I'll do my best

 

First night was a great turn out trail rides are already going on. Good food, good fun, friends old and new. Pics to follow

 

Ok so my first MAR will not be my last. The location is amazing the views have to be seen to believed.

Day 1 I arrived Thursday late afternoon. Met up with some old friends, had a few laughs and got camp set up. Saw the first group of night runs heading out and hung out waiting for my friends to arrive instead. So met a bunch of new people while I was hanging out.

It never ceases to amaze me how you really need to know no one to be a part of a Rover event. Just walk over join a group and before long you will be talking and laughing like you have known each other your entire lives.

My friends arrived so I helped them get set up and than the beers were opened and we got caught up and slowly but surely we ended up with quite the group all brought together by a love a Rovers.

Day 2 Friday we had a great breakfast cooked up by Erik of Lucky8. He cooked up some kick butt breakfast burritos on the back of their mobile store. So stomachs full Brent (awesome D1 on 35's) Justin and Erik (RRS) and I went out to join a trail ride.

From what I understand MAR actually means Mud and Rain but this year it was dry so the trails have an entirely different character. The trails we toured were a great ride. Great views abound everywhere, the trails required you to pay attention due to some very tight fits, especially for the LR3 and RRS as they are a bit bigger girls than the older trucks width wise. (paying attention so not to damage my truck did limit my picture taking).

Day 3 was more of the same, great trails great friends and amazing views. We did find breakfast at a local place right down the road. I had a BLT with a fried egg and a bacon maple donut (bacon does make it better) That night was the raffle items and all the vendors were out with some great giveaways for the Rover community. It finally started to rain late Saturday.

Day 4 was pack up and roll home, for me. So we broke camp and hit the road. For once this was not a 15 hour epic voyage but a measly 5.5 hours so it was nice.

The LR3 while it has a few minor mods, performed way better than I expected. I don't have a E-locker in the rear so just a CDL and once you get used to using the terrain response system the LR3 makes off roading easy.

So would I go to MAR again? Damn straight it was a great time and David Short (President of ROAV) put on a fantastic event. Already looking forward to next year, but it's not just the venue that makes it great, the people truly make it what it is. The Rover community is just made of awesome folks that embrace the adventure that makes Rovers great.

Big thank you to all my friends new and old for making this trip one for the books. Justin Erik, Brent, Rick, Andy, Randy, Kevin Jonesy and a dozen others that make these events memorable.


Next weekend, off to URE 14 at Uwarrie National Forest, than Roves on the Rocks in November.