The Rooster
May 2019
THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association
What’s New
Spring Break at Glamis By Jim Kastle
The weather is warming up quickly, but we still have the Dumont trip coming up on May 2-5. Come out for some fast riding to round out the season.
Sand Swap Meet The Sand Sports Super Swap will be held on Saturday May 11th at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. It offers a good chance to catch some end of season deals on parts and other items.
Coral Pink This year will be our 20th annual Coral Pink Trip. This has become a great summer duning tradition. If you want to join it, there’s time to get your reservation for a camping space. Contact Jim for details.
I arrived around 1:30 PM on Friday the 22nd. Mike and Pat arrived about 13 hours earlier. Don and Shirley, and Jerry and Linda about an hour and a half earlier. I took my time setting up camp and getting the two trailers from storage. Then we sat around outside Jerry and Linda’s motor home and talked for a while. I mentioned I would appreciate some help getting the transmission out of my truck and stuffed in the buggy when anyone had time. We had dinner and the Don who was celebrating his 82nd birthday came
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May 2019
over and said “Let’s get that trans.” Mike saw us preparing and came over to help. In less than 5 minutes the trans was installed on the flywheel and clutch. Thanks very much! We then had a fire.
Upcoming Events • April 19-21: Easter Weekend. Let us know if you are planning a trip.
Saturday morning I got up and started finishing the trans installation then Mike asked if I wanted to go for a ride and I, of course, said “Sure.” Mike and Pat led everyone in camp with Shirley driving the two seater and Don the four seater. Linda
• May 2-5: Cinco de Mayo Weekend at Dumont. Some out for a nice weekend of fast riding to close out the dune season. • May 11: Sand Sports Super Swap Meet at the Orange County Fairgrounds
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rode shotgun with Jerry. We had about a two hour ride with one break. Shirley did a great job and we all had a good time. Back in camp I finished installing the transmission. So far so good. Kris and Doug arrived. We sat around enjoying the first warm day most of us had experienced in too long. After dinner we had a campfire that helped fight off a cold wind. Sunday morning Mike led us through the dunes to Sweet Marie’s where we had ice cream. We then rode through the dunes back to camp. Jerry and Linda took the truck to glean firewood. They came back with a bed full of firewood, adding to wood they collected yesterday. I decided to try and do my part, and despite going as far as Wash 14, I could only find one RZR bed load of wood. I then watched the NASCAR race. Later we sat around and talked and were entertained by the dogs, Tawny, Mini, and Sadie. Jerry and Linda found three truckloads of wood after driving as far as Gecko! After dinner we enjoyed a campfire. We had campfires every night of the trip thanks to all the wood Jerry and Linda gathered. Monday morning Mike led us on a ride through the dunes that included stops at the flagpole and the Tiki Hut, or as some prefer, Shady Eve. We got back to camp shortly before noon, and we were all glad Mike was leading as the sun was directly overhead, making it VERY hard
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May 2019
to see the surface features. It was pretty hot. I tested the air conditioning in the fifth wheel. Ashley arrived and we were again entertained by the dogs, especially Sadie. Tuesday was apparently much like Monday, as I didn’t take any notes, and don’t recall anything unusual, except the sun making visibility very difficult, which was usual for this trip. I know I’m getting older, but the sun sure seemed to interfere with vision more than I ever recall. Danny, Pam and Daniel Burns arrived, followed a day or two later by their former neighbor, Charlie. Wednesday we went for a short morning ride to the area near Comp, to allow me to get back to camp in time to go meet Nancy and leave her car at Glamis Dunes Storage. We spent the rest of the day in camp. I did some work around the yellow trailer in preparation for leaving it for the summer. Tom and Sarah, and their daughter and son, Aubree and Jacob arrived and asked where P.J. Melissa and the kids would park as they wanted to be close to Allie and Marshall. Dave Huggard and Pete Hagen soon followed. The younger Kastles arrived around 11:00 P.M., followed by John and Anna. Thursday I shifted from the RZR to the sand rail. As we were getting ready for a ride Rick and Melanie Alonso, along with their friends Ray and his wife (whose name escapes me) arrived. P.J., John, Danny, Dave, and Pete followed me on a long ride that covered a large area including Olds, Comp, and the former closed area between Olds and the swing set. By the time we left the swing set, the sun was again brutal, making for a surprise-filled, slow ride back to camp. We had separate side by side and buggy rides. Friday morning the buggy ride left at 8:30 to beat the brutal sun. It worked as all the buggies in camp had a long ride that went as far as the Swingset. It was the first time Ray, Rick’s