Tierra De Sol 2008

[miguelitojeep97]

Although I could not stay the night, I did go out for the day to enjoy the sun and go wheeling with a bunch of people. Since I only did go for the day, I guess Ill start the picture thread.

Overall super fun day. Wish I would have met up with more people, but ran into some pretty cool jeep guys. I was really stoked to meet Dustin Webster. He was a great guy. I cant wait for next year and am definitely telling more of my jeep buddies to come and stay at least one night.
Some photographers from Petersons 4wheel and offroad mag. were there. Tons of Rigs that have been in magazines all the time..... just great stuff. And thanks to Premier Welder guys, I was able to make it home with my exhaust not falling off..
well enough talk here are a couple pics from today:

view from the top of the major sand hill:

crazy line some other jeeps tried to get me to do (uh no thanks) but some jeep buggie doing it:

just messing around:

not sure who this was, but I drove by 10 min before watching this kid try this line. I thought to myself (this guys is going to roll) by the time I got back:

Eddie from 4x4xplor.com's jeep, but no Eddie

exhaust broken off from a little too much pre-runnering (60mph)


and the 9day KOH build and Becca's Rock Her buggie:



just a great day. Next year I want to be there much longer!! cant wait to hear about the rest of the weekend and see more pics!!

[92yj]

not far just not far. man thanks for rubbing it in. lol, looks like a lot of fun. thanks for sharing.

[Britain]

seen a couple helicopters heading out towards Truckhaven.....that place aso was packed

nice shots

[Desert Jewel]

WOW! What a weekend! Jesse & I got to TDS around 9:45 pm, checked in and found the MJR camp. Al (IGOFSHN) and Russ (RUSS CHUNG)were the only ones there. They helped us set up camp and then Russ took us over to Blow Sand hill for a little initiation. We had fun runnin' up and down the sand hill. We got back to camp, had a snack and went to bed. Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to get a nice hot breakfast and the Jeeps ready for the run. Brandon (OFFROADFREAK) & his friend Brady were there. They had showed up around 2:00 am. Then we all headed over to get in line for the run. The run was pretty good despite being in Ocotillo Wells. They had several moderate by-passes and a few extreme ones. We made sure to take all of them. The end of the run was a nice set of rocky trails to climb, which was a great way to end. We finished the run and got back to camp around noon time to have lunch.

After lunch, Jesse & I headed over to vendor row. We stopped by to say hi to Dustin & Becca Webster. Then headed over to check out the vendor displays. We came across RockHard which has the bar I need to properly install my 5-points harnesses. The guys for RockHard were extremely nice people to deal with. They had one bar there on display so we bought it. I really don't like driving with only the lap belt...just not safe! When we got back to our Jeeps there was a note on mine to go see Becca Webster before we head back to camp, so we did. She hooked me up with a MasterCraft technician who was willing to install the harness bar during the raffle. I was so excited!

When we got back to camp, our 7 foot tent was only about 2 feet high. The winds had bent all the poles leaving us with no shelter. It was a total bummer. We decided to pack up and then head home after the raffle. We got everything loaded in the Desert Jewel and then Russ came over and said he had a nice afternoon run planned before the raffle. Since the DJ was loaded, I decided to go hang out with Becca Webster and Jesse went on the run.

When I found Becca and told her what happened she invited Jesse & I to stay in her trailer so we could wheel with them on Sunday. Wow! What an honor. It even got better. Since the guys were all out wheeling, Becca gathered some of her friends and took me out for the ride of my life in her new 8 day Jeep that she used in the King of the Hammers competition. It didn't matter if there was a trail or not, she just walked up whatever looked challenging and fun. The entire time she was explaining what she was doing and what each lever did. I learned so much!
We went down this one hill and one of her friends half-way down decided he didn't want the body damage so we were gonna go around to help winch him back up. On the way around, there was a broken quad that asked for a tow up the hill and Becca said "sure". We just started towing him and this '05 Rubicon was coming down. He got impatient and decided to go straight off the trail, sideways on the hill full of boulders. No sooner did Becca get the words out "he's gonna roll"...and he did. She had the guy on the quad unhook and we headed over the boulders to get in a position to help winch him back up. We had to go across, up and turn around all on this hill. We got quite tipsy a couple times where some of the guys watching had to stand on the rear to hold us from going over. Needless to say, we spent 4 hours helping these guys because they had no clue what they were doing. The driver wasn't wearing his seatbelt and was injured pretty good, but he managed to stay alert until his Jeep was safe up on the sand. Because of how long this took, we missed the raffle and the MasterCraft guy for the harness bar install. I had such a great time with Becca that it didn't even bother me missing these two things.

