When you think of adventure, what do you think of first? Maybe a day trip to your local riding spot? Maybe an overnight camping adventure with tents, some campfire wood, and some chairs for the family? What about a month long journey across the country in a UTV? Yeah, we didn’t think it would be the last one…
Hubert Rowland, best known as “America’s Favorite RedNek” from the Nitro Circus phenomena, decided that he wanted to be the first person to complete the entire TransAmerica Trail in a UTV. It has been attempted before, but not exactly from sea to shining sea. After all, the crew at Nitro Circus is known for being the “first” at doing extreme stunts, and he wasn’t going to let anyone else beat him to the challenge.
Hubert also knew that he couldn’t do this alone. While there are a ton of people who would want to do a trip like this, there aren’t many who can take a month off for adventure. Hubert is one of those people who doesn’t take a moment off of work, but he can get out because he works for himself. He also knew the value in taking someone that could help promote the feat, and there was no better adventure-driven person to go on this journey than Pleasant Cook, best known as @4x4Barbie on Instagram. She is one of the most fun and adventure-ready people you will ever meet, and she was more than ready to take on the challenge of being the first UTV drivers to cross the country, let alone without any backup support.
So, after about a year of off-and-on planning while staying true to his “go for it” style and never-say-quit attitude, Hubert, along with Pleasant and a small team of adventure-ready people, set off from literally the beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on August 3, 2017.
Preparation
Preparing for a trip like this could take months, even years, for most people. Hubert, on the other hand, is a RedNek for a reason. He grew up being the Macgyver of the group, learning how to think outside of the box from a very young age. He used his mechanic’s skills to prep 3, 2017 Polaris UTV’s for this trip – a RZR XP Turbo, a RZR XP1000, and a 2-seat General. These cars literally had 3 miles on them. In an effort to ensure that each of these vehicles would be well equipped to last for the long and somewhat unknown 5000 mile journey, Hubert prepped each one of these cars with the utmost in care. This was all done knowing that they would have NO chase vehicles accompanying them on the journey… Yes, you read that right! No support would be following the travelers on this journey, so they had to make it in one piece. As we like to say, “Challenge Accepted”!
As the departure date kept sneaking closer, Hubert and Pleasant finished up several launch videos for social media and the recap video that you will see here. After all, no adventure like this would be complete these days without properly allowing people to follow along on social media and through other media avenues. Hubert partnered with LeadNav to be able to map out all of the trails before he left on this journey. This partnership also allowed him to be tracked every step of the way if people wanted to follow along on the journey. He told us that people came up to him multiple times along the way and were so excited to be a part of the journey. More on those experiences later…
Once the cars were all prepped and ready to go, the crew headed east towards the coastal area of Myrtle Beach, SC, which would be their launching point for this entire journey. The plan was to take about a month to complete the endeavor, and they wanted to end up at the end of the trail in Oregon.
The Journey
We thought it would only be appropriate to give you the best inside look into what happened every day. This story is accompanied by two other stories in this magazine – one on Pleasant’s perspective is in the Girl’s Ride Too section, and more on Hubert’s journey is in Campfire Chat at the end of the magazine. We thought it would be fun to read about each day along their journey, so here it goes!
Day by day, follow along the journey as Hubert and Pleasant dish out the details on their adventures:
Day 1 (8/3) : Myrtle Beach, SC – Greenwood, SC
- Inlet Point Plantation Stables (Private land)
- Light Rain throughout the day – nothing like starting the journey with a little weather!
- Talked kids into taking Pleasant and Shana to see the horses
- Gravel roads, light forest made for some great scenery
- Shana rode with Pleasant to the beach and then drove the General while Tyler rode with Hubert.
Day 2 (8/4) : Greenwood, SC – Andrews, NC
- Good weather today
- 2 Veterans rode with us all day today (Zach and David) – this was one of our biggest reasons for doing this trip is to allow other people the opportunity to join us.
- Mostly covered forest for riding
- Shana rode with Hubert. Tyler drove the General
- Dead end roads – we found plenty of them today. The official count for “who can make the most wrong turns” on the journey officially started
- Ate at pizza place for dinner. Pleasant may or may not have messed up the pizza orders. The men were forgiving.
