The Rooster
September 2016
THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association
Whats New There isn’t any duning to report on this month, but there are some off season activities to report on.
North To Alaska By Mike Bacon Something I have had on the bucket list for a long time was to go to Alaska. When my Mom said she’d like to go one more time the planning was on! Here are some notes I made during the trip, along with some picture highlights.
Havasu River Trip We had a great time visiting Don and Shirley Ford over the weekend of July 30-31.
Coral Pink 2017 We have our reservations for the 23rd annual Coral Pink trip. Mark your calendars for July 12-21, 2017. We can’t wait!
New Dune Home The younger Kastles have a new place to stay at the dunes, as we just upgraded our Weekend Warrior to a 38 ft front bedroom model. Check it out on page 7.
Sunday, June 12 My mom, my sister, her husband, and ME, left OC airport at 4:00pm to Seattle, then on to Anchorage. Arrived in Anchorage about 9:45pm, and finally got to the hotel about 11:30PM. Still light
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The Rooster
September 2016
Upcoming Events
outside. Staying at the Captain Cook hotel, very nice.
• September 16-18: Sand Sports Super Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.
Monday June 13 Got up very early to catch the Alaska Railroad to Telkeetna, then a bus to the Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. Overcast and drizzly. Beautiful place, great views of all the mountains. Mount McKinley has been officially renamed Mount Denali after many years of political infighting. I had reindeer meatloaf for dinner.
• September 30-October 2: Fall Weekend at Dumont. • October 22: Mona Bacon Memorial Poker Run at Anza • October 24-31: Halloween at Glamis, Wash 6.
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Tuesday, June 14 Beautiful day, clear and bright. After breakfast we walked around the area taking pictures. After noon we caught the shuttle back in to Telkeetna and took an airplane up around the big mountains, then landed on the Ruth Glacier for about half an hour. It was magnificent!
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The Rooster
September 2016
Wednesday, June 15 Nice breakfast in the lodge this morning. Another bright beautiful day, very unusual according to the locals, only one out of every three to four days is clear enough to see the mountains!. Right after breakfast the fire alarm went off in the main lodge clearing it out. Cleared up in about 15 mins. Taking train back in to anchorage this afternoon to the Capt Cook Hotel. Got on the wrong bus, ended up at the wrong train station in Talkeetna. We just have to be different! Arrived back in Anchorage by 6pm. Saw one eagle on the train ride back to Anchorage. Thursday, June 16 Day off in Anchorage. Walked around a bit, hit the discount gift shops. Visited the Anchorage Museum, that's an hour and $14 I'll never get back. Friday, June 17 Went to Whittier to take a glacier excursion in the Prince William Sound, a five hour boat ride. Amazing! It’s an hour ride in a bus to get from Anchorage to Whittier. Whittier is a rough, little town only accessible through a one lane tunnel. I was amazed at all the “Tsunami Evacuation Point” signs I saw everywhere in Whittier. There’s only one way out! The cruise lines, as well as the fishing fleets, use Whittier because its harbor is much deeper than Anchorage. On the glacier excursion we saw otters, seals and 10-12 glaciers. It’s amazing how much the temperature drops when you get close to the glaciers!
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The Rooster
September 2016
Saturday, June 18 Back to Whittier to board the cruise ship. Windy and rainy today. Got on the ship early and just relaxed. Left port about 8pm. Sunday, June 19 A day at sea started with a pod of Orcas swimming along next to us. I could clearly see them right off my balcony. We entered Yakutat Bay and proceeded to the Hubbard Glacier. Odd that we saw no animals in the water. Lots of icebergs though! Monday, June 20 Entered Glacier Bay and made our way to the Margerie Glacier, then on to the Lamplugh and John Hopkins Glaciers. Saw a few seals and otters, as well as a lot of birds.
