WE ARE the necks
We are David and Cindy Neck. We are Georgia transplants and Louisiana natives. With a Business Degree from LSU
and a passion and talent for photography and videography, David creates custom websites as well as documenting
our travels throughout the US. After graduating from LSU with a degree in Education and retiring from teaching, Cindy's passion is geology, hiking, and travel. So we find ourselves on the trail to an exciting new chapter in our lives, one that fulfills our passion of travel, exploration, adventure and discovery. We want to experience the US and all it has to offer in your Neck of the Woods. Come on, let's EXPLORE NOW! Follow Us on our YouTube Channel and Facebook
and a passion and talent for photography and videography, David creates custom websites as well as documenting
our travels throughout the US. After graduating from LSU with a degree in Education and retiring from teaching, Cindy's passion is geology, hiking, and travel. So we find ourselves on the trail to an exciting new chapter in our lives, one that fulfills our passion of travel, exploration, adventure and discovery. We want to experience the US and all it has to offer in your Neck of the Woods. Come on, let's EXPLORE NOW! Follow Us on our YouTube Channel and Facebook
How did we get started
We started our adventures as many do by camping in a tent. Over time we accumulated items we needed to camp and cook as we traveled across the country. Tents provide a nice shelter and finding places to camp are easy and usually convenient. We learned a lot about being self reliant because you depend on the equipment you can carry in your vehicle. Below are some of our campsites a few years ago on our travels up the east coast.
Our passion for travel and exploring continued with us flying to Seattle a couple times and renting a small SUV to travel on different routes as we made our way to Las Vegas for our trip home. We did stay in hotels for these adventures, but we tried to explore many off road and back road routes to see more of our beautiful country. The only equipment we needed was a nice ice chest which we purchased after getting our rental and gave it away on our last night.
Now, a few years later and ready to do more off road exploring, we started to follow people on YouTube that were doing a new type of camping called Overlanding. It requires a vehicle and any type of shelter and you become self-reliant only on what you carry with you. A couple of the people we follow are Jason (Primal Outdoors}, Kevin and family (Lifestyle Overland), Michael (Overland Bound) and Chris (Venture4WD). The concept was interesting to us because we like being out in the wilderness and it offers more opportunity to do what we like, Exploring. Michael, host of Overland Bound always says use what you have and just get started. So, we decided a roof top tent was what we wanted as our shelter and our Armada was the vehicle we had to start the adventure.
Now, a few years later and ready to do more off road exploring, we started to follow people on YouTube that were doing a new type of camping called Overlanding. It requires a vehicle and any type of shelter and you become self-reliant only on what you carry with you. A couple of the people we follow are Jason (Primal Outdoors}, Kevin and family (Lifestyle Overland), Michael (Overland Bound) and Chris (Venture4WD). The concept was interesting to us because we like being out in the wilderness and it offers more opportunity to do what we like, Exploring. Michael, host of Overland Bound always says use what you have and just get started. So, we decided a roof top tent was what we wanted as our shelter and our Armada was the vehicle we had to start the adventure.
HOME BASE exploring unit
UPDATE: We sold our 2019 Surveyor travel trailer and are planning more trips in just our truck and RTT. With the gas prices as high as they are and the pandemic changing the way campgrounds take reservations, we couldn't justify continuing in the 30' trailer. Our trips with just the RTT are much more enjoyable and easy going. We did enjoy our time in the trailer and it was part of the plan all along. As with most eXplorers, we are adapting to our style of travel and fine tuning our experiences as we go.
tow vehicle and off road
We purchased the travel trailer with plans of traveling around the country and living on the road. We sold our house and purchased a new tow vehicle to pull our new home on wheels. Our plan is to travel in our new Surveyor and use it as a home base or headquarters from which we could take our new Ford F150 FX4 out and Explore. Again, we are taking it a step at the time and updating our equipment as we go. Our first trip was to Colorado with just the truck and trailer. Images of the Exploring we did while there in September 2019 are here.
Our First UPDATE TO OUR TRUCK
The first thing most Overlanding experts will tell you to do is upgrade your tires. Our truck has fairly good all terrain tires made by Goodyear. I plan to put Cooper AT3 XLT tires on it soon, but the first thing we needed was a truck bed rack to mount our RTT. I decided I wanted to keep my profile low for better gas milage and I purchased the RCI 12" rack to hold my RTT. It is very strong and has a clean look with options to mount other equipment as we see a need. Now we are getting ready to get out with the Surveyor headquarters trailer and take the adventurous path that may reqire us to be self-reliant in our tent and vehicle. Come on, let's Explore NOW!
Come on, let's explore nowSee our travels in each state under the Explore Page (click the button)
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Driving off-road requires good tires
and Improved suspension
TIRE AND SUSPENSION UPGRADE
Everyone recommends good tires as the first upgrade but we chose to go with a bed rack first so we could install our Roof Top Tent on our truck. The Goodyear AT tires that came on the truck are tires I used on my previous trucks and I knew they would hold up OK till we could upgrade. Now that we are stuck in place due to COVID we decided to install our 2" suspension lift and add better tires. I decided on the FOX 2" Coil Over, but couldn't find them in stock anywhere, so I paid a little more for the Roush Fox 2" Coil Over package. The reviews are really good and this would help off road and hauling our trailer. The tires are Cooper AT3 XLT 275/70R/18 and again the reviews were great for a quiet ride and performance.
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The Roush Fox 2" suspension lift added about 2.5" on the front and about 1" on the rear. The old Goodyear tires were 32.10" height and 11.1" wide, and the new Cooper tires are 33.3" height and 11.1" wide. There is plenty of room for the new tire and probably could have used the 285/75R/18 that was 34.8" in height but 11.5" wide. I think 1" of the additional height came from the tire and the Fox lift accounted for 1.5" of the gain.
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The night we collided with a Black Angus CowWe were on the final leg of our time in Utah and the Canyonlands area. We Explored the Natural Bridges Monuments and wanted to see Lake Powell. The drive to Lake Powell is one way in and out. The picture on the right was the last picture I took before we collided with a full grown Black Angus cow standing broadside in our lane. The impact completely destroyed our favorite travel vehicle E2. We weren't hurt other than a burn on my arm caused by the airbag on the steering wheel.
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E3 Our new truck and Tow vehicle
We decided to go back with the same truck we had before the accident, a 2020 Ford F150 FX4. This truck pulls our travel trailer and gives us a great vehicle for exploring off-grid.
We put the bed rack back on with the Roof Top Tent. Next, we improved the suspension with Roush Fox 2.0 Coilover Shocks and to help with weight and level the back, we added the Sumo Spring system on the rear axle.
Finally, we replaced the Goodyear Wranglers with Cooper AT3 XLT tires that gave us better performance towing and off-road. |