Ford Bronco Off-Roadeo (6/20/24)

 The Off-Roadeo is an all day event sponsored by Ford Motor Company. It is offered to Bronco owners, both those in possession of a Bronco, and those who have one on order (we technically qualify in both categories, lol). There are 4 or so locations throughout the U.S.  Paul chose Las Vegas because it has more of the terrain he is interested in.  The goal is to learn what the Bronco is capable of in an off-road setting. Let me start right off the bat by saying this organization is absolutely top notch, and I had a great time.

Our two leaders, who were with us all day, were Mike and Dani-girl (called that because there is a Danny Boy).We started the day with some outdoor classroom training.  Mike spent about a half hour describing the parts of a car that pertain to driving, and what each one does.  He was looking for audience participation, and of course Paul was happy to oblige. Anyone who provided a correct answer to a question got a sticker. Mike ran out of stickers, and Paul has most of them.

Once that portion was done, we walked a nearby trail. Here there was one driver, and one Bronco. We all walked along side as Mike and Dani told the driver what to do, and explained what drive setting was being used and why. 

The Bronco has a center knob by the center console, labeled GOAT- Goes Over All Terrain. Each turn of the dial brings up a different mode- rock climbing, hill descent, Baja mode, sand, etc.

They took that Bronco through a short course, with different challenges along the way, and changed drivers a couple of times as well.

Naturally Paul volunteered, and took the vehicle over some interesting rocks. At this point Mike had me spotting Paul, letting him know which way to turn the tires etc.

He deliberately had Paul drive up onto a boulder, to showcase how much of an angle the Bronco can handle. Paul had it at a 19 degree angle, and Mike says Ford is comfortable with 25 degrees.

Once we finished that course, they took us to “our Broncos”. They provide all the Broncos for the day. Each one is equipped with a walkie talkie, so that the instructors could tell all the drivers what mode they should be using and how to approach each obstacle. 

Once we were all situated in vehicles, they took us on what they called the “bunny trails” They insisted that by the end of the day we would agree that they are easy trails.

After an hour or so, we headed back to base camp, where they provided a very decent lunch for us all.

And then it was on to the “real” trails.  I could have shared the driving with Paul, but we elected to have him do it all, since that’s the way it would be in our own vehicle.

Paul was the “tail gunner”, always in the last position, I think because Mike realized that he had more experience than most.  It was our job to let the leaders know when we were caught up after running through a course.

The first time they took us over a large boulder to show us a) how to approach it and b) what the Bronco is capable of, Mike was outside, directing each driver.

Once the Bronco was on the boulder, he rocked it to show how far off the ground the tire was. The second time we had that type of obstacle, we did it on our own.

It didn’t take us too long to figure out that Mike and Dani were experts at what they do, and we could trust what they told us to do,  even if it didn’t feel comfortable.

One of the neat settings is Trail Control- we used it on a very steep hill. Once the vehicle is in that mode, you set the speed you want – using the up and down buttons of the cruise control. You don’t touch the brake or the gas- the Bronco does whatever needs to be done to maintain that speed, including using the brake. It was very impressive.

 

After a very full day, we headed back to base camp, where they fed us dinner before we left for the day. Both instructors were on hand to answer questions.

If I sound like an advertisement for the company, its an indication of how impressed I was. I came away feeling much more comfortable taking the Bronco off road.

Gone Fishin' (06/15/24)

 

Not actually- we haven’t fished since hitting the road 15 years ago, but we have gone off exploring for the summer. Once the memorial day crew departed, we were in hurry up and wait mode. We wanted to prep to leave for the summer- taking the truck camper and the Bronco- but we couldn’t leave until June 6. Both of us had More medical tests, some here in Havasu, and Paul's in Phoenix starting the 7th. It gave us time for one last visit to El Paraiso, a favorite restaurant of ours.

We still packed the camper pretty quickly and put the boat into storage for the summer. Because we aren't taking the fifth wheel, it needs to be in the garage, and the boat won't fit, so we rented a storage unit.

