2021/07/07 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 20 - Hitting Flagstaff

We left at 9 and headed west...

Next stop Flying J for Gas.

We stopped at KOA but they had no opening for the next two nights, so we got online to find a place and we finally found a place - Black Barts RV Park

Unloaded the 4Runner.

I lost the pins to my flag poll so we stopped at a Tractor Supply Co. to get some new pins and few other things.  Next stop was at Home Depot to get stuff that Tractor Supply did not have.

I went ahead and topped off the 4Runner of the necessary go go juice.

We did several stop in the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Wupatki National Monument. 

Back at the RV to check on the animals.  We had made some reservations.  I did not know that it was a dinner and show at the Black Bart's Steakhouse.

2021/07/05 - Monday - Vacation - Day 18 - Off Road Trail

 We left the campground at 9 and headed into town to get some stuff for the adventure. 

We stopped at Smoothy's Juice Bar and had breakfast.

We stopped at the Great Sand Dunes Visitor Center again.

Before heading up the Medano Pass Primitive Road, we stopped at the base of the big sand dunes.  The sandy part was deep and the 4runner had no issues. We crossed the creek and it was not very deep.  There was a section that had deep nogales.  We stopped along the route to eat lunch, bugs were out also. There was one steep muddy climb and again the 4Runner did great.  Once at the top the down hill side was just a easy dirt road.

Back to the RV to check in on the animals

Went to dinner at St Ives A Pub & Eatery

2021/06/25 - Friday - Vacation - Day 08 - Natchez Trace Pkwy

Because we got delayed, we went ahead and did the Natchez Trace Pkwy instead of going to square dance today.  And I am still not 100% with my back so we want to do the sight seeing instead.

First stop was to get our morning fix - Starbucks.

We headed south to the start of the Trace, We stopped all the different pullout on the right-side (west side) of the road.  We stopped Owens Creek Waterfalls, A sunken trace location, Mount Locust Information Center, and Elizabeth Female Academy.

We got to Natchez about 1:30 and we were hungry for lunch.  We stopped at a small place - The Little Easy - truly southern food.

We stopped at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center and Melrose Estate.  On the way north, just north of Mount Locust Information Center, I did some off-roading on what looks like the very old layout of the trace.

We needed gas for the car, so a stop was necessary.

Still heading north we stopped to find the Rocky Springs Cemetery.  

Back at the RV, it is now dinner time, so out we go again.

Our first choice, the parking lot was FULL and it looked packed.  So we went to our second pick - Logan's Roadhouse.

After dinner the Car needed more go go juice.

Back at the RV to relax.

2011/07/16 – Saturday – Adopt-A-Trail and Holcomb Creek Trail

Amanda and I got up early and we headed out for the mountains.  I planned for a two hour drive.

Before getting on the way, we stopped at the store to get lunch and snacks.

On the way up, I was starting to notice that we were very low on gas and when I took hard left hand turns the Jeep would hesitate (starving for gas)

We made it to the top of the mountain and of course filled the Jeep up with the necessary go go juice.  We made it in 1 ½ hours – so not bad.  I was the first person to be at the meeting location.

In the next hour we had 22 more vehicles (22 Jeeps and one Toyota).  We had the Dirt Devils group and a Big Bear club to join us.

We left a little after 9:00 once the driver meeting was complete.

We headed towards the west end of Deep Creek Trail via Kuffel Canyon Rd, Lake Arrowhead, and Hook Creek Rd

Before heading down to the bridge over Deep Creek some sheriffs where doing some training at the parking area, also the rocks necessary for a gate keeper is staged ready to be moved into place.

We proceed to the bridge to stage and prepared the vehicles for the trail (so we all aired down our tires.)  We also talked with a Ranger that was doing some trash cleanup.

We made it to the waterfall section of the trail and we had traffic.  Five vehicles took about an hour to make it through this section. 

We started and I was the first one to try the waterfall – I tried four times without making up it.  But Quinn was able to make it up (going further to the right), so I showed him which line not to take.  Several others was able to climb it.  All of us made it through the section in about an hour.

We pulled into Crab Flats for a late lunch, we parked on the main road (not in the campground – it was close to being full)

Amanda drove to the next trail which is Holcomb Creek Trail, but some of the group had enough for the day so they did join us for the next trail.

I was no longer the second or the third in line so now I am in the middle.  I helped a few people and extracted one person from the start of the trail (he did not have the front locker working correctly)

While traveling the trail, it has changed.  The fire took a lot of my landmarks away and opened up the views.

You can see the sections they had to work on to restore the trail.  And all the trees they had to cut down.

