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♦ This newsletter covers the fun from an off weekend Glamis trip that had a good turnout despite a gloomy weather fore-cast. Read all about it in Walt and Jim’s articles.

♦ Congratulations to Todd Cochran on the birth of his grand-daughter. Elliot Sarah Hohensee was born on Feb 23 at 10:28 AM and weighed 8lbs, 3oz.

♦ For the next trip, the spring break trip to Gordon’s Well, we are going to try something different by camping at the RV park next to Duner’s Diner. The cost is $35 a night, but it includes electrical hookups and we can park up to 12 rigs in an area near each other. It will we fun to try something new,

and nice to have power for the Air Conditioners. See more info and pictures on page 5, and read about how it worked out in next month’s newsletter.

♦ Individual site reservations may now be made for this year’s Coral Pink trip so mark your calendars and plan on joining us for a fun trip from Friday July 11th through Sunday July 20th.

♦ I don’t think anyone in the group bought a new RZR this month, but it is quite possible that they did and we just missed it...

Off weekend at Glamis, 2/27-3/3 by Jim Kastle I was the first to arrive, around 2:00 P.M. On Thursday. I dropped off the buggy box and then the yellow trailer, and set up. Around 4:30 Walt called me and said he needed me to move the white truck and RZR as he brought his neighbor, and needed a place to park his neighbor's car. On the way to the storage lot I spoke briefly with Jeff Oliver, on his way to camp. At the storage yard I met Wally, Walt's neighbor.

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March 30: Sand Sports Super Swap

at the Orange County Fair-

grounds in Costa Mesa.

March 28-April 7: Spring Break at Gordon’s

Well RV Park. $35 a night for full

hookups at the dunes.

April 20: Easter Sunday

Late April or Early May: Let’s think about a

Dumont trip. How about April

25-27 or May 2-4? Watch for de-

tails and let someone know if

you have a preference.

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We finished setting up camp and had just started a campfire when Steve Sturm arrived. We enjoyed a the campfire, and kept looking at the western sky, hoping it wouldn't rain. We went to sleep without it raining, yet. Friday morning it was windy, and had only rained a few drops overnight. We went for a ride towards the big bowls between Olds and Comp. As soon as I climbed Olds, Steve got on the radio and told me something was leaking from my car. I stopped, and found a radiator hose had come loose. Without John Cole's water bottle, Steve and Jeff went back to camp for a couple of gallons of water. We

quickly installed the hose and filled the radiator, and contin-ued the ride. There was quite a bit of wind blowing the sand, and it was cloudy, so it was hard to see the ridges, and the pace was pretty slow. That was probably good, as Wally is prone to motion sickness, and by the time we got near Os-borne, he asked for a break. We gladly obliged, and after a break we took a leisurely ride along the sand highway to the flats, where I was disappointed to find both ice cream ven-dors were not yet open for the weekend. Because it was

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quite windy we retreated to the RV's, and I enjoyed watching NASCAR, including the new style qualifying from Phoenix. Steve and I then watched a replay of the Day-tona 500. About 8:00 PM, Jason arrived with his RZR 1000. Both Bob Amador and Steve Tharp called or texted and said they were still coming, either Fri-day night or Saturday. Saturday we awoke to find Bob and LuAnne, and Steve Tharp had arrived overnight. We went for a ride with Walt, both Steves, and me in buggies, and Bob and LuAnne, Jeff, and Jason in RZR 1000's. We went to the bowls between Olds and Comp, and had virgin sand and were able to ride pretty fast, and the RZR's had no trouble keeping up. We then headed to hill 3, then I found one of the worst lines ever to somewhere near hill 5, where I stopped and looked at the GPS and found we were only half a mile from hill 5. We made it to hill 5, and took a break before heading back to camp via hill 4 and Olds. About the time we got to Olds it began sprinkling, but we got back to camp before any real rain. In camp, it became real windy, with some light rain. We retired to the RV's again for a couple

of hours. The weather improved and we went for another ride. Jeff had some work to do, so he let Walt use his 1000. Steve Sturm led a fast ride towards Comp. Bob decided to pass me and about 15-30 seconds later rolled the RZR. I called on the radio that Bob rolled, and in just seconds we were able to get Bob and LuAnne out of the RZR which ended up on its side. Bob and LuAnne were OK, and

