Mogfest!!! October 21st to 23rd, 2011
Following Unimog lines are a nightmare for some people, and sweet dreams for others. I am in the second group, but lets face it; Buttercup (LX450 with 35” ) is not big enough for that league.
Olaf invited me to inspect the Truckhaven 4x4 Training area which happened to be in the same area and weekend of the Mogfest, so we decided to check both.
I was impressed with the Truckhaven 4x4 Training area because there all sorts of obstacles, and levels as well as being “secluded” from quads/bikes by a fence. Some of the obstacles, in my opinion, had the wrong difficulty level signs, some blues are black, and some other blues are green, but it's a great facility. It's no fee area because it's part of Ocotillo Wells SVRA
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1217
By the time we arrived, it was noon; we had lunch at the gas station and hit the park. We played for a bit on the green obstacles, took pictures of all of them and then looked for the Unimog campground that was located near by. Soon after, Zack arrived, full of dust and overheating the Mog… with a big smile!!!
The Unimog crew was preparing dinner, a deep fried turkey! We were invited to stay and play some more but we had a long trip back. I was the lucky one and decided to stay with Zack, while the others went straight back home.
Before dinner, we went to the park, with real toys, Unimogs!. I was a passenger with Zack, so I was mentally prepared for a roll over, which happens often with Zack behind the wheel. The fun started....I clicked play on the video camera while we climbed over the first obstacle until we got stuck. I stopped the camera, and then the Mog flipped on it's driver's side. I tried to restart the video but pushed the wrong button, "photo" instead of "video", and Zack flipped the Unimog back over using reverse and gas! Game Over!!!. Tie rods bolts to the knuckle were damaged, so we parked in a nice flat cement area especially designed for fixing your car!
We were able to fix the steering but with the radiator leaking and a short circuit somewhere, we opted to get towed back to camp.
We had a great dinner, the deep friend turkey; salad, beans, corn, spider cookies etc. All were outstanding. I’m glad that I chose to stay but I was so tired that I felt to sleep at the fire ring.
The next morning we had a healthy breakfast consisting of banana and yogurt, before looking for help to get the Unimog back on the trailer.
Roof tents? Who needs them when you have an RV and that's the way to camp in the desert. I had a blast, even with such a short ride.
Roberto L. Miranda