Day 3 (8/5) : Andrews, NC – Chatsworth, GA
- Good weather today!
- Pleasant and Shana lost the keys to the 1000. Finally found them locked in the back of the General. As we like to say, it’s “part of the adventure”
- Hubert and Shana headed out to gas station. No one followed. Get a phone call asking where the keys were to the General. Hubert had them so we had to go back to hotel and give them the keys.
- Official starting point of the Trans-American Trail – we wanted to go coast to coast so we started a little early on the trail
- Heavy woods, creeks, farms, drove over a lake – very cool scenery!
- Thunder Mountain General Store and Deli
- Great Smoky Mountains – what a sight to ride through
- Met Hubert’s family friends at restaurant
- Zach and David (veterans) left
- Cop showed up at hotel and said “Another day, another beer”. He thought the trip was an awesome experience. He is also a fan of the Nitro Circus.
Day 4 (8/6) : Chatsworth, GA – Kimball, TN
- Good weather
- Un-hooked and zip tied drive shaft up because it was off balanced. New one being shipped to MS
- Farms, wooded drive
- Lookout/ Bluff at Chickamauga, GA
- Met an old farmer. Bluff overlooked his produce farm
- Ate dinner at Cracker Barrel, grabbed a few things from Wal-Mart. Gotta have the essentials for the trail!
Day 5 (8/7) : Kimball, TN – Fayetteville, TN
- Moderate to heavy rain definitely made for a fun adventure today. The windshields made it much easier to manage
- Drove through Sewanee, which is near Chattanooga.
- Jack Daniels Distillery tour – one of the most fun parts of the journey!
- Fellow Nitro Circus athlete, Jolene Van Vugt, and Anne met us at Jack Daniels and toured the facility with us.
- Thought we lost Pleasant but a helmet fell off one of the RZR’s. Pleasant stopped to grab it.
- Jolene scared Hubert with the fox mask. You never know what the Nitro crew is going to do!
- Met Hubert’s friend on road, went to his place to go back way to town.
- Trees down in the middle of the forest; had to use the chainsaw for the first time. Blade was dull, had to get another chainsaw. After we cut the tree, there was another tree down. This trail seemed never ending, but we managed to get through the hurdles. We decided to just turn around and take the original path
- Hubert and Shana went down steep incline. Did not have 4WD due to drive shaft, had to winch up hill.
- Pleasant also got stuck and had to winch.
- Shana’s family and friends came to visit while in TN.
Day 6 (8/8) : Fayetteville, TN – Corinth, MS
- Light rain at beginning, good weather overall
- Open wooded roads
- Met Anne at The Outpost General Store in Savannah, TN. This is a tourist shop with creative wood work.
- Pleasant, Jolene, and Shana went to their tree house and to the creek behind store. Had swing and zip line on the tree house.
- Shana drove General after Jolene left. Tyler rode with Pleasant.
- Crossed closed bridge – some things are better kept under wraps
- Went to Lake Hills Motors and Marines dealership to change driveshaft. Toured shop. Lots of antique dirt bikes and motorcycles – right up our alley!
- Pleasants parents, Eddie and Sherri Cook, met us at hotel
Day 7 (8/9) : Corinth, MS -Batesville, MS
- Meet and greet at Lake Hill Motors this morning
- Met Critter Bikes Crew. They all have unique bikes and nicknames – great bunch of people!
- Pleasants mom (Sherri) rode with her
- Tyler rode with Shana in the General
- Open dirt roads, farms
- Finally got to do laundry at hotel
- Ate at Chili’s with Pleasant’s parents.
Day 8 (8/10) : Batesville, MS – Beebe, AR
- Hot weather
- Drove over Mississippi river into Arkansas
- Turn-rows, cotton fields and endless crop land
- Plot twist: Hubert does push ups for missing turns
- Randomly crossed paths with Shana’s friend, Cathy Russell, at intersection of Hwy 1 and Hwy 49 in Marvell. Cat lives in Turner, AR and was driving to the bank when she saw us. Stopped at intersection to visit.
