2017 Review For Those That Missed It
Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 7:26 pm
It was a another great year! Even so, a lot was different.
For all those who regularly come but didn't this year, everyone I talked to understood why, even so we all missed you!
For those that chickened out because you couldn't bring your FSJ, you missed out! Less than half of us had our FSJs, but showed up anyways and it was a great time!
It was a much smaller group that any other year I've been here, and for this year that worked out well! Everyone got a chance to talk with every other person. While we ALL suck with names to an extent, everyone that made it will at the very least remember faces because it was so personal.
Hatchet Jack has the coolest "camp chair" on the planet but I'll let someone else post the pics. My dad and I bought twice as many tickets than we planned because we thought it was in the raffle, haha! ( we were the only ones with enough truck space to haul it off, so we thought we were a shoe in).
For those who were there 3 years ago but missed this year, remember the guy (rainman) who's wife started popping out a baby in Grand Junction on there was to Ouray, then he left her in the hospital and cruised down for the raffle? They were my neighbors this year and that 3yo GJ boy is a firecracker of a different brand! That is one cool family and I'm glad we got to spend so much time with them and their schmores!
FOR OURAY VETERANS, HERE'S WHAT WAS DIFFERENT:
1) This year felt more "grown up" that previous years, but in all the right ways. The kid/adult ratio was pretty darn close to 1:1. Ouray hasn't ever been a week of naked pagan debauchery despite the rumors we like to spread for those who have never been there. Even so, it was a little less bohemian for lack of a better word. For example, when the yellowshirt came along a little after midnight to tell us that DAVE made the new rule of all fires doused at midnight, there were only about 10 of us still there, at least one was a little girl, and rather than sit there and watch us, he cruised off and we all just went to bed.
2) Vendor participation is up, also in all the right ways. It was all our homegrown vendors like Ross80, Evil Twin, TTFab and 999Offroad. With around half the people of last year, we raised 40% more cash for OMR.
3) The last and BIGGEST thing, is that the trails are getting tougher and that's not just my opinion. There definitely won't be any minivans full of migrant workers illegally picking wild flowers on yankee boy this year. Many sections that were just "rough" because they were big rocks cemented in the dirt are now loose big rocks ready to kick you sideways and smack your belly. The heavy snow and rain has done a number on the water crossings too. My ZJ on 30x9.5s touched plastic on two corners at one of them. Reports of blackbear claim that it's a little wider than usual, but with more big loose rocks looking to roll you around too. Someone mentioned the first water crossing was significantly worse than in the past too. In short, we need to stop telling people that a stock wag will do anything but Poughkeepsie without damage. I'm not saying it's turning hard-core, but it's not just dirt roads anymore.
On a random note, expect the FJ Summit to continue, but expect the name to change too. They were outnumbered 2 to 1 easily by 4Runner TRD Pro's. I think that will work for us, since instead of calling them Jellybeans, we just have to throw an extra "U" in TRD when we talk about them.
One FJ rolled, and much to my chagrin, it did NOT have a rooftop tent (but it did have a snorkel). Austin got the full scoop on that. Another was rolling on Dana 60s and 40" rubber. You don't have to like Toyotas to appreciate that kind of fabrication.
One thing we definitely did wrong was all the last minute switcharoo business. We all know that life happens and plans change, but if we want Dave and Deb to keep holding sites for us, we need to get it together a little bit more. It's pretty obvious they were not happy when they gathered up all of one of our members things and hauled it down and threw it in a shed because what WE thought; wasn't what was on THEIR books. It took some humility and sincere apologies from the head cat-herder, and me calling Dave's Harley a pile trash (and him calling my Jeep a skunk) to get things back on track from there. All the empty sites on the back 40 FRIDAY night tells me they might have lost money on us, especially since I was in the front office Friday when they were turning people away.
Well, with that out of the way, here's some pics. First is Austin and my dad on Yankee Boy edited by google assistant.
T-Rex feeding babies to Jeepasaurus
Nobody was ever hungry, at all.
For all those who regularly come but didn't this year, everyone I talked to understood why, even so we all missed you!
For those that chickened out because you couldn't bring your FSJ, you missed out! Less than half of us had our FSJs, but showed up anyways and it was a great time!
