Hi Desert Roundup (HDR)
May 23-26, 2008
Attendees:
Tony and Jordan Pellegrino
John, John Jr., and Nova Cary
Keith, Teresa, Alex and Greg Lyon
Jeff and Carol Sanders
Mike and Laura Whittington
Rich and Cork Wohlers
Ric Freeman
Robert King and Family
Brian and Donna
Jonathan Fisher
Scott Evans
DeWayne and Tina Larson
Great turn-out for the OTR group!
This year there were about 250 registered attendees for the Cal 4-Wheel event. This is down from last year but no surprise due to high gas prices. The weather was excellent, if not a bit cold with a few scattered rain showers and enough wind to make it feel really cold at times. Considering the time of year, it was nice to have the cool weather all weekend.
On Saturday, the group went out on our own and did segments of Pumpkin Eater. All went well until Ric rolled his TJ coming down a steep right hand sweeper. He was okay and the Jeep didn’t look bad at all (but I’m not the one paying the repair cost either). It took three Jeeps, some jacking, and a lot of head scratching to get him righted again. It could have been a lot worse. His Jeep landed drivers side down…one more quarter roll and the Jeep would have rolled down a fairly steep drop-off. The roll forced a fan blade into the radiator creating a leak which prevented Ric from driving the TJ back to camp.
Sunday was game day. The Club (as in previous years), manned the Teeter Totter. Most of us participated in the games including a backwards race (fastest time), an obstacle course (with the driver blindfolded and guided by a co-driver), a fastest time event where the co-driver removes and then replaces colored cans on like colored sticks while the driver maneuvers through an obsticle course and a slowest time “race†(best for a manual transmission with really low gears). All proceeds go to Cal 4-Wheel.
On Sunday evening, following the games, we made another trip through the rocks with Jeff Sanders putting on the best show when he got wedged in a bit of a crack…winch time.
John Cary Jr. took photos throughout the weekend for an RC Car Magazine article that he was writing.
On Monday, we all headed for home. What a great group of friends and a great time in the desert.
Mike