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Owner Stories
International Travel
News From The Road
Tips & Tricks
Owner Stories
International Travel
News From The Road
Tips & Tricks
Budapest to Bamako Rally

Up and Down The Atlas Mountains

From Spain to Morocco We did our fast drive through Europe and took the overnight ferry to Morocco where the rally really started.  The ferry came from Spain and into Spain on the Moroccan side. So right away we had to navigate out of Europe and into Morocco whose border wasn’t exactly well signed. I guess this was where the GPS exercise really started.  The roadbook gave a brief outline of the procedure at the Moroccan border but frankly, it was just a cluster with vehicles and people everywhere all trying to get the attention of an official to stamp

Read More +
Blog

Time to Cross Some Borders and Catch a Ferry

Tips for Crossing Borders As we’ve been driving and crossing borders on major highways, some countries have a “rest stop” like areas where you can buy a vignette which seems to be a “pre-paid” toll card.  It doesn’t seem to be mandatory to buy one as you aren’t funneled into this area.  We did buy them but wondered if it really mattered as no one checked them.  We started the race and crossed into Slovenia, another vignette country and almost didn’t buy one.  But we did, this one was a nice sticker (we didn’t notice) while the others were just

Read More +
Blog

Pre-Race Day Scrutineering Activities

Preparing for the Race Thursday was scrutineering, race briefing, GPS collection and for ourselves laundry and reorganizing day.  It is becoming a reality and we’ll be on our way with a 3000 km – 3.5-day mad dash through Europe for the first Morocco stage in Midelt on January 16. Traps for Young Players We’re part of the race category which means we have certain tasks to perform each day based on a GPS waypoint.  We brought a tablet with us to be able to access the maps and waypoints but found it was incompatible.  Therefore we had to get a

Read More +
Blog

Budapest Here We Are!

Being Tourist in Budapest It’s been several years since we’ve been in Budapest and it is truly a really lovely city at night which is when we arrived.  We’re at a hotel somewhat on the outskirts (has a big carpark which is essential for a vehicle rally!) but we spent Wednesday doing a bit of well-deserved sightseeing. I am a keen fan of public transport systems and no matter how confusing or in a language I don’t understand, it’s always a challenge for me to figure it out.  Budapest’s was no exception and Lance and I spent several hours on

Read More +
On the road to Ikea
Blog

What’s a Road Trip Without a Stop at Ikea

Road Trip Preparation and Free Camping Before we left Fred’s to hit the road again I got an opportunity to do one of my favorite things…go to a grocery store in another country!  I was not disappointed as we were able to stock up on all those lovely sliced cheeses and cold cuts, beautiful loaves of bread, organic veggies and plenty of beer and wine.  We firmly believe that you should never ‘rough it’ in an EarthCruiser.  I think we’ll be pretty right for those times when things may be a bit sparse in some parts of Africa. Our drive

Read More +
EarthCruiser in Amsterdam at Centrum Ermelo
Blog

EarthCruiser Alpha Omega Goes to 4×4 Centrum Ermelo

To Centrum Ermelo We Go We arrived in Amsterdam after a long flight to find Alpha re-aligned and ready for Lance to do some other maintenance and install his new, hand built UBCO bike rack (more on that later).  Ronald and Ton his dad own 4×4 Centrum Ermelo.  Their main business is building and supporting rally cars and Ton is currently on the Dakar with a client.  The Rally business is big in Europe with people spending 100,000 Euro + on these vehicles.  There are many rallies with European championships, a big one called the Balkan Rally and several in

Read More +
Blog

Only 1 More Sleep until EarthCruiser Leaves to Amsterdam

Budapest to Bamako Rally Via Amsterdam Finally! Lance and I leave for Amsterdam on Thursday to pick up Alpha Omega for our trek to Budapest for the Budapest to Bamako Rally!  The weekend was hectic while we minimized packing all our ‘stuff like our new UBCO bike rack, spare parts, guidebooks, paper maps, electronics, etc, etc (I’m not allowed to take many clothes).  We got it down to 4 bags at MAX weights!  Goldy knows something is up and is none too pleased.  A vacation with her friend Ronnie will be restorative. Alpha Omega is waiting for us at Ermelo

Read More +
Meet The EC Crew!

Getting to Know EarthCruiser Member Brent Baker

Meet Brent Baker   How long have you worked at EC? 3 months   What do you like about working at EC?  The people and culture.   What experience do you bring to EC? 13 years of business development experience, but I’m still learning new things every day.   What are your hopes for the industry? That continues to allow more people to experience the wonders of our world and creates advocates who want to protect and preserve these things.   What do you hope to accomplish at EC? To continue and increase our sustainable business where everyone on the

Read More +
Blog

Internship @ EarthCruiser – Ian Ray

EarthCruiser Summer Internship with Ian Ray Intern: Ian Ray High School: Bend Senior High Year: Senior – Class of 2018   Why did you want to be an intern at EarthCruiser? I wanted to be an intern here so I could learn engineering and manufacturing workshop skills.   What have you learned so far from your internship here? I have developed my skills using Solid Works to design and assemble parts. I have also developed my skills in the shop, especially in the woodworking area.   What is your favorite part about interning at EarthCruiser? I enjoyed the internship, but I liked

