I had a great trip to SMORR with quite a few of our club members.  I led a group of 18 rigs out on the trails Friday and more showed up on Saturday so it was a great turnout for Turkey Day weekend.  We got some new folks out on the trails and built their confidence levels up which is always a rewarding experience for me.

On Saturday, I wound up leading the advanced group while a couple others took smaller groups of the beginner/intermediate people.  We headed straight to one of my favorite trails there, Rocky Road.  It's a tough trail if you don't have experience on it.  The trail changes pretty frequently because large boulders get moved around making navigation more difficult sometimes.  Here are a few pics from the trail. 

 Here's a couple other pics from Rocker Knocker.  

Parts keep arriving for my build which begins this week.  I'll be removing skid plates, the air compressor, sliders and more in prep for this weekend where we plan to mount the long arm brackets and maybe the brake upgrades.

  

 Tons of parts arrived yesterday for my build and more are in transit as I accumulate all of the goodies for my build.  I'm ready to get the project going and it all starts next week after I return from SMORR.  Speaking of SMORR, I'll be heading there in about 5 hours after having some BBQ lunch with a friend and his Dad.  I'm all loaded and ready to go.

Jodi went to St. Louis this morning for a weekend with her family and a break from her computer.  I'm sure she will get in some shopping while there.  

On Friday,  I got up at 4:30am and heading out to meet up with a friend so we could drive to Oklahoma City so he could purchase a 3.6 engine with a RIPP supercharger like mine on it.  We had a good drive and made it down there in about 4 1/2 hours.  The engine was at an offroad shop who had pulled it and installed the 392 Hemi for the owner.  The shop was huge, about 20,000 sq ft and most of the rigs they build are on ORI struts.  We were able to look over a few they had done and got some info and ideas for my build from the shop owner.  We spent a couple hours there and it was a good time.  After loading the engine, we drove back to KC and got it on an engine stand in my friends garage.  I made it home about 7:30pm.  Long day.

Saturday morning, I had two sales sessions while Jodi continued her work on editing.  Afterward, a buddy came over and we hung out for awhile before meeting up with a guy whop bought my PSC steering box.  We wound up going to our favorite Italian joint afterward for some good eats.

Today we planned to go out and look for a new vehicle for Jodi.  She would like a Mercedes SUV of some sort or a Range Rover.  When we got to the dealerships, they were closed.  I was under the impression all Kansas dealers were open on Sunday.  That wasn't the case at least at this dealer.  We wound up shopping for new hardwood floors to replace the defective one we have.  It seems supplies are hard to come by right now so it will likely be after the first of the year before we do anything.

I think I'm going to go ahead and drop a Genright fuel tank in my Jeep as I'm growing more confident that I am going to have clearance issues with the factory tank.  Hoping for a good Black Friday sale from them as they are a bit pricey.

Parts ordering kicks into high gear

I've been busy ordering parts for my winter project the last couple days, the biggest being my Elite Kingpin 60.  Serious beef for the front end of Nemesis.  I hope to see it in about 6 weeks.  I also ordered my ORI struts, Motobilt inner fenders for the rear and RPM Steering ORI strut towers.  This is going to be fun.

Today is my last photo shoot of the year for senior portraits.  It's been a great year, all things considered.  We wound up photographing 66 clients along with a few headshot sessions.  Next year is shaping up well too already.

Next week, I'm heading to SMORR for some Turkey Day weekend wheeling with the club while Jodi heads to St. Louis to hang with her family.  When I return from SMORR, my rig starts getting stripped down to make room for the new additions.  

 Yesterday, our club held a makeup event for a summer event that got rained out.  I was on the road at 6:15am, headed to Kansas Rocks.  Jodi got to sleep in as she needed to stay home and work on editing sessions.  I met up with a couple others and we made the two hour drive down to Mapleton, KS.  It was a cool and breezy morning after a little rain in the area but the trails were pretty dry and it was going to be a good day.

Costco diesel is still $1.63 a gallon but the big savings these days in premium gas.  50 cents a gallon cheaper at Costco.  DId a double fuel up before heading out.

I led a group of ladies out on the trails and helped them navigate some obstacles, learning more about their vehicle capability and show them how to properly traverse them.  There were a couple other groups led by my friends and we had about 15 vehicles total.  We spent about 5 hours out on the trails and we had a pretty good time.  The ladies really enjoyed themselves and I expect a few will be making upgrades to their Jeeps soon.

Today, we rose early and headed out to Topeka for a customer appreciation day and swap meet at my friend's offroad shop.  There was quite a crowd already when Jodi and I arrived along with my friend Chris who rode with us.  I sold some stainless exhaust pieces I had left over and Jodi won a nice raffle prize.  My truck got close to 16mpg on the highway at 80mph on the trip.  Pretty happy with that.

I have one more photo shoot remaining to do this year and it is on Wednesday.  On Friday, my friend and I are driving down to Oklahoma City to pick up a 3.6 with a RIPP supercharger on it for him to install in his Jeep.  I'll also be working on cutting more brackets off my 14 bolt housing and doing a lot of grinding to get it ready to weld on new suspension brackets and a truss.  

 It's been a minute since I posted!  We've been busy finishing up our busy season and that has been keeping Jodi and I both busy.  We have one more photo shoot to do next week as we stopped taking reservations for shoots to allow Jodi to get caught up.  Our Spring season is already 1/3 full though and I expect us to see a record number of sessions in March, April and May next year.

I've been ordering parts for my one ton build as I'm anxious to get that started.  The gears, locker, and other parts for the 14 bolt have been ordered.  My upgraded master cylinder, booster and reservoir are on the way too.  Today, I ordered my ORI struts.  Can you feel the sucking sound of money right now?  LOL

Winter is going to be busy trying to get all of this work done so that I can take my Jeep to Sedona.