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♦ Thanks to Mike and Ashley Bacon for setting up and putting on the event at Salton City in memory of Mona. There was a great turnout from the club, and we’d like to continue this annual tradition.

♦ Club members are now in Glamis, having gone straight from Salton City to spend a week before Halloween. Look for details about the first Glamis trip of the season next month.

♦ Thanksgiving is the first really big trip of the year, and will be here soon. We will again be having a pot luck Thanks-giving dinner on Thursday November 22nd.

♦ Another V8! Yep, Jim Kastle bought an aluminum 5.3 liter V8 as the replacement engine for P.J.’s car out of a 2003

GMC Envoy with 77,000 miles. The engine is already at the elevator shop, and P.J. has converted a stock wiring harness to run it with a flashed stock computer. It will end up in P.J.s car sometime, either as soon as John’s shortstar sells or as late as the end of the season.

♦ Doug Becker is the latest person to have joined the side by side group with his purchase of a RZR 900. See more on page 2.

Ashley and I had been preparing for this event over the last six weeks or so, gathering prizes, as well as me get-ting a new (to me) RZR and trailer. We were ready and the day finally arrived.

We put together this event in memory of Mona because the Spook Run was always her favorite trip of the year. I frankly don't know whether it was because it was the first trip of the season, or seeing all our friends after a long summer, but she

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November 16th-26th: Thanksgiving week at

Glamis. We’ll have our usual

Pot Luck dinner on Thursday

night.

December 24th?-January 2nd: Christmas / New Years at

Glamis, Wash 6. Some mem-

bers may arrive even earlier

than the 24th, allowing for some

fun the weekend before Christ-

mas. Look for New Year’s Eve

dinner details next month.

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This month we’d like to congratulate Doug Becker on his new RZR 900. He recently sold his VW sandrail and purchased a new RZR to join in on the fun. He made his debut trip with it to the Mona Bacon Memorial Poker Run in Salton City. In making this purchase, Doug selflessly made it even easier for us to write the newsletter, since we can use the month before as a template and then fill in the part where someone gets a new RZR and throw in the story and pic-tures. This is the third month in a row we’ve done this, so that begs the question, who’s next?

always looked forward to it, and I for one want to thank everyone who participated for coming out and having fun and thinking of her.

I arrived Thursday afternoon to se-cure our camp spot and was soon followed by Jim and Walt. After everyone set up we had a chance to go for a ride and break in Jim's new RZR 900. We ended up out after dark and I took them through a couple of sections that they proba-bly wouldn't have gone through if they could have seen where they were going! Friday saw the Huggards, the Fords, the Stumps, and Doug Becker and Chuck Grossman ar-rive. We went for a ride in the morning checking some of the

course to make sure everything was passable after a summer of flash floods and earthquakes.

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Saturday morning the Schellingers, Jeff Oliver, and Steve Tharp arrived. Just before we set off Walt's friend George arrived with his Rhino so we ended up with 9 side x sides, plus the Huggards and the Stumps in their Jeeps. We set off to the 4x4 playground where we drew our first cards. Right here I have to acknowledge my wonder-ful daughter Ashley. She was instrumental in finding a lot of the prizes and handled most of the card draws out on the course, as well as taking a lot of pictures. She also tallied all the results and set up the prizes. I couldn't have done this without her. THANKS, Ashley! After the playground, where despite a lot of encouragement Dave wouldn't try to big drain pipe obstacle (coward!), we headed off to Techtonic Gorge. Once through we arrived at the turnoff to Terra Del Sol Trail at the far west end of the Ocotillo Wells Riding Area. We followed the Terra Del Sol Trail through the canyon, down a wash, and across the rocky flat lands to intersect with Crossover Trail which then took us to the Pumpkin Patch. Once cards were drawn and beverages were consumed it was a mad dash down Tule Wash to the Pole Line Road, then to Gas Dome Trail and we arrived at the Gas Domes. The Huggards were running a little low on fuel, plus they could not follow us through our next section because Gas Dome Canyon is very narrow and tight, so they and the Stumps took Pole Line Road back to camp. The 9 side x sides proceeded to Gas Dome Canyon. It was tight, challenging, and a little hot as we weren't getting much breeze down in the canyon, but we all came through unscathed. We regrouped at the Gas Domes and headed back to camp.

