Thoughts about this GZ 07

[blacknight]

I would like to hear what you liked and disliked about this years event.  We had a lot of changes. So tell us what you thought good or bad I want to hear it all.
Thanks,
George and the GZ staff.

[KaptainK]

This was my first GZ and I had an amazing time!  Good wheelin', good fires, good people and good food.  RC was great but I was less then thrilled with Echo Valley.  Instead of cutting everyone a deal for the event they seemed to jack their rates, and I was charged for three nights just so I could stay for the dinner and raffle.  I was told I could stop by and check out after the raffle for a refund and the owner was nowhere to be found.  All in all it was and awsome trip but I think I'll camp at RC next time.

[zuki68]

It was my first also. rausch is awsome people were great. Awsome time.  Always great wheeling there. BUT that camp ground was $$$$$$. two people in a tent from 3:00pm saturday to 8:00am sunday was over $30.00? the shower was hardly worth that. Its Rausch for me all the way next time. I could have done a hotel shower for that kind of money.

 [thumbsup]Rausch creek      Echo valley

[Reaney in NH]

 This was my first Gonzookin event and our first time at RC... I had an AWESOME TIME. The Wheeling was incredable... the people were awesome.... The Raffle and the dinner were Great... Thank you to all that worked so hard to put this event on.... We Will be back for the next event.
 
  The Only down side was the camp ground... I thought it was a dump... the owner was rude... The camping rates were crazy....
  We Paid $60.00 a night for a dumpy camper that leaked and had no hot water then she wanted to charge us EXTRA to use the pool on Sat.
  Next time we will get a Motel or Stay at the Park.... The important thing here is that there will be a next time.
   Thank you to all.
    Reaney in NH

[mwolfhope2]

 i am glad you guys all seemed to like the park. we do what we can to make it fun for everyone. next year when you come back we should have alot more concrete sprayed and some more trails opened up.

as far as echo valley goes. you are not the first group to complain about them.

[Reaney in NH]

i am glad you guys all seemed to like the park. we do what we can to make it fun for everyone. next year when you come back we should have alot more concrete sprayed and some more trails opened up.

as far as echo valley goes. you are not the first group to complain about them.

  Any chance you will have some Showers by next year? Or any other conviences?
  Reaney in NH

[mwolfhope2]

i dunno about the showers. a few of us have been kicking around the idea of building a little Gravity feed shower house for people to use. so who knows.

but i think the camping is gonna stay pretty primative, we do have potties and wash stations though.

and we will have a fully operational garage setup by then.

[Budo101]

   Well... after the Frog pond and the Quarry the shower at Echo was like a trip to heaven but, I don't think I'll pay 15.00 a night for a shower again.
   Last year we stayed at Paragon and it was nice to not have to trailer the 'Zuk out to the park every day. The downside was we REALLY missed out on the great people and camaraderie of sticking with the group.
   
   Everything else was awesome. RC was cool and running with Jay and Corry was good time- Thanks for your patience on the rocks guys. Next mod is 6:1's and power steering (hopefully the gears come with a set of nadz ).

   Again, thanks to all of you who put forth the effort and made this a great trip for us. See ya next year- if not before.

[FutureKrawler06]

It was my first event aswell. I had a lot of fun meeting everyone and putting some screen-names to faces and an overall great weekend even without a Zuk in attendance! I learned a little thing or 2 about wheelin rocks as we dont have much of them around here. Im looking foward to next year already.

It was well put together for something that was a first time routine since previous GonZookin events and I dont think Id change anything.. except the duration of time I personally stayed and the vehicle I brought 

  Thanks to the staff 

[Truckasaurus44]

This was my 1st GZ and I had a blast.  My only suggestion would be to see if you could organize a night run for next year.  More trail time  =   

[Freebird01]

Hey guys just a note from the staff! Great comments! keep them coming!! We live for feedback. If there is anything we can look at doing for next year please post it up!!!


Also, We are looking into other options for camping. Nothing is set in stone, HOWEVER, just some tid bits for you guys wanting to stay at Rausch Creek. And Mike if any of my info is wrong or if you want to add to this please correct me.

1. You cannot register at anytime. Registration for the RC camp area is only  between 8-10am (normal park registration times). Which means for you guys that like to roll in at 1am-3am....aint gunna happen! and you cant just pull in and register in the morning like you did with EVC

2.  once your in the park you in. they close the gates at night. which means no in or out at all after the park closes for the day.

3. no showers....no running water...no electricity....just a couple of port-o-johns

4. no night wheeling. off the trails at dusk. according to the rules you can do a night run only if its approoved by the park before hand.

5. you must have camp cleaned up and checked out by 10am on sunday. for some people after the saturday night campfire, thats pushin it hahaha

6. motor homes and campers are to be setup up on the parking area platau


As far as Echo Valley is concerned.... I know the pricing was high. We are too small of a group to wield any kind of bargining power in that respect. However....other then the pricing and the quirks of the owner..the campground wasnt that horrible.

I have been in a lot of campgrounds in PA...Niagra falls...rehobeth...etc.. and EVC is not that bad.

1. showers were old and a bit run down. but according to the owner they will be replacing them soon. but they were clean and had hot water. thats more then i can say for alot of campgrounds. and they were free. ive been to a few where you had to put a quarter in a machine to get water....and then only get hot water halfway through your quarter. just long enough to get soaped up and poof....no water

2. we had a whole area to ourselves where beer pong till 2:30am wasnt a problem

3. there were pavillions there in case it rained tents could have been moved under them

4. we had a nice pavillion area for the dinner/raffle zukimelt does theres around a bonfire setup on someones trailer

5. we had water available and electricity (Reany's compressor! thanks again!!)

6. the campsites were clean, level, plenty of space

7. you could come and go as you pleased. a number of people went to Oneils Pub for dinner two nights pretty late

8. it was only a short distance from the park. a big step from Red Ridge and PAP.

9. the owner was very lax about check in and check out. ive been to campgrounds...and red ridge also where you have to stay in a "staging area" and not enter the campground if you get there afterhours.


Guys keep in mind when you are trying to compare GonZookin to ZukiMELT or Zuwharrie that they are not the same thing.

With ZukiMELT you got 200-250 zuks and im sure close to 700-800 people there. they are able to bargin a good rate from the badlands due to shear numbers. and the badlands built a nice campground to support the wheelin groups and they get a good rate there as well.

With Zuwharrie it is held in a state park. your wheelin fees is a $25 membership for a whole year!!! no "per day cost" and that money is just to pay the parkservice and to be able to maintain the place. NO commercial gain there. and the camping is included as part of your zuwharrie registration and also goes to the park service.

GonZookin is held at a Commercial "For Profit" offroad park. The price per day is what it is and will not change. we just dont have the numbers for them to warrant any kind of major discount. The camping is also in a "For profit" campground. Whether its Red Ridge or EVC or where ever. and again....even the xterra crowd out numbers the GZ crowd. so we have very little to use to push for better rates.

GonZookin Is put togther soley by volunteers. The Website, the dinner, all the pre-arraingments, evertything. NONE of the staff makes anything off of this event. In fact i thnk this is the first year that we really didnt put a bunch of out of pocket money that didnt get reimbursed. We really appriecate all the thanks and the kind words. I think i speak for all the staff (and correct me if im wrong) that we do not do this to make a name for ourselves or to make money. We do it for the wheelin, to get together with friends, the nights at the campfire where you can barely stay in your chair cause your laughing that hard, and to see people enjoying themselves. I personally dont have a whole lot of money. I cant afford to go on a vacation during the year. Even though i am usually running around all weekend, Gonzookin is my vacation and I wouldnt have it any other way.

So on behalf of myself and all the GonZookin Staff, We thank each and every one of you that came to the event, with zuk or without! We hope to see you back next year along with some new faces! Please keep the comments comming

[mwolfhope2]

looks like you got the info right. ...when it comes to planning next years trip, make sure to contact me and i will help you out with whatever you need Jason....we had no complaints. the only complaint i had was Sean(can't drive slow) Devinney speeding past our camper.

[Truckasaurus44]

Either way, its cheaper than a weekend at Disneyland and the rides were alot more fun!  Besides, having a campground that doesn't break up late night beerpong games is worth a little extra $$$ IMHO

[petzl21]

Either way, its cheaper than a weekend at Disneyland and the rides were alot more fun!  Besides, having a campground that doesn't break up late night beerpong games is worth a little extra $$$ IMHO

The only thing that broke up that beer pong game was our drunk a_s's that could not hook up another propane tank to the lantern!  Burns were incurred, and that lead to the dispersment of the game!  To Be Cont next year, or maybe at a fall run, if we can get a good group together to stay at RC!

For everyone who planned it, thanks for a great time, and for not giving me to much flack for having the only yota among zuks!!  The camp ground lady was a bit crazy, but for the nights i stayed there, she only tried to charge me extra for the pool twice, and i dont even need to get into how many times she asked me if i was Jay (freebird jay). 

Cheers till next time

Jay

ps, i will be running RC either Sat sept 1st or 2nd, so let me know if anyone wants to join in!
http://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content/topic,66606.0.html

[joe edge]

It was my 1st trip to RC and it was amazing, i learned alot about what my samurai can do and what i need to do too it. I was told a night run couldn't happen cause of insurance reasons. Next year i am trailering my zuk instead of driving it down and wheeling it.( bad idea) As far as the Echo Valley I stayed the last 2 nights there on a campsite and payed less than you guys did it was like $25 for me and my g/f. I didn't mind it too much, i am up in the air about where i will stay next year.

[Freebird01]

did you tell her you were with gonzookin? cause for 2 nights it should have been $60 for the two of you...was $15/night per person