Large Binocular Telescope

Five Land Rovers visit the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The LBT is the largest telescope in the world and a permit is needed to visit. Over Memorial Day weekend five Land Rover were able to visit. It was a fun and interesting visit for all.

Buckskin Mountains – Spring Break 2010 and The Amazing Flying Roof Rack

During Grace’s spring break we went to the Buckskin Mountains for some rockhounding. The Buckskins are in the western part of Arizona, near Parker. We had heard the Buckskins were a great place to go rockhounding, since most of the mining in this area was done before mining became mechanized.

The first day we left Tucson and headed out for the 6 hour drive to the Buckskins. In the driveway, when I went to get in the Rover, my side step came lose and I fell to the ground. My ego was very bruised, but my body was only a little bruised. James fixed the step and I got in and said, “Well, there is our problem for the trip.” I probably should have kept my mouth shut.

We were on I-10 west of Phoenix going about 65 mph. All of the sudden, we hear a big bang. James pulls over and says the roof rack blew off. I just had to take a deep breath, because that thing could have done a ton of damage or killed someone. Luckily we were near one of the closed rest areas. We could see the roof rack in the break down lane about 100 yards behind us. I had James pull up behind the temporary barriers they had put up to close the rest area. We told Grace to stay in the car, and James and I went to retrieve our things. Amazingly, everything survived, except for the two bags of charcoal that were all over the two lanes of traffic. One of the chairs had come lose from the rack. Everything was a little beat up, but everything survived.

We carried the rack back to the Rover. Then we had to figure out what to do with all the stuff, and had to find a place inside for it all. At this point a DPS officer stopped to see if we were okay. We told him what had happened and then he said that we needed to be careful when we merged back into traffic, and he left. It was interesting when James posted what had happened on the Dormobile List that several Europeans said that we would have been given a big ticket and they probably would have given us a sobriety test.

With some adjustments we were able to fit everything into the Rover. The question was what to do with the roof rack. Of course, James wanted to keep it and of course I thought we should just leave it with all the other trash on the side of the road. But it is an “original” Dormobile rack. So, just like all the other stuff that I would get rid of, we have it stored for if we ever sell it to someone who wants to restore it to original. I doubt this will ever happen, because I will only sell it to someone who wants to use it for their family. Not win car shows.

James won the argument. So, how do we fit it in the Rover? We decided to take it apart. James got out the wrench and some other tools. This did not work because the bolts were so rusted. What did work was just breaking the bolts with our bare hands. Then we shoved it across the floor of the back seat. When we got back in the car, I didn’t say anything about this being our problem for the trip.

The Buckskins are beautiful and full of old mines. We had picked out a few places to hit before we left home. We got to one mine just before dark. We decided to camp there for the night. The mine had an old mine cart and equipment laying around. It was pretty neat to see the old stuff. It sure was a lot of work, for not much of a mine.

About an hour or so into the night we figured out that our air mattress had a leak. It made for a very uncomfortable night I think that is problem number three for the trip.

The next day we hiked up the hill to explore the other prospects in the area. We have discovered that the age of the average rockhound is around 65. Most have ATV’s and don’t go cross-country. Consequently, we go cross-country and usually find some cool stuff in hard to get to places.

On the back side of a hill, we found a ton of chrysocolla. It was the most we have ever found. Grace and I spent at least an hour deciding which pieces were worth carrying back over the hill. We also knew our space was now limited in the Rover, since we had lost the roof rack, so we had to be selective.

By the time we were done exploring the area it was late and we decided to stay another night here with our flat air mattress.

The next day we woke up and headed towards the Planet Mine, which is quite popular with rockhounds. Several people asked us if we had been there or knew where it was. The Planet Mine is very cool, lots of neat rocks and all very easy to get to. I don’t really know what is valuable, so we just collected the rocks that we thought were pretty.

The next area we went to was a canyon, which you have to hike into. What a canyon! It was awesome. Mines and tailings were everywhere. We were told that you can find lots of drusy in this canyon. Drusy is a mineral with clear quartz crystal over the top. We didn’t really know what that was, but found lots of cool stuff. About halfway down the canyon we ran into some rockhounds, who actually knew what they were looking for. Most rockhounds don’t like to share their secrets with anyone. But having a cute nine year old really helps. The two gentlemen showed us some drusy and actually gave some to Grace. They were very helpful. We then went about collecting several other pieces of drusy ourselves. I found a chrysocolla drusy piece that I am quite proud of.

