September 8-10, 2000

(Trip Report by Todd Zuercher & Deano)

Son O' Beach 5 was a huge event put on at Sand Lake, Oregon by Max Wood and his crew, who comprise the Bronco nobility of that region. The site is fantastic, providing rolling sand dunes, a small puddle (reputed to be a lake at some other time) trees, ocean, and a beach you can actually drive on.

My wife Bonnie and I drove our 1973 Bronco round trip to SOB5 from Phoenix and had a ball doing it. The new Proto Fab roof rack and rear bumper Ice Chest rack made it possible, since we could pack our camping gear on the roof and have a big cooler with food and drinks on the back, leaving room for two weeks worth of clothes, etc. inside. We took one route to SOB 5 and fellow Arizonan Todd Zuercher took another.

Let's hear about the trip to SOB 5 from Todd's perspective:

Some may question why someone would want to drive an open-topped, 31 year-old vehicle, sporting nearly 270,000 miles, with no air conditioning or a radio, nearly 3000 miles. To paraphrase one of my dear friends, I must be one of the most care-free guys around, or I don't have a clue; probably a mixture of the two is most accurate. It's all part of the Bronco experience, I suppose.

(After reaching California and visiting some Bronco shops, etc.)...I headed north and west to downtown LA, to the Petersen automotive museum. I changed into casual dinner attire in the parking garage and then entered off-road racing nirvana. The event was a tribute to the Baja 1000. Approximately 1000 other off road racing enthusiasts were also on-hand for the special evening.

Parnelli Jones (dark blue coat) & Todd (light blue shirt)

A special treat for me was to sit down with Parnelli Jones for about 10-15 minutes and talk about old times. I also had the honor of meeting Dick Russell-the designer and builder of Big Oly.

Big Oly - Baja Legend

Big Oly - Front View

Off road racing has its heroes, but they're still approachable, and that's neat. Ivan Stewart will still call you and leave his home phone number on your answering machine-you won't find that in NASCAR or Indy car racing.

NOW, ON TO SOB 5!

A record 207 Early Broncos registered at the event!

The view out across the dunes toward the ocean

The array of great Broncos was unmatched!

Sand was thrown high and wide!

Max Wood's "Bounty Hunter"

Quinn Duesenberry plumbs the depths of Sand Lake

I spent quite some time talking to Robb Hopkin, the owner of this truck. It has a fantastic array of modifications and it is wheeled hard more often than my truck touches dirt. He calls it "Wildfire" and has even given it it's own web site. Check it out by clicking HERE!

Having a beach to drive and play games on was a GREAT feature of this location
	The weekend weather was beautiful when it needed to be, with a little rain when it didn't matter.
	A game was organized where one pass was made around a set of cones to place tennis balls on them, then a reversed pass to pick them up, this time with the passenger steering from the passenger seat.
	As the route got torn up, this became more difficult.
	Eventually it became a major feat to get around the track.
	Less organized fun was also afoot. Here, they're posing on a big drift log.
	Another View
	Roger Bell passes by.
	Here, Fred Fitzgerald's Unimog gets in on the salt water action
	It was also fun for those who just wanted to putt around and take pictures

THE RAFFLE

Thom Cheney (left) and Max Wood presided at Saturday evening's huge prize raffle

The anxious crowd gathers for the raffle!

Suzanne Duff drew the winning number and awarded a complete Duff suspension system to the lucky winner!

Raffle prize list goes on and on. A couple of lucky winners even got DeanoVision video tapes!

Among the many notable vendors who were there to support the event and the raffle was Jim Creel of Wild Horses with his 'Nightmare' truck

Also on hand was James Duff and the "Hi Ho Silver" Bronco

Local firefighters also raffled a .270 rifle to raise funds

The 'flatbed pot luck' was terrific, including some of the best cantalope and watermellon I've ever tasted

Random Shots
Wild Horses setting up a Catalog Pic
More fun on the climb out of Sand Lake
Lots of NICE rigs there!
Another nice one!
Wide open spaces
Sharp!
After the group picture
Another great one
The Arizona Contingent kicks back
An uncut cutie
Glee, my cousin's daughter, in good company

After dark the campfire near camp HQ was lit, or detonated, or something

The weird pyrotechnics coming out of the campfire confirmed that there really were suspicous looking wires coming out of the woodpile earlier in the day

At a gathering of Bronco Maniacs this huge you just know there are going to be some things you just don't see at home. Check out some of the wilder highlights:

Phil Moulton entered this Bronco in the Baja 1000 last year. He's looking for sponsors to do it again

Dog Racing, SOB Style! (see below)

Todd thinks this home-extended drag link is something you don't want to see at home.

Something doesn't look right here!

A "Dukes of Hazzard" inspired Bronco named "General Lien"

How about a Pinto Bodied Early Bronco?

Sadly, it was eventually time to leave SOB5. Bonnie and I took a leisurely drive across Oregon and down through Nevada to get home. Along the way we followed a power line road up a mountain and camped off to the side of the right-of-way one night.

Wolf Camp

In the morning, as we were headed down the power line road toward the highway, we ran across some power company guys inspecting the lines. They asked if we'd heard the wolves last night. Saying, "No", we asked them why. It seems that we were camped in some kind of special wolf habitat area!

The Northwest was a very refreshing place to be after leaving the sweltering heat of Arizona and Southern California.

The light didn't allow for a good photo, but I though it was funny that this outhouse alongside the highway in Nye County, Nevada had "Nevada Federal Building" written on the door in big black letters. Nye County has been at war with the federal government over land use issues for years.

Deano

That's about it for the Deano report, so lets end with Todd's trip home:

(After a great stay at SOB 5, Todd heads back to Phoenix.......) But first, a stop in Barstow, aka Barstool, to stop at Mecca- the Parker Bros. Towing facility on old Highway 58. You see, there's an old Bronco sitting at the Parker Bros. yard-been sitting there rotting away since 1980.

The "Barstow Bronco"

This is a special Bronco-commonly referred to as the "Barstow Bronco". This particular Bronco is Bronco #2-#2 of 8 prototypes delivered to Bill Stroppe & Son in 1966 to build into race trucks. This Bronco never had a VIN # on it until CA DMV assigned one a few years back. Myself, Andrew Norton, and others have been scheming for a few years now on how to get this truck and restore it to its former glory. $5000 in impound fees and it would be ours.

Interior of "Barstow Bronco"

However, I'm hit with some bad news......after 20 years the BFG's have some air in them because the truck has been sold. By now it's resting comfortably in LA, awaiting restoration. It was purchased by Matt Pike, son of famous early Bronco racer Gale Pike, whose own racing Bronco was seen at the 30th and can usually be seen at the Denny's restaurant in nearby Baker(home of the world's tallest thermometer). Oh well, at least it will be in good hands. Somewhat dejected, I buy some beef jerky and leave Barstow, headed east on I-40. A little over seven hours later, I'm home again in Phoenix. A fine trip indeed-SOB was great and I'll do it again-though maybe I'll take a truck and trailer next time. From my travels it appears that everyone else on the planet now drives a Super Duty.....maybe it's time for car payments again.

Todd Zuercher's much travelled 1969 5.0 SEFI Bronco