Florida Georgia Get together

What about making the 26th? saturday. alot of things closed sunday and what not.

beachgirl, hows that sound?
Joe?
X?
Fran?
Cyrk?
Hera?
<insert name>?

Works for me.

I'll be returning from my honeymoon the 26th. Was entertaining thoughts of showing up Sunday, but it's a big maybe for me that weekend.

I'm trying to finish up a close on a house my brother and myself just bought in orlando :clap: :dance: :jump: , but won't be able to move in for another two weeks.. which would probly be that weekend. I did put in my two weeks notice at work earlier in the month, but they will be expecting me that weekend for easter; I would consider showing up for the morning and making a nice drive out there if peeps get together early enough, That would give me a few hours to chill before returning to be backby 4ish. I mean I already quit, so I'm not worried if I don't show up that last day or so. Sat would def. be better this way I might be able to work all day sunday and might even be able to go in at 6 sat night. Let me know about the hours and possitive day. I'm working against a whole lot of stuff, so this is gonna be tough, but am will to try for it.. meaning don't let my problems influence the set date, I'll work with whatever you guys decide..

....wasnt neccessary but felt comfortable sliding it in david, i gots nothin but love for joe and all that makes him tha great man he is :)....as the rest of you ladies and gents....I LOVE YOU ALL. Some more than others lol...

....ummmm so its the 27th??? i may have to bum a ride (joe) if....when we go offroading. Im pretty sure that 22's aren't good for muddin and off roading to the extent that i enjoy ;) we'll see though i just got some cute 16" xterra rims that i just need to get tires for em if not ill be stickin my thumb out....x

congrats and luck on that crib-o rizzo!

No prob, it's all good. :-)

Frank,
Is that you on E-Bay this morning?
John

i work all day saturday the 26th, so thats a no go for me :-( but i can get any day off with about a weeks notice so just let me know.
sorry it took me so long to respond i have been quite under the weather lately

amber

The first weekend in April looks good to me - what about everyone else? There seem to be too many problems getting everyone together for the March 26/27 weekend, plus there's the holiday and all. I don't know about Joe, but I may be attending the rallycross in Homestead on April 9 (second weekend in April) so I can't commit to anything that weekend.

Im up for either day, or whenever. weekends are pretty open for me

First April weekend is good for us too as we'll be at the Homestead RallyCross on the 9th.

the first sunday in april is good for me, i cant get saturdays off but sunday i could do

first sunday good for me as well

bump

Hey Bear, I got your sticker int he mail, thanks for listing it for me. I will be moving to orlando completely by this monday.. and then flying up to orlando the first weekend of the month to get some stuff down so I can't make it.. I probly can't do it regardless.. too much stuff going on with new job/move... anyone by any chance work for airtran?

Sunday, April 3, is good for me. still meeting at Juniper Springs?
dave

bump

Sorry John, just noticed your comment earlier - I hope your mother is doing better now.

Okay everybody, let's hear it - is everything still a go for this coming weekend?

.....Si :cool: ....x

I don't know if I can make it with both VX's, but can make it with at least one. If it IS going to happen, someone please put it on the calendar. ;)

<smacks forehead>

Yeah Joe, that would help huh? LOL! Done. Hey do you still have the forestry service maps and the GPS unit handy? Those were a huge help last time.

Yup yup, im in.

Might want to provide a mapquest map to get there. (new to FL)

some may not have any idea where we are going (me)

Try plugging these into MapQuest for your directions...

Here's the address for the restaurant we met at for the first meet:

Jake's Place
16275 E Highway 40
Silver Springs, FL
352-625-3133

Here's the address for the Juniper Springs Recreation Area:

Juniper Springs Recreational Area
26701 E Highway 40
Silver Springs, FL
352-625-2808

The restaurant is 7.4 miles west of the Recreation Area. Both lie within Ocala National Forest, so they're actually a bit east of Ocala. But we all need to decide if we're meeting up at Jake's Place first or not.

....anyone wanna drive up together im in orlando so anyone round this way heading there we can ide together (in our respective vxs :) ) .....x

Hey X, yeah we can do that. think there are a couple in this area.

im at 4 and the lake mary exit. just let me know



Jakes place is fine, not sure how long it will take to get there (Florida drivers are slow as mules) but 10 -11 ish?

OK

Jonnie

Ok, let's shoot for 10am at Jake's. Does this work for everybody?

Looks like I'm not going to be able to make it due to work-related issues. :mad:

As for the forestry map and GPS, you should be able to pick up a map at any convenience store around there. If no one has a GPS a regular compass will help tremendously in conjunction with the map. Just be sure to pay attention to the numbered "roads" and significant landmarks. Last time I took everyone in just East of the Juniper Springs entrance (about 2 miles IIRC) and we basically worked our way around the bombing range to the big power lines which returned us West of Juniper.

If anyone has FRS radios bring 'em. That made communication much easier and kept the group moving last time.

Have fun, take plenty of pics and keep it sunny-side up! :p

Grrrrr. I'm mad at myself. It occurred to me that the last meet was on a Saturday and I forgot to call the restaurant today and make sure they're open on Sundays. I will do that tomorrow and post it, but I'm afraid we'll have people miss the post so maybe we should just meet there either way.

We'll miss ya Joe! :-( BTW, do you recall where that carwash was? I'm thinking it's along 40 more towards Ocala, but not sure.

