Oak Ridge VA4WDA Annual Trail RunSep 21-23, 2007

Good wheeling, good people, good prizes and most of all a way to raise money for a good cause. The VA4WD Association annual trail ride and poker run has something for everyone!




I wasn't particularly ready to go on a trail ride this year. My Jeep sat in the driveway for the last month waiting for some fluid changes and a new roll cage, but I was unable to get all that done. I ended up just rinsing off the GW mud and packing her up to get out of town on Thursday. No time for maintenance!!

The weather was perfect and there was only a 20% chance of rain. As it turns out, it did sprinkle a couple of times, once in the middle of the night, on my face, because I pulled back the rain fly on the tent for some air!

As for the trails, they were dusty but fun. Our group was lead by Keith who was wrangled into the job and we had several folks from Beltway Jeepers in our group. There were some damage, including some drive shaft problems, bent tie rods, and other minor issues, and one big hydro locked engine (OUCH!). The only problem I had was when I tried to line up my passenger side to get on a rock and ended up on my tie rod and drag link, which promptly bent a bit. Not enough to hinder the ride home, but enough to be looking for a heavy duty after market replacement.




For the raffle this year I won a bookbag from Tom Wood's and a shop light. A friend from Beltway gave me a certificate he won for a tax prep next year! Yay! Maybe next year I could win some tires...or...maybe not.

Can't wait for the 2008 run!!!!

To see the photo album of this trip click here.

West Virginia CampingBrandywine Campground - Aug 10-12, 2007

This trip started as a way for me to get some rest and relaxation from work and as a way to celebrate my recent birthday. I was hoping to camp in GWNF, but with no men going, and only one other female friend arriving on Saturday, I decided to go for Brandywine Campground. The best place in the whole campground is the overflow area in the back. There is a wooded area past the field and it only costs $2 per day per person to stay there. You really feel like you are all alone back there. People camping near the front of the campground were like, "Where are you going all the way back there??" You couldn't hear a peep from the rest of the campground. Perfect!



There is a lake to fish and swim in and there is wildlife! We had an encounter with a mama bear and her cub. They were searching our campsite for food (which we had stashed in the trees). I was able to get a picture of them. It's kind of like those pictures of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. I swear it's a bear. The racoons were in my Jeep trying to get into the cooler that I tied down. I know because they left little muddy foot prints inside and on top of the Jeep.



As far as the actual four wheeling this trip - not too much. A new friend showed up and we took some basic trails. I tried to follow the topo map, but took a wrong turn and we had to ask some Deliverance hunters in the woods for directions out. The GPS she had worked great - if the forest service didn't gate their roads!!

T4WD Annual RunOak Ridge Estates - Sep 21-24, 2006

This was probably the most rushed trip that I have ever had! I didn't have Thursday off and had to work overtime or go to school a majority of the evenings that week, so I actually packed up the weekend before. I was able to speed my way to Oak Ridge and arrived at about 21:30. My friends were nice enough to save me a place and lend me a light, so I got set up pretty quickly. That first night was in the low 40's and facilitated my head cold to worsen.

I wasn't really in the mood to do anything crazy this weekend, so I took a lot of bypasses and only did a few good obstacles. I rode with group five tailed by my friend Jay. The rest of the group was from 7 Hills Jeep Club, a very friendly group of people. They were sensible and had some really nice rigs.

Somewhere along the way I noticed a noise in the front end. It sounded like a playing card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Turns out (thank you Paul) that it was a U-joint going bad; nothing that kept me from traveling home.

I am writing this several weeks after the trip and I have yet to get the Jeep cleaned or repaired. I've been so busy with work and school that I cannot find the time to do it.

And the picture above is the only picture of my Jeep from the entire trip. Being sick, I didn't take any pictures either, so it's my only picture memory of the whole weekend.

Virginia Beach Jeeps Off-roadOBX Run Apr 23, 2006

This was an absolutely beautiful day. It started out somewhat cloudy as we staged at Border Station to head off in a convoy. There were about 13 Jeeps and everyone was on time. As we headed south, the spring sunshine popped out of the clouds and made it a sunny event. CB chatter was amusing on the way there. I was leading this trip, as the other organizers were either broken (sorry Maria), working, or just too far away. I've never lead anything before!