- A fan of Pleasants stopped by hotel to meet her.
- Shana’s friends Cat and Hayli met us at hotel that night (planned few days prior). Cat did not know we would be driving through Marvell.
- Ate at a recommended Mexican Restaurant that night.
Day 9 (8/11) : Beebe, AR – Ozark, AR
- Surprise visit to Cockrills Country Critters, which is a petting zoo in Cabot, AR. They have all kinds of farm and exotic animals: miniature horses, cows, pigs, turtles, turkey, goats, camels, kangaroos, monkeys, llamas and more.
- Pleasant got boxed by a kangaroo
- Tyler (who is not fond of animals) sat on the camel
- Nail in Pleasant’s tire, had to plug it
- Stayed at cabin on the river
- Rotated tires on all machines at cabin
- Tyler went couple rounds with a turkey
Day 10 (8/12) : Ozark, AR – Pryor, OK
- Hot weather, dusty
- Mountains, bluffs
- Hubert gave Pleasant “Racing 101” lessons
- 2 guys met up with us on trail and road to OK with us – Nick & Aberham
Day 11 (8/13) : Pryor, OK – Private Farm (Kansas)
- Hot weather, dusty again today
- Open range, ranches, cattle guards
- Pretty bridges
- Drifted corners in machines for footage
- Drove to wind mills for pictures
- Took pictures on an oil rig
- Stayed in Caldwell, KS instead of private farm
- Pleasant was excited to stay at the Country Inn because they always have fresh cookies. She was highly let down when we arrived at the hotel – it wasn’t the corporate Country Inn.
- Sheriff of town stopped by hotel and was interested in what we were doing. He wanted to go on the trip with us. Told us about the history of Caldwell and what the town is known for.
Day 12 (8/14) : Caldwell, KS – Beaver, OK
- Light rain
- Guy and his dog (Quentin & Dudley) followed us in his truck
- Took pictures in front of Caldwell Historic Cowtown District and monument that was outside of town.
- Muddy roads. Pleasant and Tyler covered themselves and the machines in mud.
- Hubert and Shana stayed clean in the General.
- Guys truck overheated. So he could no longer follow and went back towards town
- Beautiful ranches
- Hubert purchased “Sticky the Stick horse” at gas station.
- Stayed at a Western motel which was across the street from an arena. (Personally one of Shana & Pleasants favorite places we stayed)
Day 13 (8/15) : Beaver, OK – Trinidad, Co
- Good weather
- Owner of hotel gave Pleasant and Shana a tour of his home. Lots of western decorations, cute little dog and had won a few trophy saddles from when he team roped.
- Stopped by local sand dunes
- Shana drove the General, Tyler rode with Pleasant.
- Hornet got in Shana’s shirt and stung her 4 times on the back. Pulled over, took her shirt off in front of everyone. Hubert was ahead and had to turn around to see what happened.
- Stopped at store and really nice lady gave Shana Benadryl. They said that the town we were in is where “Hank the Cowdog” originated. The book series was based off a true story.
- Shana had another run in with a hornet in the General. Hubert said it was probably a grasshopper. Gave Hubert a dramatic story about how this hornet has been staring at me for the past few miles and that he is prepared for battle. Hubert took care of him though. (PS. I hate wasps and hornets)
- Meet Travis Pastrana and Steve McCann at gas station
- Pleasant and Travis jumped railroad tracks – staying true to the Nitro style
- Drifted a few corners to get some footage
- Sheriff was called and stopped by to tell us that there was a complaint about us drifting corners and causing a ruckus
- Travis and Tyler leave for airport. Steve will finish out the trip with us.
- Steve found the rental keys in his pocket so we had to meet Travis on the road to give him the keys to the rental car.
- Drove through New Mexico. Took pictures by Santa Fe Trail sign.
- Heavy storm: Rain and heavy winds. Barely missed hailstorm
Day 14 (8/16) : Trinidad, CO – Westcliffe, CO
- Chilly morning
- Met the owner of Topar Inc to wash machines
- Owner gave Pleasant and Shana a tour of shop
- Beautiful mountains, open range, cattle
Day 15 (8/17) : Westcliffe, Co – Lake City, CO
- Cold morning
- Shana rode with Pleasant
- The Rocky Mountains – life is good!
