Newsletter0914

The Rooster September 2014

Summer Fun July -August 2014

In this month’s newsletter, we cover summer activities ranging from the Coral Pink trip to trips to the Colorado River. The weather will cool down soon though, then before we know it we’ll be back in the sand! !

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Whats New

It is summertime, so there’s not a lot of dining action to report on, but the season is just around the corner.

Get the toys ready

There are only about six weeks left before we start the season with a Dumont trip. This means it is time to get the toys ready for another season of duning fun.

RZR Addition

It’s that time of the year again, where we post monthly reports of members acquiring RZRs. This month’s lucky subject is Mike Bacon, who just last week picked up a RZR 1000. Read more on page 6.

THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association


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Upcoming Events

• September 19-21: Sand Sports Super Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

• October 10-12: Weekend at Dumont

• October 25: Mona Bacon Memorial Spook Run

• October 31: Halloween. With it being on a Friday, this should be a big Glamis weekend.

The Sand Show is Coming Up

The 16th annual Sand Sports Super show is coming up soon, which means the sand season is right around the corner. Make your

plans now to catch one or more of the three days of the event at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Admission is $15 each day, but look for deals or coupon codes from the Sand Sports Swap Meet to save a bit more. September

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A Long Weekend at Cottonwood Cove By Jim Kastle

P.J. emailed me this morning saying we had no content for the newsletter, so I decided to write up my version of the Coral Pink and Havasu trips. I then thought about what a great weekend we just had at Cottonwood Cove with the Coles. I decided to share. As some of you know, we have a very old mobile home at Cottonwood Cove. John and Anna have a houseboat in dry storage at Cottonwood. For the last several years my favorite river trips are the ones with the Coles and Kastles. Nancy and I arrived on Tuesday evening to prepare for John and Anna’s arrival Wednesday. As I have more free time, I usually get the houseboat out of dry storage and park it in the lot to make it easier for John to transfer stuff to the houseboat. John texted me when he left Barstow, so I got the houseboat. When they arrived I was pleased that Brianna and her boyfriend Conner rode with John and Anna. Matt and his girlfriend, Courtney would arrive Thursday morning. The Coles took the day cruiser out to find the perfect beach, a task made harder by the extremely high water level. Fortunately, they found one of the best beaches at Cottonwood was available. John gave me a radio call and I launched the houseboat. By the time the day cruiser got back to the beach, some others had started to set up. Brianna and Anna didn’t want to intrude, so they stayed off shore. John, not being as overly-considerate, pulled the houseboat on shore at the best spot on the beach and asked if they could share. The other party agreed, so the Coles started setting up. I don’t think it should come as any surprise, but the Coles don’t travel light. A table, a bar-b-que, multiple fishing poles, chairs, tubes, ice chests, wake boards, skurfers, knee boards, two dogs, and a tent all found their way onto the beach. For a reason clear to all, the other party announced they had found another beach, leaving the beach to us. Nancy and I joined the Coles at the beach and spent the afternoon floating and talking. Thursday morning Nancy and I launched P.J. and Melissa’s pontoon boat, and took it out to the beach. Matt and Courtney soon arrived, and radioed John for a ride to the beach. I’m sure the other people who had been on the beach came by at sometime during the weekend and were glad they moved! Thursday and Friday we spent time floating, and I even drove the pontoon boat while John trolled. John took great glee in the fact I went fishing with him. I used to love fishing, and many of my happiest memories of my dad were of us fishing together. However, I no longer have any interest in fishing, much to Nancy’s chagrin, as she would love to fish, largely because of her childhood/adolescent memories. John has a not so secret desire to get me back to fishing.

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Late Friday P.J., Melissa, and Allie arrived. Saturday we called John and he brought the pontoon boat to the dock and all the Kastles joined all the Coles at the beach. We had a fun weekend of swimming, floating, tubing, and for the first time in nearly 10 years, Melissa knee boarded. Conner, who had never water skied or wake boarded got up on his first try on a wakeboard. He’s young and is a surfer, but getting up the first time is damn impressive. I mentioned these are my favorite river trips. Before the last trip, I had to replace the gimbal bearing in my outdrive. I had done so about ten years ago, and completed the job in one day. Well, I’m 10 years older now, and things did not go well. It took three days and help from Nancy to get it done. When I finally got it done, it leaked water into the boat, and it had an exhaust leak. I was frustrated, but when John got there his houseboat outboard was not running well. He has confidence in my ability to rebuild outboard carbs, and offered to R and R my outdrive, if I’d rebuild his carbs. That was an offer too good to refuse, and thanks to John and Matt in just over an hour I had a totally leak free boat for the first time in 10 years (it turns out I had a gasket in the wrong place, a fact which was IMMEDIATELY obvious to John), and he had a smooth running outboard. I’m glad my kid married so well! On these trips Nancy usually cooks Saturday dinner, but this time John offered to bar-b-que, so we had a really good dinner on the beach. We spent the evening in good conversation and sky watching.

