Exiled
SILVER Star
I've been home for a couple of hours, which means I half unpacked, played with my son before putting him down for a nap, and as soon as I could, I'm sitting in front of my computer to give you a review of the 2006 Lone Star Land Cruisers Roundup. Don't expect anything objective because I'm still all fired up, I can't wait till 2007....
We got there late afternoon on Wednesday after a leisurely drive from Round Rock, two 60 series wagons, a 1/4 trailer, and a cushy 100 series because a certain someone didn't get his FJ70 finished up in time...next year, right?!
We set up a nice campsite up on the hill next to the Tornado Alley crew, grilled some bacon-wrapped filets and broke out some ice cold Shiner Bock. We had a steady flow of visitors, old friends and new faces; he weather was perfect, and we could see the campsite slowly filling up with rigs. Later that night Nolen Grogan gave us a preview of his new pocket buggy, which as you can imagine, is amazing (I'm sure there will be more on the rig and I don't want to steal Nolen's thunder). On Thursday AM we registered and completed the safety inspection, then did our traditional "Drool Tour", which is basically a slow circle around the campsite gawking at all the cool trucks. Rigs this year varied from Josh Baker's Ultimate Sixty to a pristine, unrestored 1983 FJ40 to one of Proffitt's buildups to an Australian HJ45 that came to the US via Africa, and everything in between. A good mix of stockish rigs, a handful of exceptional buggies, lots of wagons and what surprised me the most, trucks from a lot of different states, it's clear that the word is spreading about this downhome Texas shindig.
I confess to being both excited and apprehensive, my Cruiser of fifteen years was very unfamiliar to me and after a couple of years of inactivity, I felt like a newbie again. I wanted to test out its capabilities, but wasn't sure what to expect. After the driver's meeting we lined up with a mixed group of trucks to run a trail called "Aggie Highway". It's pretty mild, but like everything at Katemcy, has optional obstacles that go from technical to insane, and I was able to test out my truck at its own pace. I especially liked playing with the new Marlin Toybox, which I have to say, it's just incredible, the control you get from such low gearing makes even a hack like me a finesse wheeler, and the combination of the SOA's flex with the Toybox's control has turned my wagon into a powerhouse, I was trying out obstacles that I would have never dreamed I'd be doing in a wagon. We even adopted Erik Christiansen's term for the 4LO-LO, "Stupid Low", and it became our catch phrase for the event. The only issue I encountered was a starter solenoid that was sticking, and at times I struggled to hit the right combination of gears.
After lunch, we headed out for more testing, this time a combination of Cotton Bales and Waterfall trails. We started out with two 60's but hooked up with a couple of really sweet FJ40s and ended up following them for the rest of the afternoon. Again, we tried some pretty crazy stuff, way beyond my comfort zone, and the truck again responded by just chugging over everything....awesome!
On Friday AM we headed out to run Waterfall with a large mixed group that included Todd Kaderabek and some of his East Coast cronies, Christo Slee and Mark Algazy. The trail is technical and the going was slow at first, but the trail is really cool and watching some of these rigs was a pleasure. I got a big kick out of seeing Mark push his topless FJ45 (sporting the 3-on-the-tree and no P/S) way beyond the limits and follow heavily modified rigs. I was again amazed at what the diesel engine, low gears and additional armor can do for a wagon, and we had a great time.
When we got back to camp we lounged around for the rest of the afternoon, then got ready for the raffle and BBQ dinner. The raffle went fast with Kowboy acting as MC and the White Trash of the Elwood Chapter helping to pass out prizes and entertain the crowd. As usual, I didn't win anything, but we scored seats at the 50-yard line and had a great time. I was surprised and pleased to receive an award for Officer's Choice for Best Rig, I appreciate the votes, especially considering the humbling company.
As soon as the band began to play after the raffle, I knew we were in for a treat. Don't ask me how, but Butch Baker fennagled "The John D. Hale Band", an Americana/folk band out of Missouri, to come out to the event, and they were really incredible, this is probably one of the best concerts I've ever attended, check them out if you get a chance! Everyone had a great time, especially after Butch, who had taken the band members wheeling that afternoon and ensured that the guys enjoyed the famous Texas hospitality, actually found a Cruiserhead lawyer and wrote up a contract for the band to come back next year, right there in the middle of the concert! The way they're going, this may be a coup, I bet these guys are going to be famous very soon. They left us with an encore of that Robert Earl Keen classic, "...the road goes on forever, and the party never ends..."
We stayed up till the wee hours of the night, chatting, hanging out with old friends and new, and watching a new variation of technical wheeling, "Tree climbing"...I'll let someone else tell you what that's all about.
We packed up the Cruisers and trailer this AM and took off, stopping only for an early lunch at Cooper's (best BBQ in TX, period).
I'm still stoked, I had a great time, got to see a bunch of old friends, made some new ones, wheeled the heck out of my old wagon and other than some fresh scrapes and a couple of jagged bumpers in dire need of a grinding wheel, I didn't have any significant damage (at least I don't think, it's dripping a bit of gear oil from somewhere....sigh!).
And the best part? I drove there and back and ran two whole days of trails without turning the Cruiser off and used up about a 1/3 of a tank of diesel....he, he, he!