After a rest it was time to start the hot dogs. We had a great dinner and it was time for prizes. It was only a couple days from this being written, but I can't remember who all got what! I guess my memory is proof that I'm now officially a senior citizen, however I do remember we all laughed a lot so I felt it was worth while. Sunday we got to go on a shorter ride down to the artesian well before most had to head for home. Jim, Walt and I went for a ride Sunday afternoon experiencing just about every type of terrain avail-able before heading back just before dark. We ended up going across the highway to enjoy a great Mexican dinner at the little restaurant. Monday morning it was time to move. We all packed up and after dumping tanks, getting fuel, and water we headed towards Glamis. Jim, Walt

and I stopped at Walmart for some supplies, then had to take a detour around some road construction. We all made it in to Glamis without a problem and I'm about to go for my first dune ride in my RZR. More to come next month, as well as pictures. -Mike Bacon

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All last season I said that as soon as escrow closed on the house in Big Bear, I’d buy a RZR. Well, while we were at Walt Disney World, escrow closed. I had found a used 900 in southern Arizona, and a new one in Maine for even less, and found an ad in a side by side magazine offering to ship a side by side anywhere in the country for $600. This sounded great, so the day escrow closed, I contacted the dealer in Maine, and it all sounded good, I then contacted the shipper and was told that he wasn’t coming to the west coast anytime soon. I checked with other shippers and was quoted prices in the $2000 range. That kind of shot down the Maine RZR. I remembered Jerry had told me to consider the guy he bought his (Linda’s) from. Jerry put me in touch with him, and it turns out his family runs a Polaris dealership in Atlantic Iowa, and they had the perfect RZR, a Voodoo Blue XP900, just like Doug’s, which I fell in love with at Coral Pink, for the same price as the used one in southern Arizona. This one was brand new with the fac-tory warranty. Atlantic Iowa is only about 1500 miles from Golden Valley, so I bought it over the phone from Walt Disney World. I had already borrowed P.J.’s flatbed trailer, and assumed I’d take the white truck, but Nancy and P.J. thought the dually was a much better idea. After listening to them, and realizing the dually has Sirius radio, and the white truck has a marginally functional AM/FM radio, I decided they were right, and decided to sacrifice a couple MPGs and take the dually. Not because it has almost 200,000 less miles, but because it has a better radio! We returned home from Florida on Monday, September 17th, but the club picnic was on Saturday the 22. So I had to wait until Monday the 24th to start my trip. I was so excited, I had no trouble leaving the house at 3:30 A.M., and headed east on I 40 towards Dalhart Texas, about 750 miles away. I made it to Dalhart just about sunset. At the picnic, Steve Porter told me about Council Bluffs Iowa, a gambling city on the Missouri River. He said they had a Harrah’s ca-sino with a nice parking lot overlooking the river, and a Famous Dave’s restaurant a couple of miles away. Steve gave me very detailed directions for the drive from Dalhart to Council Bluffs. My deci-sion was made; day two would end in Council Bluffs, which is conveniently located just 50 miles from Atlantic Iowa. I left Dalhart and traveled through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, for a total of about 670 miles on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I drove the hour to the deal-ership, and with P.J. checking Google Maps for the best directions, drove straight to the dealership. I entered the dealership and asked for Tyler, the guy I had dealt with, and was directed to his desk I introduced myself, and he said let’s go to the ware-house and let you see it. It was just as I imagined, and as he had described it. He told me to take it for a ride, but to watch for trains on the tracks adjoining the dealership! The ride

was short, but really exciting. I loaded it on the trailer while Tyler took pictures. We signed the paperwork, and I was on my way. Jerry and Linda invited me visit them on my trip, so I headed towards Guffey Colorado, figuring I’d stop just short of Denver for Wednesday night. I ended up in Fort Morgan, Colorado, after having driven a total of 575 miles for the day. Thursday I did as I did the other days and followed the arrow on the GPS. It led me into the high mountains south-west of Denver, and eventually to Jerry and Linda’s. Proba-bly not the quickest way to get there, but it was beautiful. I had called Jerry for some detailed directions to their ranch, and followed them to their driveway, where he had left the jeep to mark the location. Jerry and Linda were waiting for me as I drove up. The drive was only about 210 miles. Jerry and Linda’s ranch is beautiful, with a view of Pike’s Peak, and of a large mine near Cripple Creek. Linda made a

