Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Hi all, well on Sunday we decided that to take a little tour in the desert in our new dune buggy for a 4 hour tour. There were 2 other couples that went out with us so we packed up some beverages (water) as we are venturing into the desert and a few snacks to tide us over and then we were off.
We let Ketih and Lee be wagon master as they have travelled around last year in their dune buggy. Well the first thing they did was go right instead of left and 2 of the 3 buggies got stuck. Bob and Jennie werent' so bad they only needed 3 people to push them out of the sand, but Allan and I were so far down the engine was buried in the sand and it took 5 of us to push us out and then lots of manipulation to turn us around so we could get out. We went a little way further and then had our first real stop. We all got out and stood around and laughed about that little adventure. We decided that yes, having a GPS was good, otherwise all we could tell a tow truck was that we were at the corner of cactus and bush. Decided next time we needed to bring out the FRX radios so we could talk to each each. We decided to continue with our journey. We travelled along the railroad tracks (the left turn instead of right) and ran along for quite a ways. We were now seriously lost(in my mind) in the desert in the middle of now where and having a great time. The sand was hard packed and easier to run on. Made another beverage stop so we could decide if we were going to travel to the copper mines that were a ways away. Yup - off we went to the mines. Travelled along for a while and started to travel a path that started to climb a mountain. Got to a point where it was very rough going and yup - you guessed it - wrong turn again. Had another beverage break and Keith continued up the hill on foot to see if we could get around but we decided no we wanted to head back. From where we were standing we could see where we wanted to go so back we headed and again we took another wrong turn so started to reverse our track in reverse until we could turn around and finally made it to a point where we could see 4 openings to some old copper mines. Decided we didn't want to trek up the hill this time so had another beverage break before heading back. We had already been out for 3 hours - it's amazing how quickly time flies when you are out travelling in the desert. Anyways we are about half way back when all of a sudden we start to slow down - oh oh - we have run out of gas. Because of the road we are travelling on we are quite a ways back due to the dust so our companions don't realize we are no longer with them. No worries for us as we just happened to think to bring a gallon of gas with us. So we fill our tank and we are off again following the railroad tracks. We finally catch up with our friends and continue on home. We arrive back home after 4 hours in the desert - got lost 3 times, 2 of us got stuck and needed each other to get out of the sand and then we ran out of gas. Man was it fun! Monday morning woke up and decided I needed a new back and we must install air suspension in the dune buggy. Spent the afternoon in the pool and hot tub to sooth out the back pain. We can't wait to go trekking in the desert again.
We let Ketih and Lee be wagon master as they have travelled around last year in their dune buggy. Well the first thing they did was go right instead of left and 2 of the 3 buggies got stuck. Bob and Jennie werent' so bad they only needed 3 people to push them out of the sand, but Allan and I were so far down the engine was buried in the sand and it took 5 of us to push us out and then lots of manipulation to turn us around so we could get out. We went a little way further and then had our first real stop. We all got out and stood around and laughed about that little adventure. We decided that yes, having a GPS was good, otherwise all we could tell a tow truck was that we were at the corner of cactus and bush. Decided next time we needed to bring out the FRX radios so we could talk to each each. We decided to continue with our journey. We travelled along the railroad tracks (the left turn instead of right) and ran along for quite a ways. We were now seriously lost(in my mind) in the desert in the middle of now where and having a great time. The sand was hard packed and easier to run on. Made another beverage stop so we could decide if we were going to travel to the copper mines that were a ways away. Yup - off we went to the mines. Travelled along for a while and started to travel a path that started to climb a mountain. Got to a point where it was very rough going and yup - you guessed it - wrong turn again. Had another beverage break and Keith continued up the hill on foot to see if we could get around but we decided no we wanted to head back. From where we were standing we could see where we wanted to go so back we headed and again we took another wrong turn so started to reverse our track in reverse until we could turn around and finally made it to a point where we could see 4 openings to some old copper mines. Decided we didn't want to trek up the hill this time so had another beverage break before heading back. We had already been out for 3 hours - it's amazing how quickly time flies when you are out travelling in the desert. Anyways we are about half way back when all of a sudden we start to slow down - oh oh - we have run out of gas. Because of the road we are travelling on we are quite a ways back due to the dust so our companions don't realize we are no longer with them. No worries for us as we just happened to think to bring a gallon of gas with us. So we fill our tank and we are off again following the railroad tracks. We finally catch up with our friends and continue on home. We arrive back home after 4 hours in the desert - got lost 3 times, 2 of us got stuck and needed each other to get out of the sand and then we ran out of gas. Man was it fun! Monday morning woke up and decided I needed a new back and we must install air suspension in the dune buggy. Spent the afternoon in the pool and hot tub to sooth out the back pain. We can't wait to go trekking in the desert again.
# posted by Sue and Al @ 5:46 AM 
