I played hookey from work yesterday and got my flagpoles and holder all set up.  I have new flags arriving today that I hope will be strong enough to withstand highways speed driving.  The cheap flags do not. 

I'm picking up my parts from powder coat on Friday and will begin the installation process of my tire carrier.  The supercharger and inner fenders will be installed the second or third weekend in July.  I still need to make a decision on a new rear bumper too. 

We have a lot of photo sessions to get in and really need the weather to cooperate so we don;t have to deal with a lot of reschedules.  I have 14 sessions scheduled in July, two more than what we typically like to book.  We don't need a lot of rain.

 

I'm still waiting on my parts from powder coat.  Not sure why it's taking so long but in the meantime, I went to put my receiver hitch on and ran into a problem.  The bumper needed to come off.  Well, one thing led to another and now I'm ready for the new tire carrier and a new bumper.  For the bumper, I'm looking for something with maximum ground clearance so I'm looking at Genright, Excessive Industries and EVO. 

We spent Saturday evening with friends, hanging out on their deck with a fire and watching the sunset.  We headed out when storms approached and luckily we only got some light rain on the way home because we were without a top and doors.  

I have a busy week ahead with 3 photo sessions.  Tomorrow we have our Jeep group meetup and on Thursday, we are doing Taps at the Tower with a number of Jeeps.  That's why I had to get my hitch on so I could use my new flag holder that mounts in it.  

 

The club meeting was packed last night and we were lucky to arrive early to get a seat.  When pulling in the parking lot, we were behind a new Gladiator that Victory brought to the meeting for people to check out.  4X4 Land also brought a Gladiator Rubicon that they put a lift, 37's, bumpers and winch on and it looked much better than the stock Sport model.  I didn't win the tires or GPS unit the club was raffling off but it was a fun time with friends.

After a client consultation scheduled for this afternoon, we are heading over to Jeep Jam and the Dodge dealer nearby for car crushing, food, music and socializing. 

Tonight is our club meeting and it's a big one due to the raffles that are going to take place.  A new club sponsor is giving the club a set of 5 Milestar Patagonia M/T tires in any size to raffle.  These are the same tires I'm running on my Jeep now.  It would certainly be nice to win a backup set.  Also, Garmin has given the club their newest GPS unit created specifically for off roaders.  It's a $700 unit and will be given away to a club member.  Jodi and I always look forward to the club meetings.  We've made some great friends and always enjoy getting together with people who are of like mind when it comes to off roading and Jeeps. 

Tomorrow evening is Jeep Jam at Gladstone Dodge, Chrysler & Jeep and we will be once again hanging out with friends.  They have music, food and a car crush (which I will never do).  They usually raffle a nice prize too.

Once this week is over, our social life gets put on hold for the business.  It's time to make the money that pays for all of the fun we have.     

Sunday was our club's big Sunflower Trail ride and what a great day it was.  We rose early (5:15am) to get ready to meet up with some club members to convoy down to the park.  The Target parking lot was pretty full by the time we arrived at 7:20am and we wound up convoying down with 51 rigs.  It's always an awesome sight to see some many off road vehicles heading down the highway and the passersby in both directions get a pretty awesome sight too, many snapping photos or taking video.

When we arrived to the park, Jodi went to check in while I aired down the tires.  I wound up running 7psi with the new beadlocks but could probably get a couple pound slower for more extreme wheeling.  We hung out for a bit as the massive number of vehicles grouped up and headed out on the trails.  All told, there were over 160 rigs and 300 people attending. 

Since this event was created to expose women to off roading, Jodi took the wheel and we headed out into the park following our good friends Bill and Paula.  Our group was for intermediate drivers and trails and we wasted no time in exposing the ladies to a nice drop down into the creek that was a bit intimidating to Jodi at first but I calmly talked her through it from the cab while Bill spotted her down.  If my Jeep were an automatic, it would be a lot easier to wheel.  It takes some getting used to as to how to use the clutch, brake and gas pedal when on the trails.  It's not like driving a car on the street at all but she followed our direction and brought Nemesis down the ledges and hill perfectly.  You could see both a sense of relief on her face as well as her confidence level go up at the same time.

