The Rooster
December 2015
THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association
Whats New It is time for Thanksgiving at Glamis. One of the biggest trips of the year starts for some this week, since it looks like the weekend before Thanksgiving will be quite popular.
Turkey Time It is that time of the year again, time for Turkey in the Sand with our annual Thanksgiving pot luck dinner. To make sure all the basics are covered, check out what people are bringing and post your plans on the club website.
An ACE When is a Polaris not a side by side? Check out Todd Cochran’s new toy to find out. It is a single seat Polaris ACE, and he brought it out for Halloween.
4th Annual Mona Bacon Memorial Spook Poker Run And Hot Dog Weenie Roast By Mike Bacon, Photos by Paula Espolt th
The 4 Annual MBMSPRAHDWR started Friday When Paula and I arrived at the Salton City Golf Course, and were soon joined by Doug & Kris, Jim & Nancy, Don & Shirley (and Buttons!). Dave & Cindy and Chuck arrived shortly thereafter, and LuAnn (and Bailey!) arrived Friday evening. We went for a night ride through Gas Dome Canyon, which has now been renamed Pooch Canyon for reasons we don’t know, just to say we did it. Saturday morning dawned nice and bright with a bit of a breeze, which would be welcome all day to help blow the dust away as we rode. The first leg of the Poker Run left camp and through Bus Wash arriving at the 4x4 Training Area where the first cards were drawn.
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December 2015
Upcoming Events • November 20-30th: Thanksgiving at Glamis, Wash 6. • November 26th: We’ll have the traditional pot luck Thanksgiving dinner in camp. • December 25-January 4th: Christmas / New Years at Glamis, Wash 6.
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We then proceeded up the wash to Crossover Trail to the Shell Reef Expressway where we stopped at Shell Reef to draw our second cards. From there we took Shell Reef Expressway to Cahuilla Trail to the Artesian Well where third cards were drawn. While at the Artesian Well both Buttons and Bailey thoroughly enjoyed the mud and water!
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From the Artesian Well we followed the trail up in to Pooch Canyon getting everyone through without incident, then turned in to Campbell Wash. What we didn’t know until we got there was Campbell Wash had been “flooded” with blow sand over the last couple of years making it nearly impossible to get through. Nearly impossible to anything but RZR’s anyway!!! I felt bad after we got through that almost everyone sustained some cosmetic damage by scraping the walls of the canyon as we went through, but we all agreed it was great fun! We stopped in the shade of the canyon walls to draw our forth cards.
We all headed back to camp from there to clean up or scars and scratches and draw our fifth and final cards. While relaxing in the shade PJ, Melissa, and Allie arrived, followed soon after by Dana, Baby Daniel, Dillon, and his cousin Eddie. Once everyone had drawn their cards for the poker run we moved on to the Closest To The Pin golf competition. One shot at the pin to see who could come closest was a real show. The amount of golf talent shown at this game was amazing! The PGA better watch out because if they come around this group somebody’s gonna get hit by a ball! Dana ended up winning the closest to the pin, with Doug getting
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December 2015
the furthest hit, and Chuck the shortest. It was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to doing this again next year!
Once all the games were finished it was Hot Dog Time! Everyone brought their best and the hot dogs were sizzling!
After dinner prizes were awarded to the golf and poker run winners (Dana and Shirley), as well as other deserving participants. We then finished off a great day with a camp fire. Sunday morning we went for another ride up through the canyons and eventually worked our way back to the Gas Domes, where Buttons and Bailey partook of the mud again. As we were getting ready to leave I mentioned we were going to go back via Campbell Wash again and I just about had a mutiny on my hands! No one was interested in challenging the sand filled canyon again. Later in the day we went for a short ride up by Bin Laden’s Cave, then back to camp to clean up and go across the highway to the little Mexican food place, which was great as always. A camp fire finished off an absolutely great weekend.
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December 2015
I want to thank everyone for coming out and making this such a fun event, and to all those that donated prizes a special thank you! We could not do this event without you! See you next year! -Mike
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December 2015
Glamis Camp RZR and Halloween, 2015 By Jim Kastle After the Poker Run/Weenie Roast Monday morning The Fords, Mike, and Nancy and I headed to Wash 6. Chuck went to Pad 4. We met Bobby Amador at Wash 6, as he had camped over the weekend with Steve Sturm. We spent the afternoon leisurely setting up camp, and I didn’t even unload the RZR. Bobby headed home to work a couple of days. As Nancy was going home Tuesday, the Fords, Mike and Nancy and I went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Were surprised by the lack of a crowd, and were immediately seated. We had the best service we’ve ever had at this Texas Roadhouse, and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Nancy and I picked up some Firehouse Subs for meals for me for the rest of the week, and bought some $1.97/gallon gas, and some $2.17/gallon diesel. We returned to camp for a campfire. " Tuesday Nancy and I headed for home to drop her off, and for me to pick up the buggy box, in anticipation of more buggies arriving for the weekend, and to store it at Glamis Dunes Storage for the season. I didn’t get back to camp until 8:15 PM, just after everyone retired to their trailers. I found out later that no one rode Tuesday. We had another campfire. " Wednesday morning Mike led a great ride on some pretty good sand. I paid little attention to where we went, as I was just following Mike, but we were gone for a couple of hours. As the ride started later than usual, there were few shadows, and it was hard to pick a line, but Mike made it fun for the three of us. We spent the rest of the day in camp where I returned tools to the Yellow trailer, having taken them home for Coral Pink. We also watched lots of rigs roll in, and this was only Wednesday. One interesting thing we saw was a ranger going camp to camp making them take down their caution tape or cones. We know that it is unlawful to save space, but most everyone respects the cones and tape, and try to leave enough room for each camp. This just gives me another reason to question the need for the huge ranger presence on big weekends. If the rangers enforce this ban on cones and caution tape, we might have trouble setting up camp at Thanksgiving. We think we have enough trailers arriving early that we should be able to spread them out to define our camp. We’ll then move trailers as more rigs arrive. We’ll have to play it by ear. It had to be annoying to those who were told to remove cones and tape as later in the weekend there were many camps using them, and nothing was said to them. We had another campfire Wednesday night." Thursday we got an earlier start, and Mike led another long, fast (in terms of RZR rides) ride. The earlier start time provided better shadows and made for a faster ride. . During this ride, as we stopped for a break, my engine died, just as if I had forgotten to push in the clutch when we stopped. The problem is RZR’s don’t have a clutch. I described what had happened, and Mike immediately said that a weight on
