Same here. In my area TRD Off Road can be had at ~$36k right away and I bet even less than that if you work on it. Yes, it won't have all the bells and whistles Passport has and the ride is substantially different, but it has a trailer hitch from the factory which will be another ~$1.5 k "tax" if you want it on Passport.
Regarding buying through Costco. I have limited experience but positive. I bought my wife's CR-V using Costco and got a great deal on it. It was end of October, 2014, and 2015 (MMC) CR-V just hit the dealers lots in the beginning of the month. Nobody was willing to move off MSRP. Through Costco I was given "Invoice" - $500. I do not know what played role in quoting such low price but I know for sure that at that point they didn't have a price yet from Costco on 2015 CR-V.
The moral of the story: try Costco. It might be worth spending $60 on membership and getting a deal on a car.