- Location
- Middle Tennessee
I thought I would post about my experiences as an outsider that decided to come out and see what WinterFest was all about. The MWC guys who attended the 2010 Cherokee Crawl were sure to make it obvious we were welcome at WinterFest. Sooooo......we had see see what the talk was all about.
Our trip started off rough. We left Thursday after work and after messing with the pop-up lighting. We made it work and took off in my 1988 XJ and headed 8 hours north west to Attica, IN. Thanks to my co-pilot Mark (High2by) for driving the entire way.
We rolled in at 4:30am Friday morning and it rained exactly the amount of time it took to set the camper up. Finally got in bed for about 2 hours of sleep.
Went to the bath house and found BrianHO and SeanR. Got directions to the local IGA for food and gas. Got back and got to tech at 9:45am. Yeah we were later than we wanted to be. 87manche teched us in and we knocked out registration without a hiccup. You guys did a great job on tech and it flowed really well. We plan to copy this for the Crawl.
Driver meeting was informative. CB channels were given out. With the blind hills, we soon realized why we were to call out of the "all clear". The cool thing about this was we learned the names of those in the group rather fast.
We got in Rev Den's green and white ride on Friday. We fell in line with GoSlowGetStuck and Neal (in the super Nissan), since we met them at the Crawl. Our group moved along really well and by the afternoon, we had a lot of fun.
Saturday we again hooked up with Rev and ran orange trails. Even more fun than the day before. We had a great time at the quarry at the wedding and then wheeling the afternoon away.
The Badlands is definately a cool place. The "dunes" were fun with the high speed whoops. The quarry was F-U-N. Everything is as hard or easy as you want it. Whether the rocks were wet or dry, we could still do almost every obsticle. I will say the Badlands is perfect for a mildly built rig such as mine and it is the kind of terrain I enjoy.
The weather is what it is. We expected rain and even got some snow. But the weather didn't hamper the wheeling experience.
Mark and I just about overslep for the potluck. We showed up late and ate some great food. People were hospitable and we had a great time. The bonfire was fun until it started pouring rain. Not being prepaired with rain gear, we headed back to the camper.
At the dinner I was never so happy to see a warm, homestyle meal. After eating bolona sandwiches and pop tarts, a hot meal was very welcome (especially since the temps outside had dropped and it was snowing). I enjoyed the meal and liked being in a dry VFW hall.
We were freezing and tired Saturday night so we packed it in early.
My job as chapter president is to put on the Cherokee Crawl. As somebody who is part of the team that has to plan an execute an event and know what all it takes to make an event work, you guys did a great job. It isn't easy to make everything come off without a hitch and from my perspective you guys did a damn fine job. I used last years WF bi#$tch thread to help make the SEC event better. Was it perfect, nope. It takes a lot of hard work by dedicated individuals to pull it off. What you can't account for is breakdowns, stucks, people being late etc. You can't control it all, you just do the best you can.
I'm sure I forgot a lot of stuff to mention. The MWC should be proud of WinterFest. I had a great time. I sure enjoyed see all of the familiar faces from the 2010 Crawl again. Even yours, Flex. JK.
Hmmmm, what do I have going on in March next year?
PS: I missed my 12 year wedding anniversary to attend. Wife gave me permission.
Our trip started off rough. We left Thursday after work and after messing with the pop-up lighting. We made it work and took off in my 1988 XJ and headed 8 hours north west to Attica, IN. Thanks to my co-pilot Mark (High2by) for driving the entire way.
We rolled in at 4:30am Friday morning and it rained exactly the amount of time it took to set the camper up. Finally got in bed for about 2 hours of sleep.
Went to the bath house and found BrianHO and SeanR. Got directions to the local IGA for food and gas. Got back and got to tech at 9:45am. Yeah we were later than we wanted to be. 87manche teched us in and we knocked out registration without a hiccup. You guys did a great job on tech and it flowed really well. We plan to copy this for the Crawl.
Driver meeting was informative. CB channels were given out. With the blind hills, we soon realized why we were to call out of the "all clear". The cool thing about this was we learned the names of those in the group rather fast.
We got in Rev Den's green and white ride on Friday. We fell in line with GoSlowGetStuck and Neal (in the super Nissan), since we met them at the Crawl. Our group moved along really well and by the afternoon, we had a lot of fun.
Saturday we again hooked up with Rev and ran orange trails. Even more fun than the day before. We had a great time at the quarry at the wedding and then wheeling the afternoon away.
The Badlands is definately a cool place. The "dunes" were fun with the high speed whoops. The quarry was F-U-N. Everything is as hard or easy as you want it. Whether the rocks were wet or dry, we could still do almost every obsticle. I will say the Badlands is perfect for a mildly built rig such as mine and it is the kind of terrain I enjoy.
The weather is what it is. We expected rain and even got some snow. But the weather didn't hamper the wheeling experience.
Mark and I just about overslep for the potluck. We showed up late and ate some great food. People were hospitable and we had a great time. The bonfire was fun until it started pouring rain. Not being prepaired with rain gear, we headed back to the camper.
At the dinner I was never so happy to see a warm, homestyle meal. After eating bolona sandwiches and pop tarts, a hot meal was very welcome (especially since the temps outside had dropped and it was snowing). I enjoyed the meal and liked being in a dry VFW hall.
We were freezing and tired Saturday night so we packed it in early.
My job as chapter president is to put on the Cherokee Crawl. As somebody who is part of the team that has to plan an execute an event and know what all it takes to make an event work, you guys did a great job. It isn't easy to make everything come off without a hitch and from my perspective you guys did a damn fine job. I used last years WF bi#$tch thread to help make the SEC event better. Was it perfect, nope. It takes a lot of hard work by dedicated individuals to pull it off. What you can't account for is breakdowns, stucks, people being late etc. You can't control it all, you just do the best you can.
I'm sure I forgot a lot of stuff to mention. The MWC should be proud of WinterFest. I had a great time. I sure enjoyed see all of the familiar faces from the 2010 Crawl again. Even yours, Flex. JK.
Hmmmm, what do I have going on in March next year?
PS: I missed my 12 year wedding anniversary to attend. Wife gave me permission.
) I am thinkiing about some axle work before then, but time and $$$ will tell. I am talking w/ Dustin and I thing we may piggyback on his 2 pace out there if he can get off work.
