This year the 2013 OCC Spring Run to Rausch Creek proved to be quite an exclusive affair with only a few elite members being permitted (by their busy lives) to participate. There were 8 rigs in our parade.

OCC Member Participants included:
> Josh Sprinkle -- 2008 JK with 4-inch lift and B/A tires
> Wes Lunsford -- in the aforementioned JK
> Melissa Burn -- in the aforementioned JK

Non-members included:
< Dame Helen Jean Burn (Melissa's 87 yr old mother) -- in the aforementioned JK
< Mr. Shelly Roden -- some kind of red YJ
< Ms. Sherry Roden -- a 90-something Cherokee type
< Paul -- some kind of red jeep, maybe another YJ
< Brad and his son -- some kind of jeep with round headlights
< An old man and teenage girl -- 2013 Gray Rubicon with 125 miles on it, worth at least $50K.
< Jeff and his girlfriend Linda -- some kind of silver jeep with round headlights, stock, struggled a bit on green/blue trails
< some other guy in a fancy new, nicely lifted pickup truck, who arrived late

THE REPORT PART:
Josh, Wes and I only had the one Jeep so we needed to find someone else to ride with. The RC people recommended we ride with "Right Coast Jeeps" (RCJ) since we were looking for green trails and their mission in life is to introduce newbies and stock vehicles to the offroading life. Well, I was looking for green trails because I didn't want to kill my 87 yr old mother on her first offroad adventure. Josh really wanted to test out his recnt lift but he very patiently stuck to green for me and Dame HJ. In any case, of the non-OCC drivers I listed above, Shelly, Sherry and Paul are leaders of RCJ.

For those who care, we were on Trails A, E and H most of the time and we were out for about 6 hours. Any time we weren't on those trails, I don't know where we were. Josh got a spot in the lineup right behind the $50K brand new Rubi, and we watched it do really well. I'm not sure we would've been disappointed to see it suffer a little road rash, as pretty as it was.

A few of the stock jeeps had some trouble. The RCJ leaders cruised through, as did Josh and the $50K Rubi. Rausch Creek was crazy busy so we stopped more often for traffic jams than for real obstacles. Only one rig broke and it belongs to Sherry. she busted a control arm bracket but they managed to bungee it back together and she limped home under her own power. Very impressive! Driving back, the Parade became a Funeral Procession. We bailed out of RC at the property corner near Rt 209 and took roads back, which we've never done before, to keep an eye on the wounded Cherokee.

Of course you want to know how my Mom did: She had a blast! We weren't very far up the trail when the rock thunks and mud puddles started. Sitting in the front passenger seat so she had things to hang on to, she giggled and laughed like a crazy person. I'd been a little worried about her getting banged around (she didn't). Every time we got to an especially rough patch, Wes put his hand up to keep her head from banging into the door. Wasn't that nice?

As the day wore on, HJ got a little tired of sitting and waiting for things ("You spend more time waiting than driving!"), and her enthusiasm for being banged around dampened a bit. By the afternoon, she was giving Josh the hairy eye when he aimed for an obstacle. "You took the most difficult route on purpose!" "You drove fast through that puddle on purpose!" While she really enjoyed herself, she says she doesn't understand why anyone would do this for fun but she's super glad she went.

AND, we had dinner and peanut butter milkshakes at The Red Lion Cafe!

The End.

FINAL NOTE: There was a burn ban in place and, while some dastardly individuals insisted on having a huge campfire anyway, that fire was nowhere near Josh & Wes's tent or the OCC banner, which was proudly displayed.

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