Hi. My name is Nate, and I live in Northeastern Mississippi with my wife (Joy) and three kids (Abigail, William, and Isaac). We like camping, specifically overlanding.
When I was a teen, I purchased a 97’ Jeep Cherokee XJ, and started off-roading both for it’s own sake as well as to get to all the places I wanted to go for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, etc. Since that time, over the last 20 years I’ve owned quite a few rigs, and have gained a reasonable amount of experience with SUV and truck platforms and their various aftermarkets. Here’s the list:
-’97 XJ’s (2in budget boost with 30’s)
-’99 XJ with 4.5 inch lift 32 in tires, winch, bumper, skids, etc.,
-’08 4Runner V8 (two inch/33’s) Got me through college and graduate school! Sold it to a guy who then got it rear ended and rolled and totaled two months later.
-’16 Tacoma OR (stock suspension with 33’s),
-’18 Jeep JLUR with a 3 inch icon lift on 37’s, lots of dodads, explored New England and upstate NY with it.
And finally, a few years ago I purchased a 2020 Tacoma TRD Pro as the base for one of my family builds. My kids are out of diapers, and ready to explore, and so the last year has been one of adding quite a few components that make the Tacoma both more capable and more able to support travel with the kids.
Here’s a list of modifications:
Inside:
-Molle panels center console and both front doors -Hondo's unholey ac vent mount iphone holder -cover king seat covers in kryptek black camo
Outside:
-sos concept sliders
-cbi bed bars
-smittybilt RTT
-DECKED bed system
-cbi hidden winch mount
-smittybilt X2O 10k LB winch
-westcott preload 2 inch lift front
-Icon RXT rear leaf springs, full set (level 3)
-Matte black vinyl hood wrap (looks good, but primarily due to a glare)
-hood struts
-ARB twin air compressor with Slee Off Road passenger engine compartment mount
April 2022 arrived with clear skies and good weather. My family and I have lived here for about 18 months, and have scoured the surrounding area for good overlanding campsites. There are plenty of formal “glamping” camp grounds, with RV hookups and such, but our favorite local site is the Bruton Branch primitive campground on Pickwick Lake. There is a bath house at one end with some running water and toilets, but no other facilities, which keeps most of the noisy crowds away, especially during the off season. By Friday afternoon in early April, we packed up the truck with all the goodies (fishing rods included!) and loaded ourselves up for a quick drive to Pickwick lake.
In preparation for a Montana trip that will involve water travel in May, William and I decided to do a 7 mile kayak trip while Joy and the other two kiddos set up camp. He started out with half a paddle, and spent plenty of time casting his rod, and eventually did quite well with a dual blade, while I worked up a sweat paddling to our campsite over the next 2-3 hours.
We stopped at an island on the way to stretch a bit, where William found some old, snagged fishing lures and of course, tossed in a few rocks.
We arrived just before sunset to an open Smittybilt tent and a happy Joy, Abigail, and Isaac.
A quickly made fire provided the coals needed for cooking some bratwurst and later snuggles by the fireside with Isaac as the evening wore on.
The camp sites are all right on the shoreline of the lake, with a view both upriver into the distance and a nice view of the dam and lock. My kids wore themselves out swimming, throwing rocks into the lake, fishing, exploring all the nooks and crannies and critters. “Daddy, daddy! Look what I found!”
I suppose we could all fit in the Smittybilt roof top tent, but it would be tight. William and I again buddied up and pitched a ground tarp, laid out our pads and sleeping bags, and slept with an eye on the stars and the flickering light from the slowly dimming campfire.
As is customary for our family, I was the first to awaken, and was greeted by the call of a loon immediately off the shore in front of us. The gray dawn was just beginning, and a thin mist graced his black and white speckles. Not one for posing, and eager for his breakfast, the loon dove and continued his hunt for food, while the morning mist quickly gave way to a warm sunrise. The rekindled campfire drew everyone slowly out of their comfy sleeping bags, and I heated up some purified lake water for instant oatmeal prep. Joy brought out a breakfast surprise to the delight of us all, and we carefully balanced her home made banana-walnut bread on a forked stick to get the slices all toasty and warm.
William spent most of the morning casting unsuccessfully for small mouth bass, though he honed his casting technique and avoided the tangling of yesterday. Abigail snuggled back in her sleeping bag and read a book while watching the birds on the lake. Isaac “played dig” nearly the whole morning.