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great lunch, and then Jerry and I went for a ride in my RZR around the ranch. We later took their golf cart for a tour of the property, and had a flat tire. In true Inland Empire style, this was but a minor inconvenience, as we walked back to the house where Jerry got an air tank, put it in the bucket of his tractor, and took the tractor to the golf cart, where he used the bucket to lift the back of the golf cart, and aired up the tire. It seemed so natural! The house is beautiful with the highlight being the two story “trophy room” which has nearly 50 animal mounts of different kinds of animals, deer, elk, birds, bobcats, and I’m sure others I am forgetting. Some of the complete animal; while others are just head and antlers, or the skull and antlers. Jerry remembers the details of hunting each one, and a

fair share of them ware shot by Linda. It was very interesting to me to hear about all the effort that goes into hunting and then harvesting the meat. In what some would view as a contrast, just outside the house there was a small herd of deer, each of which Jerry and Linda have named, and know when they were born, many of which were born on their property. Jerry and Linda love watching them and making note of the differences in their per-sonalities, and both of them are very protective of the herd, and want to pro-tect them from hunters. Friday, I didn’t drive anything but the RZR, and that was just a few min-utes around the ranch before loading it on the trailer. We spent most of the day on a trip to Cripple Creek and a large open pit gold mine nearby. Don had told me before the trip that if I got a chance, to be sure to have Jerry take me to the mine. The mine is spectacular in its size, and Jerry pointed to one mountain and told me that was a valley just a couple of years ago. They

have moved that much dirt. We were able to park very close to some HUGE ore carrying dump trucks, and then went to a very high overlook where the trucks seemed tiny in the bottom of the pit below. I watched the steam shovel drop a load of ore into a truck and it was at least three seconds until I heard the ore strike the bed of the truck. We were a long way above the trucks.

Cripple Creek is an old mining town that was reborn about 20-25 years ago as a gambling town. I had to try my luck, which had been bad at a couple of casinos along I 40, and at Harrah’s in Council Bluffs. My luck in Colorado was no better. Linda seemed to do a little better, and Jerry did the best of the three of us, as he went shopping while Linda and I gambled. We returned to the ranch, and Linda fed us again. She can COOK, and yes, Allison, much more than just cookies. We sat around and watched some NASCAR and talked a lot about hunting, and again, I was surprised at how much work and planning goes into it. We talked about the best route for me to take to Golden Valley, and I decided to change the route I thought I’d take, and instead of going southwest through 4 corners, head straight south to I 40 and then home. I told Jerry and Linda I’d leave when I woke up, and would try not to disturb them. I slept great, but was up a little after 3:00 A.M. and quietly snuck out of the house by 3:30. I did a great job of being quiet, until I hit the key fob twice and honked the horn as I unlocked the truck. I figured I must have awakened them. I felt bad as they had been such great hosts. When I was between Flagstaff and home, Jerry called to see how I was doing, and reported they had not heard me leave, not even the horn. I arrived home by 6:30, having traveled 830 miles Saturday. The truck and trailer had traveled 3083.5 miles, and used a total of 226.7 gallons of diesel, which works out to 13.6 miles per gal-lon overall. Diesel averaged $3.95 per gallon. The cost of fuel and rooms was probably more than I saved by buying it in Iowa, but the great, friendly, no pressure, do what they promised dealer is worth a lot. I had a great time, and would do it again. Because I’d prefer Nancy’s company next time, I’ll have to travel way fewer hours per day and would like to take the fifth wheel and spend time in most of the places I zoomed through this trip. Probably have to spend even less time at those casinos, though. -Jim

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This year’s Glamis pass prices remain the same, at $90 for an offsite season pass and $25 for a weekly permit if purchased off site. The ASA has announced however that the BLM has proposed fee increases for next year, be-ginning with the passes that are valid starting September 2013. Their call to action reads, “The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) presented a draft Business Plan (BP) for the Impe-rial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA) on October 18th at the CA Desert District OHV Leadership Meeting. The Business Plan calls for an increase in the weekly permit fee from $25 to $40 when purchased off-site. On-site weekly permits are proposed to be $70. The An-nual permit fee is proposed at $180. BLM intends to implement the fee increase on September 1, 2013. The complete ISDRA BP can be viewed at: http://blm.gov/4qkd.” The press release also notes that there is a short public review and comment period that ends on November 5th at 8:00 AM. As part of this, the BLM has provided the following email ad-dress to obtain your comments: BLM_CA_ISDRA_Subgroup@blm.gov. Send in your com-ments soon to let them know what you think about a potential doubling of fees next year.

