Newsletter0815

The Rooster August 2015

Coral Pink 2015

The following report is my day by day record of the trip, most of which was written on the iPad sitting at the benches in the group site. I hope you enjoy reading about it, we sure had a great time. -P.J."

Wednesday July 8th:

We got up at 2 AM again to meet the others in Mesquite after breakfast and make the drive straight through. We left by 2:45 and the drive went well. We got to Mesquite before 10 AM and met up with the rest of the group at the RV park. We met Buttons, Don and Shirley's new puppy. Then we got in the trucks and motorhomes

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Whats New

We had another great trip to Coral Pink, as you’ll read all about in this newsletter and hopefully the next one. Thirteen people joined in on this year’s trip, and we had some of the best weather ever.

Havasu Weekend

Since we’re back from Coral Pink, it must be time to think about a weekend at Lake Havasu in August. Let’s plan on visiting Don and Shirley’s the weekend of August 7-9.

It’s a Boy!

After returning from Coral Pink Melissa had an ultrasound that confirmed the Kastles latest addition is a boy. Besides playing with his “favorite toy”, rumor has it he was steering and shifting too…

THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association


and headed for Coral Pink. There was still construction that narrowed the Virgin River gorge to one lane each way, but we made good time and didn't even stop until we got to the dirt road cutoff from Cane Beds. After a quick potty break as it started to sprinkle we headed down the dirt road. It was a little soft, but we had no problems and arrived at the park about 1:30 local time, meaning it only took about two hours from Mesquite. We got the rigs set up pretty quickly, with my parents bringing their fifth wheel for the first time since 2006. Mike and Paula joined the group site for the first time, and parked where Walt usually does. We were all glad that Walt would be still coming, arriving on Monday. Kris and Doug returned after missing the trip last year. After we started unpacking, it started to rain quite a bit. There was some spectacular lightning that was very close to the campground. It rained for quite a while, and it started to run down the hill. Later it cleared up and Kris, Doug, and Shirley played a first round of their dice game. Then it rained some more, and we wound up eating inside. After dinner we tried going for a walk outside since it wasn't raining, but it was only 59 degrees outside, so it was chilly. Then we got ready for bed, and found that in the hard rain our roof had leaked over our bed, so we had to sleep with spare blankets on one couch bed while Allie and Diesel on the other one. It was a little tight, but that's ok, we're at Coral Pink.

!Thursday July 9th:

I got up about 7 AM and took the dogs for a walk to the overlook. There were no clouds and it warmed up nicely. We all got up and ready for a ride and the RZRs decided to take a trail ride to the dinosaur tracks. I decided to stay back and work on my sandrail a bit and they headed out. It was Mykel's first ride in the seat that Mike added to the middle of his RZR, and Buttons first ride on Shirley's lap. They all had fun. While they were gone

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Upcoming Events

• August 7-9: Lake Havasu Weekend at Don and Shirley Ford’s

• September 18-20: Sand Sports Super Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa

• Also look out for a pre-sand season trip to the Cinders in Flagstaff. If you’d be interested, let Jim Kastle know.

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we walked to the overlook and the ranger station and Allie rode her bike the whole way. I found a tube of caulking in the trailer and sealed up the roof vent, then we ate lunch as the RZRs got back. For the afternoon ride we decided to go to the corral, so I followed Jim, Mike, and Don in the buggy. We had a great ride and visited all of the usual sites, including Bob-Jim and the Disneyland trail to the lower section. Then we got back to camp and hung out for a while before cooking dinner. As the sun set the clouds built up in the distance and we heard some thunder, but the camp stayed dry until just after 10, when it started to sprinkle.

