Moab Fall Rally 2014 (Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2014)

[zmotorsports]

Mike & Chrystal are here.  Just pulled in and are in site R-49.

Mike.

[Tourmaster]

We arrived just before 1:00 PM today. We are in site #12.

[ArdraF]

Wendy wants pictures so let me be the first to offer one with the new RV Forum flag at its first rally.  The old one will be retired after this rally.

ArdraF

[Becks]

We also arrived at 1 pm, site #13.

[Betty Brewer]

The  Moab  Fall Rally is underway.  Host and Hostess with the mostess Mike and Crystal welcomed  us, we outlined the activites for the week and planned  an easy Jeep ride for  tomorrow.  Be there  a few minutes before 9 am for a drivers meeting.

Crystal delighted us with the planned  awards for  the week.
Casper the Friendly Ghost ( aka  Smiley face)
Great  Pumpkin ( aka Care Bear)
Cheshire Cat ( aka  goofy)

Also shown  in these  photos is my version of  hanging our new RVForum flag.  The  blue  painters tape matches the lettering.

[Wendy]

Yeah pictures !! Thank you, thank you. I like the blue tape border on the flag !

[Tom and Margi]

Thanks for the pictures from the rally.  Keep them coming, please!
 

[zmotorsports]

Here is a listing of who is in which site. 

Thanks to Ardra for gathering the information.

MOAB RV FORUM RALLY - OCT. 26-NOV. 2, 2014

Beckers, Gary & Darlene (aka Becks) – Site 13
Brewer, Terry & Betty – Site 6
Dodd, Larry (aka THE-BigLarry) & Loretta (Team Lola) – Site R-50
Falchini, Steve & Dee – Site M-33
Fish, Jim & Judy (friends of Jeff & Anita Sirota) – Site M-28
FitzGerald, Jerry & Ardra – Site 40
Kuch, Ken & Sheila – Site 5
Myers, John (aka Tourmaster) & Carol  - Site 12
Nesbitt, Don (aka Gmsboss1) & Mary Ann (aka Pelican Lady) – Site 7
Nugent, Len (aka Cactustwo) & Brenda – Site 18
Phillips, Gary (aka Bajarat) & Andrea – Site R-47
Roscoe, Bill (aka Photog) & Corinne (not!) - Site 4
Sirota, Jeff & Anita – Site M-27
Weimert, Frank & Barb – Site 3
Wishard, Henry & Margaret Site R-57
Zuech, Mike (aka Zmotorsports) & Chrystal – Site R-49

[THEBigLarry]

This is our band of travelers today.  Frank & Barb Weimert lead us on a great tour
out to Dolores Overlook where we enjoyed lunch.  Anyone who has been around the
RV Forum group know it's what we do best.  Thanks to Mike & Chrystal Zeuch who
acted as "Tail Gunners" and kept us all in line.  We enjoyed great weather and magnificent
views.   

[zmotorsports]

Just thought I would throw up the agenda for tomorrow, Tuesday 28th.

4WD trail ride to SevenMile Rim trail.  Meet at Portal's entrance/exit about 9:25 for driver's meeting and departure @ 9:30am.

Hike to Negro Bill Canyon departing @ 10:00 am.

We look forward to hearing of everyone's day at Happy Hour @ 4:30pm at the pavilion.

Enjoy your day everyone and thanks for a great day today.

Mike.

[Ken & Sheila]

For those of you who plan to do the hike tomorrow please meet at the exit area near the office at !0 am.  Please bring a lunch and beverage.  If you need a ride I'm sure there will be plenty of extra space available. 


Sheila

[Betty Brewer]

After a wonderful day  when almost EVERY  Moab rally participant was able to join us on the  easy off road ride up  Deloris Road.  Sadly Steve and Dee had a barking dog problem and a complaining neighbor so they stayed home  to ensure  their  neighbors were not disturbed today.  For that sacrifice they  earned the Great Pumpkin Award for being so caring of their neighbors! ( or was it caring for their dogs)

I seem  to have nailed the Casper the friendly Ghost  Award today because  I served as the  mid gunner on our trail.  I  relayed messages  on the  CB radio and then translated all messages on the FRS radios to  ensure all were in communication for the  day. I was a two fisted radio person all day!

