Fall Rally Recap
With light to heavy rain from Wednesday through Saturday, the World Series, two state football teams playing at home, quite possibly a college football team playing on Saturday, and our economy in turmoil, we still had a very good turnout with 41 trucks. Just goes to show Land Rover owners are hardcore.
Only two trucks had any trail-ending carnage throughout the entire Rally: Alex with a water-logged engine and a couple of guys from St. Pete (Joe and Daniel) that had the unfortunate arrival breakdown that didn't give them a chance to get on the trails, however, they did get to ride as passengers. Speaking of Joe and Daniel, I want to thank Ed and Mike for trailering them back home safely. That was a noble gesture and what makes this club what it is today.
Friday:
Our Friday night Pot Luck dinner is getting bigger and bigger and gives us all another avenue to get caught up with old friends and meet new friends. I know a few people, including myself, that pigged out on the smorgasbord of treats. Looking back at Janet's photos of our dinner revealed a hidden appreciation of LRL's living room atmosphere were it felt like we were hanging out in someone's home telling stories of past events. With the size of our tent, maybe we should include a piece of furniture to go along with the potluck dinner. Hmmmm, sounds like there might be something there. Friday night's trail ride was a bit longer than anticipated, but we all drove back to camp under our own power without incident.
Saturday:
Saturday started late in FLRC Fashion with getting everyone registered and waiting for the arrival of the Forestry Service officers so we could hold our drivers' meeting and getting all the particulars sorted so we could go wheeling. After four large caravans pulled out that took almost everyone in camp with them, we had the needed time to get ready for Saturday night's festivities, and a little Cornhole. We initially planned some children's games with prizes prior to our catered dinner but had to scrap that plan due to dinner arriving early and caravans running late. Plan B was instituted on the fly, which was to have children's activites 10:00 a.m. Sunday. That seemed to give parents a free babysitting service to break down their camps and get things ready for the road. Plan B will become Plan A for future Rallies.
With full bellies and some official club business out of the way, it was time for some cool raffle prizes to give away. Let's see... we had two Superwinches, a lift kit, recovery gear, high-lift tools, tire repair kit, and lots of gift certificates, tees, mugs, high speed coffee cups, and key chains (wooo-hooo). Almost everyone walked away with something. Please, when ordering parts and accessories from our sponsors, tell them you are with the Florida Land Rover Club. We appreciate all the support from our sponsors.
I haven't made a Saturday night run in quite some time and, wow, it was off-the-hook fun. We had a large group that ultimately agreed to split in order to work through the trail systems at a better pace that ultimately returned both groups back to camp at a reasonable time (1:30AM). It was nice to get back to camp to watch the last bit of the World Series with friends, even if the Rays lost.
Sunday:
It was time to pack up and head back home. After Plan B was over, the Club tent was packed up and ready for its new home. The Forest officers stopped by to let us know they didn't get any complaints and that we were welcome back in the future. After saying our good-byes and loading our truck on the trailer, the last thing to do was to collect the FLRC signs that marked the way to the campground and look forward to the Spring.
Cant wait for the next one,
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