RIP PARAGON - Final Run 2-3/4-07

Boy what a fun weekend. I think Kat said it best when she said, "What happens in Hazelton, stays in Hazelton." Although, we went and told everybody anyway.

I believe Tony and Tico will be writing the story. I have posted my pics in a photo album on the Meet-Up site. Please, everybody, add your photos of this momentous weekend to the album.

http://jeep.meetup.com/201/photos/?photoAlbumId=128303&photoId=1010397&op=delete

Kat, Congratulations on VooDoo. You deserved the momento.

Paragon

Here is the link to Tico's pics from the weekend:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/slideshow.html?id=2095836522

I had a blast and the paragon park will be missed

Paragon

Great Pics Tico!
That was a fun run...The snow made it!
I especially liked skiing backwards downhill towards the trees on the one slick icy hill climb!

That hill was crazy. Poor Joe had to deal with a chick in full-on panic mode sliding backwards down a hill. Thanks, Joe, for not slapping me.

Thanks everyone for a great weekend. I had a blast out there and didn't break anything. I hope PAP can work something out so we can go back and finish every trail inthe park. Wish I hit Voodoo during the summer when I had the chance. Sorry for leaving in a hurry but I had a superbowl party that I planned and was late getting to. Made it there by 7:37 so got to watch it from half the second quarter on through. Had to unload the jeep at about 10pm.

That trip was awesome! I had fun with everybody there. I'm gonna miss that place but at least we have some great memories. Bobbi (my fellow goddess) & Von we now have VooDoo (in the snow) to add to them. Thanks for the kudos but I wouldn't have been able to do that last section without an outstanding spotter. Bill - you ROCK!! I managed to stay out of the mud until we were on our way out & then it came....the call from Bobbi: "Kat - we found mud are you coming?". Like I could resist that! It's going to take forever to clean the frozen mud & ice off in these temperatures but it was worth it. I'm pretty sure Laurie & DD enjoyed it. And let's not forget about Saturday night's rumpus (like we would want to). That was a blast!! You were close Bobbi - "What happens at the INN STAYS at the INN" but really, it was too funny not to share. Von - Sheetz - enough said. All in all, except for the COLD, a good time was had by all.
RIP Paragon! Thanks for the rides.
P.S. My pics are on the Meetup site with Bobbi's.

i am sure tico will explain about the sheets gas station :bonk: , i had a good time, i am glad i went , the snow was acctually really nice to run around in. and danny i went sideways on that icy hill, allmost a 180 it was insane ALSO, TICO WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO POST THE VIDEO'S. IF YOU PUT THEM ON http://www.putfile.com/ WE CAN DOWNLOAD THEM TO OUR COMPUTERS

There was a vehilce that was on alley oop that went off the side of the road and down a 60 foot embankment. I found some photos and put it on the meet up site. Noone was seriously hurt. by the way, Kyle was not allowed back on the property monday to retrieve a bulldozer, a backhoe, his truck and a few other things. He said he misread the eviction notice. gate was locked by a law enforcement official. I say the gate and the property belongs to kyle so why not take the gate with him when he gets the bulldozer?

We were posted on Offroaders.com! they did a story on PAP closing and posted our pics on page 2 -3 of their storyhttp://offroaders.com/album/paragon/paragon02032007/index.html

thats insane, he should take everything he can even the paragon main sign as you go in. i am supprised that no one took that allready

Awesome Pictures!

DD is Famous!

Those are great pics!!

Too bad the F150 couldn't make it through VooDoo with you guys

How cool was that! They got some great shots of us. I love the pic of DD in my driver's seat. Little did they know she had just tried to drive it for meup that hill.

nice pics and we did not even for the publisity

I think that is a shot of Bobbi (Max) on page one 2... strutting your stuff on the rocks...

And my 15 minutes of fame spinning my tires up the snowy hill... how cool is that... my first publicity... they caught an awesome shot of the snow flinging up off the tires...

Wow... what a weekend... still trying to defrost... well... Mr. Jeepy at least... us Buffalonians are fine, and sympathetic of our family back home braving 4 feet of snow right now (see Treefrog's post... :lodrgt: )

So... where to begin with the story... Meet up was planned for 5AM at Tom's. I did not make it in time. Kathy called to see where we were, and I advised about 20 minutes out, so roll out and I will catch up. So they did... I met up with everyone at the Goose.

Rich and Andrea, Kathy, Joe and DD, Bill and Casey (hope I got that right Bill... I am just as terrible with names as Tico...), Bobbi, and myself with Kenny... I mean Laurie.

Rich and Andrea held back awaiting Nester, the rest of us rolled out.

We made it to the park in good time... Tony and Bobbi headed to the park while everyone else stopped to top off at the gas station.