After getting back to the car we were all pretty tired and hot. The weather was supposed to be in the 70’s and turned out the highs were near 90. So, it was much hotter than anticipated. At this point, we needed a place to camp for the night. I suggested we head to our favorite State Park, River Island. It is on the Colorado River and has hot showers and flush toilets. This would also allow us to go by Walmart in Parker and pick up a new air mattress for the night.

I decided to drive out. I did really well with the double-clutching. We stopped a few times to look at different things, including the Bill Williams River that was very high. We had hit the pavement and all of the sudden James yells, “Stop, stop!” I pull over and realize I have been driving with the parking brake on. It was ready to catch on fire. Poor James, he really has to deal with a lot from me. The worst is I don’t really feel all that bad about it. James drove after that. That could be problem number four.

We got to Parker and went to buy the air mattress. Yay!!! Here we get to the next problem. Walmart no longer carries full size air mattresses, therefore one more night without sleep.

We make it to River Island and took showers. Once again we get lots of questions about our rig and lots of pictures are taken in the campground. We both love talking about our Rover. Grace is getting pretty good at answering all the basic questions.

The next day we headed home and passed through a town called Bouse. They have the best town sign. It reads, “Bouse welcomes you to the town of volunteers. Population 875 friendly people and 5 grouches!” My Dad had better not move there or they will have to change their sign to 6 grouches.

Even with our problems on the trip we had a great time, and will go back someday for more discoveries.

Overland Expo 2010, April 16-18, 2010

Getting off of I-19 on Friday afternoon, there was a stereo “Wow” from both Grace and I when we saw the Overland Expo. It was amazing there were tons of vehicles and people. We knew at this point that we were going to have a good weekend.

We found the Arizona Land Rover Owners (AZLRO) camping area. Several people were already there. We set up our Rover then headed over to the Expo.

There was a Snow Peak demonstration at 4 pm that I really wanted to see. Grace was whining about it taking too long. I was really interested in seeing their Japanese Dutch Ovens. I have been cooking with my Lodge Cast Iron for years and was wanting to see these in action. Much to my surprise, the Snow Peak guys were using an American cast iron pan on the Snow Peak stove. So, I assume if they were not using them, then they are not very good. But they did have the Snow Peak cooking table set up. The table set up is very nice! I would love to have one of them with all the accessories. It sure would make cooking a lot easier. Once the food was done, Grace was no longer complaining. I forced her to try my lamb chop. She immediately went and got one of her own. They also had grilled pineapple and bacon and goat cheese wrapped dates. We all enjoyed the demonstration. The funny thing was they did not have any products to sell on the spot. You had to order them and they would send them to you. They do not understand impulse purchases. I really wanted the small BBQ box.

Soon our friends with children arrived so we headed back to the camping area. I use the term camping area very loosely. It was just a dirt lot, and it was very, very dusty. Everything we own has a fine layer of dust on it. One cool thing was Chuck, our resident archeologist, quickly took the kids for a walk and found a metate. A metate is a stone that was used by Indians to grind corn into flour.

That night we were treated to Carne Asada cooked by Laura. Laura is an amazing cook. She was a cooking mama the whole weekend. Thanks Laura!! That night I decided to make a cobbler in my dutch oven. Usually this is one of the first things people experiment with in their dutch ovens. They are supposed to be simple and yummy. The reason I have never made on before is James does not like fruit. So, I didn’t want to make a big cobbler for just Grace and I. With all the people camping with us this time I decided to make a Peach/Cherry Cobbler. It was good, and everyone got a little. Jon Christianson donated a bottle of good Champagne to the cobbler which was a great way to finish the meal. The Expo had a happy hour at the bar. Those of us with children were unable to attend, and I discovered the reason the AZLRO does not camp next to a bar with a happy hour.

The next day we woke up to a sunny, hot day. The Expo had an “Experience” package that included driving type classes. The “Experience” cost around $500 for a couple. It was supposed to include day care for the kids, but the day care provider was a no show. We contemplated purchasing the “Experience”, but I was told that I could teach most of the classes, so we just got a day pass. I would have been SO upset if I had spent $500 and there was no childcare. One of our friends in the AZLRO had won the “Experience” in a raffle at the Arizona Land Rover Rally in March, and they have three kids. The rest of us volunteered to watch the kids so they could go to their classes.

Six adults took eight kids ranging from age 2 to 9 to the Expo. This was not the best decision we have ever made. It was around 90 degrees and the kids were melting. Soon we found “The Oasis” and it had a water hose. The kids doused themselves and were much refreshed.