- Screw in Pleasants tire, plugged it
- Lots of wildlife here
- Met Kristen and Jesse in town.
- Ate at recommended restaurant
- Pleasant and Shana called Hubert at around midnight because there was a loud noise outside and we saw our window was open. Thought it was a bear.
Day 16 (8/18) : Lake City, CO – Monticello, CO
- Cold
- Old oil refinery’s
- California Pass Elevation – 12,960 ft
- Alpine Loop
- Drove up to snow
- Prairie dogs. Free roaming herd of sheep.
- Cop stopped us at gas station in Silverton. He issued one ticket for $75 and followed us to town. We had to be trailered (all 3 machines) out of town back to gravel road 25 miles away. $800 later, we were back on the trail. Not the finest moment of the adventure
- While waiting for tow truck, Pleasant, Steve and Shana went to get ice cream and toured the town.
- Pleasant and Shana dog sat for several people as they went into the store.
- Did not get to hotel until around 1-2 am.
Day 17 (8/19) : Monticello, CO – Moab, UT
- Hot. Warfighter made, Emily Lewis, joined the crew for a few days
- Lead Nav guys met us on the trail
- Cattle, pine trees
- Lead Nav took some drone shots
- Went to Burger place for late lunch
- Went to Moab Side-by-Side adventures shop to maintenance machines. Changed oil, filters and greased bearings
Day 18 (8/20) : Moab, UT – Castle Dale, UT
- Hot, about 100 degrees
- Desert, Slick Rock
- Rode through Hell’s Revenge all morning
- Hubert and Shana went up Hell’s gate
- Drove through town. Awesome tourist town for off road enthusiasts
Day 19 (8/21) : Castle Dale, UT – Delta, UT
- The Great Eclipse! (got same as cloudy outside but never completely dark)
- Hubert busted tire, plugged it
- A wild lizard let Shana pet it
- Free roaming cattle
- Hotel had a lot of cats
- Ate Mexican for dinner
Day 20 (8/22) : Delta, UT – West Wendover, UT
- Emily left
- Hubert changed tires on RZR Turbo until we can get to ADS for new tires.
- Talked owner of hotel into giving me one of the cats but Hubert wouldn’t let me take it with us
- Shana drove the General and Steve rode with Hubert.
- Saw a trailer full of horses at gas station. The guy was going team roping, the crew wouldn’t let me go rope with him.
- Beautiful scenery. Ranches, mountains, open roads
- Had a dance off in the middle of nowhere.
- Steve drove the General and I rode with him
- Was almost hit by UPS truck going into curve. We had just talked about how people got mail that far out. We had only passed a few houses
- Stayed in Nevada at a casino
- Pleasant and I actually got to dress somewhat decent and fix our hair
- ADS met us at Casino, went to dinner with them.
Day 21 (8/23) : West Wendover, UT – Tremonton, UT
ADS and friends rode with us
Hot, dusty, open roads
Stopped by tourist site “Golden Spike”
Changed tires on RZR Turbo and RZR XP 1000
ADS cooked us dinner
Day 22 (8/24) : Tremonton, UT – Arco, ID
- Good weather
- Shot guns with Jim York of Silencer Co. that morning
- Open range, cattle, ranches
- Gas station had equine products
Day 23 (8/25) : Arco, ID – Featherville, ID
- Mountains
- Had to re-route due to mudslide. Spoke to local older couple, they have been coming to the same area since they were young adults
- Steve went swimming in shallow lake
- Met Whip It Light Rods owner Andy Kirkendale for dinner
- Stayed in cabin
Day 24 (8/26) : Featherville, ID – Payette, ID
- Whip It Light Rods rode with us (Andy Kirkendall and Nick Naillon)
- Town had one gas station. Had to wake the owner up in their camper to turn on the gas pump.
- Pleasant drove the General. Shana drove the RZR XP 1000. Steve rode with Hubert.
- The Rocky Mountains
- Drove trails that were burned and affected by previous wildfires
- Ate dinner at Whip It Light Rods house, watched the big fight – McGreggor vs Mayweather – with them and friends.
