2017 WAYALIFE MOAB Easter Jeep Safari RECAP

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Like many of you, Cindy and I spent the better part of last week attending the 2017 Easter Jeep Safari out in Moab, Utah. Of course, our adventures really started the week before that as we decided to first make a stop down in SoCal, visit our friends at Off Road Evolution and have their all new EVO cage installed in Rubicat. Being that much of what we did over the last 2 weeks was work related, we weren't able to take as many pics as we would have preferred but here are a few that highlight some of the fun we had. I hope you enjoy.

Shootin Down to SoCal
Rubicat all packed up and ready to head down to SoCal on a chilly Carson City morning.
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It's hard to believe that the hills and mountains beyond were still covered in snow this late in the year and all the way down to Bishop.
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Taking a break at one of our favorite rest stops down in the Owens Valley where amazingly, it felt like summer.
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Yup, we're down in SoCal.
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Getting right to business, our first stop was over at Bottle Logic where we attended the SoCal Suds-n-Grub!
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After a great night with friends and libations, we made our way over to Off Road Evolution where we spent the day and had one of their all new EVO cages installed in Rubicat.
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Oh yeah, now we're talking or should I say, seeing over the dash bar.
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Headin Out to Moab
Did I mention that on our way down to SoCal, our rear driveshaft started singing at us like a chorus of angry squirrels? As we would come to find, the double cardan was toast and I had to pull it to have it rebuilt. Fortunately, our old driveline shop, Powertrain Direct was near by and they were able to help us out. After 2 days of driving all around SoCal in front wheel drive, we got our shaft back and did a parking lot install.
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On the road and on our way out to Moab at long last! Bummer that it's looking more and more like a storm is coming in.
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Making a well needed rest stop along the way.
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Winding our way through the Capitol Reef.
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And here we are - the promised land! Time for a local brew and some grub.
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CHEERS!
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After dinner, we checked into our condo and took a stroll down to where we knew we'd find some cool concept Jeeps.
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Never really noticed it when this came out the year before but as you can see, this concept rig called the Shortcut featured a grill that looks a lot like what we're seeing on the all new JL Wrangler.
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Here's the JT that came out to Moab back in 2007 and was the very first Wrangler based concept truck.
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Of course, one of my favorites - the Chief.
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And finally, here's probably my all time favorite - the Nukizer 715
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
MOAB - Day 1 : Gold Bar Rim/Golden Spike
On our first official day in Moab, we hooked up with Dynatrac and made our way out to do a photo shoot out on the Gold Bar Rim and Golden Spike Trail. Here's a shot of Rubicat at the staging area along side a friend who brought out his badass 1991 coil over YJ with a V8 and CJ front clip.
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Following Dynatrac and working our way up to the mesa top.
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Saying hello to Goonie Bird Rock as we made our way to the trailhead.
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Up at the trailhead and ready to have some fun!
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In spite of the wind and the weather, it was still a great day to be out on the trail.
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One of the support JK's taking the plunge down slide rock.
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Dynatrac making their descent.
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Everything seems a bit more spooky in a short wheel base Jeep.
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Rubicat diving in.
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Posing for a shot on our way to the Golden Spike Trail.
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And, here it is - the very first scratch on our new Trail Ready beadlock wheels compliments of me.
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Up at the Golden Crack and a parking lot of Jeeps and side-by-sides.
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Check it out - a Rubicon shirt with Moby on it only, this isn't a shirt we make or sell and we never gave permission for our photo to be used. Amazing how there's no windshield banner too. :rolleyes2:
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After having some lunch and waiting for the crowds to thin out, Dynatrac got to work.
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Going big.
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And bigger!
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Of course, Rubicat was a star in this photo shoot too.
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And here's some CJ action.
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Heading back after a good shoot.
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Looking like rain coming our way.
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Climbing our way back up slide rock.
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After a few unsuccessful attempts, our CJ friend decided to just crawl up the relatively new UTV route.
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Saying good bye to the Goonie Bird Rock as we made our way off the trail.
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CHEERS to a great day out on the trail!
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
MOAB - Day 2 : Hell's Revenge
On our second day in Moab, we hooked up with Dynatrac at the crack of dawn and made our way out to Hell's Revenge where we would be doing another photo shoot.
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At the staging area airing down the silver Dynatrac JK.
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Oh yeah - now we're talking!
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Rubicat following the group in shadow.
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Couple of poser shots while we were waiting to get setup.
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Time to get to work.
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The silver Dynatrac JK taking in the view at the Colorado River overlook.
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Moving out to the next shoot.
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Our next shots were going to be on Hell's gate but a group got there before us so we decided to just wait till they were done and watch from above. As the first rig started his way up, he got on a bad line and was beyond backing down safely.
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While he may have been able to move forward and get back up on the right line, his front lockers weren't working and before he got into anymore trouble, we decided to jump and lend a helping hand.