The east end (upstream) end of the trail no longer has a good gate keeper. There is no real obstacle at the creek crossing.  The last time I did it the hill would help to insure only the equipped vehicles would be able to start the trail.  There is a rock garden gate keeper further into the trail, but nothing like the west end (downstream) of the trail.

Once we finished the trail, Amanda drove to Fawnskin.  We aired up our tires and headed home.

We got home with the sun still in the sky.

I must be getting older, because I even went to bed early for me at 9:00 – I was falling to sleep on the couch, so Cheryl told be to go to bed.

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I was very glad that I was able to enjoy both trails in one day!!!

2011/05/28 - Saturday - Run Time

I had to get up early to be at the Trail Leaders Meeting at 7:30 even though my run does not need to meet until 8:30.

I had my drivers meeting and this year we had a smaller group then I normally have.  Over half of my group was from my club.

We left at our designated time (9:00) and headed across the lake bed.  We even picked up another person that turned around from another group.

We made it up and down several hills, and now we were going across another valley when I got a call out that K.G. got a flat tire.  He was able to plug the hole and pump the tire back up to keep on going (without putting the spare on)

We stopped for lunch at the Copper Mine.

G.C. got off the trail a little to far on the downhill side and needed a little towrope to bring him back up on the trail.

We stopped at a guzzler and G.C. discovered that his track bar bolt nut had been lost so another person had another bolt and he was able to tighten things up.

We made it to Camp Rock Road and that is were a few people did not want to continue on the trail ride.

As we were heading up to the "lookout landing" I was informed that somebody got a flat tire and it was repairable by a few plugs.

We finally made it to the landing to enjoy the view.

We did the lower loop we got back to camp at a good time.

Later that night I went and watched the Best Equipment Game.

At the end of the game it was time for my night run.

As we started on the run, we headed across the lake bed, but I was really getting nervous about not finding the route.  But we finally found a land mark and we then found the correct path.

When we got to the waterfall, two people selected to tackle that route.  The first guy needed three winches and a high lift to extract him from the waterfall and about an hour.  The second guy was able to power through it with only a little rash on is finder flair.

The ride back to camp was uneventful.

I joined the group around the campfire and relaxed before heading to bed.

2011/05/27 - Friday - Another Pre-Run Day

We started on our pre-run, I wanted to tackle the waterfall that I noticed from yesterday.  So I tried several lines but I kept hitting something underneath the Jeep (thinking it was the cross member).  The line that allowed me to climb up was on the far right.

Amanda did most of the driving (other then the waterfall), when we got to the power line road the Jeep would begin to vibrate like a really bad wash board, so I told Amanda to keep it at 15 mph. 

As we were approaching the copper mine, I was told to stop, because a Jeep had a problem.  G.C. Jeep's power steering pump return line attachment broke from the reservoir,  so a fix was derived and now we are heading back to camp.

When I got up to 20 mph the Jeep felt like it was on a bad washboard road again and we weren't.  So I stopped and looked under the Jeep.  Well my drive line had some bad marks on it and it was bent, so the harmonics was causing the Jeep to vibrate.  So it was a very slow drive back to camp.

At camp, D.B. had to fix his shock - the top of the front passenger side shock came out of the attachment point - so he had to find a big washer to reattach it to the Jeep.

G.C. worked on his Jeep removing his power steering pump, while I worked on putting my spare drive line in.  Thanks to P.J. for helping fix my Jeep!!!!!!

Now it was time to head out and test my fix.  Off we went to the "lookout landing" on the East Ord Mountain.  The drive line felt good.

Once we  reached the "lookout landing" we did our normal view looking.  We also noticed that K.G. hub bolts where coming loose, so he tightened them up.

We went up to the next mine shaft and explored that one.

We drove around the other mines on the lower loop also.

We returned back to camp and enjoyed the evening around the camp fire.

2011/04/30 - Saturday - Sugarloaf Fun

After our cold night we got ready to go for an off-roading trip.  We found a seat for Amanda so she could have fun also.

We got going and started up the road into the mountains.  It didn't take long to hit some snow on the road.  Our leader hit a section that they had a little problem but got through it, by the time L hit that section we could not get out of the ditch, so he let out more air out of our tires to get better traction.  Finally he was able to get going again.

The trail finally had snow on it at all times (as we were getting higher), but the roads had a lot of nogles so it was somewhat slow going. 

We where having fun, almost everybody had to winch at one time or another - they would sink into the snow and could not go any further, so winching was required.  I had to pull winch lines several times for a few of the guys.

