S&YE236 - Fozzy in the Wilde

[00:00:10] Hey everyone, this is Richard. You can find me on Instagram at Fozzy in the Wilde. You're listening to episode 236 of the Subie & YOU! podcast. Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another episode of the Subie & You podcast. It was great having Richard on here because we had met in person twice. I saw him or I met him for the first time at Overland Expo P&W in 2025 and then I got to see him again at Overland Expo P&W in 2025.

[00:00:41] So it was great to catch up with him and at that point I was like, hey, let's just get you on the podcast because we've met each other a couple of times a year apart. So now let's make it happen. So it was great to get him on and hear about his Forester as Subaru journey and then places he likes to go and of course people that he hangs out with in the community.

[00:01:04] So we will get into that conversation here in a little bit, but of course I want to throw out another reminder. I know I've been mentioning this for several weeks now, but Boxer Fest is coming up at the end of September. It's going to be at York Fairgrounds in York, Pennsylvania on Sunday, September 27th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

[00:01:25] So that'll be a great event to go to if you don't already have your tickets, go ahead and get those so that you're prepared and you're not having to wait in line at the gate. It's so much better when you already have your tickets. So be sure to go get them and go check it out.

[00:01:40] And of course, you have plenty of time to order something from Subaru Gear to show up to Boxer Fest in Subaru style with a new hat, a new shirt, a crossbody bag, a new backpack, whatever it is that you may find on there that you may want to wear or take with you to show your love for Subaru. You can use the code SUBINU2026 at checkout to get 20% off that item or go ahead and fill up your cart and get 20% off your whole purchase.

[00:02:09] If your total is over $50 after the 20% discount, you'll automatically get free shipping, which is really, really cool. So go browse the site, pick what you want and show up at Boxer Fest and show your love for Subaru. Thank you so much, Subaru Gear, for sponsoring the SUBINU podcast and bringing this offer to the listeners. All right, I haven't done this in a long time, but I saw this email from the Subaru US Media Center and I wanted to just share it in case people don't know about this.

[00:02:37] But Subaru announced on August 27th that Treasure Valley Subaru located in Boise, Idaho, as the winner of the 2026 Subaru Love Promise Retailer of the Year Award, recognizing the retailer for their deeply personal approach to embracing the Subaru Love Promise.

[00:02:54] This award is presented annually to one Subaru retailer within Subaru's network of over 640 retailers who have made a significant commitment to their customers and their community throughout the year, going above and beyond in their efforts to be more than a car dealer. When Treasure Valley Subaru opened as a standalone retailer in 2020, they went all in on a brand new 54,000 square foot facility,

[00:03:21] complete with off-road test track, which is really cool, a dog park and 48 service bays knowing their dedication to the love promise would deliver. Their team has always believed that leading with compassion and empathy will inherently improve the bottom line, ultimately providing more sustainable opportunities to help those in need. And over the last six years, their sales have nearly tripled.

[00:03:44] Treasure Valley Subaru has been recognized as a Love Promise Customer and Community Commitment Gold winner from 2021 to 2025 and a Heart winner in 2026, supporting 19 local charities and community organizations in 2025 alone. One of their steadfast partnerships has been with Boise Rescue Mission, the largest provider of services to people experiencing homelessness in the state of Idaho,

[00:04:10] where employees volunteered over 860 hours in 2025. From the Subaru Share the Love event to volunteer work including monthly meal making, food drives, trash pickup events, back-to-school preparation and vehicle donations, the entire Treasure Valley Subaru family consistently showed up to help with full hearts and sleeves rolled up. Subaru created the Love Promise Retailer of the Year Award to shine a spotlight on exceptional Subaru retailers

[00:04:39] who contribute to their local communities while making efforts to turn customer transactions into lifelong owner relationships. The Subaru Love Promise is a pledge to show love and respect to all people at every interaction with Subaru and to make a positive impact in the world. This award to Treasure Valley Subaru marks the 12th annual Subaru Love Promise Retailer of the Year Award. It's really cool that Subaru of America does this and recognizes these dealerships,

[00:05:07] so congratulations to Treasure Valley Subaru in Boise, Idaho. That is such a great honor and it sounds like they are doing a lot of really great work in their community. Before we get started with this conversation, be sure to go check out MeleeDesignFirm.com. They have a lot of great products for Subarus, including their battery mounts, their battery tie-downs, their front strut tower braces. They have pitch stops. They also have engine bay caps.

[00:05:35] And the engine bay caps are one of the easiest ways to upgrade the look of your engine. You can go to MeleeDesignFirm.com and when you check out, you can use the code SUBI and YOU for 10% off your purchase. And that's good pretty much site-wide. So go check out the website, see what they have to offer, and upgrade your Subaru. Thank you so much, Melee Design Firm, for sponsoring the SUBI and YOU podcast. Now we'll get into this conversation with Richard to talk about his Subaru journey,

[00:06:04] his Forester, his modifications, people he hangs out with, and everything else that we get into. So let's go ahead and get this started. Hey, what's going on, Richard? Hey, how's it going? Good. It's nice to get you on the podcast and add you to the list of people that I've met in person, which is really cool. Yeah, this is awesome.

[00:06:33] I've been looking forward to it. I've been listening to your podcast for a while now. Yeah, I appreciate that. It's nice to know that people are out there listening to it, and it's been going on for a while. But yeah, you and I actually met at Overland Expo P&W in 2025, and we got a chance to chat for a little bit because you were... Neil Skies introduced me to you. Yeah, get on you.

[00:07:03] Yeah. Yeah. Before we started recording, we were talking, you know, we didn't really get a chance to catch up too much. And then being there again this year and getting a chance to catch up more in chat was really nice. Yeah, for sure. It was nice to catch up and talk as well. Yeah. So I'm going to start off and ask you the most important question, whether you prefer waffles or pancakes. Let's go. All right.

[00:07:30] Well, I would say growing up in the South, I was definitely more of a waffle house guy. So I'll have to say waffles. All right. All right. But there is a caveat to that. Okay. If I do pancakes, I'll make that a little bit more festive than my waffles. I like my waffles straight up and I like my pancakes that have like the whipped cream and the blueberries on top. Oh, yeah. That's always good. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:07:57] I've been putting almond butter on my pancakes and then I'll put like on mine, I'll usually top it with some raw pumpkin seeds too. But... Okay. Yeah. That's nice. I'll try that. Yeah. And then of course the syrup, but it's a nice addition. Oh, yeah. Anything with butter on it makes it taste better. Yeah. All right. So something else I want to talk about too. You were...

[00:08:24] We were trying to connect sooner, but you said you were in grad school and you just finished up your summer grad school session. So what is it you were studying? So I'm a graduate student at Portland State University studying for my master's in finance. I work in the finance industry, so I wanted to have some more of the knowledge from school to help apply to my current job. Okay. That's good. Yeah.

[00:08:54] I'm sure that helps with like advancing in your career and possibly more income too, huh? Oh, yeah. And then I still have to use a little bit of my job below. So... Oh, yeah. That's always helpful. Yeah. My brother was in the... He was in the Navy. He just did his four years, but he took full advantage of the GI Bill and he like started school. Like, right... I think like...

[00:09:19] I mean, within weeks of getting out of the Navy, he started school and he went and got a bachelor's in finance and then he just got like a general MBA after that. Yeah. Yeah. He ended the route. Yeah. Well, good on him though. Yeah. Yeah. So he was, you know, he was determined and it was a, you know, it was pretty tough. He was in San Diego and, you know, it's pretty, pretty expensive to live there.

[00:09:46] He, thankfully he had like, he usually had like two roommates at a time. And so, you know, he was working as much as he could to help afford that and then also go into school at the same time. So it was, you know, a struggle at times, but he made it. He's a U-Turr double duty. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So where did your interest in Subaru come from in the first place?

[00:10:14] Oh, um, so, uh, being in the Marine Corps, I was in, uh, about eight years. Um, and then once I kind of ranked up, you kind of have the liberty to kind of move off base. Um, so we had, uh, a house and my roommate at the time, um, join them. My wife lived there too, but we had a roommate there and he had, uh, I think it was a 2004 Subaru WRX, but that was the, uh, the blob eye. Oh, nice.

