A pair of annual Rendezvous events, one Desert, one Mountain, are fast becoming must-do events if you live in the SoCal area and enjoy overlanding, camping, adventure, good people, and/or good food. This year's desert event was no different. I was sad to be attending solo, since Annika's soccer season was in full swing during this event, but by the end of the trip, I think the rest of the family was glad they hadn't joined me!
Between traffic and work, I arrived relatively late on Friday. The dirt trail to the rendezvous site was fairly easily navigated and well-packed, but somewhat washboarded out. This would be important later in the weekend. I knew I'd arrive so close to dusk that I didn't want to risk having to setup and cook in the dark, so instead I'd opted for a burger en-route. It was late enough that I didn't look very hard to find a nice centrally located spot and instead opted to slot in to the first obvious gap between some friendly looking folks. This is never a bad call, but it did leave me a ways out from the action.
Mornings in the desert are my favorite. Just about any desert, any morning. I'm an early riser, so being up at the first rays of dawn when its cool and breezy is simply wonderful. Add in some Cà phê sữa đá and a bowl of grape nuts with dried fruit and I am one very happy camper. Literally.
After breakfast is always a good time to start the rig show. Walking around at a Rendezvous is 1000 times better than paying to visit SEMA or any other trade show. So many cool and unusual rigs. This Vanagon was a dual-slider from South Africa (?), and I think a diesel conversion as well. There were also a Jeep Brute and a Pinzgauer, in addition to the more conventional gear.
Since I was solo, I broke from my usual tradition of hanging around the base camp and keeping my family entertained. Instead I got to participate on a trail run, jumping in with Bill, who'd generously volunteered a seat in his rig. We had a great time!
As is usual for the Desert Rendezvous, part of our mission is to collect garbage if possible. There were a few big pieces (including a rusting bench seat frame!) in some areas, but most of the areas we stopped were remarkably clean except for small litter and the ubiquitous shooter's trash. Oh, and a pile of practice ordinance that the US armed forces had left in one area...
The highlight of rendezvous is always the potluck. I went with what I knew and offered a Fondue station! I think not everyone knew what to make of it, but several people got the irony of it and really tucked in. Given that I'd parked so far away from the main pit area, I was really glad not to have to haul a cast iron dutch oven for the competition, but I was inspired to try my hand next time!
Remember how I'd said the road had been heavily washboard on the way in? Well, on Sunday morning while trying to make my way over to the area designated for the steel shoot, Cam from Mojo Outfitters flagged me down to tell me I was dragging a rear shock. Yeah, apparently the road had vibrated me enough to cause the upper shock bolt to come loose. I was glad to have my tool kit handy, so I was easily able to remove the rest of the shock and limp back into town. Finding a replacement shock bolt on a Sunday in Indio, CA required a phone home to base, as Kimberley was more easily able to do the googling needed to locate a NAPA that was open. After that adventure, I treated myself to some mom-n-pop Chile' Verde and then headed home.
What galls me about the experience is that I had literally just paid to have everything in the suspension nut-and-bolted by a national Off-Road parts & service chain the weekend prior. Lesson learned. No matter how busy I am, I need to make time to do my own checks on that kind of thing.
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