JUGFEST2010

APRIL 28th until MAY 5th ( come earlier or stay later )

It’s our annual gathering of friends and family at Kirby Landing Campground, Lake Greeson, Arkansas. Located just off of US Hwy 70 between Daisy and Kirby Arkansas. Which is South West of Hot Springs.

New construction to add sewer and water to some of the camp sights may cause some or all of us to have to relocate from last year’s campsites.

Full Moon ( when the bait fish spawn ) is on the 28th of April

The main focus of the annual gathering is on Jug Fishing with lots of fish fry’s and pot luck meals around the campfire.  Domino matches optional.

Since Betty and I live closer than others, we will bring our boat, complete outdoors camp kitchen, lots of firewood and all of the necessary large pots, pans and fish cookers, complete with propane.

Steve & Tali have volunteered to bring 5 gallons of cooking oil for the fish fry’s.

Maybe there are those that could volunteer to bring other items such as:

Cole Slaw Mix

Frozen Hush puppies

Frozen french fries

Paper Plates

Napkins

Plastic silverware

I have probably forgotten something on this list ! Please call Betty at 479.216.2504 if you would like more input on special diets, ect.

Please call me at 479.243.5450 if I can help with questions about jugfest2010.

ALL OF THE SUGGESTED LIST OF VOLUNTEER ITEMS ARE AVAILABLE AT LOCAL STORES SINCE SPACE IS LIMITED IN OUR TRAILERS.

In the past some have chipped in to help with boat gas and we really appreciate that. I guess we could figure that out around the campfire one evening.

This is the first year that we have had this small bit of planning for Jugfest. However, last year,  we had enough folks that came and went as their schedules would permit, that  hopefully this small bit of organization will facilitate their enjoyment of  this years gathering.   We hope this kind of loosely organized effort won’t distract from the normally laid back environment.

In the past we have deliberately had no list of attendees, agenda of any sort, scheduled meal times or menus. All daily planning seems to just naturally happen around the campfire the evening before.

In the event of weather, domino matches or plain old fatigue, we usually monitor the FRS radio channel 7, for cool stuff like, “ Hey, Fran, any chance you can bring a few eggs to the campfire this morning ?”

“I am about out of eggs, maybe we could have pancakes ready for when the boat gets back in ?”

Or maybe something like, “ Hey ! You sleepy heads, the boat leaves in ten minutes to go pick up the jugs ! “

We always look forward to meeting first time jugfesters, (oh geeze is that a real word ? Sounds like a oozing sore that has had the scab knocked off ) and hope there are some that have considered it, but haven’t made it yet, that we will get to meet this year.

We will be fishing and if you don’t have a license, they are inexpensive and readily available at local stores. I am so ancient that I have the permanent license, so maybe someone will post current costs ?

There is a thread of conversation at:

http://www.oliverforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1105

It is located in the campfire section if you would like to see photos and read more about how we roll at jugfest.

SALT

The salt air during our beach stay for the Winter had little effect on our Oliver. However it was easy for even the un trained eye to tell which of the hardware fittings were really stainless and which were merely chrome plated.

Here is a look at the curbside outside light. Obviously it is stainless.

 

Here is a look at our wheel hub covers and lug nuts after weeks at the beach. Obviously they are chrome .

But there is good news. They readily clean up with just a little Auto wash that has carnuba wax in it. Here is a after photo.

Here is a look at the wash and the scouring pad that I used.

After a light scrubbing, the rust was gone. I then took the full strength auto wash and applied it to the hub and lug nuts, let it sit for a couple of minutes then rinsed with tap water.

By the time we meet up with folks at Jugfest 2010 we will know how well it holds up.

He, he, you know I “borrowed” the scouring pad from Betty’s Country Kitchen.

And used the bathroom sink as a work area. The project seems to have went ok, but I am wondering about that “tight lipped” expression she is wearing this afternoon.

