It's a re-run of the first episode. You might see someone you recognize ;)

This weekend it's.... Hammer time!! For those of you familiar with the Johnson Valley, CA area, that's where we're going to wheel this weekend!

The Hammers are like no other trails I've ever seen. Some of the hardest, gnarliest trails anywhere. I saw some comparable stuff out in BFE at Moab, but there's just so much more of it at the Hammers.

Plus there's lots for everyone to do. But you have to be careful out there. You've got bomb craters (gotta be careful flying through them at night in the dark they'll put you on your butt quite fast) from when it was a military bomb zone, you've got abandoned mines along the side of trails (so be careful where you're backing up or you will get swallowed whole). I like to affectionately call The Hammers Darwin's Playground. There's a million ways to have fun and just as many ways to hurt yourself.

Cookie from the On The Rocks TV show is hosting his annual barbeque with live music and lots of food! Should be a ROCKin good time!

http://www.extreme4x4.com/html/annualbbq/bbq.html

I added some of my favorite photos to my page! Check them out!

Shannon

Guess who's in that little red Jeep?  Man, I can't wait to get some footage of Little Red now... she looks nothing like that anymore!

So as I watched the episode of On The Rocks TV tonight I remembered that Marine from Camp Pendleton that first turned me on to the idea of owning a Rubicon. He was a young Marine maybe 21-22 at the oldest. He was married and both his wife and him were slowly accumulating parts to make their jeeps more like the Rubicon he said.

This must have been in early 2004. He had just come back from a tour in Iraq for a 6 week rest. It was sad really because his wife was in Virginia and he wasn't going to get to see her for more than a week. I remember that kid talking to my buddy and I about Jeeps for at least 2 hours. Neither my buddy or I at the time had a Jeep. I'd always wanted one, but had been told my whole life that they were too bouncy and too much work for a girl. I think that Marine right then and there sold my buddy on buying a Jeep and it was about a year or so later that I went and bought my own. That guy telling me how much his wife loved her Jeep was probably the first time I considered actually owning one.

 It's a shame, my buddy and I for years wondered what became of that kid who just wanted to talk on top of Saddleback that day. He told us a little bit about the war, and stuff he had seen, You could tell he'd had a hard go of it. But he had no reservations about going back for another tour in 5 weeks.

 I went looking through my pictures and I only have one of his Jeep and another of only the back of his head. It was a grey day and a lot of my pics came out pretty crummy. Too bad there's no way for me to figure out who he was and say thanks for starting me on my off roading journey.

 Here are the pics. The marine is the one on the far left It's only the back of his head mostly. Then the second one has his Jeep in it. I wonder if you could find a way to contact someone based on their plates?