Feb
15
2012
Off to the races
Author: crazysuzyNot to be deterred, we took our mangled our trailer to Johnson Valley, CA for the King of the Hammers event. This is an off-road race on steroids, with 165 miles of Volkswagen-sized rocks, bone-jarring whoops, and all out desert racing. Even Robbie Gordon tried running it, but blew his engine at mile 25.
The shots shown here are from the qualifying rounds at the base of Chocolate Thunder. Several rollovers occurred as the drivers tried to find the right line.
Feb
15
2012
Yet another spectacular equipment failure
Author: crazysuzy
We were going to take a little side trip to Ocotillo Wells for a geocaching event a few weeks ago, but once again our equipment had other plans for us. Only 20 miles west of Quartzsite, on a cool day and just after entering the freeway after getting gas, it was once again time for me to frantically call Terry on the radio to tell him that a trailer tire was failing. Debris was flying spectacularly on I-10, and I knew it was bad.
After pulling in to a nearby rest stop (one lucky thing for the day), we saw that the center tire on the driver’s side had decided to come apart. It was one of the last remaining Chinese tires that were on the trailer and was only three years old. Wiring and shredded carpeting were hanging down, the fender was probably in the center divider, and the slide wasn’t working.
The moral of the story: buy the best tires that you can afford for your rig and be really good at dealing with whatever debris life throws at you and the rest of the cars on the road.
Nov
30
2011
Turkey in a trash can
Author: crazysuzy
We actually had relatives come out to dry camp with us in the Arizona desert for Thanksgiving.
Since none of us had a working oven large enough to accommodate the turkey, we decided to make use of a recipe that I had read somewhere about cooking a turkey in a trashcan. So off we went to the hardware store to get the materials needed for our little epicurean experiment.
After soaking the turkey in a brine solution for a day or two, impaling it on a stake and burning it over coals, we had one of the most delicious turkey dinners we’ve ever had (no offense Grandma).
Sep
23
2011
JK does not stand for Just Kidding
Author: crazysuzy
After seven months of excruciating struggles to get our 2004 Rubicon repaired (shortly after its 100,000 mile birthday), only to blow it up again while flat towing, we decided the Jeep Gods (and Geico) had spoken it was time for our beloved yellow Jeep to go live in the junkyard.
So it was off to the web to search for the best deal on a new Rubi. I wanted one with the longest warranty possible so that all of the problems that we had with the old Jeep would actually get repaired (and paid for) by someone other than us.
Embarrassingly, the only 4-door Rubicon that we could find in the area was a bona fide mall crawler. It had leather, power everything, navigation, blah, blah, blah. After living with Jeeps all my life that had roll down windows and no power door locks, this was ridiculous. But the lifetime (yes, I do mean lifetime) warranty was enough to convince me to sign on the dotted line (and lots of other lines).
I don’t know if it was a sign, but as we waited excitedly for the Jeep to get readied for us to take delivery (in the climate-controlled, glass enclosed, marble floored ‘delivery area’), the skies opened up and shot lightening, thunder, wind and rain down upon us. Maybe the Jeep Gods were angry that we had so easily discarded the old Jeep.
Sep
23
2011
Texas barrier islands worth the drive
Author: crazysuzy
We’ve been so busy hanging out at the beach that I haven’t had time to document our latest travels, aside from posting Terry’s Corona commercial picture. So here goes…
We were supposed to be heading for cooler climes like Colorado or Utah after safely seeing our daughter through a quadruplet pregnancy. But knowing that we were going to be leaving from Little Rock in any direction that we wanted to go, I just felt like going to the beaches of Texas. It seems contradictory (Texas beaches?), but Texas really does have some of the most fantastic beaches in the country. We had heard a lot about a place called Rockport and Port Aransas from other full-timers.
I did a cursory search on Google to see what enormous monthly fees the RV parks charge there. To my amazement, they were cheap. A little over $400 per month, plus electricity. With Terry’s blessing, reservations were made and our plans were set.
Aug
5
2011
A day in the life
Author: crazysuzy
Jul
15
2011
All-American trailer trash
Author: crazysuzyThe sun peeked through the trees at the KOA campground in Little Rock, and I couldn’t resist taking this shot. What’s missing from the shot are the 1981 19-ft travel trailer with the plywood around the A/C unit and the beer drinking occupants who are sometimes too drunk to do anything but crawl through the door opening to get to the head.
Jul
10
2011
Jeep gods are not with us
Author: crazysuzyWe had a total of 28 hours and about 600 miles of ignorant bliss before disaster struck again.
After blowing the Jeep transfer case in January, waiting four months for repairs and insurance adjusters and spending about $5K on the repairs and maintenance, I had dreams of carefree days spent driving on the beaches of the Gulf coast.
A shiny new Atlas II was in place that had never been offroad, along with two new driveshafts from JE Reel (thanks Jim). I had even upgraded the stereo and replaced the old CB that was stuck on channel 4. It hasn’t even been used.
But despite having less than 2,000 miles on the repairs, my Jeep Beach dreams are not to be.
Jul
8
2011
On the road again!!
Author: crazysuzyAfter seven very long but rewarding months, we are finally back on the road again. The world now has four beautiful new quadruplets who were born on Father’s Day. Their new parents definitely have their hands full.
With sadness, we parted ways today with our daughter and grandchildren. We are grateful for the time that we spent together since January, but the road is calling and the summer is slipping by. So we are happily plodding along across the California desert, with the Jeep in tow and loaded to the gills.
Our stop for the night is Seligman, Arizona, with our final destination set for Little Rock, Arkansas on Monday. The trailer is there because the babies were supposed to be born there (very long story). Then we’ll drag the trailer and Jeep to the south end of Texas for a one-month stay on one of the barrier islands in a city called Port Aransas. We know it will be hot there, but the warm gulf waters and thoughts of Corona and fish tacos sound really good right now.
Y’all should come down and join us!
Jan
13
2011
We’ll be back another day
Author: crazysuzyOur daughter recently gave us the happy news that she is expecting quadruplets, so we are now parked back in Paso Robles to help her manage until the new little ones arrive. Then we’ll be back out on the road for more adventures.
Happy trails!