As soon as we got there, we of course had to stop for a photo op while everyone got geared into 4WD. It was low tide, so we really didn't even need 4WD for a majority of the trip. I got stuck for two seconds at the very end of the beach and had to turn on my rear locker to break free!



On the way home, Rex's Jeep had some trouble about 45 minutes from the Virginia line on 168. It just stopped working. We pulled over to a gas station and after about 30 minutes of troubleshooting decided to just trailer it home. Which lead to the next problem, what's open on Sunday 45 minutes south of Virginia that has a rentable trailer? I'll tell you-nothing. Luckily on the way north looking for a place, we found a U-Haul rental place at a hardware store just south of the Virginia line. Rex and his friend were able to recover his Jeep with a considerable time and gas commitment.



All-in-all it was a good day...except for that one thing....but that's another story.

Thanks guys for making it a great run!

Tidewater Fourwheelers Members Only RunCrozet - Mar 25-26, 2006

Crozet was crazy!



On day one, Saturday, I left Hampton Roads at 03:00 to get there with enough time to check into my shared cabin, stretch my winch, air down, and disconnect. Turns out I got there in plenty of time! We had some snow/rain mix early on. Nothing like starting out trails that are sketchy for our size rigs with even more sketchiness! So much happened, I can hardly remember it all. I tried to go up this rocky slope and couldn't make it and actually got stuck between a tree and a hard place trying to turn around! (How humbling. Thanks to you guys for helping me out without tearing my top off!) I know there was some mechanical problems, a broken shock mount, broken track bar mount, quite a few stucks, some new scratches and dents, lots of posing on a big rock that had its own concerns, and a rollover!



Saturday night turned out to be far milder than the rainy/snowy day. Dinner was prepared by some dedicated Tidewater members (one of them was the Prez!) and it was ready to go when the last few folks got back to the campground. Nothin' like burgers, hot dogs, soda, and a warm fire after a long day of running up and down rocks!



Sunday was far more damaging for me. We only wheeled half a day, but I managed to bust up my windshield frame pretty well on Boulder Byway (I think!). Dave (Core) got a couple of dents and one good rear quarter panel gash. Keith (Fromme) did this cool twisty over the rock to the right of the stump maneuver which was so impressive; I wished I'd had my camera! He said it felt sketchy?! Well, it LOOKED sketchy! I wish I could have watched everyone all day, but I really only saw the folks near me. Later in the day, on Drivetrain Debauchery, I managed to get a wheel up (seems to be becoming par for the course) and Keith made it up the impressively large rocks.



Jay (ruffrider) managed to damage his front driveshaft, but I have it on good authority that he fixed it ASAP on his return home. If you see him, ask him how his wife found out he damaged Blaze; it's a FUNNY story that is worth re-telling.

I met some very nice folks on this trip and felt welcome. I want to thank all of you who helped me out of all the jams I managed to get myself into; Mike who stood on my slider to keep me from going over, Billie and Dave for guiding me wisely, and so many more that I couldn't name everyone by name!!

I'd like to thank my Dad for coming out Saturday and my little girl for putting up with me the whole weekend :)

Misfit's RunGeorge Washington National ParkJan 13-15, 2006

This was a great trip! It was just the nicest group of people. I had so much fun playing in the snow and joking around. Oh, and the wheeling was fun too!



Dave P. and I left Mt. Trashmore at 06:15 Friday morning, picking up some others near Richmond at 08:00. We took our time, since some folks were towing, and got there around noon. I immediately checked into the Hampton Inn and the hard core guys headed down to Kephart Run to camp. It was rather balmy on Friday. (God bless them though for withstanding the SNOW, RAIN, and 60 MPH winds on Saturday, early Sunday!) Later that day Keith, Ed, and I left the Hampton Inn and headed down to meet the campers. We managed to get out on the trails for a nice relaxing trip that lasted about three hours.



