Overland Expo West ‘23
Ever since my first Overland Expo West experience last year I’ve been hooked! Though getting to the event was a mission (flying into Phoenix, staying at a friend’s house, and driving 2 hours up to Flagstaff -all with our 8 month old boy!), it proved to be worth it once we gathered with our PURE familia at the Airbnb in Flagstaff. Our PURE 4x4 lineup for the event went as follows: Chris (@__tacochris) at Pelican, J Matt (@jmattgarcia) at Aiden James Customs, and both Chase (@chase.in.point) and Hunter (@hunter_constantine) at Baja Designs. The venue, Fort Tuthill, was nice and soaked from the heavy rain throughout the day, yet vendors were all still setting up for the big weekend.
Day 1 of Overland Expo brought a promising sunshine-filled morning. We all got to the event at around 9 AM, but by noon the rain, then hail, kept doing its thing until about 5 PM! We had to leave early since there was barely anything that could be done with such crazy weather. We were bummed but were hoping the rain would stop before the Baja Designs x ROAM Adventure Co x NOMAD Wheel afterparty at Yucca North. By 6 PM our prayers were answered and we were off to the mixer. I can’t detail all that went down at the afterparty, but I can say we all had a blast seeing and hanging with everyone. The after-afterparty back at our Airbnb proved to be even crazier =X and at the end of it all we were able to welcome Hunter (@hunter_constantine) as a full-fledged PURE 4x4 member!
Day 2 brought the same sunshine from the day before, but this time we were a bit reluctant to celebrate early. But we still made it out there around 9 AM again and ended up staying for most of the day. We were able to visit so many vendors! It felt like a mini-reunion as we were able to see our friends from all over the country.
Toward the end of the day, we finally got a chance to look at the new Tacoma. The updated look is definitely an eye-catcher! At the Toyota ride along area, they had the 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter and also a long bed Pre-Runner 2WD. We had the opportunity to speak with Jake from Toyota USA for a quick rundown. For a more detailed overview on what’s new for the Trailhunter, check out our video here::
Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to test drive nor go inside the Tacoma, but it was still nice seeing it in person nonetheless. Jake mentioned the TRD Pro Tacoma was still in Hawaii -we hope to be able to see that one in person next time!
Overland Expo West is growing into a tradition for us. It’s becoming our calling to migrate and regather together at Flagstaff. Great seeing and meeting everyone! We hope to go big next year and come out in full force! Until then, we’ll see you all again at Basecamp 6.0!