[00:10:44] Yeah. He, uh, he had it pretty modded out. Um, like JDM STI build because they didn't make those over here. So, and then, uh, and it had like a short throw strifter in it. Hmm. And so, uh, it was funny cause we, uh, we would hear him coming home. He had like a full exhaust and everything. We could hear the Subaru, uh, rumble coming home when he was getting off his night shift from base. Yeah. And so like, and it was cool riding with him and stuff like that.

[00:11:14] And, uh, I feel like for Joanna, my wife, she kind of grew up around Subarus. Um, one of her, uh, high school friends had a, I want to say it was around the same year, but the STI, um, in the, the blue color. Um, and so she got in love with that car, um, the Subaru brand through that car as well. So, um, so yeah, we had a little run-ins here and there with a couple of Subarus back in our day.

[00:11:44] Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, they're definitely nice. I mean, I like, I didn't really know much about Subaru. I knew about like the WRX and the STI hatch and that was kind of about it cause I would see those and I'm like, oh man, those look so cool. And, but like, those were probably the only ones I really noticed other than the brat, you know what I mean? And the brat is like, you, you can't miss it.

[00:12:12] And I may have not even known that it was actually a Subaru. I just, I knew that it was a brat and I remember seeing those and that thought they were really cool looking. And, but yeah, I, I didn't really start learning about Subarus until after I bought mine. But it's cool to hear, it's cool to hear when people have like Subaru knowledge and have like grown up with Subarus and have kind of had them around in their life for, you know, the majority of their life and have known about them.

[00:12:42] And then, you know, and then now you've got one and you're driving one, you've got more than one. So that's cool. Yeah. Yeah. On the East coast, we didn't really have that many, uh, Subarus. So it was kind of, uh, few and far between over there. And then once I, um, got into the military, uh, since he was on the West coast, he brought his Subaru over. Um, so that's the kind of the first run into Subaru for me over there. Okay.

[00:13:09] So then were you like, so, okay. So with your Forester that you have now, is that your first Subaru? Yes. This was my first Subaru. Okay, nice. And then, and I know you have another Subaru too, cause your wife has one, right? Yeah. She has the 2025 Subaru on it. Okay. Yeah. So, uh, when you bought your Forester, did you really know about like modding it and,

[00:13:37] and if like, like, or were it, was it just like another car when you bought it? Uh, when we bought it, we were just getting another car. Um, at that time we were doing a lot more hiking and adventuring. Um, so we started going to places where our old Honda Civic wouldn't get there. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Oh yeah. That's a big, uh, upgrade there for being able to get to more places. Yeah. Yeah. It was funny though.

[00:14:06] Um, sometimes you do still see civics out there. Yeah. But yeah, we just thought at that time we were like, we need something a little bit more comfortable. And I think we were kind of just starting dabbling camping. Um, so like camping out of that small car wasn't that fun at all. So just doing more adventure stuff kind of led us to the Subaru.

[00:14:26] Were y'all looking at any other vehicles or just, did you, did you start looking at Subarus only because you kind of knew about them and, and, you know, had a little more information on them? Uh, no, it was completely spur of the moment. Um, we went to a CarMax and we just kind of was checking cars out. Um, I don't even think we even really had a plan to buy anything. We just kind of went just to see what, what was there. And, uh, I was looking at me being from the South.

[00:14:55] I was like, I want like a, a bigger SUV. So I went Jeep Cherokee and I was like, uh, I was looking at the inside of it and it had the sway interior. And I was like, well, we have a dog, so we can't really, that's going to get messed up really easily. So I was like, well, I guess, well, that's not something that we need right now. And then we just kept walking around the lot and we saw the Subaru Outback. And, um, we looked at that first, I forgot what year it was.

[00:15:23] I think it was like a 2018 or 19 as well. But, um, we looked at that and I was like, oh, this is kind of practical. It kind of fits what we want to do, go hiking and stuff. And then we looked at the, uh, um, since the sales guys were like, well, you like this one? Let's check this one out. It was the Forester. And I was like, ooh, it's, it's sporty. I was like really sporty. And we drove that and I was like immediately fell in love with that vehicle. Yeah.

[00:15:53] It's, uh, I know that's, that happens. You, you can get inside of a car just to like, check it out. You're like, oh crap, I really like this. I guess this is it. Yeah. And, um, Joanna was the one that, uh, um, we're, uh, for those of you who don't know, Joanna is my wife, but, uh, uh, she was the one that was like, I really liked the Subaru brand. And I said, I feel like we should get this vehicle. And I was like, okay, well, if you really like this vehicle, I like the way it drives. Um, so I guess let's get it.

[00:16:22] So yeah, it was completely spur of the moment thing, but yeah, I never looked back at that. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, so I know it's a 19 and it's a sport, but like, when, when did you buy it? Like what year? Um, it was right during 2020. Oh, okay. Yeah. That's yeah. That's when I got mine. I got mine September of 2020. Yeah. And, uh, thankfully because it started, stuff started getting crazy after that. Yeah.

[00:16:51] We got in there just in time, man. Yeah. I think it was just kind of, we knew that we wanted to get a little bit further off the beaten path and trying to chase those views. We just wanted something that was a little bit more capable to get us out there. Yeah. Now, did you have like any experience with Subarus going off road? Like, did you go with anybody or did you like watch any videos or did you just know that because it's all wheel drive and it's got a higher clearance that it can get you more

[00:17:20] places in your civic? Of course. Uh, yeah, it was just because we knew that was higher and it had all wheel drive. We could go a little bit further. Um, but we quickly found out where that ended. Yeah. So did you, did y'all have like any mishaps or something when you first went out? Yeah. Um, we got stuck in the snow, uh, at a place called High Prairie, which is on the east side of Mount Hood.

[00:17:46] Um, I had just got the Ironman lift and I had, uh, some Falcon wall peaks, but they were on the stock, um, 18. So I think they were at two 25s. Okay. 65, 18s, but they were, they were small and I didn't air it down so they didn't know any better. I was just like, I was like, yeah, I got three peak rating tires. Yeah. I said, we can get up there to this campsite. And then the snow just kept getting deeper.

[00:18:15] And so we got, we got buried in the snow. Were you by yourselves? Yeah. It was just me, my wife and my dog. So how did, what did you end up doing to get out? Uh, start digging. Did you, did you even have like any recovery stuff? Like, did you have a shovel or anything? Uh, I had a shovel, but it was one of those, uh, Marine Corps foldable collapsible shovels. So it was tiny. Oh yeah.

[00:18:42] I had that just from my old military days or Marine Corps days. So I was like, oh, this will work. And then digging for like an hour, hour and a half. Didn't work out too well for us. So what did, what did you ultimately do? Just ended up using that to dig out as best as you could? Um, no, we got lucky maybe another 30 minutes after that. And just a little Suzuki samurai came down the mountain.

[00:19:10] Um, and he was like, Hey, I see you guys are pretty stuck. I'm like, yeah. He's like, I said, all right, well, I'm really light, but I'll see if I can get you guys out. And, uh, luckily he had a winch in the rear and a winch in the front. And he was using the winch in the rear to anchor to the tree to get us out. But, and then he, uh, he let us, let us all the way down back to the main road to make sure that we were safe. So that was awesome. It's just funny.

[00:19:39] Cause like, I know what a Suzuki samurai looks like. Those things are tiny. Uh, but Hey, I mean, that's good that he had the two winches and was able to get you out. I mean, uh, he was, he was definitely way more prepared than we were. So, so after that experience, were y'all thinking like, we need to get some more stuff for this thing or, or this is going to happen again. So like, what, where did it go from there? And then like, where did your, where did it start taking off with mods?

[00:20:09] Cause obviously you said you had to lift, uh, where did it go from there? Well, we learned our lesson to not go places without proper recovery gear after that one. Um, so the first thing I did was, uh, I bought some traction boards off of Amazon. Um, and I've had those ever since then, I think maybe like four years ago, but, um, I bought those first and then I bought, um, a rack to go on top.

[00:20:38] Um, just one of those little baskets that you can kind of mount stuff to if you have the right tools. So I had that for a while. I used that for our road trips that we were doing at that time. So I had a pretty decent setup where I could put a awning on the basket and, um, some extra gas and fuel and a jerry can up there and some of our luggage.

[00:21:00] But I would have to strap it down every time, like we would go on a road trip or if we got to camp, I would have to unstrap it and then play Tetris again. Hey, it worked for a while, huh? Yeah, it worked for us. That setup kind of worked for us for like a couple of years, but I think that was kind of where I went to next was just being a little bit more prepared. Like, uh, we would go on hikes and having the awnings to kind of chill under if it was hot in the summer.