Saturday started out with a trash clean-up at Second Mountain. It started to snow just as soon as we hit the trail. By the time we got to the ATV loading area at the top, the snow was in full swing. We spent the rest of the day wheeling around GW with Paul C. in the lead driving his Kaiser on 42" tires! (Side note: That's the most awesome rig!) Around 18:00 we were wrapping up the last leg of our trail ride in the dark when some of us near the front heard loud tree snapping noises. A tree fell!! Apparently the weight of the snow and the high winds knocked it over. Dave P. was directly in its path and accelerated out of the way. It was a close call. Thank goodness all are okay.



Sunday was the best day of all! Dave P. & Mike D. lead the pack in Dave's TJ, followed by myself (Rubicon), Keith & Ed (CJ), Jim (Rubicon Unlimited), Eric (Rubicon), and Mike B.(Dodge pick-up). We headed up Dictum's Ridge from the bottom and hit the rocks. Dave made it up just fine using the right side of the trail. I, on the other hand, had the bright idea of going left. I had it all worked out in my head, however, it didn't go quite as planned. Luckily, Dave was there to pull the winch cord out and hook me up AND offer a few words of comfort ("CHELE, YOU'RE OKAY!"). Everyone else (for the most part) winched themselves up. Mike B. broke his pick-up's driveshaft, but was able to hang in there in 2WD with Eric's help for the rest of the trail.



The ride home was uneventful, but the company was good and the 4 hour trip FLEW by.



Thanks to all for a good time AND your help.



To see the photo album of this trip click here or use the "General Photos of Stuff" link to the right.

9/23 - 9/24/2005 Oak Ridge VA4WDA Annual Trail Run

Oak Ridge was great! I'd like to know the final number of how many people showed up, but 247 Jeeps were registered. Thank goodness the trails were dry! Everything ran smoothly and kudos to the planners for a job well done.



Debbie, Jay, and I arrived Thursday afternoon. The VA Four Wheel Drive Association run at Oak Ridge did not start until Friday, so we had some daylight to kill. Jay headed to camp and Debbie suggested we head to Crabtree falls for a relaxing ride through the woods. And that was what it was. Everything went okay, but, as the day progressed, I noticed significant play in my steering. So much in fact, that it scared me to drive on those backcountry roads. I made a mental note to call a Jeep dealership early on Friday and get in there ASAP!



Friday morning we hit the staging area at Oak Ridge. (I called Jeep as soon as I got there and made an appointment in Waynesboro for 1pm that day.) There were A LOT of people there and there were impressive displays of all sorts of four wheel drive vehicles. We had stock and extremely modified vehicles. I just had a great time checking everyone's junk out. We got on the trails and had an uneventful day, which I had to cut short, leaving at 11am, to get to Jeep. Turns out my track bar was loose. I could kick myself for not checking my bolts before heading to the stealership. So, one hour of labor later, I was on my way back to Oak Ridge to hang out for the evening.



Saturday was even bigger than Friday!! Everyone was there!! The trail ride that day was great! We hit that one big rock in the river (I wish I knew the names of these trails...) and I went WAY over it this time. I got to a point on that rock and just thought, "Uh..maybe I shouldn't have gone quite that far over, okay breathe and go sllooww..." I made it over with this HUGE grin on my face. I wanted to do it again, but could not. The second obstacle that made me sweat was minutes from the big rock. The two larger Jeeps in front of me hit the bypass. I eyeballed the hill and said, "No way!" Cory (bless his heart) was behind me, in his relatively stock Jeep and said, "I'll do it!" Ooookay. So I pulled up and he handled it like a champ!! (Go Cory!) When I saw him, I knew I had to do it and I did, thanks to Cory's example!! After that, nothing posed a problem for me. I didn't get stuck at all and got over CJ-5 Hill on one try. I was sorry to see the day end.

On Sunday, I was supposed to hit GW to do some more wheeling with Lennox, but we were so tired, that we just headed back home. We got home about 1pm and were both beat, but the experience was worth it!

Thanks to all who worked instead of wheeling and those who took time from their busy lives to plan a great weekend.

To see the photo album of this trip click here or use the "General Photos of Stuff" link to the right.