thoughtnot

 Every now and again, I remember… I have a blog! Then I venture here and try to remember my login, followed by the deletion of a couple hundred spam comments that have been caught by the filter. Such is the life of a ‘blogger’, hanging out in the ‘blogosphere’ and whatnot.

Okay… not really. I actually hit this site about once a week. I just either don’t have time to post, or I forget to. Like in the case of this entry, in which I will discuss my recent 4-wheeling trip back in mid-October. Hey, better late than never. Cinderella was late to the ball, but she still got to hang with the prince and throw a big “boo-yah” to her evil stepsisters. And I don’t know where I’m going with that, so I’ll end the analogy there.

Anyhow, way back in the annals of history, the boys and I decided to take another 4-wheeling trip to West Virginia. That trip was in October 2008, and I wrote about it in February of ‘09. So really, I’m kind of ahead of the game this time! This year, we once again headed south for the Hatfield-McCoy Trails. We left early Friday and arrived at our cabin, between Gilbert and Man, WV, on Friday afternoon. We all rode down in Troy’s dad’s suburban, which was probably one of the gassier trips I’ve been on in a while (thanks mainly to Cowboy, not the Suburban). Friday night was spent at the Colonial Inn and just hanging out.

Saturday morning came early. It always does for me. I was much more disciplined Friday night, so there were no latent effects of the night before. The 4-wheelers arrived EARLY this time, which was good, but they were not as good as those we rented last time. Last year, Danny and I had ‘07 Honda Ranchers, which were pretty nice. This time around, we received older model (’03?) Ranchers, which were a bit more ragged out and not as powerful. In fact, mine died almost every time I came to a stop. They were also not fully automatic, but semi-automatic. That took some getting used to the process of “shifting”. Of course, the other guys all had their own big ‘ol ATVs that could make Mt. Hood look like a hill.

Unfortunately, the weather was not the same this time, either. On our last trip it was unseasonably warm, with temps in the upper 60s to low 70s. This time it was unseasonably cold, with temps in the lower 40s to upper 30s. It was also very wet, having rained for several days that week. But I was prepared with cold-weather gloves, long socks, and (thankfully) my new Carhartt bib overalls that Troy talked me into buying. Those kept me warm and dry. The mud was a lot of fun, of course. It took a little while to build up the courage to run through some of the “puddles” (which were often 1-2′ deep) on those old ATVs, but they proved themselves worthy of at least the green and blue trails. I was NOT confident in taking them on the black trails, and since it was wet we avoided those (whew!). Therefore, everyone kept their seat and had a lot of fun!

Like I said after last year’s trip, I’m hooked. If I could figure out how to get my own 4-wheeler right now, I would. I really enjoy it, and would probably have even more fun if I didn’t have to pay the goofy rental fee and sign half of what I own on the dotted line. And if I didn’t have to rent, I could maybe go more than once a year. It’s nice riding through the woods, even with a helmet on, and aside from the few “oh crap” moments, it’s really very enjoyable. I guess since I’m only 37 I have a few more years to do this, so I still have some time yet (Lord willing…). But knowing I might be able to get my hands on a used 4-wheeler some day doesn’t keep me from salivating over Honda Rincon’s. Where there’s a will… =)