Crown King 4x4 Run (Mark's Story)

After Jennie took off with the trailer the 4x4 run began. The 50 mile run started out easy for about the first 40 miles with little to no obstacles. The group of 4 jeeps and the Rhino were able to do the 1st part of the run cruising at about 20 miles per hour. We stopped in a few different spots to admire the views and the wildlife (cattle and even a donkey). It rained on and off for the entire drive but the closer we got to the clouds in the mountains, the harder it rained. At one point on the mountain we were actually up above the clouds looking down. There were a few spots where some of the Jeeps tried to do a few more challenging side trails and at least one time had to be winched out of a sticky spot.
As we continued on the trail the rain got heavier and water began to puddle and run over the trail making it slippery and wet. We came across a few creek crossings with the deepest of which was 10-12 inches. Once the rain started pouring down we had to remove the windshield and someone in the group pulled out a tarp to strap onto the Rhino to help keep the boys and I a bit drier. We even had to cut a window in the back so that I could see out the back (very red neck).
The last 5-6 miles of the trail definitely became more difficult and the rain just added to it. There were 4-5 spots where I knew I would have difficulty with. These were steeper rock ledges and steep climbs that were made slippery by the rain. I ended up having to be tow strapped 3 times and had to be winched once (as well as some of the jeeps). I am proud to say that every where I was not the only one to get stuck. The last major challenge on the trail involved a 6 ft hill down into the bottom of a creek bed followed by a 15 ft climb up a hill (about a 40 deg slope) with several large boulders (this was my winch spot). The first Jeep that tried to cross this area got hung up on the large boulders on the hill and had to make several attempt to make it to the top of the hill. Only 1 of the jeeps was able to make it thru this area with no assistance. When I tried to make the climb the Rhino did not have enough ground clearance and power to make it on it's own. The last mile and a half was pretty easy and had beautiful views as we made our way into Crown King.All in all this was definitely not a trail I could do on my own. But a great trip I would take again if I went with the right group.

Since I was not able to get a hold of Jen I was quite surprised to see her climbing the hill to the restaurant after we had finished our meals. Too bad she did not get there before we ate :) We all were able to explore the tiny town of Crown King and after we trailered up the Rhino and headed down the hill I was even more impressed with Jennie and her braving the drive into Crown King.

(bloggers note: These pictures were taken by several different people who went on the run with us. I was unable to take any photos as I was driving most of the time. Thank you to Emma, Jason and Vinnie for taking such great photos. )

Crown King 4x4 Run (Jennie's Story)

Mark and the boys went on a 4x4 Run from Lake Pleasant to Crown King with a group from Maricopa. We all met up in Maricopa at 7 am and took the drive out to Lake Pleasant where I dropped off the boys and Mark. The plan was for me to spend several hours shopping then to meet them in Bumble Bee to load the Rhino up on the empty trailer and head home. I was very nervous to drive the empty trailer as I have never driven a trailer before. I had no problems driving it on the roads and freeways and as long as I parked way out I was able to go shopping with no issues.
Once I drove out to Bumble Bee I decided it could not be that hard to drive out to Crown King! After all it is a dirt road but it is maintained (right?) so off I drove at 5-10 miles per hr up the hill. I could not drive any faster since the empty trailer would BUMP and BOUNCE on the washboarded and rutty roads. This road was a 1 car road for most of the way and had TONS of switchbacks. A real challange for a person who has never driven a trailer before. I tried turning around at one point since it seemed that I night possibly be lost. WOW that was a mistake! It is not easy to back up a trailer :)
I did finally make it up the hill after 2 hrs and finally found Mark and the group after looking in a few spots (Crown King is not that big). Mark had to help me back the trailer down a path I was about to go up, and I got to drive the Rhino down the same path.
The day ended up not being that bad and I did get to drive in the clouds....and I bought myself a shirt that says "I survived the drive to Crown King".

Memorial Day 2010! Rhino Ride in the Desert.

Here is the story of Memorial Day 2010. We invited several friends to join us for a fun day at Sycamore Creek and some off-roading in the Rhino. We had 3 families join us as we set off into the desert. The trip up was uneventful and we found a good spot to set up camp and let the kids play in the water. The first Rhino ride of the day almost ended shortly as Mark got the Rhino stuck in the sandy/pebbly shoreline but after some finagling he was able to get himself unstuck with no help. The rest of the afternoon was spent with everyone taking turns riding in the rhino and playing around camp. We all packed picnic lunches and brought several items to entertain the kids as the adults talked and BS’d. As each group of riders came back there were stories to be told of the fun trails Mark would take them out on and some were funny as the kids worried they were going to flip or die out on the trails. Mark took a few breaks in between rhino runs to eat, hydrate, and BS with the rest of the adults.