BRAKES

During our bearing inspection, we took the time to take a good look at our brake shoes and 12 volt solenoid coils. Here is the way it looked with the hub removed.

A check of the brake drum showed the wear to be consistent with our towed miles. I was a bit worried about excessive brake shoe wear and heat damage to the brake drums because we had the brakes hotter than I like for them to get, while coming off of La Manga Pass in Colorado. La Manga Pass is a three thousand feet drop in five miles.

Cleaning and repacking the bearings was the next thing on our list.

After cleaning the spindle, I flushed the ez lube zerk and grease channel with fresh grease before reassembling the repacked bearings.

BEARINGS

As we are about to embark on another year of travels, I decided to do a little planned maintenance. Using our 12 volt impact and the Oliver’s built in 12 volt jacks, it wasn’t long before Ollie looked like this.

Here is a very short video of the impact wrench spinning off the last lug nut.

 

Here is a look at the brake drum/hub just before removing it to inspect the wheel bearings.

Here is a quick video overview with the wheels off, just before removing the brake drums to inspect the brake pads.

JUGFEST2009

As is normal for a Ouachita Mountaineer, after a long Winter and warmer weather begins to give us a peek every now and again, our thoughts turn to fishing. Now, for us that doesn’t mean sittin’ on the bank with a cane pole while snoozin’.

It means campfires, friends, dominoes, fish frys, potluck, afternoon naps in the warm sunshine, and catfish. Lots of catfish !

Dreams of a fish that is large enough to take a gallon jug under the water at will, and tow it down the lake fast enough that the trolling motor can’t keep up, all the while the jug is making a wake of it’s own. Now, Son, that’s fishin’ !

Retelling stories of the catfish that was large enough that it tore through the bottom of the net.

Yes, it is that time of the year again. Let’s review some old scenes together:

OOPZ ! That ain’t one, but it is a start in the right direction.

Jugfest2009 last Morning

Oh, yeah, that’s a good one all right, but we’re lookin’ for some fish ! BIG Fish !

Jugfest 2009 attendee Al, weighs a fifty plus pounder. That’s what we need !

Woo Hoo ! Now were’ a’ talkin’ !

In this photo the camp is all taken down, friends & kin all left. Sadly, we are kind of dragging our feet about leaving, hating it that the good times are over and our friends have scattered. Some to home, or work, some down in Texas to the Blue Bonnet Rally. But, on the other hand, we are about to embark on a year long adventure of workamping and sightseeing, covering thousands of miles.

STUFF

I know ya’ have been a’ wonderin’ ! About all of that stuff. You know what i’m a’ talkin’ bout’. All of that stuff stacked on the Jeep roof. Wonderful stuff, that we hauled back to Arkansas from the Padre Island Beach.

We made daily forays, way off, many miles down the shoreline of the Gulf Of Mexico, searching, searching, ever so diligently searching, for unusual and wonderful beach trophies. It was the focus of many whiled away days, of beach combing during our Winter’s stay on Padre Island.

Piled high on our Jeeps Expedition Rack, they stuck out like a sore thumb, garnering covetous glances from even the most jaded beach dwellers. The stuff’s journey has ended. It will slowly photo degrade into obscurity as passing mountaineers on their way to deer camp, expel a stream of Beach Nut chewing tobacco out of the window, all the while wondering, just what that mountainborn has drug up this time.

As you can see in the photos, there aren’t hardly any neighbors to offend with our redneck presentation of beach trophies. About all there is along our very rural dirt road is the mail carrier and the neighbors across the hollow from us. Here is a look:

MEDAL

It isn’t just every day that you get to sit down to eat lunch where a CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR recipient has been. After a good morning of geocaching in Rosenberg Texas, we stopped into one of our favorites in the area, Bob’s Taco Station.

Founded in 1883, Rosenberg is indeed a cool place.This nifty fountain had an associated geocache with it. After a long day of geocaching, geodogs Dillon and Poco were plumb tuckered out.