James, Chuck and I spent the rest of the afternoon looking around the Expo. Everyone else headed back to the campsite. It is amazing how many different kinds of trailers, roof top tents, and awnings are available. It all started to run together. Fifteen years ago when James and I were first looking for an off-roading trailer, there were none. So, we ended up with a pop-up tent trailer. Now there are at least 10 companies that make them. We also saw the new Unimog. It was huge, and only cost $750,000. One vendor was selling South African “Potjie Pot”dutch ovens. They were a very interesting design, and they wanted a $100 for the small one. I am real interested to see how they cook, but not forthat price. Everything was pretty pricey, and when a group of Land Rover Owners sit around and complain how expensive things are, then you know it is pricey.

I have to talk about the campground. A novice would drive by and think it was full of pretty simple and cheap campers. But they would be mistaken. That dirt lot had more money sitting on it than most campgrounds filled with Class A Motorhomes. There were Unimogs, EarthRoamers, G-Wagons, Sportsmobiles, Hummers, Range Rovers and other expensive vehicles. In addition, there were at least a couple of dozen roof top tents and decked out trailers. I think most people spent as much time in the campground as they did in the Expo. If I had a dollar for every picture that was taken of our Dormobile, I would have at least $200. Lots of people came by and asked to check out our Dormobile and of course we were glad to show them. We met one couple from Canada who own a Dormobile and spent two months in Morocco in theirs. I said if they can handle two months together in that car then their marriage is sure to go the distance. By the way, they are thinking of selling their Dormobile. One thing we all found interesting was that there were more Land Rovers than any other car. I was expecting to see more Toyotas and Jeeps. After a discussion I learned that Jeeps are too small for Overlanding, but I did expect more Toyotas.

On Saturday night, we had another great dinner. Then Linda used her dutch oven for the first time. She made a dump apple cobbler, which was more like an apple crisp. It was very yummy. Great job, Linda!!!

Sunday morning we were woken up by a symphony of dog barks. This only reinforced our resolve not to get a dog. Many people were up and out of the camp early, and only the “Rover Divas” and their three families remained. We got some good Rover Diva shots and then we all parted ways until the next trip. Great weekend spent with great people!

Camping at the Gila River with the Rover Divas

This past weekend was the first official campout with the Rover Divas. On the trip there were three vehicles. All of us are parents with only daughters, and we call the daughters the Rover Divas The Dads had made a plan to go camping along the Gila River.

On the trip there were three vehicles. All of us are parents with only daughters. Andreas and Linda Rhomberg, their two daughters Izabella and Sydney, and their dog Jager were in their Discovery 2 and pop-up camper. Chuck Powell had his daughter, Samantha, and three of their dogs, Fossey, Rascal and Kiwi in their Discovery 1 with a roof-top tent. Samantha gave up a trip to Disneyland to come on this camping trip. She is a true Rover Diva. Then of course James, Grace and I were in our Dormobile, no dogs for us. In total four girls, four dogs and five adults. We outnumbered them individually, but not in total.

We all met on Saturday morning and headed out toward Winkelman, AZ. From Winkleman we went north just past the Christmas mine. Then we took a dirt road around and down to the Gila River. The road was a nice road with a few obstacles to make it interesting, but nothing that would keep us from coming back. It was beautiful. Great views and lots of cool geology, the uplifts are amazing.
Once we got down to the river, we stopped and walked around to find the best spot. The river was running very hard and judging from the trees with water half way up their trunks, we figured the water level was pretty high. Right by the river was a great spot. The only problem was the dogs did not want to listen (can you believe it?). So, Chuck’s dogs Rascal and Fossey jumped in, and then Kiwi, who hates the water, joined the party. So, Chuck jumped in and saved them all. Another second and all the dogs would have been swept down stream. So, we decided to it was a better idea to camp a little farther away from the river.

We headed back up the road and looked around for a spot. We found a spot not too far way. It was about 1pm and Grace had gotten dehydrated and overheated. She was pretty out of it. With some Gatorade, lunch, ice and TLC, she was up and running around with the girls. The funny thing was anytime one of the girls would want some attention after that they suddenly were overheated and needed some ice. Or they needed to go down to the river and get wet to cool off.

We set up camp and then relaxed. The girls built a Rover Diva Club House. It was very cute. We didn’t have to worry too much about them, they played and played. Around 4pm or so, we did go down to the river and let the girls get in up to their knees. They had a great time. Chuck also discovered a new use for a tow strap. They make a great dog leash. With the dogs properly tethered to the trees the girls had lots of fun.

