February Trailride

The Ocala Jeep Club of Florida

The weekend of February 18th, 2006, was a busy weekend. Jeepers Jeep show in Port St Lucie, trail ride in Ocala National Forest, a street rod show here in The Villages with over 300 cars and of course the Daytona 500. But hey, everybody has their interests and that is okay.

For those that didn't want to make the 3 hour trek down to the Port St Lucie for the Jeepers Jeep show, or head to a crowded mall, or fight the weekend traffic crowds of Daytona, the Ocala Jeep Club provided a very peaceful trail ride.

We met at 9:30 AM at Big Scrub. By 10 AM everybody was unloaded and heading out. There were 7 Jeeps total, which made for a very manageable ride. This ride turned out to be a unique ride as it had several trail leaders.

The first part of the ride had Steve Tyler leading. We made our way over to Blue Sink as a couple of people had not been there or it had been quite a while since others had. We all noticed a lot of clear cutting had been done in various areas. It is interesting that the Forest Service allows hundreds of acres to be totally destroyed, making it void of any habitat or food. Yet, we are to blame for the destruction of the forest by staying on designated sand trails. My personal opinion is that those birds the Forest Service claims we are running into with our Jeeps are really running into the sides of our Jeeps as they flee the destruction of their habitat and they are weak from trying to find where their homes and food went.

After Blue Sink we wandered (and I do mean wandered) about the forest until lunch time. A few little mud holes were the only obstacles we encountered. We then made our way over to Doe Lake and gathered at the boat ramp, on the opposite side of the lake from the camp ground for lunch. Very nice setting under the trees, next to the lake.

After lunch the trail ride was to become uniquely different. A trail ride like no other OJC trail ride I am sure. No one got stuck, no hiking involved, didn't cover a whole lot of ground, no water crossings. Lynda and Debby suggested they lead the ride. The group agreed. So Lynda and Debby got in my Rubicon and I went with Steve Tyler. As they pondered the forest map, Steve got on the radio and suggested they lead us to Lake Catherine. Sounds reasonable, right? They took us to Lake Catherine VIA "Rainbow Blvd", I swore I stepped back to the 60's!!! We all saw Moses, honest he was walking right down the trail. Hooded robe, tall cane, yeah it was him!! Peace, love and happiness. After a few good laughs we headed back to Big Scrub.

Since several had come down from the Jacksonville area and Ormond Beach they started heading back. I then suggested a trip around the bombing range. We were joined by Steve & Debby and new members Tom & Lynda. This was Tom & Lynda's first trail ride with the club. They had heard of the bombing range but had never been there. So I became the third trail leader of the day. We now have witnesses to Steve actually getting his "great white" covered in mud. He hit a couple of holes on the west side of the range. Only one became a little challenging for him.

All in all a great day, weather was beautiful and for a 3 day weekend very little traffic out there. New members Tom & Lynda thanked everyone for a great time and they are looking forward to more trail rides.