The  dreaded Cheshire Cat was awarded to Jeff.  That story goes like this....... Along  the several  hours of trail ride we stop for  potty breaks ( aka 10 100's)  The rules are that  when we stop ladies go to the right (because  ladies are always right) and gentlemen  go to the left  because they always seem to feel left out.   Some how just when  Betty and Sheila were  in the bushes, here comes Jeff.  Sheila yells "You  went the wrong way!" and Jeff high tailed it  out of  the girls area!  ( now in fairness he was at the  back of the group and his radio may not have given him the directions but he was a great sport in accepting the  award!)

Larry shows off the view at our lunch spot by pointing it out with his toe.   We saw some nice fall color along the way as well.

[Tom and Margi]

Oh, Betty!  How do I love thee, let me count the ways.     Because you are such fun, because you report the fun in such a manner that we at home can all join in the fun, because you report the forum humiliations with such good humor (sorry, Jeff! ... but such a good story, Betty!   We who have hung up our keys so appreciate sharing the times with all of you who are still creating forum hijinks!

[Betty Brewer]

Oh Margi,
What  can  I say?  I miss you  but  I still get all the giggles we continue to share. It is so much fun to share the  events with  all of you  who no longer  participate with us!

[ArdraF]

It was a great trail ride today and the Dolores River Overlook was magnificent!  We've always had a knack for finding great lunch spots and this one ranked right up there among the prettiest.

We asked for an easy ride today so we could break in our new Jeep Grand Cherokee.  As you see from Betty's picture, it now looks used!  Let me tell you these new electronic marvels with touch screens are both amazing and frustrating.  Our previous GC was much more simple than this one and we had the manual out a lot today as we tried to remember what we read a few months ago such as the steps for putting it in Four Wheel Low, the downhill descent feature, and using the steering wheel "paddles" to change gears.  I was driving today so Jerry was the one who got frustrated trying to use some of the touch screens on a bouncy rocky road and then trying to figure out how he got to the screen and how to get out of it!

Anyway, thanks to everyone - the Weimerts for leading, Betty for translating, and Zuechs for tailgunning.  Also thanks to Don Nesbitt for always making sure we were still in his rear view mirror!

ArdraF

[Jeff and Anita]

Great ride to Dolores River Overlook.

[Betty Brewer]

Tuesday, the second  day of activity in this Fall Moab Rally..... I took the  day off so I've had to rely on the second hand reports I got from everyone else who did something  fun or functional today!  There were a group of  Hikers who did the  Negro Bill Canyon Hike. It involved 4.5 miles roundtrip of beautiful scenery, water crossings and great fun.   Some of them were pretty pooped when they returned.

Another group went out on the trail doing  7 mile Rim.  It was a beautiful, technically challenging run.  They spent  time looking for  Uranium Arch and finally found it.  Steve rode with Henry. Gary B was  introduced to moderate runs today.  They were very late to happy hour but very happy.

Awards were  presented and Cheshire  Cat went to s Big Mike for wheeling on  3  tires today.  His wife is still not  speaking to  him over that level of  difficulty!

Frank earned Casper the Friendly  Ghost today for his  tutorial on Jeeping provided to Gary , a relatively new  jeeper.  And Gary B won the Great Pumpkin Award for keeping a smile on his face during this run.  He did  enjoy himself!

Gary P got his motorhome  tires fixed. Jeff and  Anita got their  dog fixed, er uh no.  They  got their dog's tail corrected. He is  now  sort of  poodle looking and is wearing a cone of shame. The vet visit was  $ 65 a bargain for an emergency visit in a small out of the way town. Bill R  got a new back bumper! John and Carol did  paperwork all day.

I'm sure there was more news but I had to go fix dinner so they can tell on themselves!

[Ken & Sheila]

A few Pictures from today's hike up Negro Bill Canyon
 

[zmotorsports]

Another great day of activities as Betty has recapped.

Tomorrow's agenda is as follows:

Girls hike to Park Avenue then lunch.  Departing @ 10:00 am.

4WD trail ride to Gemini Bridges.  This is an easy trail to allow more people to attend and to see some beautiful Utah scenery.  Jeeps/vehicles meet at the exit @ 9:30 am.

Mike.