Folks, pencil this event into your 2007 calendar, it's definitely worth it!
I took five rolls of film and will drop them off tomorrow AM, I should start adding pictures to this thread tomorrow afternoon.
We got there late afternoon on Wednesday after a leisurely drive from Round Rock, two 60 series wagons, a 1/4 trailer, and a cushy 100 series because a certain someone didn't get his FJ70 finished up in time...next year, right?!
We set up a nice campsite up on the hill next to the Tornado Alley crew, grilled some bacon-wrapped filets and broke out some ice cold Shiner Bock. We had a steady flow of visitors, old friends and new faces; he weather was perfect, and we could see the campsite slowly filling up with rigs. Later that night Nolen Grogan gave us a preview of his new pocket buggy, which as you can imagine, is amazing (I'm sure there will be more on the rig and I don't want to steal Nolen's thunder). On Thursday AM we registered and completed the safety inspection, then did our traditional "Drool Tour", which is basically a slow circle around the campsite gawking at all the cool trucks. Rigs this year varied from Josh Baker's Ultimate Sixty to a pristine, unrestored 1983 FJ40 to one of Proffitt's buildups to an Australian HJ45 that came to the US via Africa, and everything in between. A good mix of stockish rigs, a handful of exceptional buggies, lots of wagons and what surprised me the most, trucks from a lot of different states, it's clear that the word is spreading about this downhome Texas shindig.
I confess to being both excited and apprehensive, my Cruiser of fifteen years was very unfamiliar to me and after a couple of years of inactivity, I felt like a newbie again. I wanted to test out its capabilities, but wasn't sure what to expect. After the driver's meeting we lined up with a mixed group of trucks to run a trail called "Aggie Highway". It's pretty mild, but like everything at Katemcy, has optional obstacles that go from technical to insane, and I was able to test out my truck at its own pace. I especially liked playing with the new Marlin Toybox, which I have to say, it's just incredible, the control you get from such low gearing makes even a hack like me a finesse wheeler, and the combination of the SOA's flex with the Toybox's control has turned my wagon into a powerhouse, I was trying out obstacles that I would have never dreamed I'd be doing in a wagon. We even adopted Erik Christiansen's term for the 4LO-LO, "Stupid Low", and it became our catch phrase for the event. The only issue I encountered was a starter solenoid that was sticking, and at times I struggled to hit the right combination of gears.
After lunch, we headed out for more testing, this time a combination of Cotton Bales and Waterfall trails. We started out with two 60's but hooked up with a couple of really sweet FJ40s and ended up following them for the rest of the afternoon. Again, we tried some pretty crazy stuff, way beyond my comfort zone, and the truck again responded by just chugging over everything....awesome!
On Friday AM we headed out to run Waterfall with a large mixed group that included Todd Kaderabek and some of his East Coast cronies, Christo Slee and Mark Algazy. The trail is technical and the going was slow at first, but the trail is really cool and watching some of these rigs was a pleasure. I got a big kick out of seeing Mark push his topless FJ45 (sporting the 3-on-the-tree and no P/S) way beyond the limits and follow heavily modified rigs. I was again amazed at what the diesel engine, low gears and additional armor can do for a wagon, and we had a great time.
When we got back to camp we lounged around for the rest of the afternoon, then got ready for the raffle and BBQ dinner. The raffle went fast with Kowboy acting as MC and the White Trash of the Elwood Chapter helping to pass out prizes and entertain the crowd. As usual, I didn't win anything, but we scored seats at the 50-yard line and had a great time. I was surprised and pleased to receive an award for Officer's Choice for Best Rig, I appreciate the votes, especially considering the humbling company.
As soon as the band began to play after the raffle, I knew we were in for a treat. Don't ask me how, but Butch Baker fennagled "The John D. Hale Band", an Americana/folk band out of Missouri, to come out to the event, and they were really incredible, this is probably one of the best concerts I've ever attended, check them out if you get a chance! Everyone had a great time, especially after Butch, who had taken the band members wheeling that afternoon and ensured that the guys enjoyed the famous Texas hospitality, actually found a Cruiserhead lawyer and wrote up a contract for the band to come back next year, right there in the middle of the concert! The way they're going, this may be a coup, I bet these guys are going to be famous very soon. They left us with an encore of that Robert Earl Keen classic, "...the road goes on forever, and the party never ends..."
We stayed up till the wee hours of the night, chatting, hanging out with old friends and new, and watching a new variation of technical wheeling, "Tree climbing"...I'll let someone else tell you what that's all about.
We packed up the Cruisers and trailer this AM and took off, stopping only for an early lunch at Cooper's (best BBQ in TX, period).
I'm still stoked, I had a great time, got to see a bunch of old friends, made some new ones, wheeled the heck out of my old wagon and other than some fresh scrapes and a couple of jagged bumpers in dire need of a grinding wheel, I didn't have any significant damage (at least I don't think, it's dripping a bit of gear oil from somewhere....sigh!).
And the best part? I drove there and back and ran two whole days of trails without turning the Cruiser off and used up about a 1/3 of a tank of diesel....he, he, he!
Folks, pencil this event into your 2007 calendar, it's definitely worth it!
I took five rolls of film and will drop them off tomorrow AM, I should start adding pictures to this thread tomorrow afternoon.