Sunday we took the pontoon boat back to the beach and had another fun day in the sun. P.J. and Melissa had to go home Sunday afternoon, but not before he offered to pull the pontoon boat and cover it, a task that would have delayed John’s Monday departure by at least an hour. Sunday night the air conditioner on the houseboat stopped working, so all six houseboaters had a bad night’s sleep. It says something about that family that there were no arguments or harsh words from anyone. I know that I would not be in a very good mood if I

had been trying to sleep in a 100 or so degree box all night. John DID give me a radio call at 8:00 A.M. (much earlier than usual) saying they were leaving the beach, and asking for me to bring the houseboat trailer to the ramp. I suggested we hook the houseboat up to shore power to see if the A/C or the generator was the problem. We took the houseboat up to the trailer and found the A/C was fine, so the generator probably needs a tune up. Everyone took advantage of the trailer village showers, which I’m sure made for a better trip home. If all this sounds like fun, and it does to the Coles and Kastles, we’re going to do it again the weekend AFTER Labor Day. There should be RV spaces and maybe even hotel rooms available. Cottonwood’s number is (702) 297-1464.

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Lake Havasu Weekend 2014 By Jim Kastle

Once again the Fords opened their home and pool to the club for the annual trip. Nancy and I arrived around noon Friday and we all went to Schlotzsky’s for lunch, we then used their beautiful pool and Walt soon arrived. Before we left for dinner Kris and Doug arrived, towing their new-to-them “boater cycles”, two beautiful turbocharged Honda PWC’s. For years we went to the Chinese buffet by the London Bridge, but the last few years have changed to one further north. When we arrived at the northern one, we found it was out of business. Don knew the old one had reopened under new management (which it badly needed) so we decided to try it. They probably have not been open very long as they seemed disorganized, but the food was great, and we received a discount because of the poor service. I’d go back. After dinner we enjoyed talking with Kris and Doug, a pleasure we all missed at Coral Pink. !Saturday morning Shirley and Kris prepared a nice breakfast, and then Bob Amador arrived towing his beautiful Nordic day cruiser. With Bob’s boat and the two PWC’s, I decided to

change from a day in the pool to a day on the lake. Nancy and Don decided dry land and a warm pool were more appealing. We had a great time, with all but Walt and me riding the PWC’s, and then we moored in the channel and watched the world go by. Back at Don and Shirley’s Shirley set up a nice sandwich lunch. We spent time in the pool before going to the traditional Golden Corral dinner. For some reason the food and service were especially

good. Back at the Ford’s we sat up late and talked. !Sunday morning Shirley and Kris made some great breakfast burritos, which were made even better by Kris grilling them. We spent the rest of the day in the pool or in the den watching a really competitive NASCAR race. Bob left before dinner, but the rest of us went to the now traditional Taco Hacienda dinner. We finished the day with more conversation. !Monday morning Shirley provided another great breakfast, followed by more swimming before we all headed home. We had a great time, but missed the trips of the past with several boats and lots more people. I hope we can have more participation next year. Thanks to Don and Shirley for their gracious hospitality.

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Roarin' RZR's!

By Mike Bacon & Lisa Shea

Yes folks, the rumors are true! We are back in the RZR game! As many of you knew I sold my 800 RZR-‐S back in April to help finance a change in our business. I had the intenEon of skipping the next desert season to build the business up. The business is moving along beIer than we anEcipated so I was able to go looking for another RZR. We found a nice RZR 1000 in Henderson, NV so Lisa and I went over and spent the night in Las Vegas Thursday night, and picked up the RZR Friday morning. Once I got the RZR on the trailer and Eed down we looked at each other and said at the same Eme "We're so close, why don't we just go see Don & Shirley and we can get the RZR registered at the same Eme?"

We arrived at Casa De Ford right about lunch Eme so we all went out to get a sandwich then over to the DMV (Sorry AZ folks, the DOT!). Well, it turns out I needed more paperwork, but I got things started. Once we got back Don took off to Laughlin for a couple of days. Shirley invited us to stay the night so we went out to dinner then lounged in to pool for a while before hi\ng the sack. We headed for home Saturday morning. Thanks Don & Shirley for your great, 2 hour noEce hospitality!

So, with the new RZR, the 3rd Annual Mona Bacon Memorial Spook Poker Run And Hot Dog Weenie Roast is on for Saturday, October 25th. We have some different things in mind this year to make it even more fun, and another different route. We're looking forward to seeing everyone again this year!


