Well, the day started out with Dan and Jess(DBAX) meeting me and Linda at our place in order to caravan out to Saguro Lake. Dan had me listen to his engine which was whining. I incorrectly diagnosed it as normal engine noise so we began our journey. All of a sudden at 99th and Bell there was a puff of blue smoke out from under Dan's truck. We immediately pulled into the McDonald's parking lot expecting the worst (fire). Fortunately nothing was on fire but we later discover that the alternator had frozen and the belt had melted and started on fire for a brief moment (I don't want to smell that again). Linda and I followed Dan to Peoria Nissan where he and Jess stayed to wait for the repair on Dan's truck.

Linda and I met up with Preston, Travis, Gorgi, and Lee at Saguro Lake. We then proceeded out to the "coves" to claim a camping spot. We did a bit of playing along the way.


Travis playing in mud.


The aftermath.


Travis getting tippy.


Same spot otherside.


Gorgi starting for the tippy part.


Linda driving my truck after the tippy part. Immediately after this Linda went up the obstacle. She hung the driver's side tire 2-3 feet off the ground. Fortunately the sliders saved the body panels.

We then moved on and went to play at another spot. I only have pics of Preston trying an uphill climb.



Then off to camp. We set up camp and Preston, Gorgi, and Travis went off to play. Linda, Lee and I stayed back and relaxed for a bit.

Dan and Jess showed up with Dan's truck running like a top. It was good to see them because we thought they would have been later. Thanks Peoria Nissan. A few minutes after Dan showed up in rolls Preston and Gorgi. Travis had clutch or Tranny trouble. So Preston,Gorgi, Lee and I went out to tow Travis back to the main road so he could be towed home. Before we could even begin towing Travis, Gorgi had to go and break down. It was a quick fix so she was on her in a short amount of time. The tow was uneventful. As a side note, Lee towed travis in 2lo with the rear locker on. He FORGOT to put it in 4 wheel drive.

Back to camp, Brian showed up shortly after we got back. The night was uneventful until about 2:30am. There was a dog fight and a gun shot from the neighbors. Fortunately no one was hurt.

The next day we were up at the crack of dawn, ate breakfast and off to work support for the triathalon. The shirts we were given for helping DCB Extreme Adventures has our AZXC logo on the back. (Really it is there Dan ) We all thought that was very cool.

Other than a dog fight and one gun shot it was a great weekend. Sure hope more can show up next year because we all had a great time.

My other pic of Preston.



Those who showed up:

Lee and Rocky- Accessbel
Brian and Sonny - XROCK
Dan and Jess - DBAX
Gorgi, Mom and friend - SolderX
Travis and multiple kids - Yellow Gecko (had to leave early due mechanical failure)
Adam - Conundrum
Scott and Linda- defibvt

Nice pics, just sorry that I couldn't make it there. Still a bunch of stupid little jobs to do. All I can say is that when I move to NC I don't want to move again. What a bunch of BS that incorporates the entire process!

Sounds like you all had fun, wish I could have been there too!

Moving sucks.

Scott, great writeup and an excellent time. It was great to hang out with you and Linda too. The alternator had 120k miles and couldn't have went at a better time or place. It's out of the way now and the truck goes in for the drivetrain stuff tomorrow .
We were done (end of trail) by 12:30 this year and on our way to Fountain Hills to lie on the grass and eat a few pounds of ice cream from Cold Stone. An excellent way to end a great morning/aft. We said goodbyes and split from there.
Thanks again to everyone from AZXC who turned out to show their support for the triathlon, the athletes, and most of all the club. Also, keep an eye out for the AZ DUST DEVILS on the trails, they're a great bunch of guys for helping us every year too. I'd have more to write, but I'm fried . I had to wash Shoki A LOT to get the skunk off of him and can't post pics until tomorrow. I saw Travis and he's said it's was his clutch of 5000 miles that grenaded, he had a new one in late last night and thought of driving back out this morning ..

Sorry we couldn't stay. Linda was wiped out and not feeling so hot. Plus we wanted a long afternoon to relax at home before we went back to work tomorrow.

Was the clutch still under a warrantee of any kind?

Tried to do a shift trade so I would be off yesterday and could go, but alas, I had to work. Wish I could have made it. Glad your alternator did not decide to go on the way to Moab.

Looks like you need a Locker preston on that last uphill shot!

Looks like fun guys, sorry I couldn't make it too. Headed out to the Gun show in the afternoon in Phoenix, that was very interesting.

I'd sure like to see some pics of that afghan Roger :p Oh, and just so it won't hinder your plans in the future , there's a gunshow somewhere in AZ every weekend..

Who else has pics, Preston? Travis?

Yea- Preston took a shot of my new rig since I forgot my camera.

"I'm going to kill all of your dogs!"

Shoki was standing at guard outside the X when I opened the hatch.

I had a great time as usual guys and it was nice to see ya all again. I miss you guys Just think I left Iraq for two weeks to get away from gun fire and booms at night, stupid drunk people. It's time to punk out Preston now. We went playing and a tiny, itsy, bitsy hill kicked his ass. Leave it to me to get up on first try, GIRLS RULE! That's ok Preston, I understand you're still young and a little wet behind the ears. Travis laid a guilt trip on me so hard that I went home grabbed my stuff and went back out to camp. Jessica, it was very nice to meet you, I enjoyed our conversations. Keep Dan in line, he periodically needs a good swift kick in the @$$. I just had a new exhaust system done and I(correctly worded by Scott), "muffied my exhaust pipe", again. While navigating a hill my truck petered out because I popped the air intake hose, 5 min fix. Truck issues were contagious that day, must be in the water. Guys I'll be lurking around the websites while I finsh my prison sentence over there, see you when I get back.

Hey, I didn't hear about that .. Make sure your Motor Mount isn't broken and the engine didn't just plunk back down into place. A torn air intake manifold is a common result of a busted MM.

Bless you and all those you're returning to . Thanks for spending your time here with AZXC

Ummm...Gorgi it is Mosi'd not muffed. But you did it. That is very cool. A badge of honor among Xterra owners.

DOH! My bad, see this is why I never repeat a joke, it gets all F'd up. Well I must be xtra cool since I did it twice in one year.

\
Ummm, yeah sure, ok, what ever you say.

From DCB Adventures-
Guys,

Once again the bike course went flawless. Thank you very much! I hope you
enjoyed the event, and everyone got a t-shirt sporting the Dust Devil and
AZXC 4X4 club logos!

Words alone can't express the gratitude... so let me know when you have a
team meeting, and I'll bring some beer

Kudos to both of your crews!

And thank you for clearing the course, both I and the NFS appreciate that
extra effort.

Sincerely,

David Benjes
DCB Extreme Adventures

What a bunch of studs.

Good job!

Hello boys and girls... Just wanted to say it was nice seeing those of you that were there. Thank you to all for helping me limp out of the junlge. I guess you can't push in the clutch when you are going down hill with 4.7 crawler gears. Things EXPLODE. So after getting it home I tore out the tranmissinon to find nothing left of the clutch but the metal spring center. Threw it back in sunday and it is running well. Not to mention it is a little more fun to drive since I put in the "cherry bomb". Lee, I would say thank you to you for towing me out but you had to go and ruin the ride when you told me you were in 2 wheel drive. BUTT HEAD! See you next weekend.