2007 - 9th Annual 4x4 BLAST
Tale of a Turtle
By Graham |
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I got into this interesting conversation with a Snapping Turtle on Pokey’s trail last Friday. He (or she) didn’t
have a lot to say except to complain that his (or her) water hole was drying up fast because it hadn’t rained for
two months and the fact he (or she) shared the water hole with another Snapping Turtle that was bigger than him (or her). The
turtle did notice that there were more guides and helpers this year than guests. It might have been the heat, but most
people made their plans before they knew it would be blistering. I do believe that just about everyone that participated
had a good time. They certainly did on Pokey’s run which I ran on Friday and Susie’s Knob that I ran on Saturday.
But saying that there were so many familiar faces missing, the event did not seem right. |
| Rick (I love Jeff Gordon) Culberson is retiring from leading Pokey’s Run after this week end. Rick has led this
trail for 10 years and it was his dream to finish the trail without actually breaking anything, but sadly, he broke a front
driveshaft while driving across a perfectly flat piece of grass with absolutely no obstructions in the way to cause the
damage. We left Rick to walk home alone in the 99 degree heat. |
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The trail was then led by Jim Vanderborg. Jim’s son was driving his newly purchased YJ so dad promptly guided him
into the fence post at the trailhead. Billy Walston was in his usual fine form doing his best to get everyone in trouble.
This year he was guiding with the help of a crutch as he his having knee surgery the following week. The picture shows
Billy’s better side guiding Mark Vittetow up Little Dakota. Billy made us all promise not tell his dad (Pokey
himself) that he was not acting and driving in his usual crazy, good natured manner but was in fact driving responsible
with décor and reverence. |
So just for you Billy, I am not going to let you down. Perhaps you can tell us one day who was driving your Toyota (disguised
as a Jeep XJ) in this picture. |
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We finished the 7-1/2 mile trail in a record time so we just turned around and ran it backwards. Jim Jr. Vanderborg
retired with no brakes and another TJ suffered from engine problems. Jeff Sorenson was having a pretty good day in his
YJ until his lovely wife Debbie took over spotting duties. “Just a few more inches dear, just a little bit more,
dear” and wham bam thank you ma’am they were rubber side up. The rest of the day was fairly straight forward
with no more mishaps.
After the trail ride we retired to the Legion Hall and enjoyed a good dinner. One good thing about small event attendance
is no lines, plenty of seconds, a better chance of winning a raffle prize and no waiting for somewhere to sit. I made
fun of a few misguided souls at the raffle although I won’t mention any names even though one was Rodney Baker
driving a red Bronco who has been my sparring partner at these events for a quite a while now. |
Saturday morning started with the usual insurance company mandated “Doom and Gloom” speech
which is now referred to as the “Highly theatrical, very informative, safety speech”.
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Shown below is trail boss Doug Maxheimer making the aforementioned speech with helpers from the Suhre
family.
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On Saturday we were led by John Toumbs on Suzie’s Knob. My son and I took turns driving the Willys up and down
several rocky ledges that I had serious second thoughts about. Again it was bloody hot but we all survived.
Below, John’s gnarly CJ. I am not sure if the wooden device is used for detecting water or just a hood ornament.
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The day was relatively uneventful with many steep climbs, on one of which I had to winch. Kathleen and Hayward Ball
arrived a day late to the BLAST only to blow a drive shaft on the first obstacle of the day. To add insult to injury,
his winch totally unspooled leaving him in a very precarious position on the obstacle. We were all very concerned and
busted a gut laughing. Tail gunner Todd went rubber side up after some over exuberant driving but was back on his feet
in just a few minutes. The only breakdown was Rod Baker’s Bronco’s gas tank falling out which caused several
stops due to lack of fuel pressure. Rod had to finally retire but fortunately it was at the end of the day.
This picture shows my son, Shawn, getting all twisted up going down “Full Throttle” on Susie’s Knob.
The last obstacle was the back side of Susie’s Knob. John spotted me down. He shouted “driver, driver”,
I turned right. He screamed “driver, driver” again. Again I turned right. I can’t print what he said
then but the audience had a good laugh claiming I was a right seat driver.
I had to leave early to take my son back to college and so missed the Saturday evening dinner and raffle. I promise
to be back in the Spring at the Safari to rip into anybody that dares show up. Hopefully someone will come up with new
ideas to increase attendace that the club will actually listen to. It’s a great event that is tons of fun and I
know in my heart that can be as big and as it ever was with just a little work. Meanwhile, until then have fun
and stay rubber side down. |
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