After work on Friday, I went to work installing the winch on Jodi's Jeep.  After playing with it a bit, it was evident that the front bumper would need to come off to install it.  Once I had it off, Jodi helped me get the bolts holes lined up and the bolts tightened up.  I got the bumper bolted back up to the frame and then ran the wiring to the battery.  I then unspooled most of the rope and inspected it prior to re-spooling.  Jodi now has a winch.

I got cleaned up and then Jodi and I had dinner prior to meeting up with some other couples to watch a band at a local park.  We had seen this band years ago at a bar and they were really good.  Well, they are still really good.  It was hot and muggy but that didn't stop us from a little dancing to go along with a few adult beverages.  It was a fun evening.  As we were leaving, we gathered in the parking lot and I was pretty much talked into going to Tuttle the next day with both couples.  Since I had installed the winch already, I decided we would go.  It was 10:30pm and we would meet at 7am to convoy.  

Rise and shine!  6 hours of sleep and we were up and ready for the adventure.  I got the Jeep loaded up while Jodi got ready and we met the others at the Quiktrip at the top of our street.  The plan was to meet up with others at a rest area half way between Topeka and Manhattan.  There were some spotty rain showers int he area but we wound up missing them.  Good thing because the top was down and trail doors on.  The two and a half hour drive was uneventful and we rolled into the staging area of Tuttle to air down and hit the trails.

I led the group out and we went through the lake bed and up the hill through the woods.  Tuttle had received a little rain earlier in the morning so there were some water holes on the trail.  We came to Arc Hill and it is mostly loose rock and dirt.  I went up first and had a little trouble with traction but made it up.  The others followed, some having more trouble than others but we got everyone up.  We then went along the ridge and I decided to do a tougher ledge while the others went the easier route.  I chose the one I had trouble on last time there and I navigated it a lot better.  Here is a video of the ridge and ledge.  Clicking on the Youtube logo at the bottom takes you to Youtube where you get a bigger video screen.  

After going over the ledge, a couple others joined us and I let a person that knows the park far better than I lead us around.  It was a good run in sections of the park we had never been.  We wound up seeing other friends at the ledges and made our way over to them.  As we arrived, I was waved in by a friend who pointed to a section for me to try.  It was a section I had never done before and there was a built Jeep struggling to get up at the moment.  He wound up going to a different section as he couldn't make it up.  Bill guided me into position for my attempt and I climbed right up without much difficulty.  I then discovered that my GoPro was not recording and no one had video going on their phone.  Opportunity lost.  Bill pointed to a more difficult area of the ledges, much to Jodi's chagrin.  She jokingly says that she doesn't like us wheeling with Bill because what Bill does or says, Dave follows.  Well, it is the truth so I can't argue that.   

I made my way down and around, ready to tackle something more challenging.  The biggest thing you want to avoid on climbs like these is bouncing sideways and then it gets dicey.  The key is to slow crawl up, which is easier with an automatic by far.   Bill lined me up and into position on the ledge.  What video never shows is how steep it actually is.  I was literally looking at the sky as I crawled up the ledge.  It was a good feeling to make it up in that area.  Here is Jodi's video of me going up from her perspective.

Here is the GoPro point of view version.  

After some more trail riding, we had some lunch and then went back out for another couple hours before airing up and going home.  We stopped for ice cream, as it was about 95 degrees, and that hit the spot.  It was a fun day with friends and we did some things we hadn't done before. 

I spent Sunday getting my drone firmware updated and naturally I had issues.  The first try didn't update so I had to make another attempt.  This time it worked and I took it outside for a test flight.  All seemed good but it would not start the props.  Multiple attempts led to frustration.   I kept getting a warning that I was near an unpaved airport, which we are but it is not a "No Fly" zone and I've flown at my house before.  I decided to see if the software was keeping me from flying due to that so I drove to a park a few miles away.  It still wouldn't fly.  ARRRGGHHHH!

I did see at one time that I had a warning that the IMU needed to be calibrated.  I decided to do that even though I was getting a "normal" status.  I did the calibration, took it outside and the motors fired right up.  Geeeeez!  A quick test flight and we are good to go.  I plan on getting plenty of drone video in Colorado.

Jodi said the trim I painted on her Jeep looked more orange than red.  So, I had to remove it all and paint it "more red".  She now seems happy with the color.  She also told me that before the girl's trail action on the 24th that she wants her top removed and my trail doors put on so she doesn't scratch hers up.  Yes, ma'am.