friend, had ever ridden in a buggy and he thoroughly enjoyed it. We heard the side by sides on the radio, but never hooked up with them. Dana arrived with sons Dylan and Daniel. The kids, and there were a lot of them with Charlie’s son, Aubree, Jacob, Allie, Daniel, and Marshall, had a great time playing together. Marshall’s bounce house was a hit with all. Jacob provided the biggest scare of the trip when one evening, I believe it was Thursday, he fell while climbing the ladder to the bed in the fifth wheel, knocking out at least three teeth, and cutting his lip. Tom and Sarah took him to the ER in Brawley, and Aubree stayed with Allie, prompting an impromptu slumber party. I’m sure that lessened the distress over what happened to Jacob. The next morning Jacob was up and walking around almost as if nothing had happened. That’s one tough kid! They did pack up to take him to his dentist at home. 3
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May 2019
Ray and Janice arrived Friday, having worked a convention during the heart of the trip. Dale and Rebecca arrived with the new Can Am’s new clutch set up and heavy duty belt. They rode with the buggies on most of the rides. Dale reports the new clutch set up works great, allowing it to rev higher at a given speed. We had some memorable rides. Among the best was a late afternoon buggy/side by side ride led expertly by Ray. It was probably the fastest rides of the trip! Ray led most of the buggies, and Janice’s RZR, on a fast, smooth ride in the big bowls between Olds and Comp. Ray was hard on the buggies, though, as late in the ride Danny’s right rear wheel split totally in two pieces. When I fired up to head back to camp for a spare wheel, my clutch pedal went all the way to the floor. I started it in gear and P.J. and Charlie followed me. It was good we had Charlie, as about a mile from camp, P.J. lost a CV. I would not have been able to tow him without a clutch. Charlie towed him to camp where we got a spare tire, and replaced my clutch master cylinder. Dale, who we forgot to tell about the ride, helped with the clutch, putting his now retired buggy mechanic skills to good use. He took P.J. in the CanAm as we took the tire back to Danny. We made it back to camp where Ray added three buggy kill marks to his Can Am. One afternoon P.J. took Allie and Marshall in the buggy for ice cream with we grandparents (minus Nancy) following in our buggies. The kids did fine, so we detoured to Olds on the way back to camp. Shortly after we arrived we heard a familiar voice on the radio saying “Don’t you ever look to your left?” We did, and saw Mike, Ashley, Kris, and Doug. We parked by them and took a break. Marshall is hooked! Nancy and Melissa had to wonder what took so long getting ice cream. Saturday morning we had another omelet boil. The new regulator seemed to work well and we had three pots of boiling water. Bobby and LuAnn brought the buggy and RZR up from Gordon’s Well. P.J. noted that there were a lot of people who had been with the club for years and years. There was an unusually wide variety of ingredients, 4
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May 2019
and Janice heated biscuits on the electric griddle. Shirley brought “Monkey Bread”, a cinnamon pull a part that was great. I was relieved because I feared the problems last time might have discouraged some from participating. Marshall enjoyed the “ice cream to Olds” ride so much he was ready to go for Saturday’s morning buggy ride. I made no special accommodations for him and we went on a ride through the big bowls. Thinking of radios, P.J. programmed two more radios, Rick Alonso’s and Charlie’s. Charlie’s posed a particularly difficult problem, as his radio is a model P.J. hadn’t programmed before, and it requires costly software proprietary to that radio. P.J. was not able to program it the first night he tried. Being P.J., he was bothered by this. He went on the web, and using his high school Spanish, found a South American Spanish language website with the needed software! He figured he has good virus protection, and downloaded the software. Next morning he successfully programmed Charlie’s radio! This brings the total number of radios he has programmed to 63, 43 handhelds and 20 mobiles. Saturday night P.J. replaced the broken CV with a used spare he had in his trailer. It fit a little tight on the somewhat damaged axle, but we figured it would loosen up. On Sunday’s morning ride we had been moving along pretty well, having a good time until the recently replaced CV broke. Having no more spare CV’s we had to replace the axle with John’s spare. John and I went back to camp while Pete and Dale and Rebecca stayed with P.J. and Marshall (who went for this ride as well). By the time we got back the brutal sun was really bothering me, so John gave up following my crappy line and said “I’ll meet you there.” Installing the axle took what seemed to be a long time, but we got it. John was a super Grandpa and made sure Marshall ate and drank lots of water, and stayed out of the sun. Marshall didn’t seem bothered by the delay. We made it back to camp. P.J. had to load up and head home. I had to get ready to store the yellow trailer for the off season and take the buggy box home, so I packed stuff.