[00:21:26] It was kind of nice to get out of your soaking wet, um, hiking clothes sometimes, you know, kind of relax without having to hop back in the vehicle right away. Yeah. Uh, so, uh, was the Ironman lift the first mod that you got? Yeah, that was the first mod that I got on the vehicle. How long did you have it before you got that? Maybe, oh, that's a good question.

[00:21:54] Uh, maybe a year, maybe not. Yeah, I think maybe a year, a little under that, you know. That's not bad, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I guess, like, so where did you start, you know, you, you, uh, got it so that y'all could get more places because you had the Civic. But, like, where did you start or when did you start connecting with other people in the Subaru community? And when you bought it, did you even know that there was a Subaru community?

[00:22:22] No, I had no clue there was a Subaru community out there at all. Like many of us. Yeah. Yeah, I was just like, I saw them on the road all the time. And I was like, oh, I guess I'll just get one myself. Yeah. Yeah. So did you, uh, did you, like, start an Instagram account for it? And that's kind of how you started, uh, connecting with people? Or how did that get started?

[00:22:47] Because now, I mean, obviously, you're, you were at Overland Expo and you're at Subaru Base Camp two years in a row. So, you know, fast forward, you've, you've in the community, you go out with people. But, like, when did you actually start connecting with people? Um, it was mostly through Instagram. Um, I was just trying to figure out, one, I didn't know that you could, uh, modify a Subaru Forester and to the extent that it could be modified to nowadays.

[00:23:15] Um, I think back then it was still a little fresh. Um, so there was only a few people that I knew of, um, from just doing searches on Instagram, which was, uh, Jay Foss and his Forester. Yeah. Um, his was the first inspiration for me because his was the exact color of mine. Oh, nice. So, it was kind of cool to see his build because it was just like, this is what it could look like if you wanted to go down this route. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

[00:23:43] And then, uh, just kind of meeting people through Instagram and just kind of liking their content and just like, uh, asking about where they're trailing at, um, figuring out what mod did they do to their vehicle and how does it work for their needs? Um, that's when I found, um, the infamous Derek at, uh, a PNW. Yeah, he, uh, man, he's got a nice setup. Yeah, he does.

[00:24:10] And it was, it was just purely through like seeing where he's trailing and I'm like, dude, I know where that is. I was like, that's close to where I am. Like, so I just kind of messaged him through Instagram and the rest is history, you know? Yeah. Were, were you like kind of nervous or not sure about messaging people on Instagram? Like, oh, I'm a message this guy, but I don't know if I'm going to hear back from him. Or were you like pretty confident? Like, hey, yeah, let's just do this.

[00:24:40] I'm sure he'll get back to me. Uh, yeah, it was, I was pretty confident. I think at this time I was already like used to kind of messaging people. Like, uh, I had reached out to Jay about his vehicle a couple of times just to get some inspiration for my build. Um, but yeah, I reached out to him a lot, um, in the beginning stages and it kind of reached out to other different, uh, Subaru owners to see what works for them. And then just kind of made my own decisions from there.

[00:25:07] And also from Derek as well, cause his is very kitted out as well. So learning what he, uh, has on his vehicle, you know? He's done so much to it too. And then like, oh, Hey, let's change the, or let's swap out the transmission 50 times and get a new engine. Yeah. He's, uh, he's, it's almost like he's completely rebuilt the, the Forester, but he takes it out a lot and beats it up pretty good. Yeah.

[00:25:36] He does go pretty hard, but it's fun to have somebody like that in your corner.

[00:26:09] Yeah. That we just found and, you know, help each other explore and find all the cool spots. Yeah. Yeah. The Pacific Northwest is definitely one of those areas where you can just get out and go like 30 to an hour and just find something awesome, you know? Yeah. Yeah, I know. I know. But yeah, it's, uh, I'm, I'm thankful that I've been able to go up there though and see it finally.

[00:26:33] Cause, uh, I had been to Oregon before for work a couple of times, but never like out in the fun spots. I was just in the cities cause I went to Corvallis and Eugene and Portland a little bit. But other than that, I hadn't been out. Like I didn't, when I was there, I didn't know there was like 260 something waterfalls there. Yeah. It was a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Like in the gorge, I think there's like maybe, I don't know. There's a lot.

[00:27:02] I see at least five to 10 on the way to Hood River when I'm just riding on the highway. And that's only ones that you can see from the highway. I'm pretty sure there's more. That's crazy. Yeah. Cause we, uh, when we went out there last year, we wanted to, we didn't know exactly what we wanted to do at first, but we were talking to some people that lived out there. And it was, it was, um, Derek that recommended that we stay in sisters, which was like a great recommendation. Sisters was beautiful.

[00:27:32] I love it out there. And then we were really nice out there. Yeah. And then we were talking to this guy, Aaron, and he was like telling us about some places that were around. Cause we didn't want to go anywhere too far off cause we didn't want to spend more time driving than, you know, seeing something. But yeah, it was, it was, it was really nice. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, what area did you get to?

[00:27:56] So we went to, we went like Southwest of sisters and found a couple of waterfalls there. And then we went to, I don't remember the names of them offhand. We went to another spot and found one and then we kept hiking and we found double falls, uh, higher up from there. It sounds like two more falls. Yes. Yes. And then there was, I think it was like Chush Falls or something was another one maybe.

[00:28:22] We, we ended up going and seeing five different waterfalls and, and just hiking all around there. And it was just, man, it was so beautiful. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. I like that area. We, we actually went there when we were at the, uh, expo again this year. Um, yeah. Yeah. It's, it's just so nice out there. And then I ended up looking it up and I was like, oh my gosh, like it, it, I, I think I just typed in like how many waterfalls are there in Oregon.

[00:28:49] And it said like 262 or something like, that's just, that's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. We're definitely lucky. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, with your Forester you have, I mean, your Instagram account is Fozzy in the wild, but is that like the name of your Forester or do you have like a separate name for the actual car? Uh, no, my name, the name of my Forester, I kind of changed over the years because that was my wife's car first.

[00:29:16] Um, um, and then once I got her, her car, I kind of commandeered the name. I call it Sergeant Foz now. Okay. That's a good one. Yeah. That's appropriate. Yeah. It was, it's literally the exact Marine Corps colors. Like the bronze is for the gold and you have the, the, the red for the stripe. And then you have the, the blue is a little bit of play there, but it's for the, the blue of the trousers. So.

[00:29:45] Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, you, you said that it's kind of going back to when you first bought it, but you said you looked at a Jeep and you got in there, you weren't really, you didn't really like it. And then you got into the Outback and that was nice. Cause it kind of like just fit your needs as far as like the type of vehicle. But like when you got in the Forester, like what was it about the Forester? Like, I guess, especially the interior that, you know, you were like, okay, I think this is the one that I want.

[00:30:13] Cause you know, there's, there's like, like the old Toyota trucks. I never really did like the interior that much. And then like, there were other, like if I was just, if I happened to be in somebody's truck, I was just like, I would notice like, okay, this interior is really nice. And this one, that's Toyota one's just, I don't know, it was just something about them. And then like other ones were really nice. But like, cause sometimes you're going to be in there for so long. Like you want it to be accessible and appealing and everything.

[00:30:41] So what was it about the Forester that really drew you in? I think it was just because the Outback that we looked at was very, very bold. I'm not sure what, I think it was the base model. So I was kind of like, well, if I'm going to buy a vehicle, I kind of want something a little bit more comfort. Cause it was mostly for my wife at the time. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. So I was kind of buying the car for her and I was like, well, this is nice.

[00:31:11] It's nice in here, but it's kind of doesn't have everything that I kind of want in a vehicle. And then when we sat in the Forester, it felt comfortable immediately. And then I had pretty much all the, I guess, the entertainment system, the kind of Apple CarPlay. I had the sunroof and the sound system sounded good.

[00:31:34] The interior just felt like you wanted to be in there for a long period of time versus the other one kind of felt like, it was nice, like I said, but it was just kind of like, I didn't feel like I should be in there for a long period of time versus the Forester. Yeah. Yeah. I get that. The car that I had before my Crosstrek was a Kia Forte five door and it was a sport version.

[00:31:59] And I was originally looking at the, the Kia Rio because it was more affordable. But then like I got in the, um, the Forte and I was like, oh crap, I really like this. And it ended up working out and I got that car. But yeah, I know what you mean. Cause like I sat in there and you know, everything was like backlit with red and it was black interior and had like red stitching. And I was just like, this car just looks so cool. And I was like, okay, this is it.

