. He thought we had a great dad and talk even though I was still crying. I guess he thought I was like my mom and I would given up. My mom stopped me and told me that I shouldn't go to jail, and that we are moving tomorrow.
She will make sure of it no more delays, no more of letting me down we move to Texas where we're originally from. While living with a relative my little siblings could talk to our father, which slowly broke the relationship. Because he would always try to bring up me, and how he wanted to talk to me. He couldn't stand not talking to me, and that he stopped paying child support until I talk to him. In between breaking the relationship with my siblings slowly they started seeing the dad that I saw. During staying here with my relative my mom got some console, and help but at the time my dad was paying for child support. But there wasn't enough to get me help which my family thinks I desperately need.
But when child support stopped her console stopped cuz she can't afford it. Then drama started happening with the relative we were with, and we've been moving ever since. But now my mom is on the road making a lot of money to make up for no child support. Until the child support office is gets their affairs in order because my dad gave them 27 different addresses. We are living with relative to relative that will take us in, and watch us. But my mom will be coming back soon to get a rent house, so that we can finally settle down. After a whole year of dealing with all this without him. I'll be 16, and I don't know how to feel cuz it marks the anniversary of a scar physical, emotional, and mental at my worst. But it is the same day as my celebration of birth. Which I sometimes wish never happened.

Hi everyone! Just starting with travel trailers with my wife and two young kids.
Looking to buy a 2019 Apex Nano 185BH and a 2022 Highlander to pull it.
I find so much conflicting information on what I can safely tow.
Anyone with real-world experience towing with a Highlander?
Specs for the trailer are:
Length (ft-in / m) 20' 6'' / 6.2 Base Weight (lbs / kg) 2850 / 1292.8 Carrying Capacity (lbs / kg) 950 / 430.9 Hitch Weight (lbs / kg) 350 / 158.8
Specs for the Highlander are: Tow capacity - 5000 lbs Payload - 1685
Wife, kids, and I weigh a combined 347 lbs.
Seems that leaves us with about 1300 lbs of cargo, which seems like a lot but I am not really sure what stuff weighs.
Any thoughts? We'd like to avoid a truck or bigger SUV because, other than pulling the trailer, we don't have much use for a bigger vehicle.
EDIT: Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. What an awesome community here. it seems pretty clear that I really should get a truck.

Currently I live in a 1986 Toyota Pickup I picked up last summer with a Belair camper shell on the back I built out with plenty of storage. 4 cylinder, manual, 4x4. I love the truck to death, but it's got some things I want to change (delete 3" lift, smaller tires, some oil leaks, add AC) and I'm realizing it would probably be cheaper to just sell the truck and find something that fits my needs rather than doing a ton of work to end up with a truck that has less than 100 horsepower. Struggling to hit 60mph uphill with no AC is hard for cross country travel.
I'm looking for a small truck that's dead simple and could survive being dropped off a bridge. I've been considering mid 90s-mid 2000s Rangers, Nissan Pickups, and Toyotas. A Tacoma would be sick, but it seems like they cost an arm and a leg. Rangers seem much more affordable and seemingly pretty reliable.
My Needs: - AC - 4x4 or AWD - Decent gas mileage (>16mpg) - Payload of >1200lb - Manual would be great - Simple to work on and maintain

Rain set a silent drum beat as Walker decided to start his day. Worn wounds and old scars always tended to throb when the humidity spiked. Even the wounds that the Golden Fleece had healed long ago still had a dull throb to them. The godly magic couldn't undo the mental damage; not much could undo the feeling that he *had* been broken before. The majority of his body was still asleep but he had forced himself out of bed.
He didn't have the solace of his old counselors room to keep him company anymore. That pretty much meant that he lived outside of his duffel bag or the truck that he had maintained parked ever so slightly outside of the Camp's grounds. Luckily, his powers meant that he never truly had to worry about nature taking it's toll on the things around him. He could never truly prevent the passage of time but it was fun to pretend sometimes.
So he started up the busted pickup truck and made his way into New York City. It was nice to get out into the city sometimes. Or at least, it would have been for most campers. Walker had always hated the feeling of traffic and the suffocation that driving in the big city brought. There was no freedom when it came to living in the city. Not in NYC at least, but he could make his way around New Argos.
He had arranged the pick up of a marble slab about a week ago though he had to convince someone that he was an 'avant garde artist' to buy a slab he thought might be big enough. It was one of the few times that he had thrown a cost on his father's card. He knew his old man would hardly notice the money missing and besides, he didn't feel like trying to convert drachma to human currency. The exchanges in New York always ripped you off.
With the help of some employees he loaded up the back of his truck with the slab made his way back to the outskirts of Long Island. It was an uneventful trip but it was one that was necessary nonetheless. There were a few bumps in the road that he had to worry about and the traction on his tires weren't always good but still he made it home.
Walker was actually the first person who would carve a name into the slab. It was a slow and arduous process. He had to be extra careful given what he was actually carving and though his mother had granted him some abilities, the ability to carve stone wasn't one of them. Rain left a wet trail along the marble slab as Walker carefully chiseled the name “Thea Henderson”.
The cowboy left it wordlessly in front of the Big House.
He cried himself to sleep that night.

Finishing the cab next weekend. Please to enjoy.

I'm moving out tomorrow (May 15th) and I have a friend helping me, but they have a time constraint. If there's someone else who wouldn't mind helping me move some boxes and furniture with their car to Life Storage and then Apex please DM me! This would be around 11:30 - 12pm after my friend has to dip.
THIS IS JUST IN CASE WE DONT HAVE EVERYTHING MOVED BY 12PM ! I also don't mind paying you for your time. I will provide the specifics once you reach out. Thanks!
UPDATE: I got some stuff moved, but I underestimated how long it would take. I need to rent a 10' truck to get all of my stuff to the storage unit in one trip but I can't drive it (non-driver license). If you're comfortable driving a truck and wanna help let me know! This is for May 17th and I'd rather pay a fellow student than a moving company :)