We got within sight of the lookout on Sugarloaf, but only three jeeps in the group made it there, we made it to the last part of the road, but we turned down the very steep bank and headed back down the road.

During the time near the top, two Jeeps had problems.  One had some type of clutch problem, and another had some type of electrical problem (but fixed good enough to continue without any problems).

On the way back, we tried to go to another hill top, but the snow was getting to soft.  While L was turning around we herd a loud (and felt) bang, after looking outside, I could see a broken peace.  After checking we broke the passenger front axle and later we found out we also broke the other axle.

We made it back to the camping location and got ready for dinner.

Dinner was good with fun time around the camp fire.

We also got a full tank of propane so hopefully we will have good warm night sleep - which we did!

2011/04/16 - Saturday - Dirt Devils Run - Rattlesnake Canyon

The day started out early - I was up at 5:30!

We (Eric and I) left at 6, but returned to get my bluetooth headset and we are back on the road (only lost about 5 min)

On our way to the trail-head, I realized that I do not have my camera nor my hat (bummers). 

We stopped at McDonald for breakfast (which was next door to the place we others were meeting for breakfast), but I went ahead and headed to Lucerne for my necessary gas stop.

We got to the trail-head for Rattlesnake Canyon about 8:30 and we were the first ones there.  about 20 min later we had one other family join us.  At 9:30, I made a call to find out where our trail leader was at and they were on there way.  The two of us went ahead and aired down our tires.  Finally the rest of the group made it and they proceeded to there air down.

The group finally got moving sometime after 10:00.  Since the last time I have done this run, they have put up signs near the start to keep you speed down to 15 mph through the ranch area.

The canyon seemed to have more sand and several more rocks to keep you slow going.  I did have to strap one of the potential Dirt Devils members.  We missed the little canyon (on the right) near the top of the canyon so no exploring of the mines - also I did not notice any post/signs to stopping you from going into that canyon.

Our leader missed the necessary right turn to head to 2N02 road and we drove about 15 minutes in the wrong direction (I understand that he has done that before).  When we finally started west on 2N02 he found the lunch spot - even though it was about 12:30.

The Droid battery died (even though it was on the charger) and it has corrupted My Tracks - so I have lost all of my recorded tracks!  I did start recording a track shortly after lunch on EveryTrail.

We turned off of 2N02 onto another route that takes you by Heart Break Ridge.  I did spot the two potential members through the hardest spot and it took a little effort for the second guy, but no straps were needed!

We stopped for bit at the end of the trail before heading to the main road (HWY 38).  Once we reached 38 we aired up.  One member head down towards Big Bear while the rest of us headed up on over towards Redlands.

The drive home was uneventful (good thing) and back home to relax.

Well, my left arm is sunburned as well as my face.  Hopefully it does not hurt in the morning.

2010/11/26 - Friday - Out With The Die Hards Dirt Devis

The day started out a little slow, we waited for the third family to arrive. W.S. And I did a little driving around waiting, I finally got the call and we guiding them into camp. After the C's got things ready we headed out. I let Amanda drive most of the day.

On the way, W.S. Starter bolt disappeared so we had to repair that. When we got close to our destination I took over the driving. We finally made it to the Calcite Mine. The group did some exploring around some of the mines (the mines are dug out troughs - no caves)

On the way back to camp we went pass it and headed to the gas station. Topped off the tanks and one the way back I let Eric drive back to camp.

While at camp a question was asked if we wanted to go out to eat, so the group went to Alamo (mexican restaurant) for dinner.

Back at camp relaxing.

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2010/07/05 – Monday – Hot Springs

We toured around the area of the Hot Springs.  We drove the northeast side of the park and went up into the lookout and loved the view from the top.  Back down into the old town, we finally found a place to park.  But before heading to the visitor center, we stopped for lunch.

Amanda got the paperwork for the Junior Ranger Program.  We toured the three floors and the basement.  Again it only took about two hours for Amanda to complete the booklet.  We also toured an art gallery that had some Ansell Adams pictures on display.

We then drove through the southwest side of the park and enjoyed the drive.

We also made the drive to the ORV Offroad Park (only 3.5 miles away from the KOA campground) to see the location, but of course the van is not able to go on the trails.

Back at the RV, we reviewed our route and added a few more places to stop before we get to Dallas/Fort Worth. 

We also made a decision to stay here another day to do the amusement park (Magic Springs).

We did go out for dinner – Waffle House.  Then a stop was made at Wal*Mart to get a few things.

Heading Home

The camp all seemed to get up about the same time and start getting ready to leave.