Tuesday, June 21 Arrived at Skagway this morning. After breakfast we took a fast ferry from Skagway to Haines where we went for a ride through the forest in Kawasaki Mules, then had a great meal of deep fried halibut. We saw a few bald eagles as well as some harbor seals. 4
The Rooster
September 2016
Wednesday, June 22
 Arrived in Juneau early this morning. Went to visit the Mendenhall Glacier and Glacier Gardens. Beautiful gardens on a hill in the rain forest. Not a lot of time to explore as the ship left early on our way to
Ketchikan.Thursday, June 23
 Arrived in Ketchikan and we were immediately off the ship and on our way to another trail ride in the forest. We had a great ride, enjoyed pancakes and a camp fire, and saw eagles and totem poles. Got back to the ship for a late lunch and pulled out at 5pm. Ketchikan was by far the busiest place we visited the whole time we were there. Boats, ships, barges, planes all going in every direction! That night rough seas gave us some movement to rock us to sleep.
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The Rooster
September 2016
Friday, June 24
 Day at sea headed to Vancouver. I caught a cold so I just hung around my stateroom and relaxed. It was packing day as all bags had to be left outside your stateroom door by midnight so they can arrange getting them off the ship in the morning. Did see a couple of whales and some dolphins today. Saturday, June 25 Arrived in port at Vancouver and docked about 7:30am. We were in the first group off the ship ten minutes later as we had an early flight home. Our bags met us at the airport and once going through both Canadian and US Customs we were on our way home. This was an absolutely wonderful trip! I was constantly amazed at how organized everything was, despite our worrying and constant checking. The only mishaps that occurred during the trip were ones we caused ourselves! I recommend this to anyone!
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The Rooster
September 2016
The Long and Short of It… Melissa and I have spent the time since Coral Pink making some additions to the family. No, not another baby, but we did add a family member. Since before we had Marshall Allie has been asking for a puppy of her own, and while we delayed it a little bit by giving her a baby brother, she still wanted a dog, preferably a small cute one. Well, with Diesel and Shelby we knew it would have to be a tough little dog. We have always had a fondness for Corgis, and I had one when I was little. Well it turns out that Melissa’s best friend’s mom breeds them, and she decided Allie needed one. We were informed that we’d be getting one, and then the puppies were born May 5th. Allie got to pick out a name, and she chose Ratchet because she had been using a ratchet wrench while putting together a playhouse int he back yard. Everybody loved the name, and it fits him perfectly. We got to pick Ratchet up on August 6th and he now fits right in as part of the family. Shortly before picking up Ratchet, we also started shopping for a bigger trailer for the dunes. We wanted three axles and more weight carrying capacity than our current trailer. We found a floorpan that we really liked, and actually were able to look at a couple used ones before making a deal for one in Riverside. It is a 2007 FSW 3200 Weekend Warrior, with the front bedroom and a non-split bathroom. The cargo area is exactly the same size as our old trailer, but the overall length is 38 ft. We have spent a few nights in it up at John’s house parked next to our old trailer while we transfer our stuff over. We also figured out that in the 10 years we have had our other trailer we slept in it 340 nights, which is pretty neat. We spend almost one night out of every ten in the trailer, which works out to spending a month year in it. Now we’ll have a bigger home in the dunes. We can’t wait to take it out. -P.J.
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The Rooster
September 2016
Lake Havasu Weekend 2016 We returned to visit the Fords’ in Lake Havasu for what has become a traditional trip. We hadn't been able to make it the last two years, but this year they moved it up due to Shirley’s upcoming surgery, so we were able to make the trip and spend the night thanks to my parents hauling their fifth wheel down from Golden Valley. We loaded both kids and both dogs in the Excursion for a hot summer weekend. We spent Friday night in our new trailer after picking it up and hauling it to John’s. Then we headed to Havasu Saturday morning and got there just after lunch. We were glad to see Bob Amador and LuAnn, Kris and Doug, my parents, and of course Don and Shirley. We spent the afternoon swimming in their beautiful pool (still my favorite anywhere) and then went to dinner at Golden Corral. We missed seeing Bob Kierns, who had met up with everybody the night before. We had a nice dinner then went back to Don and Shirley’s for the evening. On Sunday we got up and made freezer bag omelets, then swam in the pool until early evening when we headed for home. Everyone else went to dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant and had a great time. We again had a great trip and want to thank Don and Shirley for their hospitality. This month we’d like to thank Mike Bacon for contributing an article. If you have more to share, please write it up and send it in for use in the coming months. The sand season is almost here, so we’ll have trips to report on very soon. Please feel free to write up whatever summer fun or off season preparation you have been up to. We can’t wait to see everybody in the dunes. -Paul, Melissa, Allie, and Marshall.
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