- Stayed in their camper that night
Day 25 (8/27) : Payette, ID – John Day, OR
- Chilly morning
- Made air conditioning video
- T-Rex costume (watch the recap video)
- Open range
- Steve missed a sharp curve and went off the road. Pleasant and Shana were behind him and barely saw him in the ditch.
Day 26 (8/28) : John Day, OR – Prineville, OR
- Went to Polaris Dealership. That had coffee shop in the dealership. Steve’s entire day was made, he loves coffee. They had a dog, so that made Shana and Pleasants day.
- 2 men from dealership rode with us
- Police escorted us through town so we could get to main road without any issues.
- Pleasant and I snuck off to waterfall while they were capturing a few videos and footage.
- Steve rolled the General on its side. Hubert not thrilled.
- Drove through a rodeo town, stopped at gas station with horse tack and a lot of old rodeo banners.
Day 27 (8/29) : Prineville, OR – Crescant, OR
- Hot day today
- Shana rode with Pleasant
- Open Mountain Roads
- Very thick dust
- Stopped on one hill for footage, had deep charcoal like gravel.
- Very hazy from smoke due to all of the wildfires
Day 28 (8/30) : Crescent, OR – Springfield, OR
- Thick, heavy smoke from fires.
- Shana was sick to her stomach. Pleasant and her walked a few gas stations down to find pickles.
- Jacqueline Carrizosa joined us for the day
- Shana stole a cat and had it in the room. Turns out it belonged to a lady and she was looking for it.
- Shana met a long time rodeo friend, Brad Rasor- owner of Ridin’ Rank at restaurant we were eating at for lunch.
- Hubert had to reroute a path across the middle of the state because wildfire was where the original route goes.
- Pleasant’s parents met us for lunch, then met us at the next hotel.
- Went out to dinner with Jacqueline before she left that night.
Day 29 (8/31) : Springfield, OR – Florence , OR
- Final Day of The Big RedNek Adventure
- Drove a bunch of dead end log roads following what seemed to be roads on the gps.
- Had to re-route due to being in danger zone of wildfires
- Mountains, woods
- Arrived at the beach about 10 miles North of Florence
- Very windy and cold
- Anne and her sister were on the beach with a Big RedNek Adventure banner to surprise Hubert.
- Pleasant’s parents were there also with the truck and trailer to haul us back.
- Loaded the machines on the trailer and headed out.
- Dropped Steve off at his friend’s house in Portland, OR so he could fly home.
Key Notes & Stats from the Trip
- Pleasant and Hubert went to UTV Invasion in Idaho and then to TerraCross Racing in Minnesota. Hubert raced Terracross with Sticky the Stick Horse.
- The M.I.N.E. game was in effect since day 1. Pleasant and Shana did a lot of push ups for saying M.I.N.E.
- Pleasant always stocked up on peanut butter at the hotels
- Trying to find cell phone service was a never ending struggle
- Steve’s terminology: ” Eski”, which is a cooler.
- We got overly excited to do laundry. Stayed in a hotel every night
- Paper maps, roll charts and map files by Sam Correro: www.Transamtrail.com
- GPS by LEAD NAV App on IPAD with full route saved and satellite imagery saved for offline use, no cell service needed.
- Live Tracking To www.Huberttrax.com by LEAD NAV With their off the grid tracking by satellite. Also able to send txt by satellite in case of trouble.