Going into the driveway we almost had our first recovery... Bobbi didn't get her tow rig into 4WD ... luckily Joe was on her speed dial, but not before a few guys from PA Jeeps got their rubs in....

We were all checked in and ready to go by 8:30am. Met down at the staging area... Bill counted 295 vehicles in the staging area... even more on the coal road, but all his digits were frozen at that point in the frigid weather so he gave up the tally.

We all got our raffle tickets, huddled to keep warm in front of the hot chocolate courtesy tent, and waited for the drawing.

Kyle made a very emotional speech around 10:30, and then the raffle began... tons of give aways, from toy cars to a nice winch. Lots of goodies.

A few of us made out good... Kat won first with a gift certificate to a PA Jeep dealership. Then she won on behalf of Von... a pair of Skyjacker Grab Handles. Then Tony won... a pair of Skyjacker Grab Handles. Then Tony won again... a gift certificate to Cassidy's Custom Creations. I think Rich won at that point too, but I was too busy playing with the new grab handles to remember what... sorry Rich. Brain freeze.

It was around Noon before we were ready to roll. All staged in a group since it was the monthly run, and off we went.

I had no idea where we went... a lot of the signs were already gone at this point. We started on the coal road. Followed 11 down and around up in a round about way over to Sleepy Hollow.

It was uneventful most of the day, with no big challenges. We came across one big rock, and got yelled at for doing some photo ops on it... hehehe... it’s not clear if it was the group behind us, or our trail guide, but regardless we ended up in a traffic jam after the bend anyway (not even 5 minutes later) because a group ahead of us was stopped dead.

That group must never have gone out or something because they did not comprehend the point of follow the leader. They lost their group and were just parked waiting for someone to come back for them, but they also had no clue who they were with.

Eventually they decided to go their own way, and moved out of our way.

Over to Sleepy Hollow...

We made it to some rocks finally and made a nice climb... There was one rock with just the right height and size to catch all the rear diffs. No matter what line you took, the icy rocks pulled your right back into a bad place. I kept getting hung up, being open/open and all, but drove through it after a few attempt with different lines... Bobbi and Joe followed with the same struggles... it was supposed to be a Blue 2 on paper, but with ice and snow it was a challenge...

Finally I caught up to my leader... Kat... she was stuck and stalled. Hmmm... dead battery... so out come the cables... Nester used his rig as a jumper... but it wasn't the battery... Rich to the rescue with a hotwire job to show it was a bad starter, and she was running again.

A few attempts later, and it was time for our first recovery... Tony's first tow job. We looped 2 straps together, and used a tree to yank Kat's rig to the right to straighten the line out.

Once she was through, Tony' strutted right through no problem, followed by Bobbi and Joe.

Through the hollow we went... Bill doing some wild and crazy things. His tire prints made it up a rock face that looked impossible to climb... Tony tried to do it, but shave a few miles off his tires onto the side of Kat's rig instead (sorry Kathy... hehehe)

Just about clear of the hollow and Tony lost sight of Kat in his mirror, so he stopped. Kat had lost Bobbi and Joe. We called back to Joe, and they were on the move, then quiet. Hmmm. So we doubled back to see what was up and asked the group to hold up.

Joe was stuck on a rock pinned against a tree... our first carnage... the rear driver lens assembly... ouch.

So Joe tried to back off the rock with Tony's guidance. But when Tony said Driver and the driver wheel stayed passenger we knew there might be a problem. Tony crawled underneath... hmmm... why the extra control arms? Wait... that’s Joe's tie rod bent 90 degrees.

So out come the tools. Trail repair time. ETA 2 hours. Called the office and let them know, and broke out the tools.

In the time it took to get the Cherokee up, another group rolled in trying to pass. One recognized Bobbi's rig and chatted with her, then presented us with a Tie Rod... what are the odds?

Now to get the tie rod ends off... hmm... seem to be frozen... Rich calls for anything flammable and a lighter... so we all go to our rigs and read warning labels... Bobbi finds brake cleaner that warns about every possible thing that might cause a fire, and it wins the award for photo of the month with the blow torch Rich created... sadly it was too cold out to really do anything, but it put on a nice fire show.

It was getting dark... tie rod back on... recovered off the rock and on our way again.

Following the signs out we got to the decent... it was a slow crawl down, but only slick at one corner... not bad at all.

The last recovery of the day was Kat stuck in the lower lot. Her tow rig had to be pulled up and out with a buggy because it was too icy of an accent.

Damon's for dinner, then to the Comfort Inn with Mel... and if you haven't heard of the events that unfold there by now... well... let me tell ya...

