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♦ We just got back from Lake Havasu, and once again the club had a great time. Looking back at the website, we saw we started making this trip in 2005 and for the seventh year we had a ball. Thanks go out to Don and Shirley for open-ing their home to host this event.

♦ Besides making trips to the river, members are getting ready for the upcoming dune season. Share your summer project stories by sending in articles or pictures.

♦ October trips are already on the calendar, so the sand season

is just around the corner. Before we know it we’ll be in Glamis!

♦ The 2011-2012 Glamis passes will become available Sep-tember 1st, 2011. You can order them online from the American Sand Association or a number of other vendors. Many of us get them in person at the Sand Show in Septem-ber. Remember that the passes are cheaper if you buy them ahead of time rather than waiting to get one at the dunes.

The seventh annual summer trek to Lake Havasu went great, and we had a great turnout. The locals (Don and Shirley and Bob and Lori) were joined over the weekend by Jim and Nancy Kas-tle, Walt Fisher, Gary and Young Stump, Jim and Bambi, the Hagen family, Dave and Cindy Huggard, Chuck and Justin Grossmann, Doug and Kris Schellinger, Scott Cole and Sandi Bain and friends, and Paul, Melissa, and Allison Kastle. Some members arrived as early as Thursday, and spent some great time playing around Havasu with the Fords. The Hagens, Huggards, and Grossmans were on the lake on Fri-day when the Hagens’ boat had a fuel pump issue. Chuck and Justin towed them to Cattail Cove, while Jim, Walt and Don went and got his trailer with Jim’s Dually. They towed the boat to the Fords, and pro-ceeded to replace the fuel pump before heading out on the water on Sat-

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September 16-18th: Sand Sports Super Show

at the Orange County Fair-

grounds in Costa Mesa.

October 21-24th: Spooktacular Run at the

Salton Sea. The Fords plan to

extend the weekend by a few

days then head to Glamis.

October 28 (or earlier)-30th: Halloween at Glamis,

Wash 6. The first Glamis week-

end of the year!

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urday morning. On Saturday everybody went out to a beach North of Cattail cove and set up a day camp. From there they played in the water and went out for boat rides. P.J. Melissa and Allison arrived that af-ternoon, and spent some time in The Fords pool waiting for everyone else to get back off the lake. When they arrived, we all got cleaned up and ready for dinner at Golden Corral. Cindy entertained Allison and everyone else by writ-ing with her feet. Dinner was great, and we got to catch up with lots of people we hadn’t seen in months, and it makes us excited that the dune

season is coming up soon. It was nice to see so many people to-gether, and afterward many of us headed up to Don and Shirley’s to sit around and re-lax. Rudy entertained the crowd by licking Allison and sharing her water bottle, which was pretty neat since he’s never had to deal with kids that little before. Allison had a ball, and didn’t mind being the center of attention of the smaller group. On Sunday, we got up and swam some more in The Fords’ pool and some people went back out on the lake. We planned to meet for the traditional Sunday night din-

ner at a local Mexican Restau-rant, where The Fords, Hagens, Walt, and all of the Kastles met for one last meal together to wind down the trip. Some peo-ple hung around until Monday, while others headed for home. All in all, it was a great week-end with a great group of friends.

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We played on the water, relaxed on the beach, and cruised the lake.

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As mentioned in last month’s newsletter Coral Pink 2011 was a great trip. Due to the Fourth of July being on a Monday, Nancy and I shortened our usual time in Mesquite so as to have the Fourth at the river. We arrived in Mesquite around

noon Tuesday. We just missed Steve and Sharon Porter who had spent the Fourth with Don and Shirley at the Casa Blanca. Walt soon arrived, followed by Kris and Doug, and Melissa, P.J., and Allison. We had a great dinner at the Eureka Tuesday night and the usual Pizza Wednesday night, Coral Pink eve. Since the Casa Blanca doesn’t offer the breakfast buffet weekdays, we all went to the Virgin River for breakfast Thursday before leaving for Coral Pink. The drive to the dunes was uneventful, with no tire problems or other mechanical problems. As we drove by the Group site, we noticed they had done some major concrete work since last year. We received a warm greeting at the ranger station, as they remembered us from years past. When we got to the group site we were pleased to find a new barbeque, and two electrical panels both with a 50 amp outlet, a 30 amp outlet and a dual 20 amp outlet. One of

