4x4 TRAILS & STORIES CAMP SYNCRO PHOTOS SYNCRONAUTS
Who participated in Syncro Safari, Sierras 2010?
At Syncro Safari, Sierras 2010 we had a terrific crew of adventure-seeking Syncronauts. Here’s who attended:
Sue Booth from San Diego, CA
Paul and Kristin Douglas from San Francisco, CA
Dan & Jing Fleming from National City, CA
Dave Jordan from Pleasant Hill, CA
Bill & Rags Langan from Carmel Valley, CA
Tom Neal from Granite Bay, CA
David Rodriguez from Oakland, CA
Ed Shaw and Bonnie Blanchard from San Luis Obispo, CA
Brian & Beth Smith with son Gregory (9) from San Diego, CA
Steve & Jo Ann Wacker from Grand Junction, CO
Jim & Deanne Davis from Hacienda Heights, CA with girl girls Teagen (13), Tehya (11) , and friend Kylie (12)
Sue Booth from San Diego, CA
Paul and Kristin Douglas from San Francisco, CA
Dan & Jing Fleming from National City, CA
Dave Jordan from Pleasant Hill, CA
Bill & Rags Langan from Carmel Valley, CA
Tom Neal from Granite Bay, CA
David Rodriguez from Oakland, CA
Ed Shaw and Bonnie Blanchard from San Luis Obispo, CA
Brian & Beth Smith with son Gregory (9) from San Diego, CA
Steve & Jo Ann Wacker from Grand Junction, CO
Jim & Deanne Davis from Hacienda Heights, CA with girl girls Teagen (13), Tehya (11) , and friend Kylie (12)
Sue Booth joined our trip for her 6th Syncro Safari adventure. Sue’s tied for the number 2 position in Safari attendance along with Steve & Jo Ann Wacker. Sue came in from a long trip from San Diego on Monday night after a bit of a late start in her Dove Blue 1990 Westy named SeaBus. SeaBus is really well taken care of and despite well over 200,000 miles it still has the original 2.1L Wasserboxer engine. Sue is a geologist and a skilled photographer who also enjoys composing music and videos. Sues is a veteran of two Alaskan road trips in Vanagons and many, many other trips. Sue’s previous Syncro Safaris were Colorado ’04, Death Valley ‘05, Tombstone ‘06, Moab ‘08, and Mount St. Helens ’09.
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Paul and Kristin Douglas made Sierras 2010 their very first group Syncro adventure and of course their first Syncro Safari. They live in San Francisco, CA and recently acquired their Titan Red 1987 Westy from the previous owner where it had been sitting for something like 10 years with 50K miles on it. Paul did the refurbishment work himself and now they have one sweet rig! They’re both used to driving much faster cars and are now getting accustomed to “seeing the world a a whole new pace” while driving the Synco. Kristin relayed that she was used to passing a strawberry stand before they noticed the sign, but not in their Syncro. Now they have time to not only see the sign, but examine the field, consider the parking options and go check their supply of strawberries before deciding if they should stop. A friend of Paul & Kirstin joined us at the campfire one night – see the rest of this story below in the David Rodriguez section…
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Dan and Socorro (Jing) Fleming joined our group Monday evening, travelling from San Diego. This was Dan’s 4th Safari and having first attended at Oregon 07. Jing made this her 3rd Safari, attending with Dan for Moab ’08 and Mount St. Helens ’09. Flemings have a couple Syncros and on this trip came with their gold 86 Westy equipped with a Subaru engine conversion. Dan always seems to have all the interesting and unique Syncro parts, so if you need a part for your Syncro, contact Dan.
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Dave Jordan made Sierras 2010 his first Syncro Safari and we hope we’ll see him at another. Bill’s 1991 silver Country Homes Camper has a custom interior equipped with a basement! Yes, he’s made an opening in the floor and a storage space accessible from just inside the sliding door. Now there’s some ingenuity! His is probably the fastest basement I know, motivated by his 2.2L Subaru engine. Unfortunately, Bill wasn’t feeling all that well and had to leave our group before the week was up.
