El Toro
Member
Bought our first JK in July 2014. Spent many months driving around with the top off and just enjoying it. I knew I was going to build it up when I bought it but wanted to take my time and read as much as possible...see what others have and such.
The best advice I read was from seasoned off-roaders telling us noobs to first learn how to drive your vehicle and see what it's capable of. A big thank you to those that offer such advice!
Taking that advice, I signed up for the off-roading 101 course at Rausch Creek in Tremont, PA on 3/28/15. I put all mods on hold so that I could begin to learn how to drive my stock Jeep. My wife and I packed up and headed north for the 4 hour trip from VA.
This was our first experience off-roading (besides being on the sand many times) and we were a tinge anxious not knowing what to expect. We registered and then met our instructor for the day...Kyle Buchter. After everyone registered, we headed out for the day, now a bit nervous because every other Jeep seemed to have a lift and bigger tires, mods galore everywhere.
Kyle was awesome to say the least. He instilled confidence and reassurance backed with 15 years of teaching experience. In 6 short hours, he took us from total noobs to ascending and descending steep hills, water fording, climbing a steep rock face (like crazy steep), and then multiple off camber situations where our wheels were 2 feet off the ground while climbing, just so we could learn to use our traction control (no lockers for us yet). It was exhilarating! We had the best time and learned more than we expected! We did things with our stock Jeep that I wasn't sure were possible not to mention we still had the stock tires with 38k miles on them. (Ok, not completely stock. I did purchase and install some Weathertech mats the week before our class. Awesome mats)!
For our return trio home, we made a few stops along the way. Took a tour in Gettysburg, stopped at an awesome 200 year old college and a few quick stops using the Roadside America app!
Well, we have caught the bug! We quickly signed up for the 201 course in April and can hardly wait to get back on the trail.
In the future, I am certain I will look back and know that I have spent wisely, invested in ourselves, learned a ton without damaging my daily driver, and had an absolute blast in the process.
Thanks Kyle and Rausch Creek for laying a great foundation that we can build upon.
The best advice I read was from seasoned off-roaders telling us noobs to first learn how to drive your vehicle and see what it's capable of. A big thank you to those that offer such advice!
Taking that advice, I signed up for the off-roading 101 course at Rausch Creek in Tremont, PA on 3/28/15. I put all mods on hold so that I could begin to learn how to drive my stock Jeep. My wife and I packed up and headed north for the 4 hour trip from VA.
This was our first experience off-roading (besides being on the sand many times) and we were a tinge anxious not knowing what to expect. We registered and then met our instructor for the day...Kyle Buchter. After everyone registered, we headed out for the day, now a bit nervous because every other Jeep seemed to have a lift and bigger tires, mods galore everywhere.
Kyle was awesome to say the least. He instilled confidence and reassurance backed with 15 years of teaching experience. In 6 short hours, he took us from total noobs to ascending and descending steep hills, water fording, climbing a steep rock face (like crazy steep), and then multiple off camber situations where our wheels were 2 feet off the ground while climbing, just so we could learn to use our traction control (no lockers for us yet). It was exhilarating! We had the best time and learned more than we expected! We did things with our stock Jeep that I wasn't sure were possible not to mention we still had the stock tires with 38k miles on them. (Ok, not completely stock. I did purchase and install some Weathertech mats the week before our class. Awesome mats)!
For our return trio home, we made a few stops along the way. Took a tour in Gettysburg, stopped at an awesome 200 year old college and a few quick stops using the Roadside America app!
Well, we have caught the bug! We quickly signed up for the 201 course in April and can hardly wait to get back on the trail.
In the future, I am certain I will look back and know that I have spent wisely, invested in ourselves, learned a ton without damaging my daily driver, and had an absolute blast in the process.
Thanks Kyle and Rausch Creek for laying a great foundation that we can build upon.