the rangers came by to see how we liked the improvements, and told us it was now OK to hook up the RV’s. It was not officially allowed in years past. He said he wasn’t sure how much electricity we could use, but encouraged us to try as much as we wanted. It turns out they didn’t upgrade the main breaker, so we were limited to 100 amps total, as we soon found out, but since we had the official OK we didn’t feel too bad about asking them to reset the breaker. We became more conservative in our electrical usage, and didn’t trip the breaker again all week. I guess that is partly due to the great weather this year. Last year was one of the hottest, and this year one of the coolest. We had rain the fist four or five days, and the temperature never got over about 90. We generally made two rides a day, and with three side by sides in camp, Ranger/RZR rides were an everyday occurrence. Shirley, Walt, and Doug were very generous with their side by sides and P.J. and I both got to drive them. There’s no doubt in my mind, I’m gonna’ have a RZR sometime in the future. The side by siders really know the area and took us on some great rides. Thanks! With only four buggies in camp, when P.J.’s engine finally wore out, leaving only three functioning buggies it was really nice of Walt to change his riding plan from the RZR to the buggy so Don and I wouldn’t have to go out with just the two of us. Thanks again! That pretty much shows the camaraderie that exists in Inland Empire Off Road, but especially at Coral Pink.

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The line of rigs on the way to Coral Pink.

Jim driving Shirley’s RZR, which he enjoyed.

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Several years ago, a pizza sandwich shop, Lotsa Motsa, opened in Kanab. It became a favorite of mine, so much so oth-ers ended up eating there more than they wished several trips. However, all good things must come to and end and a couple of years ago they stopped serving sandwiches, and specializing in a lunch buffet. I’m not much of a fan of Pizza Buffets, so I made only one trip to LM this trip. But that allowed us to try other restaurants, and there are lots of good ones in Kanab, which remains one of my favorite towns.

This year Allison was a lot of fun for Nancy and me, and I think everyone else. She is walking everywhere, and beginning to talk, and just loves Don, Shirley and Tara. More thanks to the Fords for being such great adopted grandparents. Shirley must have walked miles with Allison. Tara is one of Allie’s favorite dogs. A Coral Pink tradition is to go to breakfast at the Thunderbird in Carmel Junction, about half an hour from camp. The place is beautiful, with a great gift shop, good food, but with notoriously poor service. This year the service was outstanding. I am a kind of picky breakfast eater, and expect restaurants to offer biscuits and gravy as an alternative to toast. In the past they were ada-mant that I had to order a separate side order if I wanted B&G. It became a big enough deal I didn’t especially enjoy the breakfast. Well that completely changed this year, and our waitress did eve-rything she could to make our meal as special as the rest of the

Thunderbird experience. I can’t wait to go back! The time at Coral pink goes so quickly. Many of us think it’s the best week of the year. It seemed that Friday comes so quickly and it’s time to pack up and head home. I can’t wait to go back. I’m writing this at 2:00 AM August because I can’t sleep. Why? Because at 5:59 I start calling for next year’s reservation. I’ll end this article by giving the dates for next year’s trip. We had another uneventful trip to the Casa Blanca, and had our tradi-tional Buffet at the Eureka. It really is one of the best dinner buffets around. Sunday morning Walt, the Schellingers and the entire Kastle contingent, had breakfast at the Casa Blanca buffet. We then said our goodbyes and started waiting the 50 weeks until nest year’s trip. It’s now 6:03 and I just got the group site for July12 through July 21, 2012. We’re going to Coral Pink!!

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Our trip to the Thunderbird was our best yet.

Notice the jackets, it was nice and cool!