I even let Eric drive the Jeep up onto the trailer – it did make me a little nervous but all went well.

The traffic heading home on 86 was not to bad a little heavy but was moving, this could not be said about the 10.  Slow most of the way until the 10 and 60 split.  Then again a little slowdown at the 60 and 215 merge.

The trip was good and nothing existing – which is good!

Saturday Fun and Fixing

We left camp about 9:00 and heading north towards the phone booth.  Once we got on the mesa top – I was looking back toward camp and I noticed another club  member coming into camp, so we stopped and waited for him to join us – so now we have seven vehicles. 

We played on/in/around the mud hill going toward the phone booth.  One hill climb, Dan made it to the top, but Jeff couldn’t get the traction on the hill climb he was doing – it took some time for him to turn around.

We finally made it to the phone booth and looking around we noticed that a helicopter was coming to medi-vac somebody out.  We watched he helicopter land.

After lunch we headed further north to explore some more areas.  Bill then broke hill driver rear axle, but a few of use wanted to do a little section before heading back to camp. 

Dan then broke his passenger front leaf spring.  So we spent the next 3 hours fixing it.  We finally got back to camp about 6.

Dinner with family and friends and then setting around the camp fire.   A good Saturday!

Light Day of Wheeling

We all seemed to get a slow start for the day.  Of course I had to take care of the dogs in the morning – we go for a short walk.
We (4 vehicles) got going on our little off roading trip about 10:00.  Eric join me for this run.  We played relativity close to camp and we stayed on the north side of S22.
At one point I thought I got the Jeep (CJ5 - ‘Green’) stuck but with the V8 and a little extra power, I was able to get myself unstuck.  With the street tires, I really don’t get a lot of traction and I need some type of locker in the front.  But I am happy with what I am able to do with ‘Green’ so far.
We return back to camp about noon and had lunch, the group decided that they didn’t want to go out in the afternoon, they just wanted to relax.
Some time in the after noon I did run Turquoise around – me driving the Jeep and him running beside me.  It seemed like he was having fun.
I took Eric into town to get a few things – supper glue, paper towel, and toilet paper.  So far the supper glue is somewhat working on keeping Eric glasses together.
After dinner we sat around the camp fire, but the wind started to pick up and drove all of us back into our respective campers about 9:30.

Thanksgiving Day

We got a lot of our packing down on Wednesday so this morning we did not need to do a lot.  We left the house some time around 11:00 to head over to Mom D for Turkey. 

We had 4 different families (Mom D, D&M&J&R, Y&Y&C, and of course us four.)  Turkey was good and we all seemed to have a good time. 

We left almost at 3:00 to head for Truckhaven hills.

About and hour into our drive, the inside passenger rear tire blows.   It did no damage – so that is a good thing.  The Smartire never did give a squawk about the blown tire. We got the tire changed in a really good time.

We got into camp about 8:00 and Jeff lead the way into camp.  He found a faster straighter route.

I set everything up and then went and sat around the fire to enjoy some time with some friends.

PVD Over – Heading Home

We slowly got things ready to go around the RV.  I help a friend trying to get his satellite  TV working. 

We said our goodbyes and heading down the road.

First stop was at Kramer Junction to fill up the RV with some go go juice.  Everybody else got lunch and I ate a lunch-able that we already had in the the fridge.  I also noticed the the Jeep was dripping radiator fluid – it doesn’t like being bounced around so the whole must be getting bigger.

I stopped at a new RV dump location, but they wanted $10 , so I left and stopped at the other place that is only $7. 

I took a little different route today to getting home, I decided I didn’t want to take the 210 because of the winds – I was getting pushed around good, so I dropped down to the 60.

On the way down to the 60, Cheryl called and said that they heard a pop, but all my tires were good.  About 10 minutes later, I get a warning from the SmarTire system about the front driver side trailer tire low on pressure.  I finished transferring onto the 60 and exited the first exit, so I could double check the tire.  By the time we stopped the pressure on the tire had dropped another 8 pounds.

Eric and CJ helped in changing the tire.  Once the tire was off the trailer, we could see that a big chunk of the tire is missing on the inside, but the tire was still holding pressure (I will take a picture of it on Monday).

We made it home and got everything put away.  The Jeep has dipped a lot of radiator fluids out, so no driving it until I get it fixed.

Fish and Raffle

I got up early so I could go on a ride with the leader that was doing Fish Canyon.  I did wakeup Amanda also so she could also ride with another friend which was also going on Fish Canyon

I had a good time riding with S.G.  Fish Canyon was more technical then I remember from many years ago.