Simple Tips Control Notifications: By going to Settings > Notifications, you can decide which apps can pop up alerts, which have notifications at the top of the screen, and which appear in Notification Center. This means you can make sure that noisy apps don't clog things up for you, and you notice the important things. Use a Physical Keyboard: Many people may not realize that they can use a physical keyboard with their iPad. It doesn’t even have to be an ex-pensive Apple one, just any Bluetooth wireless keyboard. The combination of an iPad on a stand or propped up and a separate wireless keyboard can give more of a traditional computer feel for your portable computing. John and Anna Cole have gone to this setup to replace their home desktop computer. Tell Siri Who’s Who: This will only work for those of you with Siri on your de-vice (iPhone 4S or newer or iPad 3rd or 4th generation) but if you have Siri, it is cool to tell it who is who. If you tell Siri, “Melissa is my wife” or “Jim is my Dad” it will remem-ber the information. Then you can say, “Text my wife” or “Call Dad” and Siri knows who you mean. Get back to your draft: Here’s one that works on all devices. In the mail applica-tion, touch and hold the Compose button and it will switch to your last saved message draft.

The New New iPads!

Well, Apple has done it again. On Tuesday, October 23rd they announced the upcoming availability of the next generation of iPads. This announcement came just over six months after the last new iPad announcement. The new “fourth generation” iPads are very similar to the ones announced in March and have the same high resolution screens, but have a faster processor and use the new “Lightning” connector style from the iPhone 5. Another big part of the announcement was the addition of the iPad mini, which has most of the specs of the second genera-tion iPad but with a smaller 8 inch diagonal screen size. This little guy is thinner than a pencil and weighs only 0.68 pounds. I have joked before about who would want an iPad with a smaller screen, but this new size makes it fit in one hand and easily fit in a purse, so it could be quite popular. It is still bigger than an iPhone, and offers all the iPad style apps. Pricing for the fourth generation iPad remains the same as before, with a 16 GB WiFi model for $499. The iPad mini starts at $329 for a 16 GB model. It is $100 or $200 more to upgrade either to 32 GB or 64 GB respectively. It is also still $130 more for cellular data capability, regard-less of which device you choose. Overall they are still expensive devices, but now there are more options to suit your portability preferences. As a perpetual deal seeker, I am excited by the idea that a new generation of iPads means the old ones will be available at a discount either as people upgrade to the latest and greatest or as Apple sells out their remaining stock and refurbished units. On the day of the announce-ment, Apple certified third generation base iPads were made available for $379, which is $120 less than the initial retail pricing. These carry the same Apple warranty as a new one, so it is a less expensive way to get technology that was brand new a few months ago.

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This month we’d like to thank Mike Bacon for writing up and putting on the Mona Bacon Memorial Spook Poker Run and Weenie Roast and Jim Kastle for writing about his cross country trip. Next month we will have further updates from the desert, including reports from the first Glamis trip of the season. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and we hope to see you all there. If you have anything else you think might be of interest to the group, write it up and send it in. Also if you have plans for upcoming trips that we don’t have listed let us know so we can put them on the calendar and on the website. -PJ, Melissa and of course Allison

2003 Honda 250EX, comes with paddles, knobbies, White Bros. pipe, AC nerf bars, 2 laser lights on the handle bar in addition to the stock headlight, quick release whip flag holder. It's a 5 speed, automatic trans, plus reverse, electric start. The seat is in perfect condition. Plastic has some minor scratches. It's green stickered and ready to roll. Perfect for a young teen rider. Asking $1,650. Call Pete 760-451-0845

2007 Suzuki Boulevard C50, 800cc, fuel injected, liquid cooled with only 5600 miles. LIKE NEW! $3,900 Bike has thousands of dollars in upgrades: removable full front fairing with Jensen Marine stereo and speakers, chrome trim. Shorty black windshield, Quick disconnect Saddleman Tatoo Profiler seat, show chrome side covers, lockable hard side load saddlebags, K&N air filter, battery tender, engine lighting, lockable leather bags, new battery . Always garaged. Never dropped. Perfect condition. Contact Steve Tharp at setharp@verizon.net

New GoPro Hero 3 Camera Announced: The GoPro video cameras have become a fun addition to the rides the last couple of years, and have led to some great videos on the website and on the side of trailers at the dunes. Well, in early November a new version will be available that offers even higher resolution (at a higher price of $499) or the same resolu-tion as the current ones for $199, with a neat new feature that allows you to connect your iPhone or iPad to your camera via WiFi to control the camera and act as a live view-finder! Now you can preview your GoPro shot right from your phone. I wondered what they could come up with to make me want to upgrade to the new model, and this is it! -P.J.