The day is getting late so we have the last 2 runs of the day. The first ride has someone from each family out on the rhino and they are gone about 20-30 minutes. Once Mark gets back he hydrates again and heads back out with the last group of the day 2 adults and 2 kids (Mark, Melissa, Isaiah, and Marie) wanting to find a trail that he found that he thinks is the other path into Sycamore Creek from the Beeline. After a bit of time (not sure really how long....but a LONG time) we start to think man they have been gone a while. The kids start speculating that the Rhino has flipped, that everyone fell off a cliff and died, that they are lost, that they ran out of gas…etc. The 4 adults that were left kept insisting all was fine and let the kids keep playing. Then we heard a phone ring. Now mind you we are down where there is little to NO service so a phone ringing was strange. Miguel answers the phone and the call drops. So off he goes to climb up a small hill to see if he can get a small bit of service. He only gets thru enough to here that they are LOST. OK now what? With an hour till it gets dark what do we do? Do we call for help? So we sent Miguel and John back to one of the vans (the only one we had keys for) and off they went back up the windy fire road back to the Beeline where they can get service to try to get back in touch with Mark. That left Eileen and I with 5 kids and a 11 yr old and we had to admit to the kids that they were right in their rantings about the group on the rhino (no parent wants to do that..lol) So Eileen and I kept calm and busied ourselves with packing up some little things and taking down a few of the easyups to make things a bit easier later when the rest of the party was sure to arrive. While we busied ourselves with that the kids decided they were going to save us all by building us a fire to help us survive the night out in the desert. So they dug a hole, found rocks to put around it and gathered “wood” to start a fire. They were convinced they could start the fire by banging 2 rocks together and making a spark. Bryce even worked on sharpening a wooden stake the kids found early in the day into a “spear”. We are not sure if it was for protection or to hunt for food. Then we saw the group returning. Minus one major person and his Rhino. Seems John and Miguel were able to locate the lost group but Mark was unable to return with them as he did not want to leave the Rhino behind. The kids were a bit disappointed that they were unable to try to start their fire…lol. There were no Hi glad you are safe, just awww we cannot finish our fire!

So now we got the fun job of packing up camp with one major thing different. NO RHINO! Yep all the stuff that took 3 loads on the Rhino to get down to camp now had to be hauled up by hand. 5 coolers, 3 easy-ups, a dozen or so chairs, a table, plus bags, backpacks, toys and food and corral 8 kids ranging in ages from 6 to 11! Oh happy happy joy joy! After a few trips we did get it all back up to the vans and packed away so that we can start making our way back up the hill and off to meet Mark where he is stopped by the side of the road waiting for our return about 45 minutes after the last time he saw anyone from our group. We find him and load him up on the trailer and head to Fountain Hills for a break and some dinner!

Now we can all share stories and hugs and make sure that everyone’s nerves are ok. Mel did have a short time of panic but held it together once she realized she had to hold it together for the kids. Marie did not panic too much and she didn't need the inhaler that was back at camp...good thing and Isaiah slept part of the time so he really did not seem to mind they were lost and ran out of gas. Mel had to wave down help off a major highway only to discover that trying to flag down help only got her a few beeps from some admirers of her hot, sweaty, sexy, I'm stuck and need help, body!!! LOLOLOL! They did find someone to sell them some gas for $20!!!! But hey at least then they had enough to make it to the Beeline. An officer did stop to tell Mark he could not drive the Rhino on the freeway as he could not keep up with the 65 mph speed limit. Luckily it was right around the time that John and Miguel showed up to ge the rest of the group so we did not need him to help find us to let us know what was going on. In the end everyone was well, we all got back together. No, the kids did not get to finish their fire ring. Yes, my body is sore. Yes, Mark will not live this one down for a very long time (LOL). And we learned some valuable lessons like Mark will have the gas can and a cooler with water strapped to the back at all times. He will bring his GPS with him also and will leave his wife with a set of keys to the van!

SPELLING BEE Winner

And the winner is?













KYLE! Yep.....My sweet lil guy won the 3rd Grade spelling bee that the teachers challanged their kids with. It was a double elimination contest and Kyle ended the contest with no words wrong. They even threw some curve balls at him with words that were not on their 200 word list. I was one proud Mom as I sat and watched him spell all the words he was given. Now he is the proud owner of $20 that he can spend as he pleases.

PLINKO is DONE!

Here it is! Kyle painted all my red Polka Dots on the yellow background. It actually added a bit of flair that I think the game was missing. So on Sat we are all ready to play and watch the kids have fun.

Running Club Year End Party

Today Kyle had an ice cream party after school with the Running Club. I was tasked with buying all the fun ingredients that the kids could choose from to decorate their ice cream. All the children had fun making all sorts of concoctions. Afterwards they went outside to run and play in the sprinklers.

Plinko is getting closer to done

With just a few days left till the Carnival at the school we have been working little by little on completing the PLINKO game. Tonight we painted the board white, yellow and blue pegs. Mark worked hard on cutting the bottom pegs at proper angles and I glued each and every peg into to holes. The bottom board was painted red and is waiting to dry then it can be glued down. The kids cannot wait to do a bit of painting on the Plinko as well.