Return from Badlands Attica, IN 2006 Photos

[Jefe]

I went for a lap around the Indy Speedway . . .





. . .as a passenger . . .





. . .in a bus.





On the plus side, at least it wasn't in my HHR.

I hung out at the Hall of Fame museum for many hours, marveling at all the cool technology that they came up with decades ago that we take for granted today. I just wish I could have pulled off the shells of some of those cars and had a better look at the suspensions and engines.

 

[Rick]

Sounds good. I would like to go there someday. As close as we were it just wasn't in the cards for this trip

 

[Stic-o]

I went for a lap around the Indy Speedway . . .





. . .as a passenger . . .





. . .in a bus.





On the plus side, at least it wasn't in my HHR.

The bus was faster huh! And better looking! BWAAAA!

 

[Jefe]

The bus was faster huh! And better looking! BWAAAA!

The bus even had a better interior and windows you could see out of.

 

[mechanix]

Sounds good. I would like to go there someday. As close as we were it just wasn't in the cards for this trip

All the more reason for you to come back east sooner instead of waiting 5 years.

 

[Burns]

 

[Burns]

well thanks to all who got this run goin i really had fun on my first explorerforum fun. i will be on many more after this one

 

[Burns]

 

[dman726749]

well i finally got all my pics uploaded (dial-up rocks) i have about 100. I didnt drive after lunch as i was the only truck on 31's so me and Ann rode along with Cableguy. Thanks again for the ride! Had a great time, and cant wait for the next trip out there

All my pics are here in my elite gallery
http://www.explorerforum.com/data/showgallery.php?cat=3520

 

[glfredrick]

OK... Let's try this. Here is a link to the pics I took at the Badlands. (You may have to register with Kodak to see the slide show, but it is free and you can host your own pics there!)


I'll also try to post up a few short vid clips.


Here's a couple of teaser shots:

 

[dman726749]

Jefe, i downloaded all your vids, but i cant get them to play, is anyone else having this problem? i get an error message that says that " this is not a file that quicktime recognizes" i have updated my quicktime player, but i still get the same message.... any clues?

 

[FROADER]

^^ They worked for me.

 

[jlfredrick]

Here is the link to where mine are at.
Enjoy.

http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/jlfredrick/Attica06Explorer4x4/

Jlfredrick

 

[GJarrett]

Well I’m back from the summer youth church camp (which was a real adventure in itself – I requested the hard cases to stay in my room and got what I asked for; drugs, police, jail, welcome to the ministry LOL but that’s another long story) and have a little time to post.

A sincere thanks to Cableguy for leading us. I know that when I lead trails it is sometimes kinda disappointing because you miss a lot of the action behind you and never see what the others are doing. I appreciate you taking the trouble to take on the responsibility that you did.

Rick/Char I love this photo you took of me:

I think I may add that one to my registry page That obstacle made my trip – it was one of those that I didn’t think I would conquer because of my limited breakover angle and once I climbed it I had no idea how I actually pulled that one off. Looking at the photo I see I got some air while ascending it and that probably cleared my underbelly enough to skate over the ledge. It was fun because I did it in front of a lot of others who probably didn’t think an Explorer could do that LOL

Badlands was an interesting area to wheel and I enjoyed it very much. I am sorry for the stupid carnage I took on that prevented me from wheeling another day on Sunday – it was my fault. I had been aware of a split in my rubber CV boot beforehand but had blown it off and then forgotten about it. After spending all day Saturday traversing all those muddy gooey creek and swamp crossings all that crap filled up in the CV boot and did a fairly complete job of totally grenading it. So what happened was that in the weeks before I had the opportunity to replace that rubber boot in the comfort of my own paved driveway in nice weather with all the tools and jackstands and etc I needed. But I chose instead to procrastinate that decision; so I got to replace the entire CV halfaxle assembly (without the benefit of jackstands and proper tools) in a driving rainstorm while missing the entire second day of an Explorer run that I had driven 640 miles to attend I’ve got no one to point blame at except the idiot in the mirror.

It was great to meet everyone I hadn’t met yet and put some faces on those board names. Ashli got to meet Char finally and that was really cool. Jefe showed how much the west coast guys would go to in order to attend a run. I'm not talking about buying a plane ticket to attend a run you can't drive, or the money/effort involved to do that, or etc... but the fact that he drove there in a horrendously colored Chevy HHR was absolute prima facia evidence of true commitment And to Guy and the Kentucky crew it was great to see you again after these two years. Hope to see you at Moab next year.

Ashli didn’t get a whole lot of photos but I’ll upload them onto my photo gallery and then add the link to the first post of this thread later on.

By popular demand I’ll post the Texas Caviar recipe shortly.

