I was in the rear (tail gunner) so I really have no idea what to write. I think I just don't have it in me, besides Dimitri is supposed to write the trail reports this year. I guess if I was going to write a trail report, I would go something like this.
The Perfect Weekend
So Joe said that if we don't leave by 11:00 am we would be dead. So we left on time and still hit traffic. Joe, Warren and I were supposed to drive up together, but Warren just drives too fast and Joe changes lanes too much so I decided to just stay in one lane in traffic considering I was pulling about 14,000 lbs, besides I think 65-70 mph is fast enough. Dimitri and I drove up together with my trusty Dodge pulling both our Jeeps. D and I still beat Warren and Joe to the camp site. Those Old guys seem to not be able to hold their pee.
We arrived at the camp ground just in time for torrential (squirrel) down pour so we just hung out and had a few drinks and waited for the rain to stop. Dimitri got the best campsite in the woods as opposed to in the open field, so Joe and I decided to share Dimitri's site. I thought that I was going to (squirrel) be the one to get us thrown out of the campground, but it was actually Jim, when he decided to do a burnout with his Cummins-powered Dodge while his Jeep was in tow. Sorry Eastern. Eastern was a great host, (squirrel) providing us with two of my favorite words, all you can eat and cookout on Friday. They even let Jim eat. Eastern's head cook kept the grill going till about 10:00 PM for all the latecomers. GREAT JOB Thank you very much.
It rained that night but we stayed dry under my canopy at our site. Dimitri, Joe, John Acconi, Young Sailor and friend and myself hung out till late. Mark you will be happy to know that your son would not take any alcohol. Good boy.
Our club was all signed up for Crazy 8's (squirrel) but changed to Fahey's to make things easier for Eastern. Fahey's is a piece of property owned by Mr. Fahey who is a very cool guy. He actually is a former neighbor of Glenn Teplica. He is a retired plumber who is an outdoorsman and a car nut. He has some cool toys such a John Deere front end loader and a Cat D3. He seemed to be real happy to have people enjoy his land as much as he does and was a great host. After our trail ride he gave us a tour of his huge barn (looked like something out of American Pickers) and let us take some of his tasty fresh spring water.
The trail was very good, but like every trail ride we have had this year (squirrel), traction was at a premium. Since I was in the rear, I took me an hour before I did any wheeling. From what I heard John, Joe and Warren got each other all jammed up and had to winch, so I just hung out with Mr. Fahey in the cool shade and spoke about guns, cars and heavy equipment. Sounds like a perfect morning. The last of our group just walked up the hill that jammed the threesome ahead of us up. The rest of the day had the typical winching, with Bob trying to rip the roof off the Howler complete with the battle over who was going to control the situation to help Bob and Joan. Dimitri almost rolled his JK twice on the same obstacle. He made me feel like my father when he is watching me do something dumb. I yelled at D and made him stop. John blew two tires, one one the way to the trail and one on the trail. I did a 4 wheel burn out for about a minute and a half looking for traction (I guess I need crawlers) until our guide got a little pissed at me. I apologized and he said he has been there before himself. All was cool. No major damage, seems like the Howler got the worst of it with a few new dents and dings.
Got back to the campground around 7:00, (squirrel) just in time for dinner. We had a great Barbeque dinner with chicken, pulled pork (love the swine), potato salad, regular salad, rolls and butter and a few other fixins, also all you can eat. (I sure love that all you can eat). Florida vacation is some deal for 85 dollars. It has been my cheapest trail ride all year. 2 meals and camping plus guided trail rides and door prizes with a free T shirt. Best deal in 4 wheeling. I found out that I am famous or infamous. We met some nice guys from North Jersey and they told me they loved Suck Fest 2011. I also found out they hate Goodyear MTR's. Now I know where Mike Barbera gets his info. They actually said they liked the old MTR's better then the new ones. That Jersey air from the Meadowlands must be affecting there cerebellum, but nice guys all the same.
We won a bunch of raffle prizes including I won a set of TJ sliders (squirrel) that are for sale if anyone needs them. Bob won a trail tire repair kit, but refused to give it to me even though I was begging for it. (He already has one) Hey Bob that kit sells for $19, not $85. We also got a bunch of other things.
The next day many of us decided not to wheel. Instead (squirrel) Glenn, Joe, John and Angie, Gene, Dimitri and I decided to have some breafest, do some sight seeing (we saw some nice sights, picked up some trinkets, went to Tractor Supply (John bought a hobart welder) and of course Cracker Barrel for dinner. Perfect end to perfect weekend, Oh and we saw squirrels. Evan
Warren said:
Warren got up the hill fine, did not have to winch at all, John and Joe had some difficulty. John got stuck and had to winch like three times and Joe was not in four low I think. Anyway as I was going up the hill behind Mike I was trying not to churn up everything I hear John yelling what I think is Whoa so I slow down wondering what is wrong. Actually he was yelling GO, I was able to continue but John got stuck, who would imagine Warren "The Leadfoot" driving too slow!. I apologize, so I will now run at 5,000 RPMs at all times. Thanks to Joe and John for helping me get the anti sway bar reconnected, gets harder every time. I think Evan forgot about how he damaged old number 1, I thought I saw some new battle scars. I thought I had come out unscathed, but I had a new small dent on the passenger side rocker area. Not bad.
Bob said:
Florida Vacation was a blast. Like all of the other trails this year, there was a lot of mud. Which made things more challenging. Torrential rain Friday afternoon. The Oxbow was water-tight :) Great weather Sat & Sun. We had a huge -almost all LIOR - group Saturday at Faheys in NH. I smashed Howlers fender, toolbox, roof & backup light. The owner invired us back, but we'll have to coordinate with Eastern if we want to run any of their other trails, ever again. Sunday we went to Deadfall with 6 rigs, again all LIOR exept the trail leader. I popped an axle ujoint cap and re-bent the fender.
Sorry Evan, we were both wrong, the Safety Seal kits are $45. Someone told me $65, so I bumped it up a bit. It's called hyperbole. I'll get one to you.