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Walt's 2011 Coral Pink trip Best trip of the year

This trip started out with some firsts for me this year, I had my Razor and Buggy in the trailer, I saw my “Fill Fuel” light for the first time since I bought the truck, because I drove from Banning to Mesquite on one tank of gas (33gal) and Shirley and I took our Razor's to the corral, and Jim, PJ and Melissa drove Razors, and when dur-

ing road construction in St. George, while narrow-ing down to one lane, we noticed that drivers would stop and let you merge in, and when PJ and Melissa stopped to let someone in front of them, that the people would wave at you as to say thanks, and with all 5 fingers. We didn't ride on Thursday when we arrived. We were sure sur-prised to see new concrete slabs and a new barbe-cue island with a 2 burner stove. (and we all got plenty of use out of them) I was ready for the first ride, I needed to check on a transmission problem I had found before headed out on this trip, guess we'll call it “test run” (all's well) On Saturday morning I went out with the rest of the “side by sides” for the first of my “Razor at Coral Pink” rides. We go down a wash, and Doug soon found out that if the trail is washed out, one should just stop and size up the situation, but he

was our “fearless leader” and soon became stuck leaning into the washed out area. He had it all figured out, get me out of the way, and use Shirley's newly installed winch to pull his Ranger back out of the spot he was in. was surprised to find out that Don hadn't finished the installation, as it wasn’t wired to the battery yet. I climbed up the side of the wash, and with the tow strap, pulled him of frontwards, and we on our way again. We stop at a place know as Dixie Knoll, where Kris kept saying she heard something, but we went on our journey, with her being the only one that had heard anything. That evening, Jim, PJ and I went out for a buggy ride. (the time difference is great) Sunday afternoon it started raining a little, off and on, so some of use played some games, while the Me-chanics of the “pit-crew” finisher the wiring on Shirley's winch. On Monday, Jim, PJ and Don went on a morning buggy ride, while we set out see the sites in our side by sides. We found Kris's noise, there was a rattle snake in the rock known as Dixie Knoll. We got out of there in hurry, not for a fear of the snake, but what it would do if Shirley threw a rock at it, just to see it move??? We stopped at a lot of the sites on this ride, and that was neat for me to drive to them myself. That evening, PJ and Melissa took my Razor out for a little spin, and then PJ, put Allie in the passenger seat, with the 4 point seat belt on, and drove her around the camp sites.

After we went to breakfast on Tuesday morning, Don rode with Doug, Jim rode with me, and Kris rode with Shirley, with Tara in her seat, went for a side by side ride. We had just climbed up the face of a sandstone cliff, headed for the “Dinosaur Tracks” when Doug stop to point out that the clouds were moving in and surely meant rain. (you know that when Don gives you “that look”, it means you need to pay attention) Jim was having a great time, and declared that he was “water-proof” so off we went, Yep, you're right, just as we got to our destination, it started to rain. I don't mean this Calif. Drizzle rain, it was like a Texas you're going to get good and wet rain,

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and we did. We were about 10 miles from camp. (must have been fun, we were all still laughing about when it was all over)The sand was packed on the side by sides. On Wednesday, Shirley and I lead the buggies out to the corral with our Razors. That was a fun ride too. At the corral, Shirley and I tried to climb the hill out, but just couldn't make it all the way up and out. That afternoon, I drove Doug,s Ranger, PJ had my Ra-zor, and Jim drove Shirley's razor, and we went out for another ride to check out some more spots. While at the “Dinosaur Tracks”, we met a local coupe from Kanab, that gave us a pamphlet about the tracks, and told where to see them, so we did, with PJ taking picture as we found them. That was neat too. Thursday was another Razor ride for me, and when we got back, Don,Shirley and I headed to town for some supplies, and late lunch at Nedra's, a Mexican restaurant. Later that evening we all shred “Moose-Tracks” ice cream we had gotten while shopping. I took advantage of some of the down time today to start get-ting my stuff organized to pack in the morning. Saturday morning we all got packed up, cleaned the campsite, and headed back to Mesquite. Yep, that was 10 days, and it sure went fast. Sunday, Don and Shirley headed on home, while the rest of us went to breakfast before taking of for home. The sign just before State Line read: “heavy congestion to California, expect long de-lays” and after we got past State Line, traffic was moving pretty good, so I ruled out taking Cima Rd. and going the back way, I won't make that mistake again !!!! It took 6 hours to get to Mes-quite, and 10 hours to get home. Thank You all, for making this the best trip of all. —Walt

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We explored dinosaur tracks, which you can still see in this sandstone wash.

Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in Utah The AP article below printed just after the tracks were “discovered” by the BLM in 2007 and it gives info on their age:

Kanab, Utah Associated Press November 30, 2007

Tracks from half a dozen species of dinosaurs turned up in an area of southern Utah that is popular with recreational riders of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). A section the size of a football field has been closed off to protect thousands of three-toed and other tracks, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). "Some people knew the tracks were out there, but we didn't," BLM spokes-person Larry Crutchfield told the Salt Lake Tribune for a story posted online Thursday. "But most people didn't even know they were riding over dinosaur tracks." The footprints were laid across dozens of layers of rock and include tracks of a sharp-toothed and clawed carnivore, a three-toed crocodile, and a large plant-eating species. Southern Utah is known for dinosaur fossils and tracks from the Jurassic period. These animals lived about 190 million years ago in a harsh desert that got intermittent deluges. "You rarely find herbivores in a desert," said Martin Lockley, who heads the Dinosaur Tracks Museum at the University of Colorado at Denver. The new sandstone prints are at least a hundred million years older than the fossils being extracted in nearby Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, said paleontologist Andrew Milner. BLM paleontologist Alan Titus said the latest track find is extraordinary for its accessibility and high concentration of footprints. "A local ATV rider told me about the site, and I had planned to go see them," Titus said of the area about 5 miles (8 kilometers) southwest of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Kane County. "But when I saw a picture of the site, I had to get out there. I had no idea there were so many."

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Jim’s Scissor Lift Nancy and I live in a wood-sided house in Big Bear. One of the responsibilities of living in such a house is painting it. One of my least favorite activities is painting. Painting becomes worse when the house being painted is two and half stories tall, because I am terribly afraid of heights. Our house has needed painting for quite a while. In fact, I had planned to paint it during the summer of 2005. I even borrowed the ladders to do it. We bought the dually instead. Now that we want to sell the house, I HAVE to get it painted. Finding a responsible painter in Big Bear is difficult, and finding one who is responsible I can afford is almost impossible. So it’s back to me. Having discussed what to do with lots of people, the two best ideas were use a scaffold, or pay the big bucks to have someone from off the hill do it. This option was strongly supported by Melissa and P.J., and Nancy with their tales of Melissa’s uncle, or one of Nancy’s co-workers who fell off ladders, seriously injuring themselves. It was strongly opposed by me who despite my fear of heights has a bigger dislike of paying someone to do what I should be able to do. My problem with a scaffold is that it doesn’t have a motor, and seems like a lot of work to set up, and I’d have to rent it. I had a great idea, all on my own, use a scissor lift! I don’t like renting things, because in the end, I have nothing to show for the rent I paid. So I look on Craig’s list and find that used scissor lifts are not very expensive. My thinking is that I could buy a scissor lift, and paint the house, and still spend less money than paying a painter. I mentioned this idea to a few people who have had experience with them. Jerry Trantham said that I’d have to have very level stable ground. John Cole said I should go up on one and see if I could handle it, as they tend to be unsteady. Great, two people who I trust think it’s not a good idea. Thinking of what John said, I remember I once used a scissor lift the change a bulb in the gym at work, and I WAS terrified. A smart man would have thrown in the towel, and paid a painter. Instead I figure I just need a more stable scissor lift. On Craig’s list I find a “rough terrain” scissor lift. It was much wider than most and was suitable for the uneven ground around my house. I call the guy in the bay area and am ready to go for a drive, when I ask just how wide it was. Six feet six inches will not fit into my back yard. I have six feet between my deck and the back fence. About this time Brandy buys a scissor lift for work and is willing to let me borrow it. It is 30 inches wide, narrower than the one I used at work. Brandy’s offer was very generous, but not for me. I keep checking Craig’s list and Ebay for an all terrain scissor lift. Right after Coral Pink, I find one for sale at a rental yard in Glendora. I call the guy, and it’s 58 inches wide, and will go 33 feet high. I only need about 20 feet, so in my head I figure I’d have an extra margin of safety. I tell John and Scott about it, and they, watching out for my best inter-ests, tell me some stories about scissor lifts. I am bound and determined this will work. I borrow John’s trailer and go to the rental yard and am impressed with the lift. The test lift was a little, (well actually a lot) scary, but I decide to buy it. While the guy at the yard is driving it up the ramps on John’s trailer, the ramps just flatten out. They bent in the middle like a piece of cardboard. A smarter man would realize he’d underestimated the weight. I figure if they can load it, I can tow it. They put the machine on a roll back tow truck and then use the roll back to put the lift on the trailer. The trailer sagged a BUNCH! I inquire about how much it’d be to have them de-liver it to Big Bear. Around $400-500 is too much for me. As I leave the yard, the tires are already rubbing on the fenders. Within half a mile, the tires are smoking. I know I bit off more than I can chew. I call John who is nearly home in Phelan, and he calmly says,”I’ll pick up Scott’s flatbed, go get Scott, and will meet you in Glendora.” This all figured out in less time than it takes to type. I don’t know what John’s plans were, but I know they didn’t include driving nearly a hundred miles to get me out of a jam. Scott also gave up his evening. While waiting for John and Scott, I found the owner’s manual which says the lift weighs 8000 pounds, almost twice what I thought. In what seemed to me to be no time at all, I see John’s truck towing a

