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Sand Toy Capital of the world during Thanksgiving Week
      This event at Glamis, CA (south- eastern California) was hosted by NCRAD-BAY and Far-west Motor Sports SIG (Special Interest Group) of WRAD-USA Regional #9.  Paul Stefurak, President of NCRAD-BAY, arrived at the campsite – the intersection of route 78 and Gecko Road -- on Thursday evening and held the space, a 50-foot radius circle big enough for 20 people.  Bobby Sogolow's family, Robert Burns, Don Strom and Carol arrived at the campsite on late afternoon Saturday so I didn't need to worry about holding any more and let their parked vehicles hold the site.  All of us brought our ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles). 

     On Sunday Daniel Briones, Jr., President of Far-west Motor Sports SIG of WRAD-USA Regional #9, and Steve Summer arrived with their Sandrail vehicle -- without body, just frame.  Dan's has a two-people seat on it, while Steve as a four-people seat. 
 

       All day Monday we zipped over the sand dunes.  Dan and Steve said ATV riders were too slow to drive, but the ATV riders enjoyed every minute.  We noticed the Sandrail vehicles were moving faster and driving on the 45-degree hills with ease. 
       On Tuesday we drove over 60 miles on sand dunes with several stops on famous spots (China Wall Hill,  Lizard Hill, the Ceiling Hill, Oldsmobile Hill and Microwave Relay Station)
and at a restaurant at Gordon Wells near Buttercup Valley, 30 miles south of our campsite and only a few miles from the Mexican border. 

     On Wednesday night, Tom Buell brought two friends, Pam Kovash and Lynne, Dan's wife, with his electric circuit system problem, but arrived at the campsite and let the electric system cool off. 

     Pam Kovash, a NCRAD-BAY member, had her first experience spending a few days at Glamis during the Thanksgiving week.  Pam's comment:  "I had a wonderful time riding in the dune buggy.  It was much more fun than I anticipated.  I want to thank Steve Summer for giving me a ride.  Cooking a turkey underground was especially interesting to watch, and yes -- it was very delicious and juicy.  I was very grateful for all my special friends getting together to share our potluck dinner on this special Thanksgiving Day.  It made a great team.  Tom Buell -- I appreciated the ride between Glamis and Ontario.  I'd love to go there next year.....only if I can be given a ride again--Ha!  I hope all of you can join us, too.  The more, the merrier!" 
 
     Don Strom dug a 3-foot deep trench in the sand and prepared for burying meats, turkey and beef on Thanksgiving Day.  Don and Carol did that as their first experience and hoped to have a good cook. 
 

On Thanksgiving Day, early morning, we started the fire and put plenty of wood in for cooking.  We put foil around our meats and put them in burlap bag then soaked the bag until it was wet and put on the wood burning at the bottom of the sand bowl, then covered with sand to cook all day.  We set up the 10 by 15 foot canopy rent for our dining space.We rode again on the sand dunes all day long while the meats were cooking under the ground.  We stopped to see another
Deaf group and Camp #4 near the railroad line.  We chatted with them awhile -- they were much younger than we are.  They were highly respectful to Dan Boines who has many years' experience with Sandrail.  They asked some questions about what parts were for.  Dan explained the benefits of using parts like pushing the button for reverse, and much more.  We came back to the campsite after 5:00 p.m. and prepared for the potluck and took the meat out from the sand pit. 

     On Friday we met people at the Glamis General Store and took a ride for a couple of hours and watched dirt bikes jumping as high as 25 feet and even a welded frame car that went jumping as high as 15 feet -- very loud, with no muffler.  We drove to Oldsmobile Hills.  I suggested we see how fast we could go up the hill.  Four of us ATV people (Bobby Sogolow's 500 cc automatic Polaris, Paul and Don's 300 cc EX Hondas, and Scott Kramer's 250 cc X Honda) raced up the hill.  Paul won first place, Don second, Bobby third, and Scott last.  I told them that two people from Northern California won 2 points over Southern California.  Congrats to Paul and Don.  The reason I beat Bobby was because of two factors -- Bobby lost due to automatic and no paddle tires, while Paul had paddle tires.  Ironically, Don has no paddle tires and still beat Bobby.  Poor Bobby! 

     On Friday evening about 7:30 p.m. we drove to Competition Hills where there were many people watching the racing of ATV and Sandrails.  There were many beautiful colorful lights, even strobe flashing and much more.  We found ourself packing up and it was 
difficult for us to get out of that area, but we managed all right. 

     On Saturday morning, Can, Lynne, Tom Buell, Pam and Steve left for home to avoid the traffic.  Don, Carol and Paul stayed longer, until Monday morning.  On Saturday evening we went to Competition Hills about 7:30 p.m. and found half the number of people showed up as compared with Friday night. 

     On Sunday we had a good time riding with many winding turns. Then we packed things away and got ready to leave on Monday. 

     The average temperature in the daytime was 90 degrees, and at night it turned down to 60 degrees.  It was very comfortable for camping.  What an exciting experience we had! 

Paul Stefurak 
President , NCRAD-BAY 
 
 
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