Best Outdoor Rec Vehicle Winner!

Would you just look at that shiny, clean truck? We finally washed off the dust from Memorial Day weekend’s off-roading adventure, aka Gary’s Jamboree. As I’ve written about before, we use our truck as a truck, so it has plenty of opportunities to get dirty. We went the whole summer thinking we should give it a nice bath, but as Electrify Expo drew near, it was clear we couldn’t wait any longer.

Electrify Expo is a relatively new event that allows Automakers to showcase their electric vehicles. Rivian was there with test drives of the Gen2 R1S and R1T. Folks could also test drive cars from Porche, Volvo, Ford, and Tesla. There were also chances to ride Electric Bikes and Scooters. 

We were part of the Outdoor Rec showoff area, where folks could climb into our new Roofnest tent. A Cybertruck loaded with overland gear and trailers from Polydrops and Lightship were also on display.

Everything had to be set up Friday night, and the R1T is our only vehicle, so we pedaled our bikes to the Alameda ferry and road back to the city. Saturday morning was gloomy with a side of rain showers, unusual for the Bay Area in August, but the sun came out by midday. The Bay Area Rivian Club had a meetup just before the gates opened, and we got to see lots of friendly faces the first few hours of the show. I heard that there were nearly 30,000 people in attendance on Saturday, and I think I talked to every one of them! By the end of the day, I was losing my voice!

Sunday morning brought sunny skies and another beautiful trip across the bay by ferry. It is such a civilized way to travel!

We spent another full day chatting with Rivian owners and folks who had just test-droved the truck for the first time. Our Overland Kitchen attracted a lot of attention. So did our new Roofnest Tent and the Campstream we had up displaying one of the myriad ways EVs can make camping even better!

The staff at Electrify Expo were lovely to work with, and we even won Best Outdoor Rec Vehicle! Many thanks to Neil and the crew for making us newbies feel so welcome!