[00:32:28] But, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it's definitely something that you want to feel like, and you put it perfectly, something you feel like you could be in for a long period of time. Yeah. And then, um, I, at that time we didn't really know, but we were kind of also future proofing ourselves. So we kind of looked at the safety features that it had in there versus the Outback that had a little bit more of those in there. So that's kind of what we were right. It has the safety features.

[00:32:57] It's, it's more comfortable. It kind of has everything that we want and we can still go off-roading. I think the, the X mode was kind of available at that time, right there in prominent position. And so, um, I, that's one of the reasons why I chose it too. Yeah. Yep.

[00:33:14] And so like once you, so you did the, uh, the lift and then you started, you know, you got stuck and then you started getting more like, uh, you know, prepared as far as like recovery and stuff. And then you said you had the basket so you could put some things up there, but then like, what were some of the mods that came next that like, cause I know you have a roof rack now and some other mods, but like, where did it start going from, from that point?

[00:33:43] Um, from there we did a trip with that set up with the basket and everything, uh, to Utah. So we went to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Escalante and Capitol Reef.

[00:33:58] Um, and so we did pretty well with that set up, but like I said, every, every place that we went to, uh, we had to either unstrap the gear on top or, and put it inside the vehicle or put it inside the Airbnbs or hotels that we were staying in. So that got a little old after a while. Yeah. It becomes inconvenient. Yeah. That was our first road trip in, uh, in the Forrester. So we kind of learned our lessons.

[00:34:27] I think, I can't remember it was, I think it was this one or the second one. But, um, after that, we decided to put some ditch lights, um, on the vehicle. So that was the, the real mind that I guess I should say. And so I got some LP adventure ditch light brackets and just some cheap Amazon lights, um, for ditch lights. Um, and then roll at that a little bit longer.

[00:34:54] And then, uh, quickly found out that those Amazon ditch lights, uh, they are great when you first buy them. But after a couple of years of serious intense usage, it doesn't really work like that anymore. Yeah. Yeah. It's like you start off with something just to kind of have it and be like, oh, I need these lights and I'll get something. And then you quickly find out I could use something better. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:35:22] Then when we found that out, I think it was the second trip that we went to Utah and the Forester. So we had the same kind of set up with the basket, but, um, we kind of got a little bit better. We had some cases that actually were like just little totes that fit up there a little bit better. Um, but when we were on the way back to Utah, for some reason we hit like every kind of weather you could possibly hit in Oregon only somehow.

[00:35:48] Um, so we, we left Portland and we hit, we, I kid you not, we hit winds, hit snow, we hit sleep. It got dark. It was raining. I was like, what in the world is going on right now? And, uh, we ended up using those, uh, ditch lights. And then that's when like, I noticed that I can't see anything anymore after these certain amount of hours with these things on.

[00:36:16] So, um, so I, uh, invested in some, uh, proper, um, decent ditch lights, um, or pod lights, I should say for my ditch lights from, um, a company called Black Oak LED. Oh, nice. I haven't heard of that. Yeah. Yeah. It was, um, at that time I was kind of looking for companies that were veteran known and I'm just speaking from my experience.

[00:36:41] I'm not sure if there's any other ones out there, but at that time when I saw them, they were, they were kind of up and coming and they were veteran known. So I kind of wanted to support their business. Yeah. That's always nice. Yeah. And you still have those. Yeah, I still have them. So I have, uh, I have the white spots, um, as ditch lights now and I have my original amber ones that I bought, um, for the update of my.

[00:37:10] Ditch lights way back when was the amber ones that I have on the bumper now. And I have a 40 inch light bar in the, in the top. Nice. Yeah. I, uh, I'd like to get a light bar along the front of my rack at some point. I don't really need one, but I think it would be cool to have one. And, uh, cause like, I mean, there is, so there's cheeseburger loop here, which we've go to sometimes and I've wanted to drive through there at night.

[00:37:38] And it would be cool to have a light bar because it's like totally dark in there. Yeah. That's probably one of the situations where I would use it. Uh, other than that, I probably wouldn't use it too much, but, but it would be nice to have. I mean, cause I've got fog lights, I've got ditch lights. Um, but, and I've got some pretty nice led headlights that are pretty bright, but yeah, it'd be nice to have something more and some chase lights eventually. Uh, just cause they look cool.

[00:38:07] I don't know how often I would use them, but it'd be cool. I, I found out that I like to use them a lot more when it's like not summer hours, but like when you're getting off work and it's already dark, you're going out to camp on a Friday night. You just need the extra light to find the spot. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, they're good. You know, it's, they're definitely useful.

[00:38:30] Uh, like I like having the, uh, the fog lights for whenever I'm driving up to Dallas to go visit my girlfriend because like it gets, you know, the, the fog lights just help a little bit more whenever I'm driving on some of the like roads that are kind of dark. But yeah. And, uh, I don't know. I kind of like the amber glow down below the, you know, in front of the car. It looks kind of cool. Yeah. I learned that the hard way. I, uh, I had all amber lights at first.

[00:39:00] Um, so I had amber dish lights, amber bumper lights, amber light bar. And the contrast was too much amber. I was like, everything's amber. I can't really tell the difference from anything. So it's nice to have a combination of amber and white now. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:39:20] I mean, you, you, you, you start going out and learning what works best for you and, you know, just kind of like your first setup going out and having to unload everything and unpack and all that. And then like, there's gotta be a better way to do this. Yeah. So with, uh, all the mods that you have done, what would you say has been the most useful mod? I kind of had two things. It was probably the rack.

[00:39:50] Um, so I was the plug and play that you can do if you need kind of setup that you want. That was kind of what I wanted. I feel like that kind of resonated with me as far as being in the military. So kind of having that utilitarian piece to it definitely changed the capabilities of what I could and couldn't do. Um, especially with the basket. Um, so I, I did that cause one, I wanted to have a better mounting place for my traction boards.

[00:40:18] So I had some mounting mounts for those on top. And then we used a, a Rome case as our extra storage, um, compartment on top. I felt like it was just way more streamlined and more organized and having to reorganize your luggage and toast on top of a car with baskets and straps.

[00:40:41] So, um, so that was probably like the other mod that kind of, kind of opened the doors for all the other things. Um, and then I would say probably, yeah, the second thing I would say is the skid plates or protection that I have under the vehicle. So I got, I, uh, funny story is, is that it was one of the first snow trail runs I was doing with, uh, Derek.

[00:41:08] Uh, he put it out together, I think in like 2024. And, uh, I was like, I need some, some protection down there for going out in some deep snow wheeling. And so I, uh, ended up going with, uh, Anderson designs, um, engine and transmission skid plate. Yeah. And I've definitely rested my vehicle on that transmission skid plate way more times than I had originally planned for.

[00:41:38] But yeah, I think, I mean, I, yeah, I've drunk that thing through stuff. Yeah. It's good to be, man. If you're doing stuff like that, you've got to have them because otherwise you just, you're in trouble. Yeah. Yeah. Especially with the tent on top. Like I've definitely drugged my vehicle through some obstacles. Yeah. Yeah. But it held up. I mean, it kept me going. And like, I got through all of them, uh, knock on wood. So.

[00:42:08] Yeah. What would you say is your favorite mod? Oh, that's a good question. Uh, I know. I was going to say probably the wheels and the tires set up. Um. Milestar gang. Yeah. I, uh, I had, I, I rocked with Falcon Wild Peaks for a while. And I just felt like, well, it's the extra weight of the vehicle that I had.

[00:42:33] And, uh, with, I, cause I had the, the DS4 pocket bronze with the Wild Peaks on there, but they were, they were just a smaller size. Um, I think they were two 35s. Yeah. I think they were two 35s, but, um, yeah, they were just a smaller size. And so, like, all the off-roading I was doing, it just didn't have the grip that I wanted it to have. Yeah.

[00:42:56] Um, and then once I got the Milestars put on there, um, it was just a night and day difference in the capability of the vehicle. So, yeah, it, it, she likes to eat now. I love how aggressive they look, too, cause I have the Milestars, uh, and they, uh, and like, not every single time, but many times when I walk out to my car and I, I just like look down and I look at the,

[00:43:24] the wheel and tire setup, I'm like, oh my gosh, they look so good. Yeah. I would do like the aggressive look of it. It definitely fills out the, the wheel well a lot better and it definitely. Yeah. Provides the traction that I need on the obstacles that I'm going over. Yeah. It, it definitely provides the traction I need on all these roads out here. Yeah. Uh, I mean, I, I've, you know, I, I've said it before, but like just the all wheel drive alone, I like having it.

