TDS at Salton Sea

Met up with Keith and family with Richie in tow Thursday evening around 7:30pm TP time on the 118 around Porter Ranch and headed out for TDS. Very pleased with how the new RV handled and barely knew the Jeep was in tow. Got into camp around midnight, dropped the landing gear, popped out the rooms and got the beds ready the kids and my mother. After everyone in my group was settled in, headed over to La Rodante Casa de Pellegrino for drinks and social hour (or 2) until about 2am. Had about 15 packed into his RV. Very fun!

For my group, Friday was a relaxing day of doing next to nothing, wondering around the vendor booths, registering for the trail and doing some maintenance on the Jeep. Once the winds kicked up in the late afternoon, we were RV bound and watched movies into the night.

Saturday morning came and it was a clear and non-windy day (Thank God!). For the official run, we had just Joe Picker and my Jeep doing it as the others in our group were doing the vendor run. After loading up the Jeeps with Keith, my son Zach, Keith's son Greg and Greg's friend Devon (I think), we headed out to the trailhead around 8:30am TP time. Since we were on TP time, we were pretty much in the back of the pack. After sitting in line in the dry wash for about 30 minutes, we finally got to the first trail split and the herd thinned out quite a bit as the less capable Jeeps stayed on the easy route. All in all, it was a great day of wheeling in this very fun area. For those who have not been down here, I highly recommend it because there is just about anything for any skill/build level and you could spend a month just exploring this area while cutting new trails.

Saturday night. The Notches. What can I say about this event. Scary, chaotic and exciting all in one. And that's just being a spectator! For the uninitiated, this is an unofficial event that happens in the Truckhaven area where people bring their junk and then proceed to try and climb 10 foot plus vertical walls. The thing that makes this event so chaotic and scary for the spectators is that most of the drivers just point and go with no thought of what is on the other side of the climb. (In most cases, a large crowd of people scrambling out of the way.) Not something you would want to bring a child to. Most of the vehicles brought to the event seem to be more then capable of climbing the walls with little to no problem but that's boring. No, this is about spinning the tires, roaring the fire breathing V8s, breaking parts, rolling and making it as much of a spectacle as possible for the crowd. While it was very fun to watch this event, I have to say I came away from this with mixed feelings. Very fun to watch but probably not so good for the off-road image. After returning to camp, Tony P, Tony F, Keith, Richie and Kristen decided to go out for a night run that they will have to report on since I had daddy duties to take care of.

Sunday morning came too fast and we watched the parade of Jeeps, RVs and trailers go by as we had a nice breakfast. Took mom out for a quick run up to the top of the ridge to give her some perspective on the size of this event and give her a mild taste of 4 wheeling. Once back, loaded up the Jeep and got on the road for home around 1pm.

As a family, we had a great time at this event and always enjoy the company of good friends. Thanks Keith for arranging the use of the trailer from Sean and helping me sort things out for our maiden voyage in the RV with Jeep in tow. Sean, not sure if you are on the boards but thanks VERY much for the use of your trailer! Looking forward to the next one!

*Cheers*

-Derek and Family