The Rooster June 2015

The Best Dumont Trip Ever? by Jim Kastle!I arrived around 1 o'clock on Thursday. I found Steve Sturm parked in a slightly different but much improved location much nearer the dirt road then we usually park. Bob Amador soon arrived and an hour or two later, Walt, then Steve Porter arrived.

About 4:30 we went for the first of several great rides. Truly the only tracks we saw were ours. We were gone for nearly 3 hours. We had a campfire that truly was for atmosphere only as the temperature was in the 80s. John Cole arrived around 9 o'clock.

Kevin Fegan arrived Friday morning while we were on a ride. P.J., Melissa, and Allie arrived Friday just before midnight, and Barry arrived around 11 PM Saturday night after departing home after Haley left for her prom. I think it's neat that prom pictures trumped, but only delayed, Barry's dune trip.

�1

Whats New

We may have saved the best for last with the riding this season, as we had an AWESOME Dumont trip with some very long and fast rides. Read all about it in Jim’s article starting on this page.

Coral Pink

We are only about 6 weeks away from Coral Pink. Individual site reservations are still available for the Coral Pink trip. We will be at the park from July 8th through the 17th. You can reserve your space online at: stateparks.utah.gov

Steve and Janice’s Grandson

Steve and Janice Tharp’s grandson Sawyer has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Read more about his courageous fight on page 4.

THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association

The Rooster June 2015

I mentioned the people before discussing most of the rides as all of the rides were very similar and outstanding. We made two rides a day with the morning ride departing at approximately 8 o'clock and the afternoon ride departing shortly after 4 and all of the rides lasted about three hours. There were only two or three other much smaller groups in all of Dumont. The rides were all very fast with maximum speeds exceeding 70 miles an hour and

the only tracks we noticed were ours, and there were a lot of those. The rides were all approximately three hours long and intense enough each car used 5-7 gallons of gas per ride! Outstanding!

As always there were a few bumps in the road. The first occurred five minutes into Friday morning's ride when John sheared the bolts on his axle. In 10minutes we were back duning. On the Friday afternoon ride Kevin's car begin to overheat. We took a break during which John was raving about his wing mounted radiator. Sure enough, before we got back to camp John's car overheated due to an intermittent fan connection. On Saturday morning's ride Kevin's car overheated and John suggested that he could take a fan off the beautiful motorhome that he brought. After the ride, Kevin took the fan off the motorhome's AC

�2

Upcoming Events

• July 6-8 Mesquite, NV on the way to Coral Pink

• July 8-17 Coral Pink! This year we’ll be at the park from Wednesday through the following Friday.

• July 17: Night in Mesquite, NV on the way home.

!

JuneS M T W T F S0 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 0 0 0 0

July, 2015S M T W T F S0 0 0 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31 0

The Rooster June 2015

condenser and he and PJ wire tied it onto his radiator. It worked fine on the afternoon ride, the coolest it's run in years according to Kevin. Also on the Saturday morning ride PJ got on the radio and frantically told me to stop as I'd lost a radiator hose. I stopped and sure enough the main radiator hose had come loose. As we attempted to install it we found that a rubber bushing was missing so we retraced our path and found the bushing. It was badly swollen and not serviceable. Someone suggested that rescue tape might work and I mentioned I had some in my car so we used the silicone rescue tape to make the bushing and it's still in my car and working flawlessly.

On Sunday morning's ride we were moving along at a high rate of speed and someone announced that Kevin had lost a wheel. Sure enough, he turned it into a John Cole three wheeler and drove it back to camp while the rest of us continued on the ride.

P.J. Melissa and Allie had to leave after the morning ride and John. Steve Sturm, Barry, Walt, and I followed them to the Mad Greek where we had our traditional lunch together.

During the Sunday afternoon ride John reported that his car broke and we found that it had lost the right rear axle. Barry towed John back to camp, and we assumed John would do a temporary repair just to load the car. During that repair John had a revelation and figured that he could

make a more permanent repair. He did and was able to make the Monday morning ride.

As we left on the morning ride there was only one other camp at Dumont. Part way into the ride a quad and a two wheeler begin to attempt to follow us. We were having a great ride when Barry heard a noise from the right front of his car and requested that we stop. We looked at the car and found that the right front shock absorber had broken. While we were taking our break, the quad and the two wheeler came up and introduced themselves. We found they were a father and son from Piñon Hills, just a few miles from John's house in Phelan. They commented on the fast pace of our ride. Barry figured that his car was through for the trip and went back to camp while the rest of us continued to ride. Walt soon reported that his car was broken and he thought it was the transmission. We were all relieved when I saw that as he put it in gear, the output flange of the transmission was turning and the wheel was not, meaning that either an axle or CV had broken, either one a much less expensive repair then the transmission. John towed

�3

The Rooster June 2015

him back to camp. Back in camp we all loaded up and were ready to go within five minutes of one another. Not wanting the trip to end, we decided to extend it a bit by again having lunch together at the Mad Greek in Baker.

