German couple takes a trip of a lifetime in unique Land Rover

NEHALEM BAY, Ore. - Sometimes you stumble across a camping rig that makes you do a double take - and this modified Land Rover Defender certainly falls into that category.

The tent on the top is what caught my attention, so I just had to stop and talk to the folks about their rig and hear their story.

It turns out the unique Land Rover belongs to Stefan Erdle, who is traveling with his girlfriend, Silke Stiefel. 

The two are from Germany and are in the middle of a year-long tour of the U.S. and Canada.  And come November, they plan to continue their trek south through Mexico and then hopefully on down to South America.

"It just depends on the money," Erdle said.

Erdle said they started off in Baltimore, Maryland, toured Canada, spent time in Alaska and are now here on the Oregon coast, where I caught up with them at Nehalem Bay State Park.

And they are traveling the entire time in this eye-catching Land Rover Defender - shipped by boat from Germany to the U.S. - which has been modified to fit their needs.

The most obvious modification is the big, red tent on the roof, which is accessed by a ladder.  And underneath the tent is a specially built roof rack that provides a base for the tent and supplies. 

There is also diamond plating on the hood and it's not just for looks - it's there for those times they need to crawl on up to access their stuff on the roof.

The unique Land Rover Defender isn't just rigged up for camping - it's got off-road tires, an 8,000-pound winch and two sand ladders (one on each side).  The sand ladders are detachable and are used for freeing a stuck rig from sand or mud.

It's a unique way to travel, for sure.  And Erdle said modified or not, you don't normally see a Land Rover Defender, which is a British off-road utility vehicle, in the United States.

"We're more popular here than we are at home," he said with a laugh.

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