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Being at such a steep angle and near to flopping, the engine started burning oil which made for a dramatic recovery.
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Almost to the top and to safety.
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By the time we got done with the recovery, another group of about 40 Jeeps showed up to Hell's Gate and so we decided to save it for another day. So, we moved on to the next photo spot.
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Rubicat ready to make her walk down the slickrock.
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With the crowds really starting to come in, it was time to head back out, have some lunch and get ready for our next shoot.
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
MOAB - Day 2 : 3D Pickle
After lunch, we hooked up with Mel from Off Road Evolution and headed out to our next photo shoot which would be out on the 3D Pickle trail.
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The views from up here are pretty amazing.
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A big part of why we were up here was to do an interview between Jim and Mel with their JK's and the view beyond for a backdrop.
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Of course, it was also to do a little filming of Spicy Chicken taking a dip into the gravy bowl.
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And that's how it's done!
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Just for fun, Jared, a good friend of Mel's decided to give the gravy bowl a try in his early Bronco.
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After several valiant attempts, Jared got way off his line and in a jam so Spicy Chicken helped him back out.
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Next up was Rubicat.
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To do it right, the last step out takes some nerves a real commitment.
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And we're up!
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Grabbing a few more shots on our way out.
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On our way off the trail, Dynatrac did a little filming of Spicy Chicken getting some air.
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And finally, back at the condo, we got to check out our good friend Cole's flat fender that he had shipped in to town and had just come in.
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
MOAB - Day 3 : Kane Creek
Our 3rd day in Moab was supposed to be spent on the Dynatrac run out on the Flat Iron Mesa Trail but unfortunately, we weren't able to make it due to work we needed to get done that morning. As luck would have it, Mel sent us a text later on in the day asking if we wanted to join him on a run up Kane Creek and so we were still able to get out with some of our friends.
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Great trail with awesome views.
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We were really booging so the only pics we could get were of Rubicat here and there flexing out on the rocky sections.
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Fortunately, there were a few more rocks to play on.
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Of course, a trail with the word "creek" in it's name is one that's sure to have water in it. Approaching the first of many water crossings.
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Rubicat getting her feet wet.
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It's always fun driving through the water under a tunnel of trees.
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A bit more than half way through the trail, we ran into some friends and decided to follow them out.
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At the base of Hamburger Hill getting ready to take it on.
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As usual, Hamburger Hill proved to be a challenge for many and after a couple of great attempts, this JK tore a brake line.
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I have no doubts that our friend Scott would have made the tough line had he been in his own Jeep but being that he was driving a company rig, he decided to go around but only after giving it a solid attempt.
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Here's a shot of Mel walking Spicy Chicken up the ledge.
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Jared gave it hell with his early Bronco but his shorter wheel base made it a bit tougher.
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Fortunately, Spicy Chicken was able to help him up.
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Time for Rubicat to make her climb.
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Starting our climb out of the canyon.
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And we're just about back to the highway.
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Back in town, we decided to take some time to get Rubicat cleaned up a bit.
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To a great day out on the trail - CHEERS!
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
MOAB - Day 4 : Fins-n-Things
Our 4th day in Moab started off with us taking care of some work but later in the day, we headed out to Fins-n-Things to meet up with Mel again to do some wheeling. While we were out looking for him, we ran into a couple of guys from the forum and stopped to take a pic.
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After looking for just a bit, we caught up with Mel and Jared who were waiting for us up on the rocks.
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Time to have some fun.
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Unfortunately, this would be the last shot that we were able to take being that Jared developed transmission problems and we had to cut our run short. The rest of our day was spent back at the condo making repairs.
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MOAB - Day 5 : Top of the World
For day 5 in Moab, Cindy and tailgunned for EVO as they did a run up to the Top of the World. Here's a couple of shots of us heading out to the trailhead.
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Unfortunately, even though EVO had a permit to run the trail, another group caught wind that we were coming and jumped in ahead of us. Of course, being that they had to film their run and didn't have the decency to let us by, we were left to sit around and wait behind them.
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A little further up but just a little.
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Yea, we're actually taking on an obstacle.
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Rubicat striking a pose being that we were just waiting around.
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Just a tad further up.
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You know, because the group in front had to setup their drone and all.
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FINALLY at the top, we took a quick shot of the KMC JK and out across the valley below before heading back down the hill.
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As I would later come to find, this Landcruiser wasn't apart of our group but hopped in with the hopes of running the trail with us. I suppose it was a good thing they did as they did end up needing some help.
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On the move again.
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
MOAB - Day 6 : MOPAR Jeep Concept Vehicles
For our 6th day in Moab, Cindy and I decided to stop by the Jeep display in town and check out some of the cool concept rigs Mopar brought with.

