Oklahoma Jeep Thing

From Tuesday October 21 2008

OK Jeep Thing!

WOW!

That's all I can say. What a great time. I am uploading pictures to myspace right now. We met up with a couple of other club members, CodeMonkey, Mud-Dog, and Kerry, for the drive to Disney (at Pensacola Dam at Grand Lake O' the Cherokees), of course we managed to leave later than planned, but mission accomplished, we got there before dark.

Most of the club stayed at Hogan's Campground or Roger's Rock Cabins. We thought it too cold at night to camp with our 4 year old, and the cabins were sold out, so we stayed about 3 miles away at a B&B/Cabin. Of course, they were quite pricey, and as it turned out, left a little to be desired. The cabins, were in fact just gussied up single-wides, and small ones at that. We had the "Honeymoon" cabin as it has a hot tub on the back deck. That was my idea, I assumed all the bouncing around, might cause my wife some back pain, and knee pain and the hot tub would alleviate that. She didn't complain about pain so much, but we loved the hot tub, as did our daughter. So that part was great, but finding the previous guest's personal lubricant and light up adult "toy" were sort of a cause for concern. Yeah, they were verrrry apologetic, and attributed this to "new staff" and even tossed out there that another couple in another "cabin" had found undergarments and pills. However, the previous evening, my wife spoke with the owner and she apparently told her that it was just her and her niece taking care of everything. Hmmm. new staff or lazy owners? They offered us a significant discount next time we stay with them though. We found a much nicer place for less money that we'll stay at next time we are in the area. It's farther away from the off-road area, but it is so much nicer. So, I'd recommend staying away from the Southern Oaks Resort in Langley, OK. Here is where we WILL stay next time. The Pine Lodge in Ketchum, OK.

So, Saturday morning, it was up early, eat, coffee, clean, dress, and hurry to be on time to the "driver's meeting" at 8:30. Yeah, no wheeling until after 10am LOL. They do stuff like we do hehe! Right, so, we started the morning on the rocks. Literally. There was one area, sort of a boulder field. One guy compared it to driving on bowling balls, except the stones were much much much larger. In a stock Jeep, this was the most unpleasant part of the day. After this, we went to an area where I and others thought it was best if I not attempt it. So we just hung out and had lunch while they climbed Lil' Blue which is a series of stone stair steps and waterfalls. With some winching help, I'm sure we could have made it as well, but the likelihood of damage was a little higher than I was willing to face. And admittedly, my confidence level was not that high either. Maybe with a little lift, and larger tires, but not this weekend. LOL

While the rest of the group settled in for lunch back at camp, I took the wifey and kiddo back to the "cabin" for nap time. I dropped them off and went back for the afternoon trail run!. Talk about a blast. The rocks were pretty cool, but I thought the trails were great! There aren't nearly as many pictures from the afternoon as it was a little difficult to take a good picture and make sure I didn't drive off a cliff! But it was sooo cool. I loved the steep climbing on loose gravel-like stones and dirt which at times seemed as though you were actually travelling straight up, and the insanely steep descents winding through trees that threaten to reach out and grab a fender, and roots allowing the dirt to slide away beneath your tires in an effort to toss you into a ravine. Even on the level ground, there were the smallest of fallen saplings to rocker panel crushing logs laying across, jutting up into our paths. Good Times! I can't wait to go again.

The guys in Oklahoma Jeep Thing were great, They were always right there to help if needed. I'd been four-wheeling many times in the past, but this weekend brought a more technical side to it, and they were always there prepared to help out the new guy if needed. I am very proud that not once did I need winching, or pulled up or out of anything. I managed not to get stuck even once. There were only a couple of places where I sought an alternate route. The first was Lil' Blue which I'm still not convinced that my un-modified Jeep would make it without breaking anything, and then there is the hill that only J managed to make it, and I think he was winched the last 15 yards or so (I tried twice, but only made it 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up before losing all traction!), and last was the hill where Slim tore his tire off the rim. So yes, I'm proud of my little Jeep!

We managed to escape the weekend with no damage, except my American flag front license plate. It was destroyed about 15 minutes into the day. Of course, flimsy aluminum is no match for solid stone.