Read More +
EarthCruiser Community
International Travel
News From The Road
Tips & Tricks
Budapest to Bamako Rally

Up and Down The Atlas Mountains

From Spain to Morocco We did our fast drive through Europe and took the overnight ferry to Morocco where the rally really started.  The ferry came from Spain and into Spain on the Moroccan side. So right away we had to navigate out of Europe and into Morocco whose border wasn’t exactly well signed. I guess this was where the GPS exercise really started.  The roadbook gave a brief outline of the procedure at the Moroccan border but frankly, it was just a cluster with vehicles and people everywhere all trying to get the attention of an official to stamp

Read More +
Blog

Time to Cross Some Borders and Catch a Ferry

Tips for Crossing Borders As we’ve been driving and crossing borders on major highways, some countries have a “rest stop” like areas where you can buy a vignette which seems to be a “pre-paid” toll card.  It doesn’t seem to be mandatory to buy one as you aren’t funneled into this area.  We did buy them but wondered if it really mattered as no one checked them.  We started the race and crossed into Slovenia, another vignette country and almost didn’t buy one.  But we did, this one was a nice sticker (we didn’t notice) while the others were just

Read More +
Blog

Pre-Race Day Scrutineering Activities

Preparing for the Race Thursday was scrutineering, race briefing, GPS collection and for ourselves laundry and reorganizing day.  It is becoming a reality and we’ll be on our way with a 3000 km – 3.5-day mad dash through Europe for the first Morocco stage in Midelt on January 16. Traps for Young Players We’re part of the race category which means we have certain tasks to perform each day based on a GPS waypoint.  We brought a tablet with us to be able to access the maps and waypoints but found it was incompatible.  Therefore we had to get a

Read More +
Blog

Budapest Here We Are!

Being Tourist in Budapest It’s been several years since we’ve been in Budapest and it is truly a really lovely city at night which is when we arrived.  We’re at a hotel somewhat on the outskirts (has a big carpark which is essential for a vehicle rally!) but we spent Wednesday doing a bit of well-deserved sightseeing. I am a keen fan of public transport systems and no matter how confusing or in a language I don’t understand, it’s always a challenge for me to figure it out.  Budapest’s was no exception and Lance and I spent several hours on

Read More +
On the road to Ikea
Blog

What’s a Road Trip Without a Stop at Ikea

Road Trip Preparation and Free Camping Before we left Fred’s to hit the road again I got an opportunity to do one of my favorite things…go to a grocery store in another country!  I was not disappointed as we were able to stock up on all those lovely sliced cheeses and cold cuts, beautiful loaves of bread, organic veggies and plenty of beer and wine.  We firmly believe that you should never ‘rough it’ in an EarthCruiser.  I think we’ll be pretty right for those times when things may be a bit sparse in some parts of Africa. Our drive

Read More +
EarthCruiser in Amsterdam at Centrum Ermelo
Blog

EarthCruiser Alpha Omega Goes to 4×4 Centrum Ermelo

To Centrum Ermelo We Go We arrived in Amsterdam after a long flight to find Alpha re-aligned and ready for Lance to do some other maintenance and install his new, hand built UBCO bike rack (more on that later).  Ronald and Ton his dad own 4×4 Centrum Ermelo.  Their main business is building and supporting rally cars and Ton is currently on the Dakar with a client.  The Rally business is big in Europe with people spending 100,000 Euro + on these vehicles.  There are many rallies with European championships, a big one called the Balkan Rally and several in

Read More +
Blog

Only 1 More Sleep until EarthCruiser Leaves to Amsterdam

Budapest to Bamako Rally Via Amsterdam Finally! Lance and I leave for Amsterdam on Thursday to pick up Alpha Omega for our trek to Budapest for the Budapest to Bamako Rally!  The weekend was hectic while we minimized packing all our ‘stuff like our new UBCO bike rack, spare parts, guidebooks, paper maps, electronics, etc, etc (I’m not allowed to take many clothes).  We got it down to 4 bags at MAX weights!  Goldy knows something is up and is none too pleased.  A vacation with her friend Ronnie will be restorative. Alpha Omega is waiting for us at Ermelo

Read More +
Meet The EC Crew!

Getting to Know EarthCruiser Member Brent Baker

Meet Brent Baker   How long have you worked at EC? 3 months   What do you like about working at EC?  The people and culture.   What experience do you bring to EC? 13 years of business development experience, but I’m still learning new things every day.   What are your hopes for the industry? That continues to allow more people to experience the wonders of our world and creates advocates who want to protect and preserve these things.   What do you hope to accomplish at EC? To continue and increase our sustainable business where everyone on the

Read More +
Blog

Internship @ EarthCruiser – Ian Ray

EarthCruiser Summer Internship with Ian Ray Intern: Ian Ray High School: Bend Senior High Year: Senior – Class of 2018   Why did you want to be an intern at EarthCruiser? I wanted to be an intern here so I could learn engineering and manufacturing workshop skills.   What have you learned so far from your internship here? I have developed my skills using Solid Works to design and assemble parts. I have also developed my skills in the shop, especially in the woodworking area.   What is your favorite part about interning at EarthCruiser? I enjoyed the internship, but I liked

Read More +