Friday July 10th:

I got up at 7 and took the dogs for our routine early walk. There were more clouds than yesterday, but they made the sky pretty. We were still the only OHVs in the campground. Our plan for the morning ride was to go to the overlook on the ridge above camp in the RZRs. We also wanted to explore a new trail up there that we had seen on Google Earth. We left camp about 9:45 with nine people in the four RZRs. We went to the corral, then up to the overlook on the cliffs where you can see the campground. After taking pictures there, we headed around to the new trail, which extends East towards Kanab until it hits a canyon, ending in a neat cliff overlook. Then we went to the waterfall we discovered two years ago, and Shirley again went right up to the edge. We could see that quite a bit of water had gone through in the

recent storms, and by hanging over the edge Shirley could see that there was water at the bottom. Then we headed back to camp and got back about 2:00 and then everybody went in to Kanab. We shopped and ate, then met back up at the campsite to hang out for the evening. On the way back in we saw the head ranger, who recognized us and was glad to see us again. It was nice to talk with him for a bit. We spent the rest of the night just sitting around talking and watching the sunset, then everybody went inside by 9:30. The group is definitely getting older, but we're still having lots of fun.

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Saturday July 11th:

We planned to do freezer bag omelets this morning for the first time at Coral Pink. It rained pretty hard at 6 AM, but was clearing by when I got up at 7. We got the water pot set up for the omelets and the water was boiling by 8:00. People brought lots of omelet ingredients, and we had ham, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, chilis, cheese, salsa, and lots more. It was the first time Kris and Doug had seen the freezer bag omelets and they were impressed at how much fun it was and how well they turned out. Then the RZRs headed out for a trail ride, so we headed to town again in the Excursion. We hit some yard sales and found a few things, and got free Slurpees from 7-11 since it was July 11th. Then we visited the thrift store and got lunch at McDonalds before heading back to camp. The RZRs had a good ride too, finding a new canyon overlook North of the sand dunes road. In camp more other off roaders had arrived, with a few RZRs and a Rhino. After a while in camp, Don suggested we go for a dune ride, so Jim, Mike, Don and I went for a ride to the corral. The sand was a lot dryer and softer than earlier in the week, but we still had fun and made it to the corral and back before dinner. I wore long pants all day and was never hot, and by the time we went to sleep it was in the 50s. The campground also filled up, with someone even camping in the old dump station by the restrooms.

Sunday July 12th:

I slept late, not getting up until about 7:45. At 8:00, one of the new arrivals from yesterday was driving his RZR around the campground loop. That wouldn't have happened a few years ago. The sky was pretty clear, so it warmed up quickly. Since Don and Shirley weren't going on the morning ride they offered me their RZR. Then since Mykel was going I asked Allie if she wanted to ride with me. She did, so we spent some time figuring out that she was too small for the seat belts, then installing her car seat in the RZR. After the slight delay we headed out to join the others. The plan for the ride was to ride through the dunes to the meadow, then cross the road and explore some overlooks, then work our way back to the road West of camp, making a big loop. The plan worked out great, and we went over 50 miles and everybody had

a great time, especially Allie. It was a lot of fun to ride with her and have her enjoy it so much. Score one for the RZR, and thanks so much to Don and Shirley. We got back to camp about 2:00, then sat around and talked about our adventures. About 4:00 we went for another evening dune ride, this time with just me, Don, and Jim. Jim's RZR performed much better since he had cleaned the air filter which was pretty dirty. Then we sat around and watched some ride videos until about 10 when we took showers and went to sleep.

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Monday July 13th:

I got up early with the dogs and took our walk to the overlook. Then we looked at pictures while we are breakfast and Jim put his paddle tires on so we could do a morning dune ride before heading to Kanab for lunch. Mike, Paula, and Mykel decided to go to Bryce for the day, and Doug, Kris, and Shirley headed into town early. Don, Jim and I went for a ride through the dunes to test Jim's paddle tires, which worked really well. Then we headed in to town and got our Lotsa Motsa buffet lunch. We also found out that the property at Highway 89 and Hancock rd is for sale for only $1.4 million, which isn't terrible for one of the neatest pieces of property anywhere, with 400+ acres, some lakes, and a 3700 sq ft house. By the time we got back Walt had arrived, and was set up in site 8 just across from the group site. We sat around for the early afternoon, and had some dark clouds, thunder, and even a few sprinkles but no real rain. Without Mykel in camp Allie was bored, so she said she'd go for a buggy ride, so she joined me, Walt and Jim for an evening dune ride at 6:30. She has been in the car many times in the last two years, but has always been scared of big hills and fast rides. We cured that this time, as we had our fastest ride of the