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John had arranged to work in Brawley Monday, so he got to stay Sunday night. That gave him time to follow Ray on another ride. This time they remembered to ask Dale, so John and the two side by sides went on what John said was another great ride. As is our tradition, Nancy and I went to Yuma and Texas Roadhouse. Monday I made sure the generator was full of fuel, and took o for home with the buggy box in tow. Nancy stayed with the fifth wheel and yellow trailer. I got back to camp about 6:00 PM. We stayed the night in a nearly deserted Wash 6. Tuesday morning I stored the yellow trailer and we were headed home by 9:00 AM. Wow! Another Glamis season has come and gone. It was another great one for me and I sincerely thank all of you who make my Glamis trips so special. I am looking forward to next season. Remember Dumont and Coral Pink.
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May 2019
In Search Of “T” Buggy! By Mike Bacon Photos by Mike Bacon and Pat Starr As some may know one of my hobbies is fiberglass dune buggies. I have had and built a number of them over the years and I have always had my eyes and ears open for the more unusual ones. Well I happen to come across a rare example, a Barry Mini T with an even rarer C-cab truck top body. Supposedly there were less than 100 bodies ever built and fewer than 20 C-cab truck tops built, so it was a significant find, at least for me! The complicating factor was the vehicle was located in Olympia, WA! I bought the car in late January. The owner agreed it wouldn’t be a good idea to drive up right away because of weather, so we eventually decided to go get it in between storms at the first of March. Pat and I left on Saturday morning, driving through the rain in LA and finally breaking in to sunshine as we went over the Grapevine. We stopped at Anderson’s in Santa Nella for dinner, and then continued on to stay the night in Medford, OR, where it was 30 degrees when we arrived at 12:30 AM.
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The next morning we got up early and headed towards Washington. It was cold and a fair amount of snow on the ground, but the roads and sky were clear, it was a beautiful, crisp day. We arrived in Olympia, WA about 2PM, finished the deal, and loaded up the car. We then got on our way as we wanted to stop at my cousin’s summer home in Mossyrock, WA, about 90 minutes away, to see their place and leave them a little “token of our affection”! They have a beautiful place overlooking a lake and a great view of Mt. St. Helens!
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We continued on after stopping for dinner, arriving back in Medford at 1AM. The next morning we left early and headed for home. We hit some rain around Redding, and stopped at Anderson’s again for dinner and eventually arrived home about 1:30AM Tuesday morning. The total trip was just over 2300 miles.
The car will need a little bit of work as it has been sitting for over a year, but we did start it and drove it in to the trailer, so it’s not too bad. I’m going to try to have it ready for the first Lake Elsinore Main Street Car Show in May!
This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle for writing about the Spring Break trip and Mike Bacon for writing about his voyage to Washington. Next month we’ll cover the Dumont trip and any other stories you take the time to send in. We enjoy having content to share, so if you have pictures, text, comments, jokes, or anything that you want to share, please send it to me at pkastle@msn.com. We will publish what content we have and a calendar of upcoming events in every month’s newsletter. -Paul, Melissa, Allie, and Marshall. 9