This morning we got up and Jesse decided to try to put in the harness bar before our run with the Webster's. Turns out it was for a YJ and not a TJ. We managed to catch the guy just as he was leaving. He apologized over and over and said he will Fedex us the correct one as soon as he gets home. Bummed again until we got to go on the run. Dustin drove the new Jeep, Becca drove her rock crawler, and then a couple of their friends went too. Dustin was a great leader thru all kinds of great rocky trails. We stopped here and there to watch Dustin or Becca climb some crazy walls. The new Desert Jewel is awesome. She went pretty much everywhere they did, except for the off-camber stuff, which was for safety reasons since I didn't have harnesses to wear. They are definitely some awesome people!!

Here are a few pic's:






Jesse catching air:


The new Desert Jewel:


Brandon & Jesse:


The Desert Jewel & Kodiak Spirit at the Webster's camp:


Becca Webster:


Dustin Webster in the new Jeep:


Becca Webster:


Becca & I:


The rest can be seen here:
http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff26/thedesertjul/

[miguelitojeep97]

LOL "8 hour jeep" that would be amazing! but it was a 8day or so build. (i think you knew that)
Dustin was great to meet! I am sure Becca is just as nice! Looks like you guys had an eventful weekend.
in one of your pics, Becca is sitting by her tire, is there a reason for that?
man I would pay to go for a ride in that buggy!

Everyone needs to post up more pics!


oops, closer look definitely not here buggy tire:

[Desert Jewel]

in one of your pics, Becca is sitting by her tire, is there a reason for that?

Yes, I meant 8 "day". They built that Jeep the same time mine was being built using the same lift & tires, etc for Off-Road Adventures TV.

That is her spare buggy tire. They were doing a photo shoot of the before and after of how well the ProComp wheels take a beating.

It was a blast! They are good people.

[Russ Chung]

TDS Part 1 - Thursday, February 28

Al Spires (Igofshn) and I met in Beaumont and caravanned together to Ocotillo Wells. We stopped for gas in Indio and made it to Ocotillo Wells shortly after 3 pm. We set up camp at the intersection of Main Street and Quarry Road, about half a mile from the event headquarters, just below Blow Sand Hill. The weather was beautiful; the temperature was in the mid-80s with a slight breeze, so I decided to take the doors off my Jeep.



After dinner, Al and I visited Scott (92 Green YJ) at the Jeepaholics camp, sampled some of his homebrew and made a few night runs up and down Blow Sand Hill before going to bed.

[Russ Chung]

TDS Report Part 2 - Friday, February 29

The nighttime temperature was comfortable, and after the sun came up, I took some pictures of the area from Blow Sand Hill. This is the event Headquarters area:





This is a photo of the MJR base camp. My tent is at the left, Al’s JK Unlimited and camping trailer are next to the tree. The MJR banner is hanging from the shelter. The pickup in the back of the picture is part of another group.



After breakfast, Al and I went sightseeing in Anza Borrego State Park. Instead of the highway, we followed the dry washes to Fonts Point, and I discovered that Al doesn’t like heights:







On Friday afternoon, we registered our Jeeps and visited the vendor displays, and then we returned to camp and relaxed while we waited for the rest of the MJR contingent to arrive...and waited...and waited. We ate dinner, watched a movie and started a campfire…and waited. We had a wine and cheese party, and shortly after we finished the Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir, Jesse (Kodiak Spirit), Julie (Desert Jewel), Jacob, and Sandy (Sandy R) arrived in camp. After everyone got the camp setup, Jesse, Julie and I made a night run to Blow Sand Hill. There was a big crowd on the hill, and the Desert Jewel attracted a lot of attention, so Jesse and Julie stayed while I returned to camp.