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Bill Langan of Carmel Valley, CA was great fun to have on the trip with his terrific go-for-it attitude. He was accompanied by co-pilot Rags who helped navigate their custom green ‘89 Syncro with 2.2L Subaru engine. New for this year was the Country Homes pop-up and sunroof over the cab. Sierras 2010 made this Bill’s 3rd Safari with us having participated in Oregon ’07 and Moab ’08.
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Tom Neal made this his 2nd “half-Safari” adventure. We first got to meet Tom when he and wife Candy joined us for part of Syncro Safari, Mammoth 2000. Tom drove his silver ’87 hardtop with stock 2.1L wasserboxer from Granite Bay, CA, in the Sierra foothills a couple hundred miles north of this year’s Camp Syncro. Tom came for first part of week and had to leave on Wednesday after joining us for part of the Bald Mountain trail. Tom amazed us with some of his “low-tech” gadgets including a hand made solar oven and self-built folding kayak! I’ve got to make myself one of these cool kayaks!
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David Rodriguez joined our group on Wednesday evening taking the slot Tom Neal had filled for the first half of the week. David is an avid Syncronut from Oakland, CA and drives a 1986 Titan Red Syncro hardtop, named Ruby. Ruby has a 1.9L AAZ Turbo Diesel engine. David’s only 4WD trip with us was to Onion Springs on Friday and he shared an amazing Yellow watermelon with us all. Great tasting, but that color plays a weird trick on your mind.
So, want to know the rest of the story? Well, Douglas’ friend and David recognized each other – seems they might have dated at one time. What a small world! |
Ed Shaw & Bonnie Blanchard of San Luis Obispo, CA made this event their first Syncro Safari. Their White 1990 Westy got locking diffs front and rear before the trip and they got a chance to test hem out in the Sierras. Their Syncro is equipped with a 2.5 L GoWesty wasserboxer, a roof-mounted solar panel and lots of other niceties, a beautiful van! Ed is a veteran of the Huntington Lake area having been hiking, camping and backpacking numerous times. Bonnie was once into dune buggies, but after a long break is back to the off-road scene in a Syncro. Thanks for the great cookies Bonnie!
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Brian & Gregory (9) Smith joined us for their second Syncro Safari and it was great meeting Beth, this being her first Syncro Safari. The Smiths are from San Diego and their white 1987 Syncro Westy has all the comforts of home including a shower! By the way, Smith’s shower looked way-better than the ones we used at the nearby “resort” campground. Brian loves trips to Mexico in his Syncro which is still going strong with over 300K miles on his stock 2.1L engine. Gregory seemed to have a lot of fun, never slowing down for a minute, taking full advantage of all the mountains and a lake can offer an adventurous boy!
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Steve & Jo Ann Wacker from Grand Junction Colorado are tied for second place with Sue Booth in the “Most Safaris” race! They have been regular participants since the very first Safari way back in the 1900’s. We’ve enjoyed their company at Moab ’98, Mammoth 2000, Colorado ’04, Death Valley ’05, and Moab ’08 making Sierras 2010 their 6th Safari. Their blue 1986 Hardtop sported a 2.2L Subaru engine for this trip and Jo Ann dazzled us with terrific cookies! The Davis family enjoyed a horseback riding trip with them to the shores of Huntington Lake.
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Jim Davis wins the award for attending the most (10) Syncro Safaris! Yes, that’s me on the left with beautiful bride Deanne and our two great girls Tehya (11) and Helena (aka Teagen,13). While Deanne and girls made this their 3rd Safari, friend Kylie (12) (in the back) joined us for the first time. Sorry, the picture is sort of a "cheat" taken at home after the trip because we totally forgot to get a photo of our group during the trip! We’re from Hacienda Heights and drove our 1987 Olive Drab Syncro hardtop with little 27" tires and stock 2.1L engine.
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