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This
year the TTORA Takeover event fell on the same weekend as Run-A-Muck.
It worked out really well, we stayed in South Lake Tahoe and
were able to go to both events!
Takeover
had runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Friday we did
a Takeover run to Deer Valley. On Saturday we went to
Run-A-Muck 2004, and on Sunday we did a Takeover run to Eagle Lakes! There
was a huge banquet and raffle on Saturday night at Caesars Casino.
All
Pictures from Takeover are HERE.
All
Pictures from RAM are HERE.
There
is a new TV show called Tuff Truckin that airs on Spike TV that did their
first show mostly about TTORA and Takeover 2004. To see the video
of the show (51mb) click HERE (High Speed)
or HERE (Dialup)
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The
trucks all lined up heading out for the Deer Valley trail.
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We
took the scenic route in to the trail head. Here the leader
stops and talks to another group on the CB and they exchange coordinates.
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The
scenic route did take us through some snow and the kids got to get out
for a minute and throw a few snowballs.
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A
nice Huey does a hot fuel. They were carrying something
that looked like bales of lumber.
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Suprise! If
there is any mud around, you know I will find it!
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Who
let a Jeep come on the Toyota run? Who is this guy?
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We
had to stop... wife needed a potty break so I got to pose on a rock while
she did her thing.
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The
second river crossing.... hope it doesn't wash off too much mud!
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Lots
of medium sized rocks in the middle of the trail, just enough to make
lots of noise on the scrape plates.
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Ooh...
ya, there's a rock behind your rear diff!
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Yogi
plays on some rocks.
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On
Saturday morning I had to leave camp at about 4:50am to make it up to
the RAM camp by 6am. I took this picture of the lake on the
way.
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Kai
coming up winch hill number 1.
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Alan
coming up winch hill number 1.
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At
the checkpoints, there was a chance to play games for points. This
game was a pine cone toss.
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A
Tacoma tries to make it up winch hill number 2. He finally
made it, but only after a heavy application of the stupid stick! I
was sure that I was going to have to donate spare parts to this guy!
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Kai,
in reverse backs away from winch hill number 2! After watching
he decided against it.
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Kai
plays on some rocks.
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The
Jeep that was in front of us was a RAM official and a Forest Service official. During
the run he blew his rear end up and had to limp off the trail. For
the rest of the run, I had a passenger! It was very interesting
to hear the Forest Service's side of the issues. I found
that we agreed on about 99% of the issues.
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Another
checkpoint.
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Alan
broke his steering box brace at some point during the run.
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After
we finished the run we checked out the raffle prizes. They
had the dance floor out also already. This year, there
raffle prizes were quite a bit smaller and fewer than in past years.
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The
Bear Valley Campground area was also quite a bit more empty. I
heard that there were only 50 something people that attended, and that
the event may end up in a new loss for the club that puts it on.
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Saturday
night we headed over to Caesars for the TTORA banquet.
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It
was quite a event! There were vendors there, Toyota reps,
and in the background you can see a large tarp covering the 2005 Tacoma.
Once Toyota gives the OK, I will add pictures of the 05!
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In the raffle, I
won a set of Donahoe
coilovers!
You will see an
install on these in the near future!
For a list of all
the prizes won, click HERE.
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Ivan Stewart was
there and I got to talk with him and get a picture.
He introduced the
2005 Tacoma and told us all about the new features.
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Sunday
it was off to Eagle Lakes.
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Kris
heading up the trail.
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When we got to Driveshaft
Hill, I had to give it a try!
April and the kids
opted to exit the vehicle and watch.
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I
crawled it just to the top, then had to back up about a foot and bump
up the last ledge.
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Backing up the foot
would have been easier it I would have had brakes! Once
again, a Pro-Comp braided brake line failed.
I quickly did a
trail repair and moved on down the trail.
See more about this
HERE.
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A
few others also made it up the hill. Without the front locker,
it was not as easy and required more throttle!
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Look out! Run!
He is trying to get you!
After Driveshaft
Hill, we took a break.
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About this time
this guy in a stock looking Nissan Titan came down the trail, bumping
and banging on every rock he came to. He made a couple of
loud bangs as he passed us, then when he went around the corner on the
bypass, he did something that made a huge bang. He then
proceeded to stop and remove what was left of his running boards that
were now just hanging loosely on the truck.
After he was done,
this guy came and made an attempt on the hill. He got to
about this place, then got really tippy. He wanted me to
winch him up as he was in a position that he could not go anywhere safely.
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Then this guy in
the Bronco came along towing a FJ that had broken down. The
FJ guy was talking about going down the hill, since he didn't need an
engine to go down! The Bronco guy hooked his winch up to
the Toyota, then instead of reeling it in, he decided to back up and
yank the guy up the steps.
I never got too
close to them, but I was told that they reeked of alcohol. We
made our way up the trail.
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Heading
up the trail.
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Peri
coming back down the trail.
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Anthony
drags his bumper on a rock.
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On
the way home, we passed the bear house on the lake.
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A
shot of the front of the main house.
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7-20-2004
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