We got back to camp about 3:00 and I talked to many other friends before finally getting my chair and setting it up for me to enjoy the raffle.

Well, for this year PVD raffle including the kids raffle – we got nothing.

I am tired so off to bed early tonight…

Exploring and Lookout City

I got up early – but had a good night sleep.

I was able to get a ride with some friends and we went exploring south of the PVD main camp.  We drove from the top of the pass from Trona to Panamint Valley on the old Nadu Road.  We got back to camp about 1:15 – Just in time to get ready for my next adventure.

After squaring away a driver that I can ride with, I started the drivers meeting, at least half if not more were new to PVD and of course new to the Lookout City Sunset run.

Our first stop was on the roadway to collect everybody after leaving camp.  When we were waiting for everybody we had a jet flying over us doing flybys – really COOL!  We had a total of 33 vehicles.

We even got back to camp in a very good time – good group!

While we were out we heard about a bad rollover from a non-event  group run on South Park, with bad injuries.  We all need to pray for the people in the rollover for a quick recovery.

Cheryl and Eric made it out in about four and half hours – traffic was good.

Time for bed, 6:30 will come early.

2009/10/17 - Saturday - Jeep and Raffle

We got up a little late – Amanda wanted to wake up earlier, but it turned out ok. We got everything ready.

I went over to A.C. and she stated that I have to put on the spare dress that she had so I could drive in the Powder Pull trail.

Once we finally got going, I drove the CJ5 “Green” over to the start of the trail.

Amanda did all of the driving of the trail. About 1 or 2 into the drive, the Jeep was getting very HOT, so we stopped to cool down. We started to go and we caught up to the two in front and then the Jeep stalled.

Well, the Jeep was not getting any fuel, we finally determined that the ground lead on the fuel pump was no longer connected. That was fixed and all is good (until I get home and do a more permanent fix).

One the way out of the canyon, the temp on the Jeep was much better!

Back at camp, we started the generator to cool down the 104 temp inside the RV (with the windows open). The cats were panting.

At 4:30 the temp stats 105, and now the inside is finally down to 97 and still going down.

We had dinner and now it was time for the Raffle. I did win one bag of goodies. I did get a registration for TDS – so I guess I need to go now.

After all the hoopla was done, we sat around a fire and enjoyed the rest of the evening. (we didn’t get back to the RV until 1:00 a.m.)

2009/10/16 - Friday - Travel Day to ODF

We started the day early – Amanda and I started packing the RV and getting the Jeep ready to go.

About an hour before leaving a stray dog was wondering the neighborhood, with the help of a neighbor we was able to capture the dog. We called the animal control to come pick him up. On then continued packing while Amanda and the neighbor took care the of the dog. Finally the animal control guy showed up. The dog was chipped so he was able to call the people that owns the dog and have them come and get it.

We finally got on the road about noon, but we had stops to do. First mail off the Smart Tire computer and monitor (its on the fritz). Next stop Ralphs for the stuff for the cats. Last stop was at Fresh and Easy to get the last minute items.

Traffic was not good – it was slow going. A vibration had started to get worse. I got off the freeway but could not see which tire making the vibration. Back on the freeway – not 5 miles later the diver front tire blows! (I was still stuck in traffic going only about 15 mph). It took me awhile to change the tire ( A CHP and the Highway Service person stopped by to offer help). I headed on over the America’s Tire to get a new one.

When we got going the freeways were slow again. Our next stop was at Flying J’s, we when next door to get dinner from McDonalds.

We finally pulled into camp about 8:00!

We got all setup and chatted with friends.

2009/05/19 – Tuesday – Shopping and Relaxing

Another day off on Furlough – I still got up at normal time like I was going to work – I don’t know about that….

We all ate breakfast and we did a little research on some Geo Cache and around noon we finally got ready for leave.

First stop, Slash-X – It was Closed! hmmm don’t know why.

We stopped at the National Park Service for the Mojave Preserve and looked around – it is small but has a good map display.

Now in town we stopped at Home Depot to get a few things (stakes, ribbon, and batteries), next it was time for Lunch at IHOP.  We then stopped at Vons to get a few other items and replenish.

We stopped at Flying J’s to refuel, and did two Geo Cache that was really close to the road.

“Blue” needs some tlc, so I am going to take it easy this week.

Amanda did cook dinner tonight and I started the fire to relax at for the evening.

We did have two campers (one group) come in today, but they did camp a little bit away.

CJ wanted to do the telescope, so I got it out and set it up for him.

Now the fire has died down and I am leaving what little wood I have left for tomorrow.