[00:43:53] Cause we get heavy rains out here sometimes and it's nice to, uh, nice to know my car is not going to be sliding all over the road. Yeah. And you get those slender showers out there. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes pretty bad too. Uh, we, which we haven't had any rain in a while. I don't know how long, but it's, it's like, it's weird because like, I'll just notice or realize like, oh my gosh, it hasn't rained in a while. And then other times it's like, oh my gosh, could it please stop raining?

[00:44:22] Cause like a few weeks ago, I think it rained for like a, every day for like a week straight. And it was like, oh my gosh, just go away. I want to get out and like, just be outdoors, you know, doing something or like, even just like, just going somewhere. It's just annoying. Cause you got to get out and be in the rain and everything. It's okay if you don't have to go anywhere, but yeah, it's, uh, it's like that here most of the time. Yeah.

[00:44:51] But y'all don't get like super heavy rains though, right? It's kind of more on the lighter side. No, we get, we get some pretty decent rains here in this area. I feel like a lot of people kind of. I'm thinking Seattle. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We get, we had some of that, but we also have some, some, a little bit heavier stuff hitting us too. Okay. Yeah. Not, not like a thundershower hensi, but it's, yeah. It's decent enough where you're like, I need to wear some protective gear or something will be soaked. Yeah.

[00:45:22] So like with your setup and everything that you have right now, uh, is it kind of where you want it to be? Or are you constantly like thinking of more and more and more to do? Cause like, I've asked so many people in there, like, yeah, there's, you know, it never ends. You're always doing something. But then I've talked to some people that are like, I like it where it's at. You know, I don't, I don't really see myself doing anything else right now.

[00:45:51] So like, where are you at on that spectrum? Um, so, uh, it's never going to be done. I don't think so. Um, I kind of like where it is right now with the camping setup with the rooftop tent, especially with the family. Now the setup is so fast. So, yeah, I'm kind of, I want to do something more robust with the suspension.

[00:46:13] So I've been looking at some, some of the, uh, the rally tech parts to kind of, uh, help me with the extra weight I'm carrying on the vehicle. More so not like the way itself, but just from slamming on things with the extra weight of the tent. Um, so something a little bit more robust on the suspension side and then maybe a little drawer system just so I can have a little bit more organization, especially with the kiddos stuff.

[00:46:42] Um, yeah, the, uh, the drawer system setup that, uh, what's his name has? Silveroo Off-Road. I can't remember his name. Yeah, Chris. Chris, yeah, that's really nice. Yeah, his is, I like his a lot too. Yeah. Yeah, that's one, uh, that's one person I also gained inspiration from too is just kind of reached out to him to see how he likes his, uh, his camping setup too. So, so. Yeah, he gets out there quite a bit.

[00:47:12] Yeah. He's awesome, dude. Oh yeah, he's super cool. Hey, there's just, there's so many like awesome people out there in the Subaru community. They're just like, just genuinely good people, but then also like very helpful. And, cause that's like, especially when you're new, you know, it's like you always want somebody that is going to be able to help you out. Like, cause you know, you start off, if you don't know anything, you're like, oh my gosh, what kind of skid plate should I get? What kind of wheels should I get?

[00:47:39] Should I, should I get wheels or do I just need to get tires? And you know, what's the most, what should I get first? And all that kind of stuff. What kind of dish life do I need? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like, what, what brand should I go with? So it's great when you can reach out to people and get them to help you out. Yeah. Uh, let's see. Where was my, where am I at? Oh yeah.

[00:48:06] Uh, so one of your posts, it said build the Subaru and chase those miles. So first of all, like when you bought the Forester, how many miles did it have on it? And then how many miles have you put on it? I would say it was like pretty low. It was around, it was around maybe 15 to 20,000 miles on it. Oh yeah. That's pretty good. Yeah. So it wasn't, it was lightly used.

[00:48:32] And then now I have a hundred 7,000 miles on it. Yeah. You've put some decent miles on it. Yeah. A lot of it was to Utah. Is that the furthest distance you've driven? Yeah. Driving all the way from Portland to, uh, Zion. How, uh, how long of a drive is that like time wise and distance wise? Uh, I think it's 18 hours straight if you're doing it.

[00:49:01] Um, just straight, but we kind of broke it up. We went, we stopped in Idaho and then we went to Montana. Uh, then we went down to, uh, then we went down to Utah after that. Okay. Yeah. We just kind of broke it up a little bit. Just kind of doing our own little thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Those are fun trips when you can stop along places on your route and, uh, stuff out.

[00:49:23] Uh, cause when we went to Colorado, we went out there June of 2021 and we were heading to Colorado Springs. But on the way we went to the Cadillac Ranch, which is really cool. Cause I'd always heard about it and seen it. And then we got to go like experience it. And that was really cool. And then we went to the great sand dunes in Colorado and did that. And then we continued on up through, uh, to Colorado Springs.

[00:49:52] But I mean, just the drive alone is so amazing. Like, and you know, going from here where it's flat and ending up in the mountains, it's just like, it's, I love it. Like mountains are my absolute favorite thing. It sounds like you should move out here. Yeah. I mean, that would be nice, but I've got, there's too much stuff keeping me here, but you know, you can always visit. Yeah. I do, I do want to get back out there again to Colorado.

[00:50:19] That would be Colorado and Arizona. And it'd be nice to get to Utah. Yeah. So have to make that happen at some point, but I'm going to have, I'm going to end up having to get another car because I've got 149,000 miles on my Crosstrek. And yeah, not that like, I don't like, I'm pretty sure she could make it. Like, I don't doubt that she could make it, but I'm also still on my original

[00:50:46] clutch and probably, yeah, I think, I think before I ever were to get, take any kind of long trip, I would definitely have to do that. Maybe get the fluids changed. Cause I know it's been a while and then, uh, get my spark plugs changed. Cause, uh, it's been a while for those two. Yeah. And then you want to break in your clutch before you start doing a trip like that. Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

[00:51:12] Uh, do you have a bucket list spot that you'd love to get out to and explore with your forester? Um, I'll probably, so we went there already for, it's called, uh, that's probably the most epic spot that we've driven to. It's called, uh, Temple of the Sun, which is right outside of Capitol Reef. Um, at that time that was the furthest off the beaten path that we had drove consistently.

[00:51:37] And we didn't really have the decked out Subaru that we have right now that can just go over it easy. Um, we just kind of did it at our slow off-roady Subaru pace. Hey, nothing wrong with that. So I kind of wanted to go back out there again now that I know how to use the, like a, a navigation system other than Google maps. And, uh, I, I know how to pick a line and, uh, I know how to air down my tires.

[00:52:05] I'm confident in where the vehicle can and can't do. Yeah. And do it and do it again to see how it feels. Yeah. I, when I went up to Colorado, we went to garden of the gods and there was a trail that goes up, like kind of like at the backside of garden of the gods. And it takes you way up in the mountains. And, um, Chris, who goes by shadow Rue and Juan previously Java wagon, they took me up there

[00:52:31] and we got to this spot that was like very uneven. It was like small little, like just divots and Hills and stuff. And like, even they hit their bumpers going through this spot. But now I'm like thinking back, I'm like, I probably could have found a way to make it through there and, you know, and I was also like so timid with my car. Cause I didn't really know what it could do. Cause this was my very first time going off-roading like that. And so I didn't know what it could do.

[00:53:01] I didn't know what I was capable of. I didn't know what I was willing to do. You know? Uh, cause like they had a lot more experience than I did, but now I feel like knowing what I know now, I would have been like, dude, I gotta, I want to try this. I can, I can get through it. I'm pretty sure. And yeah, just not, not knowing like what your car is capable of just like just going off-road period.

[00:53:28] Uh, cause like I saw spots where I'm like, I don't even want to try that. It looks scary. And now I'm like, man, I would totally do that. You know? Yeah. So you kind of just ripped the bandaid off with your first experience. Yeah. In a way I ended up getting high centered a little bit, um, because it was like, it was so uneven. It was, it was crazy, but I just knowing more about how to pick your lines. I just feel like I would have like just really kept trying.