That evening we had a nice campfire and then headed to bed. Grace was totally worn out. She was out almost the minute her head hit the pillow. The next day we hung around the campsite, went on a walk, and generally relaxed. It was a pretty hot day and I was not looking forward to getting back in the Rover to head out. So, I was very excited that no one else was in a rush to leave. We finally headed out in the late afternoon.

On the way out we discovered an area with lots of cool fossils and spent a little time looking at them. We turned over one rock and found a centipede. Then another with a scorpion, and as a result we decided it was time to go. When we hit the pavement we aired up, and decided to meet in Mammoth, AZ for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. During dinner the girls were putting lots of salt on the chips, Andreas said we don’t put salt on the chips. One of the girls said, “Rover Divas put salt on their chips.” Boy, are we in trouble!!!

2010 Arizona Land Rover Rally

The 3^rd Annual Arizona Land Rover Rally was a great success. Seventy vehicles met in Tucson, Arizona March 6^th and 7^th at the Hilton Tucson East for two days of trail driving. Land Rovers came from as far away as British Columbia, Canada to enjoy the sunny skies and warm February weather in southern Arizona. We brought along our 8 year old niece to ride in the Dormobile.

Tucson has a mountain ranges in each of the four cardinal directions, and there were trails to run in three of them. To the north, one of the most famous difficult trails in the western USA is Charouleau Gap, which attracts hardcore four wheelers from all over the continent. To the east, trails like Chivo Falls and Chimney Rock are more on the moderate side. To the south, the trails are a little easier.

Temporal Gulch is one of the trails to the south, in the Santa Rita Mountains. This trail was led on Saturday by Chuck Powell. Since Chuck has two young girls of his own and does family friendly trails, we chose to go with him. We ended up having nine kids under the age of ten and six dogs. Seven of the children were girls, so we dubbed them “The Rover Divas”, and are working on a

T-shirt for the girls. The trail was easy, but had more than 20 water crossings. Water crossing are rare and well appreciated in southern Arizona.

We were joined on the trail by four Discovery's, a Freelander, an LR3, an LR2 and Chevy Blazer masquerading as a Range Rover. The owner of the Blazer had posted a picture of his Range Rover on the back window with the note, “In the Shop.” We were glad to have him on our trail. He reminded all of us we do have the Best 4X4XFar.

Lunch was served after one of the longer crossings, next to a beautiful slot side canyon. The kids all disappeared up the canyon, and we had to climb it to go find them. Our niece fell in the water and got soaked, but the Arizona sun soon dried her out.

After a lot of Rover talk, we hit the trail and headed farther up the canyon. We stopped at an old copper mine. The mine tunnel went back about 200 feet, but we only went back about 30 feet before turning around. It was a little creepy and old mines can be very dangerous. None of the kids went all the way back, but a few adults made it to the back and said you could see a seam of copper in the ceiling.

After the mine we hit the trail again. Up near the top, we encountered two real cowboys on horseback. They had just herded 350 head of cattle from upper to lower pasture, which we were driving through. They told us someone had not been able to open the gate, so they just cut it. It is a shame people are not respectful of the cattle rights on Forest Service Land. They asked us to please make sure we closed the gate when we went through. Of course, we did.

At the top of the gulch, we stopped to overlook the canyon. What a view, complete with a waterfall. At this stop one of the dogs, aptly named Rascal, decided to get under our Dormobile. Much to his owner's chagrin, he got gear oil on his white hair.

Overall it was the best random group of people we had ever been on a trial with and made for a great day. After the trail we headed back to the hotel. On our way back we had to go through a Border Patrol checkpoint. Usually, you are greeted with stern and suspicious looks from the agents. This time they were excited to see Kelly in what would normally be the driver's seat. They kept saying, “This is my favorite one of them all.” Evidently, we were not the first group of Rovers to go through the checkpoint.

That night at the hotel we met up with all the other Rover owners for the rally dinner an

d raffle. Our group from the trail sat at adjoining tables, and we were by far the rowdiest during the raffle. Lots of tickets were purchased, because the top prizes were four different winches, Powertanks, and tons of gift certificates for various rover suppliers.