Nahhhh.....

now that DD is famous maybe she can start covering her own food and vet bills. Sorry ive been slacking on getting my photos up but ive been busy wrenching trying to get the zj back up in running, or at least to be able to make right hand turns again Bobbi when we were sliding backwards had to be one of the funniest events of the trip. ive never seen some one in such a panic mode. Anyway I have to say last weekend was one of the best trips I had wheelin. Not only with wheelin But the after partys also. Bill were going to have to make sure we keep you in a sitting position next time you drink. It sucks that we had such a great time on something that may be the final closing of something but i'm looking forward to the good times ahead at other places. by the way here are pics of the new shop.

Day 2.

I think it dropped a few degrees... but that didn't stop us. Time for Super Roll Sunday.

We staged at the Goose. Danny, Tico, and Von had driven in to meet Tony and Laurie, Bobbi and Joe, Bill and Casey, and Kathy.

Staging was quick and simple... though we had our first carnage... nothing major... Bill found a crack in his Banks Header, and an idler pulley had a bit of a noisy wobble.

Joe was riding with Bobbi, Tico with Von, DD with Kathy, Laurie (still dressed like Kenny) with Tony, and Danny had to ride alone

Not as many rigs today, but still quite a few more than usual.

So we staged to plan out the day. While staging we found a fan club... Offroaders.com was there to do a photo shoot and picked us... our lucky day. So we rolled down coal road to find something picturesque. Unfortunately a lot of other groups were trying to find places too, so there were a lot of packed areas. We doubled back to trail 19 for one last send off. while we walked out lines, JP magazine rolled in to get in on the action too. So... Bill first... making it look easy... then Von... perfect. Kathy had some issues and had to take the walk of shame after some valiant attempts. Bobbi took her turn and conquered the trail which could not be beaten on her last outing with it.

Kat took the bypass and walked up it after a few attempts and more airing down. Tony took several shots at it, and refused defeat. Finally successful and went on to the rock portion of the ascent. Watching everyone’s effort Tony tried close to the tree, but the rear would not hook up on the icy rock. Tico waved the go around, Tony asked Von for one more try... and with a small rock tossed in by Bill where the rear was getting stuck we had success. All the way to top. Danny also followed behind just as easily.

On the downward decent Tico found the perfect rock to do some flex shots. Then a little follow the leader back onto the coal road... Von, Tony, and Bill "hopped the curb" while everyone else bypassed it. Bill nearly high centered, but expertly broke free to escape embarrassment.

Now to voodoo... we lost the camera crew because they were ill-equipped... hmmm... Off Road publishers without off road vehicles....

Time for a nice icy hill climb... we stage up, but there is a call down to hold up... trouble with some rigs coming down. A buggy was used as a counter weight for a stock jeep that was a little shaken up from the ice.

All clear... lets roll...

Von goes up... and radios back don't let off til you are behind him... calls come back one by one as we reach the top... it was a solid sheet of ice all the way up... Tony got the wave ahead, but they hadn't checked on Kat because I caught up to her half way up the hill. She was stuck in a dip. Tony had to "stop" on the hill... which basically meant radio back to Bobbi to hold up, and watch helplessly as the wheels spun forward while he slid back down the hill. My favorite was my spotter telling me to "try and back up onto the trail with fresh snow"... umm... I was not backing... I was sliding. Luckily it sloped toward the fresh stuff and I ended up there. I parked and waited Kathy to clear, then rode the edge of the hill with the fresh stuff all the way up.

Bobbi and Danny followed the fresh snow line I had used, and made it up also without losing too many nerves...

It was a blast... basically full speed ahead slipping from one side of the hill to the other fighting for every inch of traction to launch you up to the next pebble.

So back on the main trail... trying to find our way over the mountain to Voodoo.

We ended up doubling back to a scenic seldom used trail that overlooks 81. Wow!!!

Finally... Voodoo... Danny and I walked it, and that was enough for us... Laurie asked me if she could ride with Kat, I asked Kat and parted ways.

I led Danny through the Muddy Pipeline... I had another vendetta to fill with an impossible trail pre-lift. Of course we were attacking it backwards, but beggars can't be choosers. So off we went.

About 1/4 of the way through we ran into a group coming out. Danny and I gave right of way, and their guide flagged me down to see where we were going. I talked with them for a few minutes, warning of the hill we had tried to climb. He advised all the marked ways out were closed, but gave me directions off the map to get out. I thanked him, wished him well, and we parted ways.

Onward we went, up to the infamous hill that put me on 3 wheels. Here it was wreaking havoc on another poor group of victims. This was a small group with Connecticut Jeep. Also very friendly. With them was a guy named Oz in his yellow TJ. Danny and I offered our guidance, having conquered this before. The hole was much deeper now, but the challenge was the same. And so were all the correct ways to recover out.

We watched in awe as they tried to strap out a Rubicon with a broken front locker in the same fashion Patty and Veronica did with me... but Oz did it with a lot more speed. It was a close one... I saw as a bystander how close I had come to a soft roll, and it was just as exciting. I sympathized with the driver after... been there done that...