Moving to Phoenix for 4 days in June with temps in the 105 range didn't sound like fun so we elected to stay in a federal campground near Jerome AZ, about an hour and a half from our doctors.  At 7500 ft. It was still pretty warm, but not as bad as the city. On the weekend we managed to fit in a 3.5 mile hike in the forest, and lunch at the Haunted Hamburger in Jerome. Its a well known restaurant and very busy, but we managed to score excellent seats.

We have been to Jerome several times. It’s an old mining town that sits on a hillside. Its hard to believe this town once contained the second largest JC Penney store in the chain, back in the day. It closed when it started sliding off the mountain (which has happened to more than one building).

On Monday, June 10, we got the all clear to leave for the summer. We couldn't go far, however, because we had signed up for something in Las Vegas that doesn't happen until the 14th. There is an event called the Bronco Off –Roadeo, an all day lesson on how to drive a Ford Bronco off road.

Having a couple of days to kill, we decided to explore some of those things close to home that we never seem to find the time to see. The town of Searchlight is small and is best known for their police. The speed limit on the main road thru town goes down to 25 from 45 mph and believe me, they take that 25 mph limit seriously. Its well known that its a bad place to speed. We have never tried it, nor do we want to. Nearby,  there are several things to explore.

Using the Boulder City Elks as our base, we first headed to the ghost town of Nelson NV. There is a tour you can take of El Dorado gold mine but it requires a reservation and a minimum of 4 people. Silly me, I thought with temps well over 100, Nelson would be deserted but it was so busy there was even a tour bus there. Yikes.

We wandered the property, enjoying the owner’s sense of humor as well as his collection of "stuff". 

The water to the sink outside the single bathroom was shut off, with just hand sanitizer available:

 He freely admits to being a hoarder. The RVs were interesting to look at (he builds them himself) but we decided to stick with what we have.

 

Having the whole day to kill we spent a fair amount of time talking with Tony, the owner, and learned a bunch about the mine and his family. And, we Did get to take the tour of the mine, which was given by his daughter and son in law. She was full of stories about her family and the mine. They bought the property 30 years ago after it had sat dormant for 100 years. The mine entrance was filled with 100 feet of silt, which was cleared out, with bucket and shovel, by child labor.

That's right, every weekend the owners’ 5 kids spent their days crawling into the mine pulling out dirt. I guess to say she wasn't happy about it would be an understatement, since according to her she ran away twice. All seems well now though.

Tony and his wife Bobbie decided to leave the mine much like it was back in 1863 when the original miners were digging it out by hammer and chisel. Still, it took them 6 years to get the mine ready for tours.

Back in its heyday there were 200 miners working this mine. There was no need for a town, since this was very early days and most of the men were single. It was very much still the wild wild west. In fact, the first 70 people who are buried in the cemetery did not die of natural causes- at least that's what they say. The mine was active until World War 2.

We learned a little more about the use of a canary in the mine. They were used as an early warning system to alert miners to potentially lethal gasses. The cage was left on the floor since gas would be heavier than air, and only male canaries were used. Apparently male canaries that don't have a mate sing complex songs incessantly, to attract one. With all that singing, the miners didn't have to keep looking to see if the canary was still alive. We also learned that they would trim the bird's nails so they couldn't dig in to the perch. I guess a canary with nails remains upright on the perch even after its dead.

Anyway Paul thought it was one of the best mine tours we have ever been on, and that's saying something because we have been on a LOT.

Also near to Searchlight there are two national monuments, one of which, Avi Kwa Ame, is fairly new. Not having much time left we chose to explore Castle Mountain National Monument. 

We know there isn't much there to see but we are easily entertained. Driving the dirt roads, we were surprised to find they are in pretty good condition, since I doubt many people explore here. Its very remote and not much to see. We found out why the roads were so good when we arrived at Castle Mountains gold mine- a very active gold mine, complete with fence and guard. 