[Russ Chung]

TDS Part 3 - Saturday, March 1

Brandon (OffRoadFreak) arrived during the night and setup camp with us. Some of the group (Kodiak Spirit, Desert Jewel, Jacob, and OffRoadFreak) left early to get in line for the Desert Safari, while Igofshn, Sandy R and I made up a second group. This was the line of vehicles waiting at the first obstacle on the trail:



If you like driving I-405 during the rush hour, you’d like this:



Al and Sandy on one of the hills:



The Safari route included the famous Pumpkin Patch:



The trail wound through some notches:







The trail took us to Devils Slide:



Al on Devils Slide:





After the run, we spent the early afternoon visiting the exhibitors. The wind began to kick up late on Saturday afternoon, and it took down Julie’s (Desert Jewel) tent. We helped her pack up her gear, then we made a late afternoon run to the Slot, where we parked our Jeeps and hiked into the Slot:



Brady, Jesse and Brandon



By the time of the raffle on Saturday night, the weather turned cold and the wind was blowing at 30-40 mph. We couldn’t wait until the raffle was over so we could get out of the cold wind. Because of the wind, we decided against having a campfire on Saturday night. The old saying, “March comes in like a lion” was certainly true at Ocotillo Wells.

[Russ Chung]

TDS Part 4 - Sunday, March 2

The wind died down during the night, but the weather forecast called for more high winds later Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Al (Igofshn) discovered a desert critter while packing up his trailer:





Brandon (OffRoadFreak) and some of his friends decided to go wheeling at Devils Slide; by the time we got there, the wind had begun to pick up:

This is Valerie in her white Rubi Unlimited:



Ed’s silver Rubi and Valerie’s white Rubi Unlimited at the crest of the hill. Jeff’s white XJ and my khaki TJ are in the distance at the top of the hill. Notice Ed’s remark about the wind:



Brandon (OffRoadFreak) at Devils Slide:



Nick (NikVallens) at Devils Slide:



This is the group parked at the top of Devils Slide from left to right, Brandon’s (OffRoadFreak) black TJ, Jeff’s white XJ, my khaki TJ and Valerie’s white Rubi Unlimited:



Also Ed’s silver Rubi and Nick’s (NikVallens) silver TJ:



The wind was getting pretty bad, so I went back to camp, packed up and headed home while the rest of group ate lunch and continued wheeling.

[Navy-Jeepster]

Russ

Very nice pics as usual.

I did stop by friday and Sat and talked to Al, and Russ also. He forgot about me.
I was hanging out with Del Albright at his motorhome, as we were also working some land use issues while here. He had s apare bed in there for me also.

My run on sat included a guided tour by John Stewart over to Truckhaven and back. We took the scenic route to get there, and the road coming back. We played in some of the notches over at Truckhaven while there, and talked to the rangers while there. I think there was a bigger crowd at Truckhaven then at Octillo Wells.

As all ready mentioned, the wind was pretty bad on Sat and Sunday. I was glad to leave the wind behind, but did have a good time for my first ever Desert Safari (TDS) event.

Todd

[Borregowrangler]

Oh man, so many great pics! I really wanted to get out there on saturday but had to take the wife to work. We did get to play in Anza Borrego for a bit on sunday, though. Oh, and the new Desert Jewel is awesome!

[Desert Jewel]

Oh, and the new Desert Jewel is awesome!

I agree!! Thank you They did a great job with her...now there's no stopping her - hehe

[Sandy R]

Good to meet everybody and as usual, great report and pics Russ! Thanks again.

[Kodiak Spirit]

last year we stayed in Truckhaven, and there was a bigger crowd over there... and it was crazy! I think things got outta hand last year over there... you know it's getting crazy when they land the life flight helicopter and the blade wash blows yer tent flat... but if they have it back there where it belongs next year, I fear it will be *too* big.... :dunno: