Ventura County Back Country Adventure

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5150bossman
Posts: 607
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 5:00 am
Location: So Cal

Ventura County Back Country Adventure

Post by 5150bossman »

The run turned out to be exactly as advertised. We had a great time, even if things didn't go quite as planned. We initially planned on driving ` the buggy to Ojai, but I ended up working late, and Mel suggested that we flat tow (as it was cool and drizzly, that was fine by me). Took a little extra time to set up, but was better in the end. When we got to Ojai, we had to change locations for breakfast as the Ojai Deer Lodge wait staff didn't show up when the restaurant was suppose to open. So a bit of a late start out of the gate. We started up Maricopa Highway and the sun soon came out and the temps warmed nicely. We made it to the shooting location, and had a great time. One challenge was to attempt to hit a golf ball at about 15 yards. I think Dale was the only one that ever even winged it (it wobbled a tiny bit, or was that just a gust of wind?), but no one ever really hit it. We had lunch under a tree, and celebrated Anita's birthday with a cupcake cake that Paul snuck into the buggy. Now it was time to find some dirt to play in. As we were driving down Lockwood Valley Road about 15 miles from the 5 freeway at Frazier Park (The Grapevine!), Steve's buggy suddenly made a pop noise and quit. We tried to diagnose several possibilities, but when he popped off a valve cover and cranked the motor, none of the valve train moved…. Ouch! Every one stood by as we waited for tow to arrive. Fortunately, Steve and Sandy had AAA with a 200 mile limit. As we were waiting, I noticed this 60 or 70 foot sail boat just sitting off to the side of the road. That was quite the odd site 4000' above sea level with no lake in sight… Once the tow truck took them off, we continued on our adventures. We were able to get into the dirt for a little while, but as it was now 4 PM, and we were still 50 miles from home, we decided to call it a day. On the way back, our motor quit for a bit, but as we were descending a 4000' grade, it eventually re-fired and we made it back without any other problems (other than temporarily losing a cap or two in the cross wind…). Once we got back to Ojai, Richard said that he thought his transaxle was going out. A quick check and it looks like the front mount on the nose cone is probably broken. Better that than the trans itself! Most of us ended up at a Mexican restaurant in Santa Paula where we continued our frivolities until we closed the restaurant out for the evening! All in all a great day. ThanksConnie and Lynn for putting this together.
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Buggy-Crazy
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2012 5:00 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Ventura County Back Country Adventure

Post by Buggy-Crazy »

I'm new to the Manx Club forum and wanted to know if there are any Manx Club members in the Lompoc, Buellton, Solvang area.
Thanks, Mike member # 3974
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5150bossman
Posts: 607
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 5:00 am
Location: So Cal

Ventura County Back Country Adventure

Post by 5150bossman »

Welcome Mike! While I don't know if there are any other actual club members in your area, one of the So Cal sub-groups went on a run this past spring in the area and did run across a couple of buggies with very helpful owners there (were you one of them?). The MC will be up in the area around April 12 next year for an official MC run, so you should join us! In the mean time, we are all here to lend a hand with whatever questions you might have. Just post a pic and let us know what you need.
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