She kindly told us where we had made a wrong turn, and how to find the national monument.  Once we did, we found a few ruins of some old mining equipment, but nothing substantial.

The roads in this area were not nearly as nice as the ones leading to the mine. This land was made into a national monument to preserve the flora and fauna (from the gold mine maybe?).

Exploring done, we moved on to Las Vegas a day early. The daytime temperatures in Las Vegas right now are over 100, so as soon as we arrived we looked for a way out. We were really interested in hiking, so we packed a lunch and drove up nearby Mt. Charleston, where the temperature was in the high 70s. We did a six mile hike, Lower Bristlecone Trail, in the Spring Mountains Recreation Area.

It wasn't the greatest trail, it was probably an old logging or mining road, and the views were just ok. But, it was exercise, and killed some time. The following day was our Bronco Off-Roadeo day!

Crazy May 2022 (06-10-22)

 We started the month of May in Fresno,  CA hanging out with Paul’s fraternity brothers. 

From Fresno we were headed to San Diego to meet up with Paul’s brother and his wife for the Zydeco festival, Gator by the Bay.  We had a couple of days to kill on the way there, so we stopped north of L.A. and invited our daughter Jess to join us at 6 flags for the day.

I am glad Paul is willing to go on all the crazy rides with her, because I can only handle  a few roller coaster rides in a day.

Down in San Diego, the Zydeco Festival was in full swing when we got there.  We stayed at the same RV resort as Paul’s brother and were able to do dinners together, and Uber to the festival. 

We met up with Sue’s son Shad, his wife Amy, and their son William.  William had never had crawdads, but once he tried them, he was immediately hooked.

The festival has 7 stages, all with live music happening all day long.  There are tons of food vendors, and every day at 2 pm there is a parade through the festival grounds.

From there we headed home for a couple of days- just long enough to enjoy one day on the lake. 

 Then we took off again to meet up with Paul’s brother and Sue again, this time in Laughlin NV , where their RV club was staying, and we all enjoyed a river boat cruise.

Las Vegas is the nearest Costco to us, and I needed new glasses, so we headed there by way of Boulder City, NV.  Boulder City is near the Hoover Dam, and we had never taken a tour, so we thought it was about time. Actually, Boulder City was built to house the thousands of workers who built the Boulder (now called Hoover) dam.

In 1905, much of the Imperial Valley was destroyed by the flooding of the Colorado River. Part of the solution to keep that from happening again, was the building of Hoover Dam. Between 1930 and 1934, the dam was created, and it’s creation in turn, created Lake Mead.

Glasses ordered, we headed home to get ready for Memorial Day weekend. Since we’ve had the house, every Memorial Day Weekend, my cousin Linda from Phoenix brings her friends to party in Havasu.  This was our first year back since Covid, but my cousin couldn’t make it.  No worries, her friends came anyway!

They are a wild bunch, and always fun. 

They party hard and yet two mornings the women convinced me to get up at 5:30 to go hiking.

 

I took them to one of my favorite hikes- SARA'S Crack-a nearby slot canyon. The guys were off mountain biking by 6 am as well.

Back from our outings, we  packed up for the day and took off

 on the boat....

...one day taking it up river to a restaurant...

 

and another day just lazing around on the lake.

If you had asked us that weekend when we would be leaving Havasu, we wouldn’t have had any idea- but the minute the group left for home, we started cleaning and packing.

At the last minute, we decided to drain the pool again, so it would have softer water for the summer. We had to do as much of it at night as we could because the high temperature can crack the plaster.

One more, momentous thing happened in May.  Paul sold his jet boat. 

It was no easy decision, let me tell you- he helped build the boat just after graduating college, and has a million happy memories of using it.

As soon as they heard the news, his fraternity brothers started sharing memories and pictures (yes, that's my husband leaning on the boat).

 

 

We haven’t used it in a very long time however, and it was time to sell it to someone who would.