The Adventures of Princess:Of the Mud Part III

Our very first off-roading excursion. The trip to Windrock at Oliver Springs, Tennessee.



                                                                       

                                                                                                   

For a few weeks prior to our first off-roading adventure, Mike had been teaching me the basics of off-roading on his trails all around his 26 acre property.  Princess was just a mere stock Jeep yet she handled quite well. It was fun learning with my beloved friend and companion, Princess.

Just a few weeks before I bought Princess, Mike, Janice, myself and a good friend of theirs named Robert went to Windrock located in Oliver Springs, Tennessee.

Windrock is 73,000 acres of off-roading trails for ATV's, dirtbikes and 4x4 vehicles.

Mike had trailered Scuffy II, his made for off-roading XJ.


                                                                                                       

Janice and I took turns riding with Mike while the other rode with Robert in his Toyota Pick Up.

Just this adventure excited me enough to want my very own XJ and to learn something new.

I loved the adrenalin rush it gave me even though I was just a passenger.

Two weeks prior to our first off-road adventure, Mike, Janice, myself and my youngest son Hunter went to Windrock Campground to reserve space for our XJ group. Afterwards we headed to nearby Royal Blue, a place where I had the opportunity to learn a few moderate off-roading techniques.
                                             

Later, Mike admitted I nearly tipped his beloved XJ, White Jeep over. I felt really bad though I was glad it didn't happen.  My son Hunter had a blast the entire time. He had mud splashed all over his car seat which he didn't mind at all.

The most favorite part I had was driving White Jeep into these huge mud puddles several times nearly covering Janice one time as she was attempting to take a picture of me!

Going for the second time was exciting. Not only was I going to learn some true off-roading, I was going to meet many other people from our XJ list on Yahoo whom I would learn valuable information from.

We were camping at Windrock Campground for the weekend. I hadn't camped out in a couple of years so I was excited.

Mike and Janice had already went to Windrock Campground to set up.  I came up the following morning after getting my kids arrangements taken care of and them to school.

Later on that day more guys showed up and then we headed off to the trails.  I made it clear I wanted to be in the middle.

Mike told me that was the best place to be for the least experienced.  He also told me it was very important I watch the driver in front of me and when I needed help or was in doubt to not hesitate to ask.

One of the very first trails we went on was trail #39.  Little did I know what I was getting  in to.
                                                                                                 





                                                                                                         

Mike was the leader and was attempting to get up a hill that obviously had been worn out by many other trail goers. He struggled but after a few attempts he made it up.  I attempted it a few times before giving up for awhile.

After seeing the other guys struggle just as much, I wasn't sure if Princess the only complete stock Jeep with the group would make it.

A few more times I was still struggling. I was concerned the guys would give up on me. But they didn't.  I remembered Mike telling me to watch and listen to the other guys as they would help me get through things.

I got to one section on the hill and couldn't go any further.

It was just myself and Robert left to get up the hill.

I stopped, watched and listened to the guys as they step by step guided me. Gradually Princess creeped up a little more, struggled, creeped a little more and finally, she made it!

Everyone was hooting and hollering for me, the only female with a completely stock Jeep who made it up a very difficult hill!



                                                                       

I was so very proud of myself at that moment.

As we continued on the trail I discovered I had put my very first dent on Princess. No, I wasn't crying about it. I was celebrating! After all, it's off roading.

I had sometime later put a nice dent underneath the back driver's side window which come very close to popping the window out.  Oh well again.

One of the scariest times for me was along the trail as I was going over a hump Princess got wedged.  She was straddling a hidden rock on the cross member. The guys were concerned it would get ripped off causing damage. It seemed like eternity but the guys managed to get Princess off the rock safely even though she had dents in her cross member.

The following day (Saturday) we left early and headed to what was supposed to be a moderate trail #16.  This was a trail that Mike, Janice, Robert and I had been on that August.

This time we had another amateur join the group. One of the XJ list guys had invited a neighbor of his who had just bought his teenage son a TJ (Wrangler). I ended up behind them yet we were both in the middle.

For some reason the guys in front (Mike leading) stopped. Where I stopped was pure mud. I got stuck.  The TJ managed to pull me out once everyone in front moved up some.

What had happened was a challenge in the trail was coming up. For most of the people in front including Mike was that you had to back up and make a run for the top. It took everyone in front of me twice to three times to make it up the hill.

Then it was my turn. My inner voice was telling me to just go for it that it doesn't matter what happens (actually it was a little more vulgar I just cannot repeat it).

I actually made it on the first try and I was ecstatic!  I ended up putting some of the most experienced guys to shame and I was proud of it.

Sometime later I discovered I had busted out the parking lamp cover on the passenger side. I quickly looked it over and knew once we got home Mike would fix it.

Our next trail I don't recall the trail # but it was just as challenging without all the straight up hills.  This time Mike and Janice's oldest son Scott joined us with his beloved Wagoneer.

Some of the things I really, really wanted to do was get muddy and go through some nice big water puddles.

That's exactly what I did. Only I slightly paid the price for doing so.

We got to a nice water puddle section where you had the "mama" size and the "baby" size. Of course, I wanted to go the "mama" route.

Instead of taking it in stride I dove Princess right in. A little while up the trail, Princess began spuddering. We had stopped to get everyone gathered together for the next run so Mike and a few other guys looked and found nothing.  A short time later Princess just died.

One of the guys Matt, Mike, and Scott stopped to help.  It turns out I had nearly drowned Princess. Actually, I did drown her distributor cap. Since I have a toddler in diapers and always carry a few extras, Mike had me grab one to use and absorb the water.

A few minutes later we were back on the trail!

The following day as the rest of the group left, Mike, Janice and I headed to trail #22 which we had also been on in August.  It was nothing as I had remembered it.  Mike had me go in front half way through.  I came upon a "field" of nice big rocks along with onlookers. I was slightly nervous but I made it through.  Later on Mike told me some of the onlookers had this surprised look on their faces at me and my Jeep. Perhaps because I was a female and my Jeep was completely stock.

It was a fun adrenlin pushing trail. On the way back I had Mike let me follow.  For some reason I kept going in the wrong places hitting rocks.




On the way back home my passenger side mirror fell down. Wasn't necessarily because of the off-roading trip. A week before my kids had been roller blading outside and grabbed on to the Jeep for leverage. The mirror fell down and they went a hiding in fear of getting in trouble.

I did get a lot of looks on the interstate. Guess it was due to the fact Princess was drenched in mud on the way home. Thus her name, Princess:Of the Mud.

When I got home to pick up my kids I felt this strange bump in the floor board I hadn't felt before.  I looked down and to my horror I had put a huge dent in it! Oh well.