Post
by OLLIE » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:01 pm
Wow… Quite a thread to come back to… When reading all these posts I wanted to quote nearly all of them but I’ll save myself the hassle and just make my reply in general… First thing’s first though…
Larry,
I think it would be rather hilarious to watch you fold yourself in and out of a Honda Civic. It would be like watching Frogeye fold himself in and out of his Frogeye Sprite.
Now that that has been said…
For starters although DaveK and Larry have already touched on it I want to make it clear… Outdoor Adventure USA, LLC is NOT the Ollie-show. We need to get that clear for everyone. I just happen to be involved in the development/creation of this venture and hold a chair on the Board of Directors (BOD). On the BOD are seven chairs in all with a very diverse and knowledgeable person in each chair. My opinions/thoughts alone do not count for a hill of beans. All suggestions are put before the BOD and changes are made based on a vote or majority rule. IMO opinion I am the least experienced and knowledgeable individual on the BOD. Thank you DaveK for giving me the massive props by calling me “one of the most active and well known off road travellers in southern California” but I find that to be a bit of a stretch considering some of the present company on this website.
The reason I have had less activity in the wheeling arena this year has nothing to do with gas prices but more to do with work and schedule. My work load has gone through the roof in the last year and continues to grow each quarter. As I’ve said before, I wouldn’t be in this hobby if I didn’t except the fact that it WILL cost me. Hell… when you put it in perspective, gas prices being what they are right now or not, every one of us risks serious damage to the tune of thousands of dollars every time we set tire in dirt. That issue alone outweighs the cost of gas in my book. My wife, to this day, tells me that if I break my rig not to come home without divorce papers in hand. As aw12345 has stated, it costs most families more to go to the movies than it does to go wheeling. The one issue I have is when I go wheeling my family doesn’t go with me. My wife refuses to even give it a try right now. So when I wheel I lose that time with my wife and son since I spend the majority of my days at work or in school. I’m looking forward to the next few years when my son gets old enough to take with me more often. But thems the breaks. I plan on starting to set up more day runs and stuff like Frogeye and I were known for in the ADV4x4 days that get that group connectivity and discussion going again. As a matter of fact, Frogeye has a run going this Sunday in Carvacre that is meeting at Pio Pico KOA off of Otay Lakes Road at 10:30am.
People keep suggesting that our (BOD) priorities are messed up and we’re too worried about capital and having infrastructure in place. For those of you that THINK this venture is as straight forward as putting a website together and IF you have created your own website that puts together sanctioned runs under that website’s name, you might want to make sure your ducks are in a row. I went into this venture with just those thoughts. Damned if I haven’t had my compass recalibrated several times. Let me run few things past your brain-housing-groups to ponder on for a moment… ADV4x4 held several Fest Events each year in places like Big Bear, Hungry Valley, Sedona, and Anza Borrego. Now… Do you think that we ever did research/checked to see if any special permits were required??? (I’ll answer this for you… NO) How many trucks/people does it take before you require special permits??? How much do you think these permits costs??? How long before an event do you have to start filing for these permits??? Do you think you need to have insurance before you can get these permits??? Do you think that insurance is free??? How much of a fee do you think you have to pay the BLM or Park Service that owns the land??? What percentage of your profits (if you are making money during the event) do these same services get??? Who is liable if these things aren’t in place or an accident occurs during the event??? You may be shocked at these answers. This doesn’t even mention the campsite fees or anything like that.
A guy I would like to call a friend used to bring up a point that made a lot of sense to me and I want to share it with you. Some of you have probably heard this already from this friend or from me. There are a few activist groups out there that are rather large that are trying to cease all OUTDOOR ADVENTURE because they believe we destroy the environment. If you go to these groups’ websites I challenge you to find where they are bashing each other. Hell... they band together in some cases. How many Outdoor Adventure-type (wheeling, biking, biking, climbing, etc) websites are out there??? The answer is hundreds. There are hundreds of small groups and in nearly every one of their websites you will find where they are bashing other fellow Outdoor Adventure-type groups. Just look at what we run into in the offroad community alone with friggin’ rig specific groups and the banter like, “you drive a Hummer you have no business in the dirt.” (no offense DaveK) We all (these small groups) need to work together with a common purpose and stop the childish non-sense. That’s what we have a good start on here. This website is about OUTDOOR ADVENTURE not 4x4 adventure (as it seems a few of you keep missing). Our motto (although some don’t like it) is currently “Everyone Deserves to be Outdoors” not “Wheelers or Bust”. We are here to promote OUTDOOR ADVENTURE in it’s entirety from skydiving to underwater basket weaving if you want a forum started for it (as long as it’s family friendly). This is a common ground for the people with these interests to work together toward common goals.
Finally… for those not liking the Portal (Home) Page, expect it to grow. The original concept of this venture was just a website to support out amateur radio nets. The venture has grown from an amateur radio net to what you see today. The forum was an after-thought and has become a tool within the website to hold discussions and promote interest.
Sorry for the rant…
"OLLIE"
(K6JYB)
APRS
K6JYB ("BugEater")
K6JYB-7 (VX-8R)
http://www.facebook.com/FJOllie
"Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, the Marines don't have that problem."
-Ronald Reagan
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Mine just makes me sleep outside for a week 
