Sand Fleas Day at the Sand 1997

by Gil Meacham

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The Sand Fleas are a 4x4 club affiliated with the Pacific Northwest 4x4 Association. Each spring they hold an event at Sand Lake Off Road Vehicle Area , about 15 miles south of Tillamook on the Oregon coast. The event is called "A Day at the Sand". It is a combination of 4x4 driving, poker rally, raffle, and games that are family oriented.

The rally event involves driving around the sand dunes until you find a check point. You are supposed to visit each check point in order, with the exception of two "roving" check points that you can do whenever you find them. The driving around to find the check points is a challenge in itself. The Sand Fleas make sure you get lots of dunes driving between the check points. Each check point features some sort of game. This year, the check point games were:

Check point 1 involved tossing a hula hoop around a float that was about thirty feet out into Sand Lake. The toss is done by the passenger, who must be on the jeep. In this shot, Paige Huling is taking advantage of the (not quite) show quality paint on Matt O'Brien's Jeep by standing on the hood to toss the hoop. Meanwhile, Matt is tossing a dull dart into a spinning dart board covered with playing cards. The card he hits will go into his poker hand.

Check point 2 involved the passenger riding a stick horse through a slalom, then tossing a lasso over the head of a fake cow. Here Bill Berendes shows his style he learned growing up in the suburbs of Chicago.

Check point 3 involved the passenger hitting a soccer ball with a broom, while the driver drives around a course. This required a fair amount of coordination between the passenger and the driver to keep the ball within reach, but not under the jeep.

Check point 4 was a test of the driver and machine. It involved driving up a soft sand hill, then doing a curve across and back down the hill to a hairpin turn. After the turn, you go back up the hill, then return down to the finish line. Points were deducted for going off coarse, backing up, or not being able to make it up the hills. Several rigs had a tough time getting up the hills in the soft sand.

Check point 5 was a roving checkpoint. We caught them right next to check point 1. At check point 5 the passenger tosses lawn darts from the passenger seat into the standard lawn dart ring about 15 feet away. Here, Lori Christal tosses the second dart right into the center of the ring while her son, Cory, coaches her.

Check point 6 was very interesting. The driver puts on a set of welding goggles that is so black you can't see anything. Then the passenger talks you around a course. After doing this one, you can really appreciate the scene in "The Scent of a Woman". You get deductions for stopping or going off course.

Check point 7 is a giant teeter totter. The idea is to drive up the ramp until you get to the balance point, and balance on the stand. We watched about 16 rigs go over this one, and nobody was successful. In this picture, Roger Christal gives it a good try, but it just didn't quite happen. Some were *really* unsuccessful! From the rain on the lens, you can tell we are in Oregon!

Check point 8 was a roving check point. It tests the passenger's ability to build a paper airplane and accurately fly it. The idea is to build a plane, then fly it into a 5 gallon bucket from the passenger seat. With the sea breeze freshening, this was one of the more difficult check to be successful at.

The "Day at the Sand" was an enjoyable change from rock crawling and mud bogging. The events were obviously set up to help keep the passengers entertained and amused more than the usual trail run. The Sand Fleas put a lot of effort into this event. Their were trophies for the most points, the best poker hand, and the furthest travel to the event. Matt O'Brien from our own Oregon Bushhackers won the traveller award, for coming from Virginia! (Good thing you didn't get the Oregon plates on your jeep yet, Matt!) The prizes at the raffle were impressive. They had a Warn 9000i winch, an ARB portable compressor, Dunlop tires, Bushwacker flares, and lots of hats from the vendors. One lucky guy won both the winch and the compressor! Of course, he had about 200 raffle tickets, too!

Happy Trails!

Meach

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