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4th Annual DML BBQ and TrailRide
Friday and Saturday July 5-6, 2002

Forestville, NY

Report by: "Terrible Tom"
Photos by: Andy Levy, Jon Steiger
Video Footage by: Dakota Dodge, Jon Steiger, Jason Bleazard, Neil Bellenger


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    The year of 2002 will definitely stand out as a highlight in DML history.  While this was only the 2nd summer in existence for the now infamous Mud Pit, it was the first year the BBQ saw wide spread carnage.  In this short time The Pit has taken on a personality all of its own.  It has become a living creature with a bad attitude.  However, with all the attention being cast on The Pit and its hunger for truck parts... we must not overlook another DMLBBQ milestone from 2002.  With previous attempts at climbing the lower water having failed, this year was the year. Two Jeeps and two Dodge Dakotas successfully climbed the slick waterfall.  Credit is due, where credit is due.  The first two 4x4's up the waterfall were Jeeps, not Dakotas :-)

        The 4th Annual DML BBQ was my first visit to the event.  I had watched the previous BBQs on the live web cast and spent countless nights reading the meet reports and plotting for the day when I would run the gauntlet.   When the date for the 4th Annual BBQ was posted - I knew I had to make the pilgrimage that July.  Plans were made and I set out Thursday July 4th and made my way up to Windsor, Canada where I met the one and only... Adam Blaster.

        Now I must say my first impressions of Windsor were not great.  My encounter with a Canadian telephone was not so thrilling.  Having planned my trip perfectly...I neglected to bring any Canadian money with me (Doh!) No big deal - I'll use my calling card. But... I could not for the life of me, figure outthe stupid pay phone!  I figured this was a practical joke on the dumb American so I  stopped and looked around for the crowd of Windsor locals pointing and laughing at the Yankee idiot. There was no one pointing and laughing however.  I located another phone at which point I determined the first phone was out of order. Adam arrived a few minutes later and was kind enough to pop for lunch.

        With our convoy of two, we trucked on to Jon's place, yacking all the way on the FRS radios.I was having oil pressure problems along the way - at one point the pressure fell to zero. We pulled over and found nothing visually wrong. It was later determined that the oil pressure switch and connector were faulty. I still have not replaced them.
       
        We arrived around midnight to find Dakota, Ed and Jon at the barn. Jason and Norah couldn't make it until Saturday morning because Jason had to work Friday. Handshakes and hello's ensued, followed by examinations of each others trucks highlighted by Dakota's demonstration of every strobe and warning light installed on his Dak.  Impressive!  Shortly after, everyone turned in for the night looking forward to the next two days.


Dodge Attendees
Name Vehicle E-Mail Address
Neil Bellenger '98 Dakota Sport CC V8 4x4 neil624b@rochester.rr.com
Jason & Cameron Yates '98 Dakota Sport CC V8 4x4 onebad4x4dak@yahoo.com
Jason & Norah Bleazard '01 Dakota Sport QC V8 4x4 jbleazard@sympatico.ca
The Adam Blaster '00 Dakota SLT  CC  V8 4x4
 adam_is_mr_plow@hotmail.com
Dakota Dodge '98 Dakota Sport CC V8 4x4 dakotasdodge@hotmail.com
Terrible Tom '89 Dakota RC V6 4x4 SilverEightynine@earthlink.net
Andy Levy '99 Dakota Sport CC V8 4x4 andylevy@yahoo.com
Ed McCarrick '00 Dakota Sport QC V8 4x4 Edward.McCarrick@fredonia.edu
Jon Steiger '92 Ram W150 RC V8 4x4
'96 Dakota CC V8 4x2		 jon@jonsteiger.com


S.C.O.R.E Attendees
(Salt City Off Road Enthusiasts)
Name Vehicle
Mary & Richard Ayre
 Black YJ (Who needs roads?)
Paul, Christopher & Nathan Ayre
 48 Willys & Ford F-150 FX4
Patty Ryan
 Dark Green Wranger (Tweety Twuck)
Bob Fetter
 White Wrangler
Don Metrick
 Teal Wrangler
Rob Quonce
 Red Wrangler   (The Axle Snapper)
Chris Quonce
 Blue Cherokee
Chris Graf
 Purple Cherokee
Scott & Amy Bollinger
 Tan Wrangler (snorkle Jeep)


The report has been broken down into individual pages, giving a day by day account. The way each page is set up, there will be a segment of text describing details of the day, followed by a bunch of pictures.

The map to the right shows the layout of the area and the trails. 




The Carnage List

An itemized list of all the parts breakage related to The Pit



 Friday  7-5-02 Saturday   7-6-02




2002 BBQ Home 2002 BBQ Videos