Hi NY! I was just thinking about some of the events I've attended over the last few years & wondered how many would be interested in going this year as a group.
1)If you're into truck shows there's Carlisle - great show with ALL kinds of trucks - show, off road, daily drivers - lifted, lowered, stock - you name it! It's around the end of June & from Buffalo it's about a 7 hour drive but I believe it's much shorter for those downstate.
2)If you love 4WD trucks then Lima, OH is where you want to be for their ALL 4WD truck show - mid May. It's AWESOME! They have mud racing, monster trucks & every truck there is 4WD - no 2WD allowed on the grounds. I saw some of the wildest trucks ever! I was even interviewed by ESPN2 - my 2 minutes of fame! No, my truck is nothing amazing but I was with a group of about 30 other F150's so that's the reason for the interview. I plan on going again - it's worth the drive.
3)Summit Racing show - around Labor Day - that is a small show but it was a lot of fun! They have vendors & they offer discounts the day of the show. It's held right in Summit's parking lot - you just go in & buy what you want right then & there! No waiitng for shipping!
4)The best event I have done so far is Paragon Park Off Road Park - I LOVED IT! We rode the trails from 10AM - 5PM & I had a blast! It's near Hazelton, PA - 6 hours or so from Buffalo & again, much closer to downstate NY. There's camping or motels nearby - group rides are every Sat & it's very reasonable. It's $35 for truck & driver & $5 per passenger - at least those were the rates as of now. I'm making plans to go with 1 of the members here - possibly 4th of July weekend. Anyone else interested? This is not JUST mud - you do ALL kinds of trail driving like rocks, water(shallow), inclines & hills. I managed to do it in a long bed so full size trucks are fine - just have to take our time. There were plenty of Jeeps, a Freelander & a Bronco - we had 2 H2's & the only truck that had a problem was a Durango! LOL!
Well, those are the best events I have personally attended.; I've heard of some others but can't say how they are as I didn't go. If anyone has other events they know about PLEASE list them! I'd love to see us try a GTG or several this summer - it's always more fun in a group!
See you this summer!

 

Paragon Park Off Road Park sounds good, I'd rather do things in the truck, than look at them!!

 

one of my buddy's went there this past summer. he had a great time and said even the novice course was pretty rough. he ended up nose diving his truck into a huge mud hole, clogging the air filter and flooding the cab. glad i didnt go!! lol

-bigdawg

 

PA sounds good to me..I havent broke anything on my new bronco yet, sooo......

 

Hello Cowlady,

I would be interested in participation, but the 4th of July probably would not work for me. Would you consider an off holiday weekend? Hazleton is about 160 miles from my home base so not an unacceptable Friday night drive. Summer time would be good for camping versus a hotel stay. Never been to a truck meet and looking forward to my first at the end of February in Centralia, PA.

Keep us posted, and good luck.

 

Hi Ranger FX4 Type 2! Nice to meet you! Sure we can try for a non holiday weekend. When I thought about it, July 4th is a Sunday so I doubt many people will have an extra day off. It worked out well last year - I only had to take 1 day off w/o pay to make a 4 day weekend of it.
You'll love Paragon Park! I'm sure you'll have a much easier time of it than I did as I have a long bed but I still did the whole trail ride except for the mud hole!
Feel free to email me anytime - I can give you more details about the trails/park.
Can't wait to meet you! Bye for now!
Cowlady/Angela

 

Cowlady, I'll do the mud, if you volunteer to clean my baby
Last time I did the mud, it took me 4 hours and a whole lot of quarters to get the truck close to being respectable

 

ya think a Super cab long bed would have trouble on the novice course?

 