The next morning, we lined up first in line for the trail led by Bill Burke up to Gunsight Pass. Bill was in the 1991 Camel Trophy to Tanzania and Burundi. I am very uncomfortable with driving the Dormobile. I have never driven a standard transmission as a daily driver, so the idea of double clutching is very intimidating. With our Range Rover I always drove. After a conversation with Bill the night before, I decided the best way to get comfortable driving the Dormobile off-road was to have Bill Burke spotting me, so I drove. Bill was awesome, he helped me feel totally comfortable and soon had me doing things James would have been afraid to do in the Dormobile. It was also so impressive to see how he handled the

over-testosteroned members of the group. I think we learned as much about trail leadership as we did about driving.

The trail is in an area that will probably be closed in the next few years. A local mining company is trying to open a new mining operation in this area. They own many of the roads we drove on, and those roads are littered with interesting minerals. James said at one point, while I was driving up one particularly steep section, fighting for control, I had the wherewithal to say, “Hey, look! The rocks in the road are copper ore!” I am a total rockhound. It was difficult for me to concentrate on the driving in such a rich ore area.

On the trail with us was Bill in his D90, four Discovery's, a Range Rover Classic, an LR3, and a Defender 110. As we headed up the trail, our first obstacle was a huge mud puddle, immediately followed by a large hill climb. I climbed it pretty easily with the Dormobile. The interesting thing we noticed after the hill climb, was our Dormobile was least muddy of all the vehicles after the mud puddle. Bill proceeded to tell everyone how that was a good thing, since there could have been a large rock hidden by the water, so you should go through at a slow speed.

Next we headed up Lopez Pass and took a break to enjoy the view. Then over to Gunsight Pass where we were going to have lunch, but it was very windy. So, we headed down into a gully at the base of mine tailings. On the way, the LR3 busted a tire. Those stock tires are no match for the Arizona rocks.

After lunch we headed down the mountain where we encountered a pretty rough obstacle. It was so interesting to watch our vehicle bounce all over the place and lumber through. Then to watch the Discovery's lose a little traction and come through, then the LR3, no problem at all. It was a clear illustration of how far Land Rover has come, and these are amazing vehicles.

After this we visited an old ghost town, Helvetia, which was not much more than some old adobe ruins. Then we all headed toward home.

The rally was a fun time. It was able to accommodate every Rover owner's needs, from the hard-core off-roader to our family-friendly experience. A great time was had by all.

Camping at Peppersauce

Last weekend we went camping with my family at Peppersauce Campground. Here we are with one Dormobile, one A-liner, one Pop-up and a tent. One nice thing about the Dormobile is the upper bunks make a great play area for the kids. It is like having a rolling treehouse. Lots of fun!

Getting the Dormobile Usable for Me

When we got the Dormobile home we discovered it had its very own ecosystem. All the window seals had moss growing in them. The fiberglass on the roof had mold growing in the fiberglass. The tent material was covered in mold. One of the bunks was the original material and we were afraid to put anything on it, for fear it would break. The other bunk was a replacement, but had lots of stains. The stove did not work. The curtains were original, so if you got next to them you would sneeze and if we washed them I think they would have fallen apart. And everything was dirty!

So, here is what we did to get it livable for me.

1. We started with the window seals. They were all replaced, except for the driver's door. At some point in the 40 year history someone decided they would “fix” the door and pored concrete inside the door. (We have yet to fix that.)

2. We took out the stove and wardrobe. We took them apart and had them powder-coated with the original hammerite finish.

3. I bought a sewing machine and made new curtains. This was a real challenge for me. Give me a power tool and I feel just fine, but a sewing machine is a whole different story. The curtains are red, my favorite color.

4. We had new bunks made at a local upholstery shop. These are also red!

5. I painted the fiberglass ceiling with Kilz paint. I know lots of the purest would disagree with this, but if I am going to sleep in this vehicle and have my child sleep in it. I don't want any mold.

6. I cleaned the canopy with a bleach and water mixture. Got it clean. It has holes in it, but unless we get stuck in a monsoon storm we have been just fine. (One of these days, we will replace it. This is one thing I would like to keep original and a new candy striped one is over $500 with shipping from the UK. So, it will have to wait.)

7. I cleaned and put new trim on all of the ceiling panels.

8. We put new floor mats in the whole car.

9. James fixed the hole in the floor board in the front seat.

10. I am sure James checked the fluids and all that stuff under the hood.

11. And we cleaned everything!

After this we took the vehicle out to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona. We realized we forgot to look at the tires. We got two flat tires, and were rescued by another Series Land Rover owner from Tucson. So, the last major upgrade we did at the beginning was the tires. We now have five BFGoodrich All-Terrains. We have had them for five years and they are great.