trip. The best part was she had her headset on to talk on the intercom, and the GoPro recorded the whole thing. She had a ball, and talked and sang most of the time. When we got to the corral, we climbed all the way to the top, then she rolled down to the bottom. Having her enjoy the ride so much made it one of my favorite buggy rides ever. Then we went back to camp for dinner. In camp we saw that one other RZR that had arrived belonged to a couple From Murietta that we met up here a few years ago. They remembered the group and the big workbench. They visit the website, and may try to meet up with us at Glamis sometime. We stayed up the latest so far, almost to 11PM,

since Walt didn't go in when the sun set like the rest of the group, so we sat out and talked and looked at pictures and videos for a while. Then we took showers and went to bed.

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Tuesday, July 14th:

This was the day planned for the big RZR ride to Mt Carmel Junction. I got up with the dogs at 8, then sat around and typed up this trip report on the iPad. While the RZRs took their trek, our plan was to go shopping in Hurricane and St George. Don and Shirley decided to stay in camp, and we fixed a water leak on their motorhome. Then Melissa, Allie and I headed to town, and explored a few antique stores in Hurricane and pawn shops in St. George, and the big Deseret thrift store, where Melissa found a camera and Allie and I picked out a pair of binoculars. We picked up some plumbing fittings at Camping World, and fortunately a local RV store that actually had what we needed and gave it to me for free. It was 102 degrees in St. George when we left, and was down to 82 degrees when we got to the Cane beds dirt road. We got back to camp and heard about the epic RZR ride, where they did go have lunch at Mt Carmel junction, then completed a loop that took them by the corral and back through the dunes. In total they rode about 70 miles and were gone about 6 hours. They avoided the rain that was surrounding the area and kept it nice and cool. We spent the evening sitting around and talking with everybody in camp, which is one of the best parts of this trip. I found that the new binoculars didn't focus, so I took them apart which provided entertainment for the group. I didn't get them fixed, but Allie still liked playing with them. Allie and Mykel played until sunset, while we sat and talked, making it a great night.

Wednesday July 15th:

This was the morning of the annual Thunderbird breakfast trip. Everybody got up early to leave camp by 9:00 Utah time. We took four trucks, and had 13 people there for breakfast. It was an excellent meal, with the owner's daughter as our friendly waitress and lots of great food, topped off by some great pie. Then after breakfast the others headed to Kanab or to camp, while we set off for Cedar City. It is about an hour and a

half from camp, along I-15 North of St George. The road getting there is pretty neat, and goes over 10,000 ft in elevation. We saw a deer running alongside the road. In Cedar City we shopped at pawn shops, thrift stores, and a kids consignment store. We also picked up some things at Wal Mart, including a scooter for Mykel so he could ride with Allie. Then we got back to camp about 5:00, and heard that they had a fun trail ride in the RZRs while we were gone. That evening, Walt, Jim and I headed to the gun range near Kanab to go shoot some before sunset. The timing worked out great,

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since the. Sun was behind the hill, and it wasn't as hot as it had been when we shot there in the middle of the day before. We were the only ones there, and each of us went through over 100 rounds of ammo. Then we went into Kanab for the usual post-shooting ice cream, and I was surprised. To see how busy the town was on a Wednesday night. The ice cream place had 15 cars out front, but was with the short wait. Then we headed back to camp, getting there at 9:30, just about sunset. Everybody else had gone in for the night, so we called it a night too after having a wonderful day despite not doing any off roading.