Okay Yeti - you're on! I'll clean the mud off your truck IF you show up! Actually, we only hit 1 mud hole & I was too long to manage it.
BigDawg - hmm - you're longer than I am. I had to circumvent the mud hole as it had a steep downward approach & even steeper exit. You kinda had to get a running start & hit the exit which had lots of exposed tree roots to get up & out. They said I'd curl my bumper on it so I chose to pass that up.
As for the rest of the trails, I had to do a 3 point turn in 2 diff spots - again due to length. I'll send you the link to their site - I don't know if I can post it here. It's a really cool place! I'll also email 1 of the guides I'm friends with & ask his very expert opinion. He'd be the best judge.
I want to let y'all know that you MIGHT experience some boo boo's to the trucks. I have a "Paragon Pin Stripe" from where I hugged a tree but it's buffable I think. It had popped the whole side of my bed in but as soon as I cleared the tree it popped back out. I lost my spare tire on the trail - the under bed bracket decided to give way (rusted thru) but the good news is I was able to stuff the tire in the bed. Had that happened on the highway I could have caused an accident or suffered major damage & at the least would never have known my tire was gone! I don't mind that at all - it didn't seem to be a trail mishap but just a coincidence.
Lastly, I slipped off some loose rocks & fortunately came down hard on my nerf bar - now it has a slight upward curve to it but it's still functional. I want to replace them anyhow as the powdercoat is rusting off badly - another victim of Buffalo's unkind, harsh winters.
Basically if you have a "show truck" & are afraid of cosmetic damage then you may want to ride w/someone at least the 1st time out. If there's enough interest I'd be willing to go back there 2-3X this summer - I had that much fun! Riding in 4LO from 10AM - 5PM is my idea of a great time!
Prices were $35/truck & driver & $5 for passengers plus the cost of a flag. I'd be happy to take 1-2 people w/me. Pack a lunch & PLENTY of cold drinks. Bathrooms are provided courtesy of Mother Nature. NO ALCOHOL/DRUGS ALLOWED! They also don't "allow" smoking because they truly "Tread Lightly" but as long as you don't toss the butts out the window they don't say anything. No dumping of any kind either. These rules are very good ideas - the area is an old coal strip mine & the last thing you want is a fire or someone unable to properly control their vehicles. Getting EMS/Fire in there is very difficult at best.
If you really like it they offer courses to train you as a trail guide. I believe it's $120 but that's what you earn for a 1 day guided tour so it's very reasonable. If Fearless wasn't my daily driver I'd do it - that's why I'm looking for a "beater" so I can trailer it down & leave it there. Imagine getting PAID to have fun! I'm all for that!
Paragon also holds the Neuroc Championships in May & Spet I think. Now THAT is some extreme rock crawling!!!!! We rode past their course & all I could say was WOW! The boulders were 3-4X the size of Fearless! I'd love to go & watch - they don't have trail rides on those days.
Feel free to email me if you're interested ok? I really hope we can get a bunch to convoy down. There's camping nearby too so it's sure to be a great time to relax & have fun & bond w/our trucks! I learned a lot about my trucks' abilities as well as my own. Most importanly remember to let your truck do the work!
Let's start planning this ok?
Happy Trails to you!
Cowlady/Angela

 

Hey BigDawg - I checked with 1 of the guides at Paragon & he said it shouldn't be a problem at all! He does suggest you remove running boards if you have them. Think you'd be interested in coming along? Please?

 

im game, my buddy from cortland will probably want to come along also, except he has a 3500 silverado hahaha. i will probably be back upstate working this summer, so i could set aside a weekend for it. Dairy Farming upstate is pretty busy in the summer months so you'll have to cut me some slack . thanks for the info cowlady. hey, do you like cows???? hahaha just a guess.

-bigdawg

 

BigDawg54 - tell your buddy it's fine if he comes along. If he gets hung up I'll glady pull him out! LOL! Sorry - I shouldn't be mean.
Seriously - it will be nice to have as manay as possible - then we can BE our own group rather than have others riding with us. When I went there were 20 trucks in the group. We had a bunch of Jeeps, 2 H2's, a Bronco & a Durango we had to keep stopping & waiting for.
You work on a dairy farm? AWESOME! I took a 2nd job working on a big 1 here 4 summers ago. I was a calf feeder on the weekends. I loved it but it's very hard work. I'd hang out in the milking parlor bewteen morning/afternoon feedings & "help" - I sang to the cows & talked to them! I miss it a lot. Any chance I can stop by the farm you work at? I love meeting new cows!

 

Cowlady..
It's me Jeff..the one with the Bronco II from Paragon..
So when ya'll comming to the park?

 

WELCOME JEFF!!! I'm so glad you joined!

Hey guys - meet Jeff! He's my friend from Paragon & 1 of the guides there! He knows the trails like the back of his hand! If we get Jeff we'll be in good hands & have a ton of fun!

Well Jeff - I'm not sure. I'm hoping that with the snow melting the guys thoughts will turn to off roading! I can be ready ANYTIME to go have fun. Let me see what these guys have to say, ok?

 

Snow is gone at Paragon..time to wheel! Lets GO!!