Trip Reports

Here's a few writeups of some of the 4-wheeling outings I've been on. Many of these trips were meetings of the Flatlanders Jeep Club meetings near Manhattan, KS. See their Trail Reports page for other writeups.

  • 7 Aug 2005: My entire family spent a hot day wheeling at Tuttle Creek with the Kalemkiarians before Justin headed back to school for the fall.
  • 29 Aug 2004: Six of us (including 4 from the previous trip) spent another beautiful day wheeling down at Tuttle Creek. We had two more newcomers to our group, and I finally got to use my winch for its intended purpose -- pulling other people out of the mud.
  • 31 Jul 2004: Eight Jeeps got together for a day of wheeling at the usual haunt down in Kansas. This was the first time I'd wheeled some some of these folks, and the first time in quite a while with some others. It was warm, but dry and sunny -- an excellent maiden voyage for my "new" soft top.
  • 3 Apr 2004: A handful of us (mostly the July 2003 group) spent a day wheeling in Kansas. This was the maiden voyage for my Ford 8.8" rear axle and my Warn 8274 winch.
  • 27 Sep 2003: The 1st annual Kansas Krawl, sponsored by the Trail Krawlers 4x4 Club of Manhattan, KS, took place down at Tuttle Creek. There was way too much waiting around, but lots of cool rigs to see.
  • 26-27 Jul 2003: I spent a weekend wheeling & camping in Kansas with a different group the next month. The was the maiden voyage for a $500 Sammy that two friends had recently bought.
  • 20-21 Jun 2003: A bunch of us went camping & wheeling down in Kansas. It was a larger group than my last few outings, but was lots of fun.
  • 3 May 2003: The 6th annual Flatlanders 4x4 Fest, an all-makes 4-wheeling extravaganza sponsored by the Flatlanders Jeep Club, is now in the books. This was the first one I've missed. Reportedly, the turnout was quite low, with only 60 or so vehicles taking part (vs 90 in past years).
  • 8 Feb 2003: Justin Kalemkiarian came home from college for a week, so Stacy and I made a 2-Jeep run to Kansas with him and his parents, Brent and Lynn.
  • 21-22 Sep 2002: My friend Matt Hickey was selling his YJ, and wanted to make a farewell run to Tuttle Creek to pass the torch to the new owner. Four other Wrangler owners accompanied him, including me with my Wagoneer on its maiden towing voyage.
  • 15-17 Aug 2002: About 100 vehicles gathered in Ouray, CO, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the full-size Jeep.
  • 8-9 Jun 2002: Several of us from the JeepOffRoad Mailing List got together at the Badlands Off-Road Park in Attica, IN, for a weekend of fun. Despite the long drive and the damage I incurred, the trip was a real blast.
  • 4 May 2002: The 5th annual Flatlanders 4x4 Fest, an all-makes 4-wheeling extravaganza sponsored by the Flatlanders Jeep Club, brought good wheeling and great weather together in one place, with a little carnage thrown in for good measure.
  • 22-23 Sep 2001: For a change of scenery, a few of us decided to attend the Central Iowa 4 Wheelers' 3rd annual Timber Ridge Run near Castana, IA. We had great fun despite the threat of bad weather.
  • 31 Aug - 3 Sep 2001: Over Labor Day weekend, we went camping & wheeling with a few folks from the Just Jeeps of Omaha club out in the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey, NE. The wheeling was mild, but the scenery was cool and the camping was great.
  • 16-19 Aug 2001: I finally made a wheeling trip out Colorado -- my first trip other than Randolph since the SOA 2 years prior -- to visit my friend Chuque Henry. We ran Hackett Gulch at night, then Chinaman's Gulch, Wheeler Lake, and Iron Chest the following days. Two friends had to cancel on short notice, leaving just Chuque and I, but it was still a great trip.
  • 18 Jun 2000: The June outing included our annual Father's Day cookout. 15 or so vehicles showed up for the good food and beautiful weather. David Rush took some good photos of the outing.
  • 6 May 2000: The May Flatlanders meeting was moved to coincide with the 3rd annual Flatlanders 4x4 Fest and to avoid Mothers' Day. The 4x4 Fest had the best turnout yet, with roughly 100 vehicles in attendance and cloudy but dry weather all day.
