Recently, our own Bronco Nation member John Lacy was selected to attend an exclusive overlanding adventure trip through the Mojave hosted by Ford Bronco and Four Points Adventure. I’ve only known John for a few months, but it’s been a delight to watch his off-roading journey evolve from his first trails at Bronco Safari. When I found out he was going, and I got over my initial jealousy, I asked him to share the details of his journey with us, in his own words.
Meet John Lacy
I’m John Lacy, and I’m a stagehand in the entertainment industry. I specialize in lighting, and these days, I'm most often employed as a gaffer on motion pictures and television shows. I have worked in interesting places like from Iceland to Morocco.
I LOVE talking about my Bronco!
In August 2020, my wife gave me the go ahead to order the vehicle I’d been dreaming about since high school. A couple years later my two-door, non-SAS Black Diamond Bronco finally arrived. It was love at first sight. In just a little over a year, my Bronco and I have been to Bronco Off-Roadeo Nevada, (which gave me the interest and confidence to go to Moab), Central Coast Bronco Club, and Gold Coast Bronco Club events in California, Bronco Safari, Bend, Palo Duro Canyon, Big Bend, and lastly the Mojave Desert, finishing at King of the Hammers.
How the Bronco Nation helped me develop my off-roading skills
While waiting for my Bronco to be built, I read everything there was to read about Broncos and this led me to discover The Bronco Nation. It is a great resource to have while you wait for your Bronco. I learned about the features my Bronco would have, potential modification ideas, trips to go on, and off-roading advice.
My first Bronco Nation event was the 2023 Bronco Safari in Moab. A stock Bronco with 32's wasn’t exactly a common sight during this event, but the Bronco Off-Roadeo trail guides got me positively hooked on the sport. The Bronco Nation campground was such a welcoming family, regardless of your experience level. I specifically remember a member looking at my Bronco at the campsite and asking if I was the same Bronco with steelies that struggled up a spot on Nine Mile Rim that same day. I was embarrassed to admit to him that it was me because this probably slowed the group down, but instead he told me that everybody was cheering me on. I've been to two other Bronco Nation events since and experienced the same camaraderie.
Overlanding in the Mojave
What interested me about the Mojave trip was that I had never overlanded before and thought this would be a great way to learn. I liked that there would be a fairly small number of Broncos, and as a bonus, I would also get to attend King of the Hammers. Of course, I didn't think I would be picked given the limited number of spots available, but I guess it paid off that I spent a lot of time on the Bronco Nation website and expressed interest early.
Meeting at Bronco Off-Roadeo Nevada
The trip started for my brother Jim and I at Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas on Monday, Jan. 29th. We traveled from the Bay Area and were scheduled to meet up with the overlanding group the next day. What a beautiful place to camp.
We met up with the group at Bronco Off-Roadeo Nevada on the next day and after introductions, laughs and photos, we were off to the Mojave. We were all from different areas of the country, with very different backgrounds, but we all hit it off immediately. Carl, from Arizona, and my brother Jim, from Hamburg, Germany, were always cracking jokes and taking videos of the trip. Everyone participated in the fun, and nobody was ever left out of the activities.
We traveled east-to-west across the Mojave, often on the famous Mojave Road, but also jumping off of it for interesting stops. We hiked Rock Springs, an underground lava tube, a deserted cinder mine, and stopped by the Mojave Mailbox to sign the register book!
Day three gave us a little more technical off-roading than the first two days. Our guides Todd and Tom took the time to help recover a stuck van whose passengers were very happy to see us.
Recovering the van got us in to King of the Hammers much later than we were expecting. Luckily, Robert, from Bronco Nation, had a camping area ready for us and so we got to stay in our tight knit group with our nice warming hut. Another highlight of the day was when Bronco Off-Roadeo trail guide and Ford Performance driver, Melissa Clark stopped by to visit the group that evening.
images: Mike Levine
On day four, our group was off for an unscheduled trip to Bronco Knoll. We were now rolled into all the KOH activities at Bronco Nation basecamp, but our group had bonded so well for the last three days that we all decided to stick together. We raced through the sand, loved making it up Bronco Knoll, and then back to Hammertown The second half of the day was spent chasing the racers around Chocolate Thunder and the other race obstacles.
Things I learned about myself and my Bronco
What I learned about my Bronco is, that for my purposes and needs, the 2 door Black Diamond with a handful of upgrades is perfect for overlanding (yes everything fits in a 2 door just fine) and my off-road trips. I couldn’t be happier with my choice of Bronco. My off-road and overlanding trips are the highlights of the year for me and when Bronco Nation announced upcoming 2024 events, I scribbled four events on my calendar already.
I would also say that I learned enough and gained enough confidence on this trip that I could go overlanding on my own, or travel with one of my local Bronco clubs on an overlanding trip. You can bet that when the pocket book gets full again, I will definitely do another overlanding trip like this.
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