NACFest 2004 - 2nd Prelim Sit-Rep

I'm going to wait a couple of days for a more complete write up until we know everbody's back OK (glad that Tom and Jeff were able to help out Jason on I80 and he's finally back home as well), but just a few quick numbers.

From what I can tell from my scribbled notes (and anyone who witnessed the scene at the back of my truck every morning knows what I'm talking about) - over the four days we had 45 XJ's, 1 MJ, 3 Wranglers, 1 Pathfinder, 1 Land Cruiser, and a big honkin' Chevy PU scramblin' over the varied Paragon terrain. And this was a far-flung crowd: from VT and Ontario to the North, Virginny and NC to the south, Cheeseheadland and the Windy City to the west, and most points in-between.

Over 200 assorted weiners/brats/sausages were consumed by hungry jeepers at the BBQ, lots of cool raffle stuff went to a bunch of nice people, and we had one happy Canuck find his way back to the Great White North with the 50-50 prize ( C$4,675,199.17 !!! )

The weather was OK (Saturday was stunning), much better than the past and the mountain laurel in bloom on the Appalachian ridges added a nice touch to the forest rides.

I'll try to make sure everyone gets thanked in the full write-up, but, in particular, I want to thank the extra folks that stepped up to be trail leaders (in addition to us "official" ones) - especially on Friday and Saturday when we had three/four dozen or so rigs wandering around in several groups: guys like Stroker(Ben), Gearwhine(Nick), Skorpyo(Tim), and Walt Stanley. And, of course, the hordes of helping hands on every trail, anytime anyone got into a bind, especially Joe with the TRC "wrecker" :laugh2: .

While it's always nice to have a great place to have an event (e.g. Moab, CO, Rubicon, Tellico, etc.), it's the people which make events like this successful, and people (in my experience) are particular good ones - coast to coast.

Broken or not, I hope everybody had a good time.

More, in a few days . . . .

Mike in NJ atriot:

Sorry guys, been a hectic week and I haven't had a chance to put a final report together - and I'm off to Vermont for awhile - MAYBE next week.

Then again, all the great pictures are telling the real story, so why does anybody need more babble?

I do owe alot of thanks to a bunch of people in pulling NF04 off, so that will be put together eventually.

However, there is one group which should be acknowledged now - the Award winners:

Farthest Traveled - BGCNTRY72 (some say it wasn't far enough!)

Best Spotter - ANDY in PA (with a strong nod to STROKER)

Most Thrashed - PHUNKADELIC XJ (there were a lot of folks who broke a lot of stuff, but nobody really stood out [didn't find out about JASONXJ's problems until later]. While Paula really wheeled the hell out of her open diff'd red wagon, how often have you seen ALL FOUR flares get detached??? Maybe not exactly the "most" thrashed, but certainly the most "unique" thrashed!!)

Best Engineered - BEEZIL (wait, it gets better later on . . . .)

Judge's Choice - 96 CLASSIC (anyone who has ever seen John Bjorum's chariot, either performing on the trail at Paragon, in the Midwest, or Moab, or just sitting in the parking lot, can't fight this choice. And his "accident" on Sunday was just shocking, just shocking - especially after having survived Mickey's Hot Tub!)

1st Annual NACFEST "Miss Congeniality" Award - (No, Sandra Bullock didn't show [too bad], but, for humping his tail off in taking unknown gigabits worth of high quality photos all weekend long, and tirelessly helping out wherever he could, despite leaving his XJ back in Chicago, smilin' CHIXJEFF gets this one)

Finally, the BONEHEAD award (actually, I was in the running for this one, due to a fairly stupid encounter with a rattlesnake, but, for RUNNING OUT OF GAS on Q trail - on the first day, with a trailered rig, is the forementioned BEEZIL.)

Mr. B did pick up another unofficial award (Internet Bytch), but you had to be there . . . . to be "shipped to . . . . " !

We had a great time, on the trail and off . . . . .

Mike in NJ atriot:

On second thought, there will not be a "complete write-up". I was running around doing support stuff and wasn't on many of the main runs to mention any cool anecdotes.

And, what happened around Campfire #12, stays at campfire #12.

Besides, pictures are worth a 1000 words, and there are oodles of great shots being referenced here. Worth as much as the complete works of Billy Shakespeare.

Suffice it to say, most that were there had a great time, and those of you that weren't . . . . drool at those pics, it coulda been you!

Big thanks again to everybody who participated or produced (especially the great group from the Midwest who seem to be the only ones inclined to do any talking about this one).

See ya on the trails somewhere, I get around at bit.

Mike in NJ atriot:

Mike in NJ said:

Big thanks again to everybody who participated or produced (especially the great group from the Midwest who seem to be the only ones inclined to do any talking about this one).

Click to expand...

Like you said.... I'll let the pics do the talking.

Now I gotta get my Heep fixed so I can do some 'wheeling!