After getting everyone down the hill safely, we jumped into the creek before jumping back out and working some hill sides, going up and down the trails.  We wound up doing a couple black trails, giving everyone some experience on some tougher routes.  We only had to winch once when Bill guided Paula up a steep hill that was just too slick to get up and we had to winch her to the top.  Afterward, I took the rest of the group through the creek rather than winch everyone up to follow. 

We headed back to the staging area and pavilion for lunch and the raffle.  Victory Chrysler, Dodge & Jeep sponsored the taco bar that was on hand and it was really good.  I wound up winning a set of Pro Comp 5" LED lights in the raffle which retail for $340.  Not a bad prize to win.

After lunch, we went back out on the trails for a couple hours.  I jumped behind the wheel for some more extreme wheeling and we dropped down in the park's new section for me to attempt Shredder, a tough black trail coming out of the creek.  I had gone down it once but it is far more difficult to go up do to the rocks and ledges at the top.  I worked my way up to the top and a few attempts to clear the top fell short as I kept hanging up on my slider and gas tank skid.  Rock crawling is all about finding the right line of giving it a bump when needed and that is all I needed to figure out on this obstacle.  Bill had me back up a little and then told me that when I felt my right front drop as I turned passenger to give it a bump.  He nailed it the guidance as I did as he said and popped right over.  Only one other rig would give it a try from our group of 15 and he struggled quite a bit.  We wound up having to move rocks and stack rocks for him to get him up but sometimes, that is hat you have to do as well. 

We headed over to Carnage Canyon as we headed to the front of the park.  I had never done Bad Axe before and others wanted to see me do it so, done.  I only had a little difficulty at the top and needed to change my line a bit to bump over.  My friend Ray, who had gone up not long before me and struggled quite a bit (he may need a new driveshaft) scolded me for making it look too easy! 

We finished the day by going through Rust Bucket backwards and then aired up to make the two hour drive home.  What a day!  Jodi was passed out before me, which is really rare.  I guess she was wore out from our 13 hour adventure.  :)  Videos to come.

 

I was really hoping I would get all of my parts back by this weekend but it looks like early next week instead.  We will be going to Kansas Rocks on Sunday and let Jodi drive the trails for awhile as part of our club's annual Sunflower ride.  I'll take over for some more extreme wheeling in the afternoon before we head home.

The final parts I needed for my Supercharger came yesterday so I'm just waiting on the intercooler to come back from powder coat and then we can schedule the install.

We took a late evening ride and we wound up with a pretty awesome sunset at the end.

We've been enjoying the drier weather the last few days, putting a couple hundred plus miles o my Jeep with the top down and doors off.  This past Saturday after work, Jodi and I went to a friends so I could help him install his new Rock Hard skid plates on his 2017 Recon.  It took us a few hours but we weren't in a hurry and we were stopping to visit with his Dad and play with his dog.  I also came home from his house with a new addition to my gun collection, an AR pistol. 

After we finished the skid plate install, we ran back home so I could clean up a bit before heading to a gathering of our off road club where we were collecting supplies and other donations for the tornado victims in our area.  We filled two flat bed trailers with everything from cases of water to personal hygiene items.  The local news stations showed up to cover the effort.

On Sunday, I cleaned up my Jeep a bit and then Jodi and I went to an all Ford car show at the local Ford dealer.  There were a lot of really nice cars including Torino's, Mustangs, Shelby Cobra's, 50's trucks, Ford GT's. and more.  My Jeep got a lot of attention at the event too.  Maybe it was the way I took the liberty of driving up on the curbed area and parking in a well seen spot?  :)

After the car show, we went shopping for some plants to fill our planters at the house.  We picked up a few hanging baskets for JD and Megan's house as well and delivered them before heading to Imo's pizza and meeting up with some Jeep friends for dinner. 

Yesterday we met up with more Jeep friends for a little dinner meetup.  Our life is pretty predictable these days, and it's perfectly fine with us.  In just a couple weeks, our life will be nothing but photoshoots, editing and sales sessions so we are enjoying the free time now.