Things learned at JV over the week.
First, I am truly fascinated by the great folks that show up. Other than a few very minor things like the dogfight, dogs ****ing on stuff, and the landmines that the owners seem to think the rest of us enjoy, everything else was beyond great.
We had more adversity this trip than in the past on the trails and none of it diminished anyone's smiles or changed their attitudes a bit. We broke stuff on a fairly regular basis and fixed it and moved on with the exception of a t-case. I carry quite a few spares and others do as well, but that ain't one of them, sorry Chris.
It was nice putting some names to faces, and nice seeing some new folks finally get their stuff on the trails. I think this run was different in that the core group was outnumbered by the newcomers and everyone still fit in perfectly.
Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. I enjoyed it and the efforts everyone put in tremendously and the weather was kind enough that my food didn't get cold before I finished it. What more could you ask for?
Several highlights that I particularly enjoyed.
Kat driving my rig up most of Wrecking Ball unassisted to keep the group moving.
Jon's perseverance after blowing up a rear locker on Monday and being back Wednesday morning ready to wheel.
Sergey's fine example of boulder billiards.
Dave showing that even auto equipped rigs still need to be driven.
Matt P getting his rig on the trail after nearly rebuilding the thing in 2 weeks and having it work nearly perfectly.
Fixing Duke's rear axle at the beginning of Wrecking Ball and then having him finish the trail.
Swapping out Robert's steering gear at the beginning of Big Johnson and having him finish the trail.
Catching Ron's rig on upper Big Johnson and having the pics to prove it.
Running Aftershock with Matt and Ron on Sunday Morning and being back to camp 2 1/2 hours after we left.
Teaching folks that they can actually bump out from under an undercut regardless of what they say.
My personal favorite highlight was driving Upper Big Johnson with Ron and Matt N spotting for me and doing it non stop. I really enjoyed that and hope to do it again very soon.
Thanks everyone for the best of times.