On January 9th & 10th, 2010, Jason & Terri Bunch hosted “Fun and Games at Truckhaven”, a Tri County Gear customer appreciation event. Tri County Gear is the premier drivetrain and 4 wheel drive shop in the area. Known for their hospitality and attention to detail, this Tri County Gear event was another for the record books.

The weekend could not have been nicer. Cloudless skies, warm days, and NO WIND greeted us as we set up camp near North Marina Drive in the Salton Sea area. Jason and Terri chose the old Tierra Del Sol camp area to host this event which consisted of trail runs and games.

After a brief drivers meeting on Saturday morning we hit the trail. Jason led the group through a number of notches to get some of the less experienced attendees familiar with articulation. Steve brought up the rear in his orange CJ and kept the group together. We wound our way through canyons and climbed to hilltops as the day progressed. With each passing canyon, Jason ratcheted up the difficulty level just enough to instruct the new and keep the experienced smiling. As we neared the “Phone Booth”, the group decided to play in a popular spot with stairstep hills and steep dropoffs. Jason’s apprehension at this stop was well deserved as we had a rollover. Fortunately, no one was injured, the damage to the rig was very minimal, and we all got a lot of memorable photos.

Afer stopping for lunch at the “Phone Booth”, Steve took the lead and led us through more notches, again flexing the suspensions to their limits. A couple mechanical issues forced Jason and Dave back to camp, so the rest of us followed Steve’s CJ until dusk approached. Soon it was time to head for camp.

Terri greeted the group to a Margarita Happy Hour followed by a Mexican Fiesta dinner. Great food and drink topped off a perfect day of wheeling. We ended Saturday by the campfire swapping war stories and tall tales.

Sunday morning found us at The Potatolympics. Jason and Steve set up a potato stab obstacle course near camp and the games began. We all took numerous stabs (pun intended) at besting each other’s times to run the course and snare six potatoes. A lot of good natured ribbing and attempted cheating took place and we all laughed at the antics.

We broke camp at mid-day and headed for home. This was an absolutely priceless event hosted by our friends at Tri County Gear. Thanks to all!