While they recovered, Tony went to pull closer up the trail... As he pulled onto the trail, the rear kept sliding driver. Danny radioed "Stop, Stop, Stop!!!" Apparently my rear wheels had frozen solid and were not turning... water from one of the holes we crossed... slowly pulling back and forth we managed to break them loose... but every stop since then they still freeze a little (even 2 days later... not locked, but stuck for the first go)

Waiting patiently for the hole was a pair of Zuki's with another Rubi. While Oz was stowing his winch the first Zuki went... this was the Red and White one we had seen earlier in our voyage to voodoo.

This guy was pure nuts in a good way... full throttle non stop excitement. All the way until he flipped it onto its side. Oz broke out the winch again, flipped the Zuki upright, and out of the water, then went on his way wishing us well.

The Rubi came next... same results... stuck like all the rest.

The other Zuki (Kevin) decided he might try the "bypass". His friend walked it... and figured he would make it... ignoring the part of it being an ATV trail. I advised as much, but they argued the Zuki's are smaller and would fit... ummm.. ok... :bonk: I will just sit back and have the camera ready then...

Out comes the Rubi with a broken rear shock... and Kevin in the second Zuki parks it between 2 trees. This did not leave much of a line for the water crossing... so he did not get a lot of speed.

Turns out the water crossing was a rather deep mud hole frozen over... but not enough to support the weight... oops. Unable to go forward or back... time to winch.

Kevin had to reach into frozen water to get the line... attach it to the first Zuki... and a winching we will go. Except the wrong Zuki was moving... so I took my jeep and tied on to zuki 1 for more weight. now they were pulling both of us into the hole... time for plan B. Danny got to steer zuki 1 into a tree because they thought that might work... I went and crossed the hole while they screwed with the winch. Then got out to spot Danny across.

Danny followed the trail blazed by the zuki so we could do a recovery from behind... Tico started blowing up our phones at this point trying to find us. Talking and winching don't work to well, so we did our best to relay the info, and then got back to work so we could get on our way.

Winched Kevin out easily, then he went right back in the same place. So we did it again... and then a third time to yank the back around a tree.

Danny got the next carnage in proving that talking on cell phones while driving trails is just as damaging... Von heard first hand as Danny took off the front passenger flare on a tree.

The rest of muddy pipeline was uneventful... to trail 73 on to 71 to meet up with the group. Of course every crossroad needed triple checking because all the signs were missing.

Last hill climb out for the day... Tico let Tony take honors of guiding us home... using the info from the group he met earlier Tony got everyone out and home with no further incident.

Back in the lot we loaded up...

Tony and Danny had their hands full with ice packed disconnects and valve stems... nothing Lock D Icer, WD 40, a sledge hammer, and pry bar could not fix.

Tony and Danny staged at the Paragon sign... took a few photos of the last 2 Rock Raiders in Paragon... and then bid farewell to one of our favorite playgrounds.

All in all it was a melancholy weekend. It was thrilling and exciting, but at the same time it was depressing and sad.

"SAVE PARAGON" echoes in our hearts and thoughts... and we all wish Kyle and Stephanie the best.

Good luck you guys. We hope to wheel with you again.

Geez Joe... looks like we can wrench on at least 3 rigs at once... hehehe....

My pics are all out for processing... my 3 billion pixel camera is slow that way (film... and yes... it is billion pixels... but after all the film shoots I have done over the years digital will be in my near future... but a pro camera so I don't have to by all new lenses and such).

I should have them back Saturday... from this run and they last run Joe, Bobbi, and I did. If all goes well I should have a few hundred up on my website by Sunday night (dropped off about 12 rolls of various things).

If you guys have not seen my photo site just click my WWW button. All kinds of stuff I have done... Nephew's first b-day, cave exploring in Austin,TX, butterflies and hummingbirds... all sorts of projects.

I went to school for it, thought of photography as a career, but never did anything with it. Always dreamed of doing shoots for JP or 4 Wheeler Magazine... so I guess this could be a stepping stone... long as you guys don't mind being models and superstars... hehehe...

Well, I finished the story, just need Tony to add his portion and those who had been there Saurday to add theiers. Did anyone see SusanM, last I spoke to her she said she was going up? Well I had a super time even is I did not drive. It's amazing that we took on the harder trails in the snow and didn't brake anything but a brake line. Awesome!

Well I finished reading your side of the story, nice job! your right, this could be a stepping stone for a future in working for a magazine. Collect the story and psot it on the meet up so we can keep it on our files too.

you could comfortable work on 3 maybe 4 at a time. Great write up, looking forward to those pics.

Joe...
The shop looks great! and Warm!

If you really want a guard dog for it though I suggest you borrow Skylar from Rich