Joy and I then cozied up to the fire for a few hours of reading, chatting, and resting, enjoying the warmth of the fire, the sound of our kids playing, and the loons and herons and geese making their various cries, burps, and honks. It was a short, but very sweet trip—a harbinger of the “big one” that is just around the corner.
When I was a teen, I purchased a 97’ Jeep Cherokee XJ, and started off-roading both for it’s own sake as well as to get to all the places I wanted to go for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, etc. Since that time, over the last 20 years I’ve owned quite a few rigs, and have gained a reasonable amount of experience with SUV and truck platforms and their various aftermarkets. Here’s the list:
-’97 XJ’s (2in budget boost with 30’s)
-’99 XJ with 4.5 inch lift 32 in tires, winch, bumper, skids, etc.,
-’08 4Runner V8 (two inch/33’s) Got me through college and graduate school! Sold it to a guy who then got it rear ended and rolled and totaled two months later.
-’16 Tacoma OR (stock suspension with 33’s),
-’18 Jeep JLUR with a 3 inch icon lift on 37’s, lots of dodads, explored New England and upstate NY with it.
And finally, a few years ago I purchased a 2020 Tacoma TRD Pro as the base for one of my family builds. My kids are out of diapers, and ready to explore, and so the last year has been one of adding quite a few components that make the Tacoma both more capable and more able to support travel with the kids.
Here’s a list of modifications:
Inside:
-Molle panels center console and both front doors -Hondo's unholey ac vent mount iphone holder -cover king seat covers in kryptek black camo
Outside:
-sos concept sliders
-cbi bed bars
-smittybilt RTT
-DECKED bed system
-cbi hidden winch mount
-smittybilt X2O 10k LB winch
-westcott preload 2 inch lift front
-Icon RXT rear leaf springs, full set (level 3)
-Matte black vinyl hood wrap (looks good, but primarily due to a glare)
-hood struts
-ARB twin air compressor with Slee Off Road passenger engine compartment mount
April 2022 arrived with clear skies and good weather. My family and I have lived here for about 18 months, and have scoured the surrounding area for good overlanding campsites. There are plenty of formal “glamping” camp grounds, with RV hookups and such, but our favorite local site is the Bruton Branch primitive campground on Pickwick Lake. There is a bath house at one end with some running water and toilets, but no other facilities, which keeps most of the noisy crowds away, especially during the off season. By Friday afternoon in early April, we packed up the truck with all the goodies (fishing rods included!) and loaded ourselves up for a quick drive to Pickwick lake.
In preparation for a Montana trip that will involve water travel in May, William and I decided to do a 7 mile kayak trip while Joy and the other two kiddos set up camp. He started out with half a paddle, and spent plenty of time casting his rod, and eventually did quite well with a dual blade, while I worked up a sweat paddling to our campsite over the next 2-3 hours.
We arrived just before sunset to an open Smittybilt tent and a happy Joy, Abigail, and Isaac.
A quickly made fire provided the coals needed for cooking some bratwurst and later snuggles by the fireside with Isaac as the evening wore on.
The camp sites are all right on the shoreline of the lake, with a view both upriver into the distance and a nice view of the dam and lock. My kids wore themselves out swimming, throwing rocks into the lake, fishing, exploring all the nooks and crannies and critters. “Daddy, daddy! Look what I found!”
I suppose we could all fit in the Smittybilt roof top tent, but it would be tight. William and I again buddied up and pitched a ground tarp, laid out our pads and sleeping bags, and slept with an eye on the stars and the flickering light from the slowly dimming campfire.
As is customary for our family, I was the first to awaken, and was greeted by the call of a loon immediately off the shore in front of us. The gray dawn was just beginning, and a thin mist graced his black and white speckles. Not one for posing, and eager for his breakfast, the loon dove and continued his hunt for food, while the morning mist quickly gave way to a warm sunrise. The rekindled campfire drew everyone slowly out of their comfy sleeping bags, and I heated up some purified lake water for instant oatmeal prep. Joy brought out a breakfast surprise to the delight of us all, and we carefully balanced her home made banana-walnut bread on a forked stick to get the slices all toasty and warm.
William spent most of the morning casting unsuccessfully for small mouth bass, though he honed his casting technique and avoided the tangling of yesterday. Abigail snuggled back in her sleeping bag and read a book while watching the birds on the lake. Isaac “played dig” nearly the whole morning.
Joy and I then cozied up to the fire for a few hours of reading, chatting, and resting, enjoying the warmth of the fire, the sound of our kids playing, and the loons and herons and geese making their various cries, burps, and honks. It was a short, but very sweet trip—a harbinger of the “big one” that is just around the corner.