I was going to have to go to Gainesville from the event, but I'm thinking I may even head down early, do what I have to do in Gainesville, and head over to Juniper Springs and try to pick up a map then and do a little scouting ahead of time. Could find a tree in the road like last time. :-)

what up!
i have quad maps of the entire forest, showing state forest roads, jeep trails & elevations. i also have gps and two radios. i think south of 40 is whare to explore, its a lot dryer than north of the springs. there is a few "clay pits" marked on the maps i would like to check out. i'll try to make a few copies of the maps (surrounding the springs). i'll also have full color aerials of the area, which always comes in handy.
are BBQin' for lunch, or should people just bring cold cuts of what-not?
dave

Dirty Dave, you are a lifesaver! That all sounds terrific. I'm glad we'll have someone who is pretty familiar with the area. Are you still doing some recon for us? I've been there just once before and don't have all of that so I was thinking I may go there today and get some maps and try to scout out a route for us. Do you think that's a good idea or are you comfortable enough with the area that I can skip it (I'm in Jacksonville)? I will probably run out to Gainesville today so I don't have to cut out early for it tomorrow, but would rather not have to run over to the Ocala area until the meet if that's ok.

Oh, and BTW, Jake's will be open so we're good for breakfast. I kinda figured, but it's better knowing. Whatever everyone wants to do for lunch is fine by me. At the spring itself they have shelter and tables and maybe grills. What we did last time was eat at Jake's, hit some trails, do lunch, and go out for a second round of trails, then on to the carwash for those who wanted to.

We had a few people whiz right by the restaurant last time, so whoever gets there first should try to grab a prominent parking spot near the road.

Hey,
(heraclid)It sounds likes more trouble than its worth, but scoping the area wouldnt hurt. I think the maps that you would get nearby would only show forestry roads, which are clearly marked, unless they are selling the quad maps which I doubt. With the maps I have, gps & aerials i dont think theres any chance of getting lost. I am not going to be able to do any phsyical recon, but im down to explore if everyone OK with that. I made a few copies of the maps, we can review them at jakes and decide then. heres my cell number for anyone who might be running late, and has worries about finding everyone.
Dave
407-782-3042.
P.S. Wheres the orlando crew meeting for the ride up? Im in South Apopka(436 & 441)

Sounds great! Looks like you have it all covered. Last time we found a downed pine tree in the road, but a VX and a tow strap fixed that. :-)

Okay, so where was everybody?!

:confused:

Apostle and I were the only ones there at 10:00 and we waited until a couple minutes after 11:00 in case some of you got screwed up with Daylight Savings Time happening last night. Jake's was packed by then and we headed up the road a piece, ate pretty quick, and came back and no one was there then either. If anyone did show at about 11:00 and just missed us, they didn't wait long for anyone else. And a few days ago I e-mailed or PM'ed everyone who has posted to this thread and mentioned the time change then. So what's up people? Oh well.

It was nice meeting you Apostle (and I think a lot of anyone who has served in the military) and always good to see another VX.

hey guys,
i did finally make it there around 12:00, with the hour for daylight savings and the bogus directions i got from map quest. i should have gone my normal route there, but thought i might save some time with map quest. i went to juniper springs first, no vx sightings according to the ranger at the entrance. so i headed on to jakes. packed! but no vx's. swung back by the springs and dropped a map set at the gate and asked the ranger to give them to the first vx that enters. I spent the day south of 40 exploring with my co-pilot cory.
the first "clay pit" i found was incredible!! i was begining to think there was no good hill climbs in florida ....untill now. met up with some locals in a toyota and got the guided tour of all the good riding areas. anyway, wish i could of cought up with you guys. im disapointed this didnt work out. if you guys ever want to play in ocala let me know, we"ll make it work.
dave
p.s. ill post some pics in my gallery from my adventure.

A friend's water supply broke at after 7pm Sat. and he called me as his go to guy. Fixed it but it took a while and overslept.

:(

Jonathan

Hey Dave and Jonnie,

Sorry 'bout that Jonnie - I was hoping nothing too serious like that or worse like a car accident or something had happened to anybody.

Yeah, I'm disappointed too but it's over and done with so no use regretting it now. We were supposed to all meet at Jake's at 10:00 but only Apostle and I were there and we never pulled into Juniper Springs. We waited at Jake's in case anyone got screwed up with the time change, but I did e-mail or PM everyone a reminder because I was afraid of that happening. Anyway, we stood outside and chatted with Apostle until a little after 11:00, then got a bite to eat. Jake's was packed by that time so we headed up the road a bit to a barbeque place, then Apostle left (I'm surprised you two didn't run into each other, as he was going back to Orlando) but I went by Jake's one last time just in case. It would have still been a bit early to have run into you, though. At that time I did actually go up the other way just on a whim and doubled back when I reached Silver Springs and headed home from there. We probably came very close to crossing paths then since you would have come in from that way. I was hoping we'd pass each other somewhere because I was so sure that you would definitely be there.

Dave, sorry that Mapquest messed you up. I forgot how hit-and-miss they can be. I understand because the first time I ever went down to Joe Black's place, -x- and I ended up dead-ending in the middle of an orange grove because of the Mapquest directions then. A word of advice to everyone - DO NOT rely solely upon that website! But... this also could have all been okay if I hadn't made a mistake of my own. I had a lot of information with me, but I realized too late that even though I wrote down your cell number from an earlier post, I didn't have your cell number with me or we could have worked through the other issues. I'm glad you made lemonade out of lemons and went out and had a good time anyway. I'd love to see pics and we'll have to try it again some time. I can't complain - I got to meet Apostle and the drive was scenic.