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| Some nice steeps | Out cold | What a view! |
Months went by, and the whole off-road thing remained my silly hobby. My son Sam, who's three, liked the idea and he liked to watch a tape I had of driving the Rubicon trail. I would occasionally ask Lauren if I could take Sam on a trip, and she'd say no. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of Sam going on one of those trips, she didn't think it was safe.
In November, Tony Twiddy advertised a mellow trip in Ukiah for Pacific Mountain Cruisers (PMC) members to Cow Mountain, featuring rolling fire roads, some brush and an optional "mini-Rubicon". I customarily asked Lauren if she wanted to go, and to my surprise she said yes. Her caveat: If it rained, she and the kids weren't going.
It didn't rain. Saturday came and we got up real early to get ready for our trip. I did some preparation the night before, so all we had to do was get dressed, pack some stuff for the kids, and get on the road. We were on the road at 6AM, which is pretty amazing for a family with a three-year-old and a one-year-old.
We stopped at the Bluebird Cafe in Hopland for breakfast. Tony & his daughter Cheryl were there, so was James & Amy, Mark, Wendy and Bailey Warner. So far we had two FJ55s, one minitruck and one Fourunner. After a delicious breakfast, we rolled to the Talmadge exit, where we found the rest of the group - mostly FJ40s. We drove along Talmadge Rd., back toward the entrance to Cow Mountain ORV, passing the "City of 10,000 Buddhas" on the way. (!) Tony kept us informed via CB as we rolled up the hill. Except for one shorting fuel pump circuit in a 40, we made it to the Red Mountain camp in a jif. There we found some "Santa Cruzers" - Roy, Bill, Bill and Jeff had driven up the night before and camped. The fuel pump circuit was repaired, and we drove on.
I can't tell you the names of the trails exactly, but they were like this: Nice, tacky soil with some mud puddles, lots of ups and downs with some steeps and off-camber situations to make for some family excitement, and spectacular views. I mean that last part, the views from up high are just amazing. Cow Mountain is in the Coast Range, and the vistas are of beautiful rolling mountains, green hills, redwoods and firs, manzanita and other scrub making up a chapparal that covered everything. The weather was clear and sunny, the sky was blue, and the kids were screaming with excitement and laughing over every bump. Well, at least at first. Soon they both fell asleep, taking turns, one before the other. It is very comical to look in the rear view mirror as your vehicle lurches from side to side and see those little angels sound asleep.
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| Some nice steeps | Out cold | What a view! |
Unfortunately, the Warners saw Bailey moving around too much in his carseat, and he wasn't falling asleep. Wendy was concerned about this, so at our lunch stop they decided to call it quits and head out on the main road. This was Wendy's and Bailey's first time off-road with Mark, and they did very well. I understand her concern, and she did the right thing.
After lunch, we had a lot more brush, so that my magnetic mount antenna came off maybe five times. Pain in the butt! I'm going to go to a fixed mount antenna. We also descended a nice steep pitch to a creek. In the canyon, one cruiser stared blowing oil. He discovered it was coming out of his tcase seal, and decided it was manageable and he could continue. Another 40 - right in front of us - was having engine trouble on steep pitches, I think it was his carb. At one point he asked if he could roll back into us, (!) so that he could re-start without braking. I said yes but wasn't sure I meant it. He started up and we moved forward. I like my 2F with stock carb! :-) From the creekbed we then climbed a sunny, high face to the ridge on the far side of the canyon. This was near the end of the trail for us. It was 4PM by the time we got to the top, with a two hour drive home in front of us. The main group split into a set of campers and a set heading to the "mini-Rubicon". We bid adieu and over and out, and we headed off into the sunset. Dinner was at the Marin Brewing Company by 6:00, and the kids were put to bed by 8PM.
It was a long time for them to be strapped in. Lunchtime was over too fast, and one of them slept right through it, so that he was in his carseat from 6AM to 6PM. That's too long for little kids. Next time we take them on a trip like this, we'll make sure they spend a lot less time strapped into car seats and a lot more time on their feet. Still, they had a lot of fun. Those screams when we went over our first bumps were priceless. At one point I just held up the CB mic and pressed the button, so all 13 or so vehicles could hear the high-decibel fun going on in our truck.
Thanks, Tony and other members of the PMC!
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Morgan Fletcher
<morgan@hahaha.org> Last modified: Fri Nov 3 21:43:12 PST 2000 |
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