- Key stats of the trip: 780 gallons used, 3 Air filters, 1 Tube Grease, 21 Tire plugs, 9 quarts of oil, 10 quarts trans fluid, 43 RedBull’s, 536 bottles of water, 41 apples, 4 rolls toilet paper, 3 packs wet wipes, 1 jar pickles, 10 bottles of tea, 18 bananas, 16 nanner peel traps set, 20 single packs of peanut butter, 20 gas station burgers
Equipment carried: 3 spare gas cans (11.5 gallons total), 6 spare axles (2 per machine), 9 spare belts (3 per machine) and we finished on original belts, 2 tie rod kits, 4 ball joints, ball joint press, socket set, impact guns (battery powered), screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, allen & torx wrenches, flash lights, FLY Racing helmets, SENA Bluetooth communication and action cameras, bolt and nut assortment, electrical assortment, rainsuits, fox mask, Sticky the stick horse
The Vehicles
1.) 2017 Polaris General
- SuperATV parts: A-arms with uniball, tie rods, carrier bearing
- Polaris roof, glass windshield with wiper, rear bumper, storage bag
- Sedona split 6 beadlock wheels rock-a-billy tires (Tire Blocks in tires)
- NavAtlas touch screen audio with DVR Cameras, front and rear
- Ryfab aluminum bed topper for sealed storage
- Assault Industries: mirrors & steering wheel hub
- Hess motorsports: steering wheel
- Open trail lights
- Beard seats and harnesses
- Fox Racing Shox RC2 shocks
- Factor 55 winch hook and winch straps
- KFI winch and tiger tail
- Orien 25 qt cooler x2
- MBRP Muffler
- Al3rt theft tracker
- UTV Wiring.com street legal plug and play kit: horn, blinkers, high mount brake light, high beam light bar relay, auxiliary power up kit
2.) 2017 Polaris XP1000
- SuperATV parts: a-arms, ball joints, axles, tinted plexiglass roof, glass windshield, radius rod receiver hitch plate, carrier bearing, chainsaw holder, vinyl back window
- Factor 55 winch hook and winch straps
- Quad logic front bumper
- KFI winch and tiger tail
- Sedona split 6 beadlock wheels rock-a-billy tires (Tire Blocks in tires)
- NavAtlas touch screen audio with DVR cameras, front and rear (Dual GPS antenna)
- Ryfab aluminum storage box
- Assault Industries parts: mirrors, front grill, radius rods, steering wheel hub, door bags with CamelBak
- Hess motorsports steering wheel
- Open trail Lights
- Beard seats and harnesses
- Fox Racing Shox RC2 shocks
- Al3rt theft tracker
- UTV Wiring.com street legal plug and play kit: horn, blinkers, high mount brake light, high beam light bar relay, auxiliary power up kit
3.) 2017 Polaris XP Turbo
- SuperATV parts: a-arms, ball joints, axles, tinted plexiglass roof, glass windshield, radius rod receiver hitch plate, front bumper, vinyl back window, door bags
- Sandcraft RCR drive shaft & carrier bearing
- Factor 55 winch hook and winch straps
- KFI winch and tiger tail
- Sedona split 6 beadlock wheels rock-a-billy tires (Tire blocks in tires)
- NavAtlas touch screen audio with DVR cameras front and rear (Dual GPS antenna)
- Ryfab aluminum storage box
- Assault Industries parts: mirrors, grill, radius rods, steering wheel hub
- Hess motorsports steering wheel
- Open trail Lights
- Beard seats and Harnesses
- Fox Racing Shox HD Shock spring kit
- MBRP Muffler
- Al3rt theft tracker
- UTV Wiring.com street legal plug and play kit: horn, blinkers, high mount brake light, high beam light bar relay, auxiliary power up kit
Other Partners
- Fry heat air and plumbing; Davidsonville, MD
- Cryoheat
- AD Triple S motorsports
- Nitro Circus
- Thanks to Pleasant Cook’s parents, Eddie and Sherri, for driving out to the coast and trailering us back
Thanks to
- Anne Rowland for driving us to the coast and picking up Jolene
- Luke Edwards for driving us to the SC coast
- Trey, Alex, Lacky, Cory, Eddie, Pleasant, and Shana for all the help on machine prep.
- Shana Lester
- Tyler Manuel
- Steve Mccann for the help and organizing filming and documenting the journey
Conclusion
I don’t think Hubert and Pleasant realized just how big of a “Big RedNek Adventure” this would be until they completed the journey. We are amazed that they completed this journey with no support trucks – they carried all of the spare parts, food, and supplies with them in the 3 machines. And, this is a testament to the Polaris machines that they used on the trips.
Are YOU ready for a “Big RedNek Adventure” like this?! Just wait, we are sure Hubert is going to make this happen again, and probably pretty soon…