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my primary clutch must have gotten stuck. Not to worry, he had the necessary parts in camp. We took it real easy heading back to camp. As we neared Olds on the Olds Highway, two RZR 1000s passed us going REALLY fast. The guy on our left hit some whoops and rolled and ended his RZR just in front of and to my left. I had a great view, and thought to myself, “Well he got exactly what he deserved.” I was content to leave him upside down, but Mike and Don took pity on the guy and turned around to help right the RZR. There was at least one passenger, who got out rather quickly, but the driver took some time undoing the seatbelts. No major injuries (they were lucky) but the driver, who was wearing flip flops, did cut his foot enough to bleed quite a bit. We and some other passersby righted the overturned RZR and resisted the temptation to tell him what a jerk he was. When we got back to camp, Steve and Kimmie from Goodyear, Arizona had arrived. Mike led another great ride that afternoon. Steve and Kimmie ride together in their 900 RZR, and Steve is an excellent driver. That combined with his mild paddles make it a lot of fun to follow him. I tried to do so the rest of the trip. Don and Shirley and I went to Yuma for a Cracker Barrel dinner, fuel, and miscellaneous shopping. Don even took me to the local Fry’s Grocery so I could get cheap diesel. He then detoured to Firehouse Subs again so I would have food for the rest to the trip. Again the day ended with a campfire." Friday Morning we had some really strong winds, as strong as I ever recall at Glamis. The wind was so strong it delayed the opening of Camp RZR by two hours. When it did open, there were a lot of people waiting in line to get a chance to win one of four RZR turbo 1000’s they were giving away. I waited in line for a chance. There was another long line for a “spin the wheel” prize giveaway, but I resisted the temptation. There were many vendors selling every sort of RZR accessory I could imagine. I did get a deal on and oil change kit, and found a really neat whip with an Arizona flag on it. I don’t think we did a ride Friday. Todd arrived with a new-to-him RZR Ace. An Ace is a single seat, small RZR. Cute is the first adjective that comes to mind. It has a large driver’s compartment, with more driver room that my 900. Todd left the Ace and trailer in camp while he headed off to Motel 6 in Brawley. Steve and I talked about a night ride to Olds, but neither of us was motivated enough. Instead we enjoyed the campfire." Saturday morning Don and Shirley went to register for the RZR drawing. Todd returned and took the Ace for one of its first ride. When Don and Shirley returned, we went for another ride. I don’t recall any thing special, but I think I should have because the sand had to be smooth due to all the wind. As no additional buggies had arrived, I took my buggy box, the one with the yellow and blue strobes, to the
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storage lot, in preparation for an early Sunday departure. Saturday evening the Fords, Steve and Kimmie, Bobby and Lou Anne, and I went to the RZR drawing. Of course, none of us won anything. At the end of the drawing there was a massive exodus, all of us leaving through one narrow opening. It was very scary to me, as I imagined myself tripping and being trampled by hundreds of disappointed RZR fans. I will follow Mike’s lead and will NOT participate in next year’s RZR giveaway drawing. In the mass of RZR’s heading back to camp I realized how much I have come to depend on the yellow and blue strobes to find camp. I regretted my earlier decision to store the buggy box. I had to stop and turn on the GPS to find camp. I was .12 miles past camp when I turned on the GPS. Back in camp Mike told us that Ray and Janice were coming in Saturday night, between 11:00 and Midnight. I felt worse about having stored the trailer. Mike waited up to lead them in. It was truly an amazing crowd for a Halloween weekend." Not wanting to miss a ride with Ray and Janice, I decided to delay my departure until after the morning ride. We were joined by two of their friends in RZR 1000’s. The sand was among the best ever, and Mike led us on a great, fast, long ride. At one point I heard some noise from the back of my RZR and radioed Mike that we should probably head towards camp. Sure enough, in another mile or so, my belt broke. Everyone was patient and I had lots of help as we installed my spare belt. I couldn’t help but think of the new Yamaha side by side, which doesn’t use a belt. It’s just a dream for me, but a very pleasant one. I love my RZR, but am beginning to hate Polaris. My RZR, which I bought brand new three years ago, now has 4000 miles on it, and its reliability has been no better than my buggy. I’ve stopped more RZR rides in the last year than I have buggy rides in the last several years. I think the perceived reliability of RZR’s is more a factor of them being relatively new rather than being especially reliable. We returned to camp with no further issues. " Mike and Don and Shirley decided to spend Sunday night and avoid the long line of vehicles exiting Sunday afternoon. It did take me 20 minutes to get from camp to the check station by the trash cans. The rest of the drive was effortless, with no traffic whatsoever. " -Jim
This month we’d like to thank Mike Bacon and Jim Kastle for writing articles. I am looking forward to seeing lots of pictures and reading write ups of Thanksgiving, so please share your pictures and write some stories for the newsletter. We all enjoy reading about the trips, especially if we don’t get to be there. Have a great start of the season, and I look forward to seeing your articles and pictures in the months to come. -Paul, Melissa, and Allie.
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