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8000 lbs was more than the ramps could handle

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HUGE flatbed fifth wheel. I clearly was overmatched. I made a suggestion about how to unload it from one trailer and load it on, but John immediately saw a problem with my plan. I realize I’m in the company of experts, and stood aside. John and Scott positioned the ramps and carefully supported them with jack stands. Scott fired up the machine and drove

it much more smoothly than the guy at the rental yard. (I had not yet driven it and now having had it at home a couple of weeks, still am not as smooth as Scott.) He positioned himself, and me, away from the machine so that if there was a problem, it wouldn’t fall on us They secured it to the trailer, explaining that my straps were not sufficient for this much weight, and told me to follow them to the elevator shop. We figured I’d take John’s truck and the trailer to Big Bear, and John would take my truck and his trailer home. Upon arriving at the shop, Scott found a hot wheel bearing, and a low tire. He immediately went to work and repacked the wheel bearing. John and I aired up the tire. John realized it was getting late and he didn’t think I should try to tow it up the hill in the middle of the night. He decided he’d tow the trailer to his house, and I could come down tomorrow in my truck

and tow it home in the daylight. I was smart enough to do what he said. I followed him to Phelan, and dropped off his trailer, helped him unhitch the fifth wheel, and said goodbye. It was well past midnight. The rest of the way home I just kept talking to Nancy about how blessed I was to have John and Scott in my life. They know so much about so many things that this college “educated” guy doesn’t have a clue about. Their concern about safety over everything else is admirable, and seemingly out of character for them, but it is actually engrained in them to the very core. Their lives and the lives of countless others depend on it. Not only do they have the knowl-edge, they were willing to use it to help me when they both had other things planned. I owe them both a bunch. THANKS! I picked up the trailer the next day, and got it home with no problems. As I set up the ramps, I continually asked myself it that was what Scott and John would do. I drove it off the trailer without incident, and soon raised it high enough to paint my house. It is a little shaky, but I am confident in it, largely due to its 8000+ pounds, and have started the prep work for the long awaited painting, which by the way will be done using John’s airless! How do I thank him enough?