!Thursday, July 16th:

The last full day is always a bit of a bummer, but we do try to make the most of it. We started by doing freezer bag omelets one more time. Mike was making plans for an epic RZR ride. After breakfast all five RZRs headed out on a ride starting at the corral then following trails from there. Allie, Melissa, Grandma Nancy and I hung out in camp. I got my quadcopter ready to take out to the big dune. The campground cleared out so much that our group was the only one in the campground, all of the other sites were empty, which is a

pretty rare occurrence. The quadcopter flight was eventful, as the wind took it to the other side of the dune and I couldn't see it any more, but at least the camera recorded the crash landing. Only a few wires broke, and I was able to fix it in camp. We also went to the Ranger station and watched the snake for a while. Then Allie and Melissa played with tie dying t shirts and I dumped the grey water into a blue tank and hauled it down to the dump station. Once we were done with all that, the RZRs

weren't back yet, so we decided to go to town for ice cream. It was great, and we got another local paper. We got back to camp, and still beat the RZRs back. Later they arrived and told of a truly epic ride of over 70 miles that included lunch at Mt Carmel Junction. They were all really tired, so the prospect of an afternoon ride seemed pretty slim. We decided to take the group picture in camp at 8PM, which we had almost forgotten to do. A neat twist this year was we had all of the vehicles (mostly RZRs) in the background. It made for a cute picture, and we even took one without the people, which some people preferred. We spent the rest of the evening sitting around and starting the process of packing up. We got a lot done before quiet hours, then headed to the showers one last time.

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Friday July 17th:

Going home isn't any fun at all, but at least we have a night in Mesquite to look forward to. This is also our first time leaving on a Friday, which should help with traffic getting home. We got packed up fairly quickly, and everybody did what they had to do and it went very well. On the way out we dropped off a memory stick with photos and video at the ranger station. Then we headed out the dirt road and down towards Mesquite. We stopped at Apple Valley for a potty break, then again just before St. George when Walt had a

flat on his trailer. The rest of the trip to Mesquite was uneventful, and we swam once we got checked in. We saw that there was a fire on I-15 in the Cajon pass and it was causing evacuations in Phelan. It was a good day to not be heading down the pass. We all got together for a great dinner at the cafe at the Casablanca, and I really enjoyed the Mesquite burger. Then we had ice cream for dessert while Allie and Mykel hung out for one last time of the trip. We said goodnight and goodbye to the Schellingers, Mike, Paula, and Mykel since they would be leaving early in the morning.

!Saturday July 18th:

We met for breakfast at the Casablanca buffet at 8:30. The Fords, Kastles, and Walt all had a great last meal of the trip. Then we packed up and headed for home. It was overcast, which kept it cool. After my parents turned off in Vegas we ran with Walt heading towards California. We stopped in Jean for a potty break, and we could see the rain coming. It started to pour hard, and we could hear it hitting the roof of the trailer. We got soaked as we ran from the trailer to the truck, and the dirt lot we parked in was covered on water, so we got back on the freeway. It was really raining hard and nobody was going over 40 mph, so we tucked in behind a semi and followed along. We stopped again in a Baker for shakes, and then separated in Barstow as Walt headed through a Lucerne and a Yucca valleys. We headed for the Cajon pass, and had some delays but made it home by 6:00 PM. We were very glad to have one more day before having to go to work, which makes us really enjoy this trip schedule.

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Walt’s Awesome Coral Pink Trip I was on a shortened Coral Pink trip this year, but I sure am glad I got to go, getting there on Monday, 7/13. Jim jumped into his RZR, and lead PJ and I on a buggy ride thru the dunes and the upper level.

The group was waiting for me, so we could take a RZR ride to Carmel Junction for lunch at the Thunderbird Restaurant. Mike had the route all mapped out, and in a couple-three hours we were seated at the tables. (In the end, Jim and I had Ho-Made pie) The route that Mike took was full of variations of skills and awesome scenery, and we crossed through the Virgin River several times. (We had never tried this before) Mike headed us back to camp, and took a different route then we had

been on to get there, and again the scenery changed frequently, awesome.

