Jeepaholics Anonymous Other Coasters
Makeshift Jamboree 2002
Well, after a long time in the planning,
we finaly got the first ever JAOCMJ out of the forums and into reality! On
Friday June 21st 2002, I woke up and started packing. Grabbed all of my camping
things, and threw them in the back of the jeep. After removing the top (completely,
hardware and all), doors, and back seat, i managed to fill the whole rear
of the jeep with suppiles. After meeting up with Rave (we met in my driveway),
we headed off to Hazleton, PA. Hoping that we would be the first to the camp
site to make sure that everything gets setup properly.
Well, Adam (Rave) lead until we got to Hazleton, then we stopped at a gas
station to get some provisions (lighter fluid, drinks, snacks) and we were
standing at the Jeeps talking about how to get to the camp site. Suddenly,
a silver 2000 TJ shows up, as if he knew us. The driver got out, walked over
to us and said "Hi.." Looked at us and said "Jason". By this time we decided
he must have been from JA and we introduced ourselves. In case no one has
figured this out, this is "2000WranglerTJ". So, Adam wants me to lead to the
campsite. Jason has directions, but he thinks we're going to the park (im
psychic). So i lead. I start to head down 924 and Jason asks me over the CB
if i missed the turn. This is where it becomes evident that he thought we
were heading to the park, and not the camp site. Well.. While I'm explaining
myself to him, I miss my turn! So we turn around and then I managed to get
us to the campsite without any further screw-ups.
Well, we broke open the stickers. I had a somewhat large shippment from Al
of Jeepahlics Anonymous Stickers to re-sell. So i sold a few to Jason, and
we put them on his hood. That kept us busy for all of 30 min. So we setup
our tents, and un-packed our stuff. By then Jim, and his ride, Brad, showed
up. We said our greetings and got to know the two of them a little. Brad unloaded
his 4-wheeler and started to get to know the camping area better. The next
member to show was Jollymon (Travis) and his girlfriend MaryAnne. The next
arrival woudl be Rich (gpn4free) with his wife, Heather. Dustin showed up
as well. At this point we decided to do the food run. We needed to get some
food for the night, and saturday. So, Adam and I got into his jeep, Trav and
MaryAnne got into his TJ, and Dustin hopped into his Lumina (it was a lumina
right?) and we all headed to Wal Mart.
After the shopping trip, we returned to find a few more vehicles in the lot.
GreatCJ8 showed up in his Geo Metro (CJ's still in the garage), and Trish
made her appearance in her beat-up YJ (which was not expected due to an accident
she had a few days before the trip).
Brad, Jim, and Rich managed to get the fire started using a little too
much gas while we were out shopping, I didn't see it myself, but they hinted
that it looked much like Hiroshima. We had a good time sitting around the
fire, getting to know everyone, watchin Trish and Rich consume too much beer,
and generally having a blast! I turned in at about 2AM. About 10 minutes after
getting into my tent, I hear this rumble heading down the road. Getting louder..
and louder.. Eventually i hear it entering the campground, and it stalls.
Starts up again, moves a bit, stalls again. This process is repeated about
3 times and eventually this vehicle came to a rest. At this point, i just
went to sleep. I awake the next morning to two new vehicles in our lineup.
This scene can only accurately be described by a picture or 2.
One of which, a blue CJ with PVC coming out of the engine compartment, has
its carb. torn apart. This is Over2Land (Pete), and he was the rumble i had
heard the night before. He, Jim, and Brad are working on replacing his
Carb. The other is a dark blue TJ, with its gas tank removed! This is DSLfreak
(Rob) and apparently he came in at about 4AM on a rollback. His exhaust had
melted a hole in his gas tank! So, after fixing the hole in the tank with
a patch kit, and re-routing the exhaust so that it doesnt melt it again. Then
getting the CJ running. We headed off to the park! Well, actally, we headed
to a gas station, to fill up, air down, and get some provisions.
A few on-road shots of us on the way to the station
Gassin' up, airin' down.
Pete just loves tinkering with his engine, so he just HAD to open up the hood.
Here we are gathered around the air pumps, getting out of the way to air down
without causing too much clutter.
Now we're ready to head to the trail. So we all pile into our jeeps and head
to the staging area.