Welcome Gene, I'm interested in your take on the festival. My wife and I took our 100 Series up to the MAOF on Friday morning and camped straight up the draw from the vendors. We were in the bright green Nemo tent to the left of everyone else if you wandered over that way. Got the tent up in time to beat the rain on Friday.
I hadn't been to this one before and I was pleasantly surprised to see what I thought to be a good turnout. Quite a display of ARB (et al) awnings and rooftop tents of various manufacturers. We enjoyed the ARB happy hour and examining some of their gear. The a/v presentation on the couple who "drove" the Jeep through the Darien Gap was an extraordinary example of "I'm gonna do it or die trying". That guy has some serious cojones! I was the guy who won the nice cooking set in the raffle before the presentation
There were trail rides on Friday and Saturday which we didn't make. We were using the MAOF as an excuse to get out, camp, relax and see some cool gear in person. Just walking around the camp and seeing what other people were using was worth it. Met some nice folks and got a few good tips. The setting was really beautiful but the space for "level" campsites became a little tight which is why we opted for a slightly off-camber but less crowded site.
If I were to go again next year I'd make a trail ride or two as it is a beautiful area and the wheeling must be good. For those considering it, they even had a hot shower set-up down by the vendors and a couple people we talked to said they worked very well. As for the port-o-johns........they appeared to be running very low on capacity way before the weekend was done!
All in all, it was a low-key, enjoyable event in a beautiful setting. There was a food vendor smoking some very good brisket. Equipment vendors, as I recall, were dominated by ARB along with two reps from Cascadia RTT and Frontfunner. Everyone seemed to have their act together except the knuckleheads camping in the middle who partied HARD til around 3 a.m.
Ken