Don and Shirley didn’t go on the Tuesday ride and Mike mapped out another route this time, WOW, again arriving at the Thunderbird Restaurant. Jim and I went in for another piece of pie, and Kris, Doug, and Mike joined us, while Don, Shirley, Paula and Michael waited outside with the puppy. (Oh ya, Don and Shirley have a new puppy) We went back to camp on the route we had taken on the first ride, so Don and Shirley could enjoy that scenery too. (I quit counting at 19, but was told we cross thru the Virgin River 25 times) We went to a Sandstone – slot canyon, (pictures do not do it justice) and did some RZR dunning on the way back to camp. (These rides were @ 60 miles each and @ 6-7 hours long) Pj, Melissa and Allie made several road trips, while we were RZR riding. I was told that it had been raining, but it had stopped completely while I was there. Mike had a good map, and with the help from the Ranger

Station, all the rides were scenic—just plain awesome!!!

Paula had brought her Grandson, Mykel, and he and Allie were inseparable the entire trip. (On the rides he kept asking when we were going back to camp, he wanted to play with Allie)

One evening, Jim, PJ and I went to the free gun range outside of Kanab, and shot up a bunch of targets. And because we were so close to town – well, we just had to go in for ice cream.

I’m really glad that I got to go; everything about my time there was great. I didn’t want to leave and come home, but I’m glad to be here—I need the rest.

On the way home PJ and I stopped in Jean Nv . for a break, and it started to pour, raining buckets full. It stopped for me in Barstow, as I headed for Yucca Valley, where it started again, and followed me all the way home.

Thanks to the group for making this an unforgettable trip for me. (And if you didn’t get to go dunning in July—well you missed the best trip of the year)

Can’t wait until next year!! Walt

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Jim and Nancy’s Arizona Road Trip Ever since I retired four ago, we have wanted to take a road trip using the fifth wheel. Lots of other fun things got in the way, and the fifth wheel was our room at John’s. Well things have slowed slightly, and we replaced the room at Johns with a camper, allowing us to bring the fifth wheel home, so it was time.

At Quartsite I talked to a Chamber of Commerce rep from the Flagstaff area, and decided a tour of Northern Arizona would be a good first-time-in-years trip. The first week of June we headed to Prescott, chosen largely because they have a Texas Roadhouse. We loved Prescott and camped in two different beautiful Forest Service campgrounds just two miles from the local Costco. We spent four days playing tourists and plan to go back. We took a day trip to Jerome Arizona (my dad’s name was Jerome, hence the “J” in PJ) and again loved being tourists.

We next headed to the mountains above Flagstaff and spent two more days in another beautiful Forest Service campground. Flagstaff was OK, but is a much bigger city than Prescott and which had no special appeal to us. One interesting area feature was the Cinders Off Highway Vehicle area that The Goodriches and P.J. and I visited several years ago with our buggies. As I recall, we thought it was OK, but haven’t taken the buggies back. That was before I got a RZR. I think this place just screams RZR, and plan to take a trip in September just before or after the Sand Sport Super Show. Don and Shirley will go, and I hope others will join us.

After we left Flagstaff we went through the highly regarded city of Sedona. We were not impressed with the crowded, Beverly Hills-like atmosphere and kept on driving. We spent the night in the little City of Williams, and loved it.

If you are interested in an early fall trip to the Cinders let me know. It would be primarily for RZR’s, but buggies would be welcome.

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Coral Pink Crossword 2015 Answers:

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This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle and Walt Fisher for writing articles. We’d also like to thank everybody that made the Coral Pink trip so great, and hopefully you’ll hear more about it in next month’s newsletter. We’re looking forward to hearing what everyone is up to so we’ll have interesting content for the newsletter all year long. Have a great middle of summer, and the sand season will be here before you know it. -Paul, Melissa, and Allie.

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