We have had some great Dumont trips in the past, including one where PJ and Melissa reconnected and became boyfriend and girlfriend, the flare gun race that we convinced Barry he was the only one who participated, and several Thanksgivings. But as I mentioned in my title for this article, this was one of the best ever. Excellent rides, a good sized camp of great people, little wind, and only mildly hot afternoons, all combined to make this one memorable.

!Sawyer’s Cancer by Steve Tharp

I've had numerous friends ask me "what's going on with your Grandson" so I guess it's time to explain a bit. I've been so fixated on his situation that I guess I didn't realize that the whole world wasn't aware. On April 26th, my daughter Kelly's youngest son Sawyer, age 8, was diagnosed with an intussusception caused by a "mass" on his intestine. Later it was determined that the mass was cancerous and that there were several other nodules in his abdomen. The next day Sawyer spent 6 hours in surgery at Kaiser where they removed as much of the mass as possible, cut out a section of his intestine, created a stoma and placed an ileostomy, drilled into his hips to check his bone marrow, and added a chemo port (central line) to his chest. Sawyer was moved to the ICU for the first week and then back to pediatrics for the next two weeks . . . then around May 22nd, he should finally be able to go home. They have said that his chemo will be one week in the hospital, 2 weeks at home, all summer until mid-September. The biopsy indicated stage 3 or 4 of Burkitt's Lymphoma. Once Sawyer's in remission he will have another surgery to reattach his intestine to his colon and remove the ileostomy. The Oncologist ordered a PetScan & the results were not good. The cancer has spread all over his abdomen and on (or in) his ribs. The good news is that while Burkitt's Lymphoma grows fast, it dies fast too! Sawyer's got this! Sawyer had his 1st spinal tap and had some spinal fluid removed. His Burtkitt's Lymphoma is pretty rare, only 6 cases in Northern California last year and he did qualify for a study/trial which he will participate in. He also had several vials of blood drawn . . . and I mean SEVERAL!!!! So many that he had to have a transfusion to avoid anemia. We've been told that through this process, he will have several. Sawyer is AB+ so blood has to be ordered because it's not so common. We also found out he has a lot of fluid surrounding his lungs, of course it's positive for cancer, so as we begin chemo, that will get better too.

�4

The Rooster June 2015

Sawyer had another spinal tap & the ostomy nurse taught Kelly & Erin how to care for his bag . . . again, he'll have it until the cancer is gone and then it will be removed when he has surgery to reattach his colon. (Estimated mid/late September) He was moved to the Pediatric ICU to begin chemo. He stayed there for several days and then was moved back to Pediatrics, where he is now, for 2 weeks. After that he'll head home to start his chemo plan which is one week in the hospital (to receive chemo) and two weeks at home and that will continue through the summer and ending mid-September. Sawyer started chemo & did awesome! The nurse administered the "medicines" via injections and IV into his central line. This kid is one tough cookie. He reminds me of my mom, Mary Lee Tharp. Never complains. Always tries to put on a smile or even laugh in the most extraordinarily painful situations. He makes me feel like a whining sissy. They call us Sawyer's Warriors but he is definitely the Commandant. What a trooper! So, long story short, Sawyer is going to be just fine and this time next year he'll be well on his way to being a little boy again but he'll have some serious stories to tell. He's already a chick magnet so those scars will only enhance his dreamy eyes. That said, I don't know where my sweet Kelly is drawing the incredible strength she is showing through all of this but she is the epitome of the Mama Bear doing what is best for her babies. I know that she and Erin "lean" on each other and together cancer doesn't stand a chance. Hang tough, girls. You got this! If you'd like to stay on top of Sawyer's status, go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sawyerswarriors2015/journal. If you'd like to help financially with what will be a huge, life changing event for Kelly, contact her or me personally or, if you prefer, go to http://www.gofundme.com/72147s. They're going to need a lot of help to get through this. -Steve

Note: Steve e-mailed this to the group and agreed with me posting it in the newsletter. It would be great if we could each help out in any way possible as Steve’s family deals with this unimaginably difficult situation. Let’s help out however we can and keep them all in our thoughts and prayers. - P.J.

�5

This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle for writing an article about the Dumont trip, and Steve Tharp for keeping us all updated with his grandson’s status. We’d also like to thank everyone who joined in to make this a great dune season. Many of us are really looking forward to going to Dumont again, since that riding was really unbelievable. We’re also looking forward to summer trips to the river and of course Coral Pink. We are hoping to hear what everyone is up to during the summer so that we have interesting content for the newsletter all year long. Next month’s newsletter will be the annual Coral Pink preview edition, as we get ready for one of the biggest and best trips of the year. We hope many of you can join in on the fun. -Paul, Melissa, and Allie.