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Hello my adoring fans, it's me Allison. I didn't go to the dunes this whole month, so I don't have any dune trips to write about. Since I don't want Daddy to have to leave space blank, I decided to write about what has been going on. Even though we haven't been going to the dunes, we still go to work every Tuesday night to see my Grandpas and Grandma Nanacy and Uncle Sock, and Dean and Dave and Barry and Brandy. I like getting to see all of them, and especially like reading and playing with Grandma Nancy in the office while Daddy and the other boys play outside with their dune bug-gies. One day a few Tuesdays ago, Daddy brought our dune buggy to the shop. I liked it because I got to drive it off of the trailer and around the parking lot. It is funny to drive a dune buggy at work. Then we parked it in the shop so Daddy and my Grandpas could have it to play with the next week. It is important to re-member where your toys are so you can play with them when you want to. I think somebody needs to talk to Daddy and my Grandpas about playing nice with their toys though, because the next week while I was reading with Grandma they got all excited playing with their saws and ended up cutting Daddy's dune buggy in half! When I walked out to check on them, there was enough space between the front and back of the dune buggy that you could walk through it! This scared me, because I like going to the dunes and driving the dune buggy and seeing my friends and eating cookies. Did this mean no more cookies? Oh no! My Grandpa said somebody put it together, so it was ok to take it apart. My Daddy told me that they meant to cut it so that they could make it bigger for me. I thought that seemed silly because it was already a little too big for me to drive as it was, and now I'd need some help holding both pieces together. It turns out that Mommy bought a special carseat for me that is going in the middle of the dune buggy, so I can ride in it with Mommy and Daddy. It is really comfortable, and I watched a whole Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sitting in it in the living room the other night. I wonder if

I'll be able to watch Mickey Mouse in the dune buggy? That would be silly, but I do like my Mickey Mouse. I just have to make sure my Grandpas and Daddy get to work fixing the car and are really careful with their saws so they don't cut it in half again. I like hav-ing a dune buggy that stays in one piece. Oh, and speaking of cookies, I got a great surprise in the mail last week. It seems the cookie lady learned where I live! She put cook-ies in a box and mailed them to me :) I like walking over to her motorhome to get them, but I'm not sure where it is parked right now, and I'm not allowed out of the front yard by myself so this probably worked much better. Another cool thing is they sent me camoflage jackets too! I can't wait to wear them, and be warm and snuggly and disappear like grandpa. I always can see him in his

cammo, but we like making him think he disappears, so it sounds like fun. Speaking of fun, I got to go to go splashing at Shirley’s house over the week-end. That was sooo much fun, and I got to see lots of my favorite friends from the dunes, only this time they were wet instead of all dirty. I also got kissed by Rudy, who thinks I am a popsicle. Shirley says I need a little puppy, but I’m not sure Diesel agrees. I do like puppies a lot though. Anyway, that's all I can remember for now, and I'll write more next month to tell you all whether my silly Daddy gets his toy dune buggy put back together. Until next time, keep your tummies full of cookies and your toys in one piece. -Allison

I’m not so sure about this!

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Two child’s helmets for sale: Both were purchased at Chaparral, 3 years ago. Both are full face with visors. Exterior is in good shape, minor scratches. Inside is in per-fect shape, foam intact, no tears. Black one is a child Small and the Yellow one is a child Medium. $50 each Contact Pete Hagen at: (760) 451-0845

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This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle and Walt Fisher for writing articles, Pete and Jeremy Hagen for the river boating pictures, and again the Fords for hosting the river trip. The dune season is rapidly approach-ing and we are getting excited! If you have any 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. We’re also always looking for newsletter content so please send in whatever you can come up with. -PJ, Melissa and of course Allison

Mid-engine Mega Sand Trans For Sale $3,500.00 OBO Three speed. New ring and pinion, and main shaft, 3rd & 4th by “Wright Gear Box”. 930 CV flanges 4.43 Ring and pinion, 2.23 1st, 1.67 3rd, 1.22 4th Contact: Walt Fisher 909-641-3045 wfisher71@yahoo.com

2005 Ford F‐250 4x4 Crew Cab, 6.0 PowerStroke diesel, 55k miles, front leveling kit, full Banks exhaust, new turbo, EGR, coolers. Set up for towing, tag or 5th wheel. Excellent condition, very clean, and runs perfectly. My uncle bought it new, I bought it from him 3 years ago. This truck has been babied since new and I hate to let it go, but I need money to finish col‐lege. Pink slip is in my hand, and in my name. $24,900.00, OBO. Mike, 951‐315‐7351, or AJ, 951‐318‐006

Little Boat for sale: Had minor fuel pump issue, but was easy to fix. No title, since Chuck and Justin found it on the lake and towed it to Cattail Cove. Then Jim towed it to a yard in Havasu. Contact Don Ford for more details...