 

[GJarrett]

Texas Caviar

I'm a typical guy and have NEVER asked for a recipe in my life except once when I attended a Christmas party back in '00 and dang near had a spiritual experience when this stuff entered my body. I asked for this recipe because it was hands down the absolute best dip I've ever dumped a tortilla chip into. If you are a connoisseur of fine chili, Mexican, or Southwestern cuisine, this dip is worth killing for. I guess many who tried it at the Badlands run would agree - I had three requests to post this recipe, all from Midwesterners that have probably never before salivated at the thought of eating at an El Paso market... so it must be a universally tastebudilicious delight.

So here it is. Unfortunately I forgot the garlic so those at the Badlands didn't get the full experience but they got all the rest. I do believe all of the ingredients are crucial - for example, the cilantro really helped set it off and if Ashli and I had left it out it would have really changed the quality of the dip.

One note to help those who won't recognize one of the ingredients: a jicama is a type of flat potato grown in the southwest and Mexico so you'll find it in your grocer's produce section not in spices - and if you live in Yankeeland you may have to find a Mexican grocery to buy it. Since it is a Spanish pronounced name the "j" is soft like an "h" and the accent is on the first syllable - hee'ca-ma. For those who are linguistically challenged it is also commonly known in several areas as a "Mexican potato". It does taste differently enough from a regular potato that I believe it is worth the trouble to find it instead of trying to cheat the recipe and chop up a regular potato to fill in for it.

Also, be aware that if you follow the recipe verbatim it will make a LOT of dip. But it's hard to find half size cans of corn, or half of an onion, etc; so I guess that's why it's written that way. We cut the recipe in half which still was way more than enough to entertain the entire Badlands potluck dinner but that resulted in leftover partial cans of ingredients... however, dumping the leftovers together wasn't too bad either LOL. Here ya go:

2 - 16 oz cans of black beans
1 - 16 oz can of corn
1 - 16 oz can of garbanzo beans
approx. 8 medium tomatoes diced (alternately; canned diced tomatoes)
1 medium green pepper diced
1 red onion diced (white onion if you want to wimp it down a little)
2 - 4 oz cans of diced green chiles
1 jicama peeled and diced
1 bunch of cilantro finely chopped
1 - 32 oz jar of your favorite chunky salsa (optional)
juice of 4-5 fresh limes
2-3 cloves pressed garlic
3 diced avocados (NOTE: if you make this dip the evening before serving instead of the same day, consider leaving out the avocados until right before serving since the avocados will make the dip mushy the 2nd day).

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate several hours in order for the lime juice and other ingredients to marinate themselves together, then serve with chips at room temperature.

You can modify and add/delete any of the ingredients to your taste, but that will take it farther away from the original recipe and IMO make it not as good - after all, it's these ingredients that incite so many comments and begging for the recipe.

 

[Jefe]

... but the fact that he drove there in a horrendously colored Chevy HHR was absolute prima facia evidence of true commitment

LOL
I actually didn't mind the color that much. It was much better than the purple one that my dad had rented a few weeks earlier. LOL
And I did try to get out of it. I had reserved a compact hoping I'd get a focus. When he said it'd be an HHR I asked what I could upgrade to. The only option he could give me was a Taurus, for an additional $10 a day.

 

[Spas]

LOL
I actually didn't mind the color that much. It was much better than the purple one that my dad had rented a few weeks earlier. LOL
And I did try to get out of it. I had reserved a compact hoping I'd get a focus. When he said it'd be an HHR I asked what I could upgrade to. The only option he could give me was a Taurus, for an additional $10 a day.

Better than an additional $80 a day for a Mustang convertable just because you don't want to drive the only other thing they had available: a Monte carlo

Looks like you guys had a blast

 

[glfredrick]

I wanted to give an update on my 'Sploder after Attica. I thought that I had blown a head gasket or cracked a head -- putting me on the trailer Sunday.

Turns out it was only a totally destroyed water pump and a radiator packed with baked clay. I figure the radiator got packed with my little mud hole escapade, then the water pump destroyed itself trying to draw air through a wall.

I was ready to pull the entire motor to do a swap, but a compression and cooling system check told me otherwise. A fresh alternator (also lost to the mud), a water pump, and a good clean out of the radiator fins and she's back to normal -- all 230 K worth.

Now I can get back to building the Ranger... Gonna start grinding down the Dana 60 rear tonight...

 

[dman726749]

I wanted to give an update on my 'Sploder after Attica. I thought that I had blown a head gasket or cracked a head -- putting me on the trailer Sunday.

Turns out it was only a totally destroyed water pump and a radiator packed with baked clay. I figure the radiator got packed with my little mud hole escapade, then the water pump destroyed itself trying to draw air through a wall.

...

Yep, mud like this will do that...but it made for a great pic

 

[Burns]

well that looks fun but it will break parts
do u think it was heat with the colder waterslashmud cracked it??????