[00:53:56] Like, I gotta find a way to make it through this. Cause it was just to say that I did it, you know, but, but they both had lifts. I don't have a lift. I still don't have a lift and you know, I may never get a lift, but, uh, I don't need one. So, you know, it's, I'm, I'm good with what I've got for now, but, uh, that's awesome. That's all you need, man. Whatever works for you. Yeah. So as far as like going out and camping and just getting out to explore and stuff, like

[00:54:24] how often are you able to get out and do that? Oh, before school, I was out there pretty much every weekend. Um, but lately with school and being a father kind of been spending more time with my son and, uh, doing schoolwork as well. So I try to get out maybe like once a month now, um, sometimes two times a month, but I'm not out there as much as I would like to be. And do y'all usually all go together? Or is it just you?

[00:54:55] Uh, sometimes we go all together. Um, it's usually just me and my dog. When we go, when I go out camping. Okay. Yeah. Uh, who, so like, I know we mentioned Derek earlier and, uh, some, you know, Milton and, but like, who are some of the people that when you do go out like with other people, do you usually go out like with some of the same people? Yeah. Sometimes I go out with Derek.

[00:55:22] Um, I go out with, uh, Chris at 503 Outdoor Z, um, Milton Carey when I can, um, Sherman or Brandon, I'm just saying his car name. Brandon and Kaz. Uh, so I, those are the kinds of people I would normally go out with. Okay. All good people. Yeah. They're awesome people. Yeah. Yeah. It was, again, it was fun.

[00:55:47] I'm, I was like glad I was able to meet some of the people out there and, uh, you know, including you and just like being way over here and being able to go out there and check it out and be around other people. It's fun. Um, yeah, it's nice to have some good Subaru owners in your corner. Oh yeah. Yeah. So if somebody like, cause you, you, you had your camping set up that you did the very first one and then you've kind of like revised it and revised it and stuff.

[00:56:17] Uh, if, do you have any recommendations or advice for somebody who may be going car camping for the first time, whether either in their car or in a tent as far as like, uh, an ideal way to set it up and things to bring with you and not necessarily speaking like, you know, being prepared, like going off road in case you get stuck, but just like camping set up in general.

[00:56:44] Uh, I think my recommendations is kind of figure out what you need before you go out there. So kind of doing, uh, I guess, reconnaissance of what you need at home and then kind of see where things can be taken out, especially with like hygiene and toiletries. Some of those things are comforts at home. And then when you're out dispersed camping, you may not necessarily need all that, but you could. So just kind of figuring out what works for you and what you can and can't live without.

[00:57:14] Um, and then just kind of figuring out what do you want to do? Do you want to do in-car camping, which is nice? Um, just kind of figure out that setup. Like if you're doing in-car camping, you can get like a mattress from, uh, a brand like Luna and just pump that up and pull the seats down and go to sleep. Um, or you could do something, which was like our second setup where you have the, the in-car camping with the mattress with the awning and awning room.

[00:57:42] Uh, so we would put all our gear inside of that, um, for our camping stuff and put that in there as our storage and then sleep in the car. And sometimes we would do the vice versa. Sometimes we would sleep in the, the awning room versus the putting our stuff in the car. So, um, and then now with the, with our, our kiddo, uh, having the rooftop tent is, it's

[00:58:05] so nice to set that up in 10 to 15 minutes versus setting up your car for car camping with the, with the awning room as well, which would take us probably about 30 minutes. So just kind of figuring, figuring out what works for you and what, what are your, what your interests are. So now my, my, my campus setup is more comfort. So, yeah, I've heard a lot of people too, that when they go, like they'll go camping a

[00:58:35] few times and they will bring too much stuff and realize, okay, we don't need these things, but oh crap, we forgot this. Like we could have used this then. Uh, so yeah, I think it's just kind of experiencing it too. Um, just maybe you might end up bringing more than you really need, but it's also, it was better to have more than you need and then not have, rather than not have something when you go out there. Uh, and then the next time you're like, okay, well, these are the things that we can just

[00:59:03] not take with us. Yeah. And especially, um, we're still learning that now, especially with our, uh, our kiddo just trying to figure out what does he need, um, versus what we think he needs, you know? Yeah. Yeah. That's definitely a difference there. Yeah. Because it's like, yeah, it just, it's just all experiencing it and figuring it out as you go along. Yeah.

[00:59:29] So if you could drive somebody else's Subaru for a day, like one you've either seen online or even in person, whose would it be and why? Uh, that's a great question. I would probably would love to drive Travis, Travis, I don't want to be cliche. Yeah. I, uh, I kind of, I kind of grew up in the turbo four cylinder scene.

[00:59:57] So like my curiosity is kind of peak when I see, uh, any all world drive for, for, uh, four banger sliding around curves, you know? Yeah. Yeah. That would be fun to drive. I'm like, I know I can't do that, but I just wanted to see how the car feels, how it responds with the shifting and everything. Yeah. But like that car and project midnight. Yeah. But I feel like I would have to be in Gotham while I was driving.

[01:00:28] I know that car is just insane, man. It's so crazy. Uh, but yeah, I mean either one of those cars, like even if you're driving them slow, a lot slower, it would be just, just to experience that would be pretty crazy. Yeah. And, uh, I think my off-roader would probably be, oh my gosh. Um, the SG Forester that Robert Champion. Oh yeah. Yeah.

[01:00:54] That one, that one, uh, I, I kind of fell in love with the SG Foresters when I was hanging out with Ben. Um, just seeing that thing kind of do what it did off, off road. I was like, dude, that's kind of sick. I like that. Um, and then I saw Robert and I was like, yeah. I said that one, that one looked like it can, it can move off road. Yeah. Ben as in, uh, uh, lifted Subarus. Lifted. Yeah. Lifted Subarus. Oh yeah. That guy. Yeah. That guy.

[01:01:26] Yeah. Yeah. It was funny to see the things that he's taking that thing through. Um, and that's when I was kind of like, oh, that's kind of cool, man. I like, I like how that kind of handles off road. Yeah. It's, uh, I love the older Foresters. They're so nice. Yeah. So let's say Subaru offered you one of their current models in the lineup to drive for like, let's say a month, which one would it be and why? However, you couldn't add any mods, but you could take it, you know, like off road if,

[01:01:56] if you chose like an off road vehicle. Uh, I'd probably do the Outback Wilderness. Um, just given everything that I already do with the vehicle, I kind of want to see like what does a, uh, pretty much stock off roading vehicle. What can it do off road? Yeah. I've, I've seen some videos of what it can do, but for the stuff that I do, I kind of want to see what it does. Yeah. So how would it do where you're taking it? I think it would be fine.

[01:02:26] Um, the only thing I would have to do is ensure that I air down the tires. Yeah. I guess, I guess like you could say add skid plates, you know, because you wouldn't want to bust the underneath of a brand new, uh, Outback. That would be the only thing you could do is skid plates. That would be smart. Yeah. I don't know. I don't think any of the areas that I had in mind wouldn't need skid plates. I think with the lift that it has, I think I could get through it just easy.

[01:02:55] But yeah, there is a couple of trails where I know that I would definitely need to have a skid plate on if I was going to take it up there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So with like all the people that you've gone out with hitting trails and just exploring or, you know, just getting out with your Subarus, do you have like a funny story from one of y'all, your adventures? Um, I'd say the, maybe not funny.

[01:03:21] Um, I'd remove my, uh, mid pipe on a Jeep badge up on a trail. That was awesome. Oh, I bet that sounded cool. Huh? It sounded amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Luckily I had already gotten used to it because I, at that time I had just the nameless performance exhaust, um, in the rear.

[01:03:44] Um, so I had the stock mid pipe and we did, uh, it was, it was Chris, Brandon, Cass, Derek, and myself when we did Cedar tree and it was raining. Um, and I was in the rear conditions. Yeah. Yeah. I was in the rear, um, right behind Derek and I was kind of looking at Derek's lines, um, which is, he has the same vehicle, but obviously he has a lot more done to it and a little bit higher than I was.

[01:04:14] And I think I had the, uh, stock, uh, Ironman suspension on it. So I was sagging a little bit too. And so he went over this line and I didn't see a root there. And, uh, but I went, I went and followed that kind of same line. And then as soon as I went over it, my car like slid into this like roots. And I think the rear, um, passenger tire was stuck. The front part was stuck.