Coral Pink 2014 By Jim Kastle

Before we left for Coral Pink we heard that Kris and Doug and Mike would not be able to make the trip due to the demands of a new product line their business has taken on. Barry had planned to make the trip, but had to cancel at the last minute, so when we left home on Tuesday, July 8th we knew we would have the smallest group we’ve had in over 15 years. We hooked up with Don and Shirley, and Walt on the highway just outside of Golden Valley. Don and Shirley were both in the motor home, and Walt was in his truck towing George’s toy box, I was in the dually towing the toy box, and Nancy was following in her Subaru. To avoid Las Vegas’s “Spaghetti Bowl” interchange we took advantage of our senior passports and went through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The drive made it clear just how low Lake Mead’s water level is. The water is a mile or more away from the former sites of some marinas. After going what seemed like an entirely uphill drive on two lane roads, we hit the I-15 just about 40 miles from Mesquite. !We arrived at the Casablanca without incident, and checked into the RV park or room. P.J. and Melissa had decided to minimize time off work, and planned to head to Mesquite Friday morning, in hopes of caravanning with the rest of us. So we had just the five of us in Mesquite, joined one evening by Don and Shirley’s nephew and his wife, who live in St George. We spent time gambling, in the pool, shopping, and of course, eating. No one was real lucky, but we had fun. Walt, Nancy, and I did make the drive to St George to eat at Texas Roadhouse. !Friday morning we did hear from P.J. that he, Melissa and Allie had left Riverside around 3:00 AM, and were on track to meet us in Mesquite after breakfast. We all had breakfast at the café at Casablanca, and were soon on the way to Coral Pink. As we had all fueled up and shopped in Mesquite, we headed straight to Coral Pink. There had been a lot of rain in some parts of southern Utah, so we were somewhat concerned about the shortcut to Coral Pink, but the dirt road was in the best shape in years. !At the park we were greeted by some new campground hosts, and 2 of the usual 3 rangers. The rangers remembered us, and seem to like us. The group site was as neat as it has been for the last few years, with the only negatives being a malfunctioning bar-b-que, and a newly installed fence that made it a little harder to park P.J.’s trailer. There was a hole left where Kris and Doug usually park, but Walt parked further forward, making it less obvious we were missing them.

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!P.J. gave a detailed report about the rides in last month’s newsletter, so I’ll just mention a few details that stood out for me. First was that we didn’t have many off road vehicles, so most rides were a combination of buggies, P.J.’s and mine; and RZR’s, Don’s 1000, Shirley’s 900, which Walt had borrowed, and my 900. For some reason, as yet unknown to me, my RZR was not running as strong as Shirley’s, causing me some concern. It wasn’t terrible, but the difference was noticeable. Also, I lost the first 900 belt any of the club has lost. I was concerned about how hard it was to replace, but with Walt and Don’s help, and what I remembered from a video about changing a 900 belt I had watched, it was easy to change. When my belt broke, P.J. used his rail to tow me back, but after he had to stop because I wound the tow strap around my front end, we noticed he had bent a front A-arm. Our plan was to get my buggy and tow it back, but Don suggested we use his RZR. We were surprised the 1000 towed my RZR better than the buggy. !Back in camp the repairs to the sand rail were complicated a bit by the fact for the first time in years, I didn’t bring the workbench. But we had planned ahead and Don brought his welder, we had the tool boxes from the trailer, and we were able to soon have the rail ready for the rest of the trip. !The two most memorable RZR rides were to the canyon with the killer drop and one end, and a dead end at the other we found last year. After a year all of us were still amazed that Mike and Lisa were able to find the way out last year. The route goes

up a steep sandstone slope with no evidence of a trail, up a hundred feet or so, before you get to a sandy trail. The first time we went this year it was Walt, Don and Shirley, and me. We decided that we needed Melissa to take pictures, so later in the trip Don and Shirley lent P.J. and Melissa their 1000, Shirley rode with Don, and Walt rode with me, and we went back to the canyon. The pictures are on the website and some were in last month’s newsletter. It was on this ride that I realized Shirley has no fear of heights, much the opposite of me. After the

canyon we headed out the way we came in last year, up a trail with some large rocks we had to climb over, and some stair step sandstone. The way the RZR’s handled the obstacles was impressive. We continued to the cliff that overlooks the campground. !

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On one buggy/RZR ride I went down a dune and met a stump sticking out of the sand. I assumed I’d just knock it over and keep going. That didn’t work, as my car hit the stump and was stopped suddenly, but not until the stump was entangled in my front suspension. After a lot of digging and jacking using both P.J.’s and my recently

installed jacks, my car was still stuck. We ended up using a jack to lift and turn one of the stump’s roots finally freeing my car. Freed from the stump, but still pointed uphill in some soft sand. Don’s RZR to the rescue, as he hooked up to me and helped me get up the hill. P.J. had stopped his car just over the lip of the dune before stopping to avoid hitting me, and could not back up. Yep, Don’s RZR to the rescue again, as he hooked up to P.J. and helped him back up the hill. The 1000 was the star vehicle of the trip. !We had only one day of rain in camp, and that was just few sprinkles. But the temperature was mild, and I think there was only one 100 degree day. !Looking back, the trip was fun, but not the same without the rest of the group. I don’t think a day went by without several of us saying how much we missed Kris, Doug, and Mike. I sure hope we can have the full crew again next year, and maybe even some newbies. We already have the group site for next year, for Wednesday, July 8 through Friday, July 17. !

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This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle and Mike Bacon for writing articles, Don and Shirley for hosting the river trip, Walt Fisher for taking pictures at Havasu, and Mike Bacon for setting up the poker run. The newsletter would be pretty boring without people’s contributions, and it is great to have so much content in the middle of summer. Next month we’ll preview the sand season to come, as we’ll share highlights from the sand show while the Dumont trip and poker run will be just around the corner.

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