  • 1 May 1999: The 2nd Annual Flatlanders 4x4 Fest was also the maiden voyage for my new spring-over-axle lift. The event had great weather and a good turnout, but my welding skills proved to be less than adequate.
  • 14 Mar 1999: The big excitement at this month's Flatlanders meeting was the new RTI ramp that Staci Edwards built. Many of us took turns testing our axle articulation on the new toy.
  • 14 Feb 1999: Gorgeous weather brought the biggest turnout I've ever seen for one of the Flatlanders meetings, despite it being Valentine's Day. We split into several groups of 8-10 Jeeps each to go play at the ORV area.
  • 17 Oct 1998: Ten vehicles from Lincoln spent Saturday wheeling near Manhattan, KS, several of them for the first time.
  • 12 Jul 1998: The July Flatlanders meeting saw higher-than-normal water levels in the reservoir and surrounding creeks, but otherwise fairly dry ground and good traction. The 90+ degree temperature with no breeze was the only drawback.
  • 21 Jun 1998: The June Flatlanders meeting was moved to coincide with the annual Fathers' Day cookout. State-wide rains that morning avoided the ORV park, leaving the infamous entry mud hole surprisingly dry.
  • 17 May 1998: Three vehicles from Lincoln spent Sunday wheeling near Manhattan, KS, one of them for the first time.
  • 2 May 1998: The May Flatlanders meeting was moved to coincide with the 1st annual Flatlanders 4x4 Fest and to avoid Mothers' Day. The 4x4 Fest was a great success, with 59 vehicles in attendance and good weather all day.
  • 4-11 Apr 1998: My wife and I did a couple days of skiing at Crested Butte and then caught the latter half of the 32nd Annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, UT.
  • 8 Feb 1998: For the first time since September, we finally had a gorgeous, sunny day for our club outing. We had such a big turnout (25 Jeeps) that we split the group in two for the trail riding.
  • 11 Jan 1998: After a couple weeks of very light snow and 20 degree temperatures, the ORV area was one great big ice slick. For the second straight month, nobody broke anything, and the Hard Luck Trophy was awarded to someone who succumbed to the strap.
  • 14 Dec 1997: We had a simple Christmas party at the December Flatlanders meeting and held nominations for new officer elections. Though a couple dozen people came to the meeting, only seven vehicles went to the ORV park. It had snowed quite a bit the week before, and then temps were in the 40's all weekend, which meant most of the surface was mud and wet snow.
  • 12 Oct 1997: The October Flatlanders meeting doubled with the Briggs 8th Annual Jeep Jamboree (not part of the Chrysler jamborees). 129 Jeeps & their owners attended. It poured rain from 10pm Saturday til 4pm Sunday, so the ORV area was soup. Surprisingly, there was no breakage and very few stucks.
  • 13-14 Sep 1997: Stacy and I spent the weekend wheeling with the Flatlanders Jeep Club members near Manhattan, KS. It's the closest good, legal wheeling to our home in Lincoln, NE.
  • 4-6 Jul 1997: My new wife, Stacy, and I spent the July 4th weekend visiting some friends in Laramie, Wyoming. The Snowy Range in the Medicine Bow Forest is gorgeous, and offers some good four wheeling.
  • 26 Apr 1997: My wedding, my Jeep, and my Mountain Dew. Life just doesn't get any better than this. OK, so it's not really a trail report.
  • 21-28 Mar 1997: I drove to Moab with a group from our church the week before Easter. That was spring break for UNL, but also happened to be the 31st annual Easter Jeep Safari. Lucky me.
  • 3-11 Aug 1996: I drove the Jeep out to Colorado for a computer science conference this fall. While there, I went wheeling a couple times with some guys I met on the Net.
  • July 1972: I took what was probably my first Jeep ride at a family gathering in Colorado when I was 17 months old. OK, so it's not much of a trip report.

Click for Lincoln, Nebraska Forecast Click for Randolph, Kansas Forecast Click for Moab, Utah Forecast Click for Attica, Indiana Forecast

Back to Obi-Wan's Jeep page
last updated 9 Aug 2005
Obi-Wan (obiwan@jedi.com)

Links on this page to Amazon are part of an affiliate program that helps keep Jedi.com operational. Thank you for your support!




Namecheap.com - Cheap domain name registration, renewal and transfers - Free SSL Certificates - Web Hosting