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LuAnne was not as mad as any of us expected. The damage was mostly to the plastic, with the only structural damage being a bent rear link bar. While we were checking out the RZR, Steve Tharp moved his sandrail and we all heard a clunking sound from the trans. We decided to take a leisurely ride along the sand highway to camp, but not before Walt was impressed with the 1000. We ended the day with a Mama Jeannie's dinner, with everyone going. Despite it being a very off weekend, the crowd was the biggest we've seen in several trips. Jeannie found time to visit with us for a few minutes. We had a good campfire. Sunday morning Steve Tharp, Jason, and Jeff all left early. Bob and LuAnne visited with us for a while and I am impressed with her attitude about the roll. Steve Sturm led Walt and me on a really fast ride through the big bowls and over towards Gecko. We returned to camp where we took the toolboxes from the workbench in the yellow trailer and put them in my trailer for Gordon's Well and Coral Pink. We then again tried going to the flats for ice cream, but both ice cream vendors were closed. The store was still open, so for the first time in a long time, we bought ice cream at the store. It was less expensive than the vendors on the flats, or Sweet Marie's, and it hit the spot. We took one more ride, with Walt leading a good, fast ride through the big bowls, to Osborne, to Olds, back to Comp and then camp shortly before sunset. Steve loaded up and headed for home, and Walt and I took the yellow trailer to storage for the off-season. We ended the trip with a campfire that everyone in camp attended, both of us. Monday morning we leisurely finished packing and headed for home. It's hard for me to be-lieve another Glamis season has come and gone. I hope that next year will be as good as this one was. I want to thank everyone who helped make this year such a good one. I'm looking forward to a new Gordon's Well experience in just three and a half weeks.

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In general the club tends to be a group that repeats many of the same events year after year. After all, why mess with success? We do what we do because we like it and it works. Then, every so often, we get a wild hair and decide to try something different. Maybe it is running a buggy engine that’s water cooled, or even fuel injected. Sometimes these strange ideas catch on, and sometimes they don’t. In the late 1990’s, we started going to Gordon’s Well, and it has become a tradition for the Spring Break trip. Some people like that Yuma’s many restaurants (and auto parts stores) are only 20 minutes away, while others enjoy the opportu-nity to drive in some different terrain, like the long connecting dunes of Gordon’s Well, or the fast bowls south of the freeway at Buttercup. No matter the rea-son, this his become a tradition, and we didn’t want to stop that this year. Some members were curious, how-ever, about the RV park that is next to Duner’s Diner. After some of us looked around there many years ago (before Pair-a-Dice was even built) and talking about it off an on, Steve Porter contacted the park manager Brit and inquired about having a group trip there. They discussed the available options, and decided that a shady section of the park with electrical hookups would work well. There is room for up to 12 rigs in this section, but each person can pay separately and stay for as long or short as they want. The rate is $35 a night, but drops to $25 a night for those who stay for 10 nights or more. Steve Porter’s name is listed as the contact (not Inland Empire), but we don’t need to pay ahead of time, just bring cash and pay when you get there since they don’t take credit cards. It will be a different experience, and definitely isn’t something we would do during most of the season (when the park is full with snowbirds), but this could be a nice enhance-ment to the Gordon’s Well trip. It is often warm during this trip, and despite having the trip in early April, it will still be nice to be able to plug in and run the air conditioners. If you would have used 8 gallons of genera-tor gas a day, that offsets about $24 of the $35 daily cost. Also, one more factor to consider is that because it is private property, you don’t need a BLM camping permit. This doesn’t affect those of us who bought season passes, but may help out others why buy them on a trip by trip basis. We will give it a try and see how it goes.

The Details

Where: Gordon’s Well RV Park (Right next to Duner’s Diner)

When: March 28 - April 7 2014

How Much: $35 a night ($25 a night over 10 nights) No BLM Pass required.

How to Pay: Pay cash on arrival

Contact: Manager Brit Ford (619) 818-6555

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By Walt Fisher We had a great turn out this weekend with Jim and Jeff arriving on Thursday. I had brought my neighbor from Canada out for some dune buggy

rides. He didn't make a good passenger, and decided to head home that afternoon, in the hopes that his stomach would settle down some. The rest of the group were in camp when I got up Saturday morning with Subaru Steve Sturm, Steve Tharp, Jason, Bob and Luann. We pretty much toured Glamis, from Old to hill 5. It was another great 4 hour ride, and we all used @ 5-6 gal of gas. Subaru Steve saw an opportunity for a short af-ternoon ride before we went to Mamma Jeannie’s for pizza. Jeff let me drive his /Lavon's new 1000 RZR on this ride, (that's going to cost me) and I was having a great time. And then-- Bobby enhanced Luann’s dunning experience by “rolling” the 1000 RZR. They were both OK, just a couple of bent parts, and they drove it back to camp. When we were getting ready to head back to camp, we all heard a “clicking” noise coming from Steve T's buggy, sounded like a transmission problem, so we took it easy heading back. Sunday morning, Steve T, Jeff broke camp, and headed home. We had some wind, some sprinkles, and the smoothest sand I've ridden on in a long time. The days and nights were warm, which made this a good trip. Sunday morning Subaru Steve, Jim and I ran through the big bowls by Osborn, and with the sand this smooth, I didn't want to leave. There was more tracks on the afternoon ride, but I didn't seem to slow us down any.

(maybe because I was leading this ride) This was a great trip, with a lot of great rides, and I want to thank eve-ryone who participated, you all made this work for me. I feel physically better, and that was my main goal for this trip. -Sandblaster Walt

This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle and Walt Fisher for submitting articles. It sounds like they had a nice off weekend trip. As always, please feel free to send in your articles and if you do, we will gladly include them in the next newsletter. The next newsletter will cover the Spring Break trip, so plan on sharing the trip from your perspectives. -PJ, Melissa and of course Allison