[01:04:40] So the, the fender was stuck on between the tire and the fender was a root. Oh. And so when I tried, uh, I got kind of locked in and the guys got out of their vehicles and pushed me back. And when I got pushed back, uh, my exhaust got bent up on the root itself and probably another rut in the, in the rear. And so like my exhaust kind of got chopped off. So it was their fault for pushing you back. No, it was not their fault.

[01:05:10] They got me out of the situation. I didn't have to use any traction boards or anything, but. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was fun. Yeah. And then, um, we got to a good stopping point and it was like pouring down rain and, um, we had to take it off cause it was just dragging on the ground. So, so we ended up, so I ended up finishing, I think the rest a little bit more of the trail with it like that. But yeah, I just wanted, I didn't want to go backwards cause I didn't want to rip it off anymore. Yeah. Fun times.

[01:05:40] Yeah. It was fun. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a little trail modification. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can always fix it. Yeah. Uh, yeah. So I guess, I mean, you mentioned it earlier that, uh, cause I was going to ask like, um, um, of all the trips you've taken, like, uh, what would be the most memorable or special? And you mentioned that spot earlier. So I guess that probably takes it, huh?

[01:06:08] No, I would say, um, the most memorable, especially this year was the Subi, Tini Subi's, uh, Sand Lake. Oh yeah. Event on the dunes. That was, that was really cool. Like I, I didn't even know that it existed on the, on the coast. Um, I've been to Pacific city, but, um, there's a spot on there. I forgot the name of the beach that you could drive on, but it's very touristy. So like there's, there's bound to be somebody that gets stuck out there because they're just

[01:06:36] not prepared to go driving on the beach. Yeah. Whereas this, this lake was more like an OSV park. So like everybody out there had to have like a OSV license to get on, on the sand. Yeah. So like, it was just like, it felt like sheer chaos for a little while, but it was, uh, it was kind of cool just to do something different. That's not something that I would normally go for. I usually like the calm, like off-roading in the mountains or through like Jeep Badger

[01:07:04] honor trails, uh, for my kind of off-roading, but going out there on the dunes and seeing that from a different perspective was definitely awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, y'all are blessed out there. Got some cool spots to get out to. Uh, yeah, it was awesome. Uh, it was awesome to kind of be in the right spot at the right moment.

[01:07:29] I feel like I got some pretty good shots and, uh, video footage of everybody having fun out there. Yeah. Yeah. I saw some of that. That was really cool. Uh, is there anything else you want to share about like your build or your journey or, you know, your Subaru itself before we get into these last few bits? Um, let's see here.

[01:07:56] Yeah, I guess I never said that I do have the updated Ironman suspension that I switched to the spec Cs, which has a little bit of higher payload. So yeah, I was, I was running the medium spec for a while, but now with the extra payload that I have, I switched over to the, to that. Um, let's see here. Uh, yeah, I think that's pretty much it for my, my build.

[01:08:26] I have, uh, I have some plans in mind. I would like to do, uh, probably a torque locker eventually just to help with the grip in the rear. Um, I have a sticker that Ben gave me that says lock light bars over lockers, but that's just a joke. That's just a joke. Cause I, I went light bars first before learning about lockers. Uh, but, uh, just seeing, uh, some of the guys on the crew and what they can do with their

[01:08:54] lockers definitely leans me in that direction. Um, then probably just making it a little bit more comfortable for the family when they go, when we go camping. So a fridge and drawer system would probably be nice to have just, uh, can have our son's food nice and fresh. Yep. Yeah. Good fridge is, is important. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's so much nicer too than just like your traditional cooler because it's going to always keep everything cool.

[01:09:23] You don't have to have any melted ice and dealing with all of that. You know, you, unless you're somewhere where you can get more ice, your ice is only going to last so long, but the refrigerators are so nice. Cause like I've, I've been out with people before and they have the refrigerators and it's like, it's just, it's so nice. It's so cool. Yeah. Yeah. And especially with a toddler's food, you want to keep that definitely regulated. So yeah. Yeah.

[01:09:52] That's kind of where I'm leaning towards that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, well, how would you say that owning your Subaru has changed your life and I guess the lives of you and your family? I feel like it changed it, um, in a good way, in a positive way. I feel like, especially being a military, uh, I guess not really a transplant, but transplant after service, um, being in a new area, I didn't really know anyone or know anything

[01:10:20] about outdoor life or like hiking, camping, off-roading as much as I do now. I'm not saying I know everything, but I know a lot more that I did before. Um, it, having a Subaru definitely allowed me to feel comfortable to reach out to other Subaru owners to learn about their experiences and what things they've done to their vehicle to help them enjoy their experience.

[01:10:46] And so, um, and then through that, I've just met awesome people, um, in the, doing that process. So I feel like it's changed us, our lives in a significant and positive way. So, yeah, it's, uh, you know, it's, it's just meeting people in general, like that are doing the same things that you are doing that are, have the same interests and again, can

[01:11:10] help you with your vehicle and then help you get out to places that you didn't know about, you know, cause there's always going to be somebody that's explored more places and, uh, being able to like share that is, is really cool. Yeah. And I met someone like you. Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's always fun to meet people in person. Yeah. It's awesome. Do you think you'll always own a Subaru?

[01:11:41] I would try to. Um, yeah, I think I would try to, um, hoping that I can keep the Forrester going long enough to maybe pass it down to my son. Yeah. We'll see. Yeah. But let's see how many things I can do to it without breaking it in the meantime. So, uh, yeah. Um, but yeah, I think I was saying one, um, we just got the new one and I feel like that

[01:12:08] one's a good family holler, but we're, we need to make it a little bit more conducive to the Pacific Northwest, similar to what we did with the Forrester. So. Yeah. So. Yeah. It, uh, it'll come along. I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, uh, there's this last segment where we get to know you a little bit better, but who is Richard as in describe yourself? Uh, I'm just a chill guy that lives in the Pacific Northwest.

[01:12:36] You know, I'd like to get out off road a little bit and kind of find a nice area to chill, um, kind of relax the mind. Um, I also like to hang out with my family. So I bring them on those adventures as well as my dog. So spending time in the nature and kind of letting the calm, smooth your nerves with what you like to do. That's, that's me in a nutshell. All right. Yeah, that's good. How, what is a favorite memory from your childhood?

[01:13:07] Um, I think maybe just kind of, uh, riding bikes to your friend's house and just seeing your other friend's bikes in the front yard and knowing exactly they were there. Oh man. Going over and playing some, some video games and not really doing anything crazy, but just hanging out with your friend. Yeah. Yeah. I miss that as a kid, you know, going to other friends' houses and just hanging out

[01:13:34] and going and riding bikes and jumping little hills and, you know, exploring a neighborhood. And it's, uh, those were definitely simpler times. Yeah. And then you would ride your bike for miles, even though your parents didn't know that you were out that far away from home. Yeah. Yeah. I know it's, uh, I remember when, when my kids were little, we didn't let them venture out like that. And, uh, you know, it's like being a parent too.

[01:14:04] It's like, you just want to make sure you know where they are and that they're okay. And it's not that like our parents didn't care about us. It was just, you know, it was just different times. It's like, it's just the best way to put it. Yeah. I lived in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina, so it was kind of easy to do that. Yeah. Where at North Carolina? Uh, I grew up in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Where's that like in relation to Charlotte? Cause I've been to Charlotte.

[01:14:33] It's like three hours away from Charlotte, but only an hour away from Raleigh. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Yeah. I've been to Raleigh also. Yeah. We call it the suburbs of Raleigh, even though it's like really still pretty far away. Yeah. Uh, so you mentioned it earlier, as far as like going to school, you're going to school for finance. So I guess that's what you do for a living is you're in finance, correct? Yeah. I'm a financial analyst for a credit union. Okay.

[01:15:03] Do you have a dream job? Yeah. I would love to, uh, kind of shoot some nature content and do that full time. Um, it's just, uh, it's so nice to get out there and just kind of show people your perspective of what you see when you're out exploring, um, telling a story through that. Um, so I would love to do that and live off road full time or not in a apartment or a house

[01:15:32] full time and have a nine to five. So, but yeah, that would be my dream job is to get out there, explore and kind of make some memories and share it with everybody else. Yeah. That's a good dream job. Yeah. What is something that makes you want to get out of bed every day? Um, just, I think now being a father, just kind of getting up and making sure everything is good to go for him and my family.

