END OF AN (XT)ERRA

I totaled my sweet Xterra this morning. Yes, I am grateful I am ok, blah blah blah.....but if you have ever spent more than 2 minutes with me and my X (or looking around in here) you'd know that it was not just a vehicle. It was so much more.

I'm sad that it's gone. I can't even begin to process that the last time I got to drive it was this morning, crushed, confused and in pain. Not much unlike my heart for losing such a great vehicle.....a HUGE part of my lifestyle, running an offroad club with my better half, Chris.

Maybe I'll come back and tell the story, but right now, I just thought I'd post pics. Short story: black ice, sliding sideways into other truck, ER visit for hip (no break) and totaled my X.

MESSY in the Pine Barrens

Just got back from a wicked weekend. I got to recover my first vehicle from a mud pit......

BUT...that was saturday. Sunday, I got myself SO STUCK that it took TWO Jeeps, with TWO winches, at the same time, to pull me out.

I had gone thru the mud/clay/water pit twice and thought, "oh, what the hell, I go back thru it the way I came". Well, I forgot the part where BOTH times rolling thru it the one way, I went in, and at one point dropped down an underwater ledge of clay/mud and had to roostertail out of it. So, naturally, what I came down off of, was something I had to bump up over if I were to go thru backwards (yeah, backwards, not in reverse, though that'll be my next stunt)

The pictures do not do it justice, but I never did quite bump up the ledge and as my tires spun on it, it turned my X 90 degrees and tilted me sideways. I had some mud inside, but just a smidge...but the water level live was high...the doors are sealed greatly on this thing!!!

Pulling me from the front was one Jeep and winch (my friend Jeremiah waded knee deep and up to his elbows to hook me up) and then everyone knew if they pulled me where they needed to, Pete was going to roll slowly onto its side. So the other Jeep with the second winch hooked up to the side of me at the rack to pull me straight as they pulled me forward.

At the point that they first used only the front winch and I started rolling sideways, I wigged alittle and they had me climb out and Chris climbed up into my seat and took over. I was fine until I saw where the water was and where it was heading. I knew I needed a clear head to finish and my head was far from clear....fear of rolling over finally set in!!!

Here's a couple pics that barely show how crazy it was....but we'll have video soon. IT WAS FUN! But I think next time, I'll definitely rethink the "back from where I came" scenario!!!

While the suck factor of the Pines is lack of rocks to crawl on...this is a wicked run. We were led by guys who run thru there all the time...they did a great job!!! We can't WAIT to go back!

I have video, but for some reason, it's not loading here. I'll work on it.

Forgotten Pics

Last September, NEXterra went to Ma Bell in MA. It was a scary run for me at the time....but I have wheeled a LOT since and wouldn't be nervous to go back again!!! Here's some pictures from that day that I didn't have before...just click on the thumbnails to go to the page they're on. PLease be respectful of the person's webshots page, as it's not mine, but a friend's:

FINALLY SETTLED!!!

Okay...well many of you who know me know that I pretty much was a nomad for the last year and a half, moving from town to town, state to state. The one constant in my life was my family, off-road clubs and Chris. Now I have moved permanently to Pennsylvania. I have always loved the area and certainly look forward to being near to Rausch Creek Off Road Park and my freinds. I am still close enough to family to be extremely happy....if you remember, I was in Alaska for 4 years...so this is a nice change and MUCH closer!!!!

We went to Rausch on April 6th...you can see the video in the post below. No, there were no Xterras there this time, but usually I run with at least a few!!! I DO have to admit, though, that I am planning to buy an older Jeep to modify...or maybe even one already done a bit that I can add to.

Here's a pic of my Xterra and Chris' Jeep. He's got the best Jeep!



Of course, no post is a good post without a picture of my baby! Sorry that it's a road shot. But I was happy when I took this, because I had painted the grille black (it used to be an ugly silvery color) You won't be able to tell because the sun's so bright, but trust me, it looks smoking hot!

Video From Rausch

Motivtional Posters

I found a website that you can make your own motivational posters...

SARATOGA WHEELIN'

One of my favorite pics, as I (until this point) was VERY nervous about getting on 3 wheels (even though I did, at ECXC, and felt like I was going over...and then saw pics and laughed cuz it wasn't bad at ALL)





Playing around





I went thru this and didn't rub either tree!




My friend Jay broke thru an rickedy bridge. He got out fine with a hi-lift and my floor jack...and some wood stacking.

NEXTERRA SHOW AND SHINE

On the 29th of July, our NEXTERRA Club did a "Show and Shine" at Coastal Nissan in MA. There were eight of us that brought our trucks (all nice and shiny from waxing and armor-alling): Mike, Gene, Steph, Shmittey, Me, Barry, Dan and Teri. It was fun, even though there was not a big turnout of XTERRA customers coming out to check out our trucks....but there WAS a huge thunderstorm! =o)

Here are some pics:


My baby all waxed


Mike, Shmittey, Gene and Steph's Xs


Steph, Me and Barry's Xs


Dan and Teri's Xs


Beautiful.

ECXC 2007

Here are a few pics from The East Coast Xterra Challenge that we went to from July 18th-July 22nd at Rausch Creek OffRoad Park in PA. There were several of us from NEXTERRA and UNYX and our 2 teams that signed up for the Challenge on friday came in FIRST and SECOND!!!!! That was so great! We had a blast camping and cooking out. Meeting other XTERRA lovers and of course....WHEELING!!!!

This is the dreaded Hill Climb...I have never done it before as I always by-passed it. It scares the HELL out of me. I tried the first time to get up over it and let off the gas and got hung up and had to back down the other side (steep son-of-a biotch) and try again...and again, I chickened. Then, on my second back-up...backed up too far and hit a tree (no damage) and then got pissed. I put it in 4HI and Drive and put the pedal to the floor. Needless to say, I scared the crap out of myself, my passenger and everyone else watching, as I went over the peak and landed half way down the other side, ABS kicked on and I couldn't stop and almost slid into the trees...but I steered clear right at the edge. It was WICKED fun. Someone said they could have changed my oil I was in the air so long!!!!


This is me taking Pete up "Door Number 2" as we so named it. It was the easier of a rocky hillclimb. I like to challenge myself, but until I have sliders to protect my rocker panels, I'm not going balls-out.


This is one of my favorite pictures. Jesse is a fantastic spotter!



I suppose instead of posting them all here, I could leave the address to my "ECXC Photobucket Album"...
You'll find some pics of us from NEXTERRA at ECXC and Centralia and at the Yuengling Brewery Tour.

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p79/xterraxtian/ECXC/

FINISHED THE LIFT!!!!

Jesse did my front end lift while I cleaned out the inside of the truck to get ready for ECXC. It only took him about 50 minutes and it looks GREAT!