The Jeep Safari
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Close up shot of the grill which looks a lot like what we've been seeing on the all new Jeep JL Wrangler.
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If you look carefully, the grill is not only buckled a little more than half way up, it's also curved side to side as opposed to being flat.
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Close up of the headlights.
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Nice hood graphics.
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Plenty of armor underneath.
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Pretty cool air up system.
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Clear soft suicide doors.
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A look inside.
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Little easter egg on the rear bumper.
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ARB compressor underneath.
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The Jeep Quicksand
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Some interior shots.
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Jeep Grand One
Sorry, didn't take too many of this one but here are the few.
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If you look carefully, you can kind of see the wood grain screened into the body.
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8 slots? Say it isn't so :cheesy:
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Jeep Switchback
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CJ SIXTY SIX
Didn't take too many of this being that we took a bunch of better shots at SEMA but, here are a few.
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Jeep Trailpass
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75th Anniversary Jeep Salute Concept
Wasn't expecting to see this here but I was glad that I did as it was in fact, pretty cool. Loved all the small details like the NDT tires, hemp rope on the front bumper and even oak bump pads for the windshield.
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
The Long Drive Home
After being away from home for almost 2 weeks, it was time for us to finally head for home. Unfortunately, a storm was coming in and the winds ahead of it were clocking in at over 70 MPH. Needless to say, this was causing trucks to blow over, block the highway and cause a big mess. Kinda looks like our Top of the World run.
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Fortunately for us, we saw this coming on our Google map and being that we were in a Jeep, we found a way around the jam.
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Now I know why people in lesser vehicles that we saw ahead of us were turning around and heading back. No problem for us.
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As we made our way along this parallel stretch of road, Cindy noted that the area felt familiar and asked if I knew about where the Hastings Cutoff of the California Emigrant Trail was. And, soon as she said that, we came across these two markers.
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Moving along and having fun on a historic route.
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Looking back at the mess we were leaving behind.
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Making a stop to check out a T-marker along the trail.
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Further up ahead, we stopped over at Big Springs which was a watering hole along the Hastings Cutoff.
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A lot of water was pumping out of the springs.
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The historic route goes on for miles beyond this point and as much as we were wanting to explore it, we were beyond the traffic and decided to come back and run it another day.
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Back on the highway, it was crazy windy and trucks were getting blown all over the place.
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The truck on the left narrowly escaped a flop and he got blown into the center ditch.
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This guy wasn't so lucky.
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Nor was this freezing guy but at least he was off the road.
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Almost back to Nevada.
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But it was still nuts out.
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A couple of 5th wheels that got blown over the embankment.
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And wouldn't you know it, as soon as we got back into Nevada, it started snowing on us.
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Being that it was dark and nasty out, we decided to hole up in Elko, have a picon punch at Machi's, our favorite saloon there and wait out the storm. After all, we were essentially home already.
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That my friends is how Cindy and I spent the last couple of weeks. I hope you enjoyed following our adventures. If you were lucky enough to make it out to the 2017 Moab Easter Jeep Safari, please post up about it here as we'd love to hear about all the fun you had. :cool:
 

JeepFan

Hooked
Wow! What an amazing trip! Thanks for posting all the great photos and sharing the highlights of your trip! :thumb:
 
R

RockyMtnAnvil

Guest
Looks like you had a great adventure both on and off road! Beautiful photos!
 

Lank

Member
Great shots all around! I'm always a little antsy waiting for the giant photo dump that happens after you and Cindy go on one of your adventures. Thats awesome how you could bypass the traffic on the way home. Just another perk of owning a Jeep
 

DWiggles

Caught the Bug
looks like you guys had quite a good 2 weeks, and capped it off with quite the adventure home. Scary what mother nature can do. :crazyeyes: glad you guys got home in one piece
 

TrainWreck618

Caught the Bug
Looks like you guys had an amazing time! Great shots of Rubicat:thumb:

I'm really diggin that flat fender that was shipped in. Any more photos?
 

benatc1

Hooked
Awesome photos, looks like a great trip and that a crazy scene on the drive home. Glad you guys made it though it all ok and nice work on the detour! Thanks for sharing!
 
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