[01:16:00] So, um, just knowing that I have my responsibilities as a, as a parent and a husband. So I get up to make sure that that happens, you know? Yeah. And what is something that makes you want to stay in bed? Probably meetings. Um, especially at work. If I have, uh, if I have like, uh, especially in this line of work, if you have, um, a meeting

[01:16:26] back to back to back and you're just like, I don't really want to have a meeting about something different every 30 minutes to an hour. Do you work from home? Uh, no, it's hybrid. So I kind of go into the office more often. Um, I only live like 30 minutes away from the office. So it's really easy for me to go to where it's not really that inconvenient. Yeah. But yeah, I usually go in the office when I have meetings.

[01:16:53] So that's kind of why I don't enjoy getting out of bed. Yeah. Yeah. Man, dude, back to back meetings are rough. Yeah. Like, I just want to break. Yeah. I want to break. I want to think about something else for a little bit and kind of understand what just happened for the past 30 minutes to an hour before I go to another meeting. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what is something that really scares you?

[01:17:21] I would probably say, especially being from the military, being unprepared. So just going into a situation like when you get, when I got, when we got stuck in the snow, it was just, I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't, you know? Yeah. So that kind of scares me just being out there and not having everything you need when you think you do. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so besides all Subaru or all things Subaru and like your family, like what is something

[01:17:50] that really excites you? Right now, um, I've kind of gotten into, uh, to cycling. So, uh, this is kind of, uh, I've always been a kind of fitness person, especially being in the, in the Marines that was kind of shoved down our throats, uh, so to speak. Uh, so that kind of just stuck with me and I, I used to play basketball a lot and just

[01:18:16] getting a little bit older and not being as awesome at basketball as you used to be when you were younger. I kind of wanted to find something that I could still get some exercise in. Uh, and that was kind of psyching now. Nice. Yeah. It's always good to find something new too, especially if, if it's something you haven't really done before and then you find out you really like it, then that's always cool. Yeah.

[01:18:44] That kind of stemmed from like doing the content when you're on the trail, you set up the tripod and you run back to the car and you're like, you're like gas. I'm like, Oh man, I just ran like maybe 50 feet. I need to, I need to do something. Yeah. Oops. Yeah. Now cycling's good. Yeah. Um, what would be your best bit of advice to give to someone about anything?

[01:19:12] Uh, just not being afraid to show up. Um, sometimes the easiest thing to do is just not show up or think that you can't do something. So yeah, you never know until you don't try or yeah, I think that's right. But you never know until you try. That's right. Um, so just trying to get out of your comfort zone and doing something different.

[01:19:37] Um, that's pretty much how I found out about my legacy brewers is just getting out of your comfort zone and asking people about their builds, asking what works for them. Um, getting out of your comfort zone, going on trail runs with people who are way more experienced with you and seeing how they take obstacles helps you learn how to do the same and get confident in your vehicle's capabilities, especially when it comes to off-roading and doing different things. So just show up, uh, you never know what can happen. You might, might grow from it.

[01:20:07] Yeah. Cause you could end up like going and getting a big lift and underbody protection and all this stuff. But if you don't know how to navigate the terrain, then all that stuff doesn't really do you much good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can do all the modifications in the world, but if you don't know how to use it, um, then it's kind of pointless. So, yeah. And then, uh, and speaking on that, it's just kind of learning your vehicle, what, what its capability is off-road.

[01:20:37] So get out there and, and explore, figure out what you can and can't do. So. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like I was talking about with going to Colorado, you know, I, the spot that we were in and the, the, the line that I took, there's just, there was literally physically no way I could have gotten through it because I ended up getting high centered trying to back out of it. And then when the guy, the two guys, they took the same line that I took and they both hit

[01:21:05] their bumpers going down and then up over the next little section. And one of the guys had a tubular steel bumper. So that was fine. The other guy, he just didn't care. He hit his, Chris, he just hit his, his, uh, bumper and it flexed. And then, you know, he just kept going. And then it was, it was the next day we were out on a trail and he jumped his outback. We've, there was, yeah, there was like this, this mound of dirt or this like hill that

[01:21:35] was basically like a ramp and he just like went way back, drove really fast and then jumped it. And then like, I think he bent his skid plate and then like the frame rail that goes underneath his, uh, radiator where the, um, where the skid plate attaches to. And we were like, oh my gosh, I can't believe he just jumped his outback. Was he able to make it back? Oh yeah. Yeah. No, he was, it was fine. I mean, it was just bent up a little bit.

[01:22:04] He sent us like a video and pictures later and yeah. Oh man. He didn't really like mess it up that. Yeah. Uh, but yeah, it's just like, it was kind of crazy, but it was fun. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. And again, that was my, that was my first off-roading experience and I did it in Colorado and with a couple of guys that had more experience, a couple of guys that I had already had on the podcast. So it was just like, it was super cool. Yeah.

[01:22:35] And I bet you learned something from that experience. Oh yeah. So, uh, I, I know people that listen to the podcast regularly. Well, I've heard, cause I know they've heard this story, but when we went out there, uh, being my first time also driving in a manual off-road me and my son was with me and I was trying to go up this like little hill and it was like, I was going at it kind of uneven

[01:23:03] and, you know, not straight on and not really knowing how to get up and over this little hill. And I mean, when I say little hill, it was like maybe the, it was probably as tall as like the middle of my door. And so I was trying to go up and over it. So it wasn't like, it wasn't real big, but you know, it was like a kind of steep hill going up and then going back down. And so, you know, you would get close to being high centered, but not, not, not too bad.

[01:23:33] But anyway, trying to drive up and over in a manual and my son was like, what is that smell? I'm like, that's my clutch. Yeah. You're burning the clutch out. Yeah. So I didn't, you know, I didn't really know how to do it. And then like, you know, after we'd been driving over some of that stuff for a while, I was like, okay, I think I got this. But yeah, that was funny. Yeah. It was such, that was like, it was such a fun trip.

[01:24:01] I was like, we drove all the way there, drove all the way back. And, and I've driven, I've also driven all the way up to Madison, Wisconsin from Houston, which is like 1100 miles one way. And yeah, it took me, I, I took two, like you said, your trip would have been like 18 hours straight. So was this. And I broke it up into two days. I drove nine hours one day, spent the night in Arkansas and then drove nine hours the next day. And then drove all the way back.

[01:24:29] And the drive back was longer because my roof rack was leaking. And that's a whole different story. But, but like just driving that far and I get back home and I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I drove from here all the way there and back. Like it just seems kind of crazy to drive that far. But yeah, it does. But you don't get to see the same things you do from a plane. Yeah. But it's like, you know, it's driving there and then driving back.

[01:24:58] It's like, it's, you're seeing, you've got all the scenery, it's beautiful and everything. But then when you get back, you're like, man, I can't believe I just did that. That seems kind of crazy because it's so far and driving for so many hours. But yeah, the scenery is just a hundred percent worth it. Yeah. It makes it awesome. Especially road tripping. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me.

[01:25:24] I know I got to talk with you some out at Overland Expo P&W. Oh yeah, man. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Great to have you on. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's always fun to get more people on here. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So I'm sure it's nice to have some, some of your time back now that summer classes are over, but hope you get to enjoy some time for a while. You're going to, I guess you're going to end up going back. Yeah.

[01:25:53] I have, I have two more submissions left, but they're not as robust as they have been historically. So when, when do you go back? Sometime in September. Okay. So I have a little bit of time. Yeah. Well, enjoy your time off until then. Yeah. Thanks. Appreciate it. Yeah. You're welcome. All right, man. Well, you have a good night and I'll talk to you later. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it. You're welcome. All right. Bye. Bye.

[01:26:40] Some minutes. Bye.

[01:27:08] you all have a wonderful week. We'll see you next Monday for another Subie Scoop, and we'll talk to you then. So much Subie love, Raph. The Subie & You podcast is hosted by Raphael in a closet in Houston, produced by Raphael in a room next to the closet in Houston, and edited by Raphael on a computer in the room next to the closet in Houston, with music by Luke Ruiz in another room in Houston.

[01:27:33] You can find the Subie & You podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and many more. To support the podcast, please head over to patreon.com slash subieandyoupodcast. Once you join, you will have access to the Discord channel and Discord chats with other patrons. If you'd like to get in contact with the show, you can find them on Instagram at subieandyoupodcast, online at subieandyoupodcast.com, or by email, subieandyoupodcast at gmail.com.

[01:28:02] That's all for this week.