Well Manmping '06 was a success.

Did more off roading than I thoughtums. But hey, if you can't take a 5" lifted top heavy SUV out down some steep off camber rutted out trails, you don't deserve the nice comfy lumbar seats, 8 speaker sound system, and ABS it comes with. But still the chickies do not flock though :cry:

Anyway, like I said, our very manly, very hetro camping trip was better than I thought. Had a little bit of everything. The wheeling, tentless camping, fire playing, mine exploring, green and yellow pretty trees- I mean, axe weilding, stick carving, bat dodging, and man hiking was great.

The Mantestants this trip were Jared, Jonathan, Steve, and I.

Good thing I stole a pair of Chris's waiters b/c the mines were all knee deep flooded in parts. Now, it would have been nice if they hadn't been sitting folded up and dry rotting in a hot metal shed for 2 Arizona summers, so they would have been, how do you say... not full of water by the time we took our second or third step and then made echoey farting noises most steps after, but oh well.

I won't tell you about all the man parts, so others can get a word in, but it really went well.

I was impressed with the Xterra, even though it was crazy tippy on the down slopes. Rear flex = good. Front flex = N/A. Better to go up hill, so gassing (while double pedaling) could sling you through the "why is the passenger side OS handle a death grip in my hand if I'm in the driver seat?" spots. Jared's Jeep did what Jared's Jeep does and made it look easy as he took any line he pretty much wanted.

Anyway, talk amongst yourselves. What pics did you like?

Thanks guys for the bond time and the fun.

And now I will steal this time to post some of my favorite pics. Wonder what they're of :?:

sweet sweet sweet!!!! I like the Third picture. looked like fun.

Of course these are great pics too:





I really like this calendar worthy shot of J's Jeep too

what a pretty view. You guys went in that mine right?

Not sure why it is that the old, fat guy has to be the one to run ahead on every trail to capture as many cool 4x4 pix as possible - probably because I know nothing about actually driving a vehicle off the paved road, which begs the question, dear God, why was I the spotter for much of the time? I guess just to have someone to blame in the event of an unfortunate accident. I guess if that's my role, I'll gladly take it for the opportunity to be a part of Manping.

Pictures really never do a trip justice, but they are a small indication of how awsome it was.

AZsteve-o wrote:Not sure why it is that the old, fat guy has to be the one to run ahead on every trail to capture as many cool 4x4 pix as possible - probably because I know nothing about actually driving...

...Or running apparently :lol:

And yes of course we did go in every mine we could find with the GPS.

Great scenic picturess.... with two cool vehicles in the foreground! It sure was a super blue sky day and super yellowy-green tree/plant trail!

Maybe one day the girls can take a womamping trip. hehe Glad to hear y'all had fun!!!

I think the women should go on a womamping trip. Our trip was a great one. Just the guys hanging out in the middle of nowhere, rain, hail, mines, off roading, and just guys being guys. Mike did scare me a little with his "bonding" ethics, but I just think he was excited about takeing his newly improved X on its first real trip.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was spotting for Mike. We both got a little taste of what the other goes through when we go on our 4 wheeling trips. For once i got to tell him he was doing good and he responeded the exact same way I do, " are you sure it feels really tippy".

Both Mike and his X did a great job and I sure hope we dont have to wait too long to go on our next manmping trip.

Here are a few of my favorite pics

:roll: For some reason that last picture to me looks like you are totally petting an otter's side belly and back of its ear while he stands up on resting his front paws on your leg. If you look at Jonathan's face it looks as if he's saying "Dude no way! You're petting an otter!"

Then he would probably say, "Did you know that there was actually a band called Otter Magic, except that it's pronounced Hautere Mahshike, except that no one knows that anymore because they broke up shortly after their first self produced album, but then the bass player actually moved on and was one of the original Smashing Pumpkins when they were still called Banged-up Mellons. Steve Hashen from Blind Mellon was the actually the original bass player who invented the Backswelter effect originally used in Gish Caroline, later called Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness after their adopted tour bus dog died."

Cave otter that is.

I guess I didn't understand the rules of posting and that you're supposed to include your favorite pix. It's hard to post any better pictures than have already been posted. Obviously the scenery was incredible and the adventures were fantastic. I think everybody can see that by the pictures that have already been posted, but I'll share some of my favorite pictures of manping.

Nice.
I was worried that no one had captured that moment.


Now for a little Geocaching of our own.

What items did we leave here at coordinates:
33°57.12'N
111°27.10W

First of all Steve, what happens manmping stays manmping. How dare you show that pic to everyone. I promised I wouldnt tell your wife about a couple of things and how would you feel if I went and told her?

As for Mikes question, I believe we left the back seat to my Jeep, some very nasty poo and some vomit. The bad thing is the dogs decided to vomit and poo on the seat so we really just left the seat there.

Spshlj wrote:I believe we left the back seat to my Jeep, some very nasty poo and some vomit.

That is correct.

I mentioned J's otter friend but what about this guy?

That is one of the friends that Johnathan and I met in one of the caves but the albino bat is the one that was taunting us. He kept flying circles around the entrance of the cave when we were trying to get out. Every time he landed we would make a brake for it and he would cut us off and fly right at Johns head trying to back us up.

It was a very cool looking bat, his wings almost looked transparent with about a foot to a foot and a half wingspan. It still was kinda freaky though, where is the camera when you need it.

Not too bad of a shot. Cute little thing

yea their really cute when their charging at your head.