It was a much smaller group that any other year I've been here, and for this year that worked out well! Everyone got a chance to talk with every other person. While we ALL suck with names to an extent, everyone that made it will at the very least remember faces because it was so personal.
Hatchet Jack has the coolest "camp chair" on the planet but I'll let someone else post the pics. My dad and I bought twice as many tickets than we planned because we thought it was in the raffle, haha! ( we were the only ones with enough truck space to haul it off, so we thought we were a shoe in).
For those who were there 3 years ago but missed this year, remember the guy (rainman) who's wife started popping out a baby in Grand Junction on there was to Ouray, then he left her in the hospital and cruised down for the raffle? They were my neighbors this year and that 3yo GJ boy is a firecracker of a different brand! That is one cool family and I'm glad we got to spend so much time with them and their schmores!
FOR OURAY VETERANS, HERE'S WHAT WAS DIFFERENT:
1) This year felt more "grown up" that previous years, but in all the right ways. The kid/adult ratio was pretty darn close to 1:1. Ouray hasn't ever been a week of naked pagan debauchery despite the rumors we like to spread for those who have never been there. Even so, it was a little less bohemian for lack of a better word. For example, when the yellowshirt came along a little after midnight to tell us that DAVE made the new rule of all fires doused at midnight, there were only about 10 of us still there, at least one was a little girl, and rather than sit there and watch us, he cruised off and we all just went to bed.
2) Vendor participation is up, also in all the right ways. It was all our homegrown vendors like Ross80, Evil Twin, TTFab and 999Offroad. With around half the people of last year, we raised 40% more cash for OMR.
3) The last and BIGGEST thing, is that the trails are getting tougher and that's not just my opinion. There definitely won't be any minivans full of migrant workers illegally picking wild flowers on yankee boy this year. Many sections that were just "rough" because they were big rocks cemented in the dirt are now loose big rocks ready to kick you sideways and smack your belly. The heavy snow and rain has done a number on the water crossings too. My ZJ on 30x9.5s touched plastic on two corners at one of them. Reports of blackbear claim that it's a little wider than usual, but with more big loose rocks looking to roll you around too. Someone mentioned the first water crossing was significantly worse than in the past too. In short, we need to stop telling people that a stock wag will do anything but Poughkeepsie without damage. I'm not saying it's turning hard-core, but it's not just dirt roads anymore.
On a random note, expect the FJ Summit to continue, but expect the name to change too. They were outnumbered 2 to 1 easily by 4Runner TRD Pro's. I think that will work for us, since instead of calling them Jellybeans, we just have to throw an extra "U" in TRD when we talk about them.
One FJ rolled, and much to my chagrin, it did NOT have a rooftop tent (but it did have a snorkel). Austin got the full scoop on that. Another was rolling on Dana 60s and 40" rubber. You don't have to like Toyotas to appreciate that kind of fabrication. One thing we definitely did wrong was all the last minute switcharoo business. We all know that life happens and plans change, but if we want Dave and Deb to keep holding sites for us, we need to get it together a little bit more. It's pretty obvious they were not happy when they gathered up all of one of our members things and hauled it down and threw it in a shed because what WE thought; wasn't what was on THEIR books. It took some humility and sincere apologies from the head cat-herder, and me calling Dave's Harley a pile trash (and him calling my Jeep a skunk) to get things back on track from there. All the empty sites on the back 40 FRIDAY night tells me they might have lost money on us, especially since I was in the front office Friday when they were turning people away.
Well, with that out of the way, here's some pics. First is Austin and my dad on Yankee Boy edited by google assistant.
T-Rex feeding babies to Jeepasaurus
Nobody was ever hungry, at all.
As anyone who's been can tell you, it's worth it, even if it's just a one-time deal. California has a lot of beautiful stuff, but it's not Ouray. Washington has some great mountains, but not like Ouray. It's just it's own thing and there's nothing else like it. It was fun watching Dave (KOA owner and old hippy-biker type) running around with a shotgun full of rubber slugs trying to catch a blackbear that keeps looking for scraps and being hounded by tourists all at the same time like a Benny Hill skit. 