[zmotorsports]

Also a big thank you to Jeff and Anita for the fire tonight.  It was great to sit around and BS with everyone on this wonderful star-filled night.

Mike.

[THEBigLarry]

Great run to Uranium Arch today.  Frank and Terry co-led the tour.
6 Jeeps had a great day.  Mike got some 'air' on a particularly difficult obstacle.
Mike, Terry & Henry conquered "Wipe Out Hill", while the rest of us observed.
Great day in beautiful country.

[Wendy]

Great pictures, keep 'em coming.

Love the "girls hike and lunch," what a great idea.

[Terry A. Brewer]

More Pics from 7 Mile Rim...

[Betty Brewer]

A very  Happy Hour tonight. 
All groups were  back on time.  Terry accompanied Frank to  Grand Junction today so they win for  most miles traveled.  Frank's  new tires look very good on Henry's old rims!

Jerry Fitzgerald was all grins as Ardra let him drive their  new  Jeep on the way to
Gemini Bridges.  He learned all the features and due to his constant smile he won the Casper the Friendly Ghost award cause he made everyone smile. He said it was his favorite run of the area as it reminded him of the  many times we have  done this run with long time and former RVForum friends who can no longer do it with us.

Henry snagged the Great Pumpkin as his caring allowed his  passenger, Steve,  to drive his Jeep today.  Steve was all grins with the driving opportunity and he nearly won another award but a  revote of the group nominated Larry for the award  The Cheshire Cat. I heard Larry may have backed his jeep into a tree  again and again!  I did  not get the details nor a photo but there  are no secrets in this group!

[Betty Brewer]

Right at the crack of  10 am 5 women tackled  the  Park Avenue hiking trail in Arches  National Park.  It is an easy stroll that we later said we should have done round trip to get a bit more of a work out.  But we  had a wonderful trip down some  very scenic trails. We were thrilled Crystal joined us as she is usually a passenger in Mike's vehicle.  We  giggled and I documented as  much  of the trail  as they would allow.  If they would not cooperate with  my  photo opportunity I snuck in a photo  when they were not looking.

Following the walk we were joined by  3 more women to have lunch at Peace Tree  on Main Street in Moab.  It was wonderful and many of us had beet salads with goat cheese and bacon.   A quick trip to the Meat Shoppe and City Market and we are all ready for the grill it on your own night tomorrow!

[Betty Brewer]

More Park Avenue photos

[ArdraF]

For those who are interested in going on the Double O hike tomorrow in Arches N.P. we will meet near the office at 9:30.  Bring lunch, water, sturdy shoes or boots, and expect a different kind of hike.  We'll have room if anyone needs a ride.

ArdraF

[THEBigLarry]

I am a little slow getting these photos to the Forum.  Had a bad night last night, My Royals lost.
Thanks to everyone who shared a great evening around Henry's fire pit outside while the girls
sat inside and enjoyed the warmth. 

Yesterday we ran Gemini Bridges and Bull Canyon.  Mike Zeuch again lead the way assisted by
Don Nesbitt.  Our group split at the bridges, with 2 cars going out a different route while 5 of us
went on into Bull Canyon.  Photos below show the bridges from the top, and bottom as well as
some tom foolery along the way and for the nature lovers a few pics of the vegetation we encountered.
The weather here has been SUPERB. . .   Looking forward to Hells Revenge today.

[zmotorsports]

Great pictures and recap everyone.  Sorry I got tied up enjoying sitting around watching the last game of the World Series with our gracious host and hostess Larry and Loretta, team LoLa, and forgot to post up today's activities.

As for Thursday's activities,

4WD trail will be Hell's Revenge, departing the campground @ 9:00 with a driver's meeting @ 8:55 am.  There will be a fee to enter the Sand Flats recreation area.  If memory servies it is $10.00 for a 7-day pass or $25.00 if you wish to purchase a year pass.

Hike will be to Double "O", departing @ 9:30 am, led by Jerry and Ardra.

Looks like another great day of activities planned.  I hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather in Moab.

Also, don't forget the group dinner tonight following Happy Hour which will be at the normal time of 4:30 pm.

[Steve N Dee]

My moab project for today,  setting up my new flagpole.  Proud to be an American and proud to an rv forum member.  Long may they wave!