Off-Roading in Jawbone Canyon

Last weekend, Dan and I were desperate for an outdoor adventure. Southern California has been experiencing a perfect Indian Summer (believe it or not, summer does go away here) and we decided to seize the day by renting a Polaris RZR 4 800 from Fun Time ATV Rentals in Jawbone Canyon.

Jawbone Canyon is located in the high desert, near Edwards Air Force Base. The drive  took us over four hours roundtrip. We paid $470.00 for a five hour rental, which also included safety gear (helmets, goggles, gloves) and the gas. Admittedly, I initially balked at the price, as it was a lot for a day excursion. However, we had so much fun, that I immediately wanted to do it again or maybe even buy our own ATV! Additionally, the price would have been less, if we had asked friends to join us and split the cost. Our Polaris could have held four adults.  

We used the empty back seat to store our two bags containing our packed lunch, plenty of water, sun screen and our camera equipment. Our Go-Pro finally got some use as we mounted it to the front of the Polaris. Dan edited a short video of our adventure, including splicing in some of our still shots. Check it out!

We had so much fun that the five hours were over before we knew it. Most of the time we were alone on the trails, but when we did run into other people, they always gave us a friendly wave, including a guy with a shot gun. 

It was a good balance of being in the middle of nature, but also not being so remote in case we ran into trouble. I never felt like we did anything dangerous, but it would have been easy to have gone over the edge of a cliff.  We had our phones, but as you might imagine, service in the desert was spotty. 

We ended the day completely happy and covered in dirt.  Fun Time ATV Rentals will get our business again and they should get yours too. Interested in booking an ATV? Check out their website for more details. 

Fun Time ATV Rentals Official Site

Electric Smart Car in California

On Friday night, Dan and I took posession of the first Electric Drive Smart Car sold/leased from the Smart Center in West Covina. Although it hasn't been confirmed, it may have been the first Electric Drive Smart off the lot in all of California.  

We signed up for a three year lease on both the car and the battery through Kamaal Petersen in West Covina. Prior to deciding to go for the electric, we owned two Smart Passion convertibles. We are very active members in a local Smart Car club (So Cal Smarties) and through our club, attended a electric test drive event in Santa Monica. Dan fell in love with the electric and since his work commute is only twenty-five miles a day, it seemed like a perfect fit. He traded in his Smart Passion for the Electric. We were wowed by the great rebates and incentives to go electric and although it still cost a lot to make the switch, we felt it was worth it be among the first to experience the car. 

Members of our Smart Car group highly recommended both the West Covina Smart Center, specifically Kamaal and it swayed us to give the dealership our business. Although it was a long wait and we spent many hours at the dealership, our transaction was wonderful. There were legal issues regarding the contracts on the electrics specific to them being sold in California and it created a delay in the cars being available for sale. Since we were the first, it slowed down the process of signing the lease documents. However, Kamaal kept us in the loop and when it was all finished, we were very happy with both the dealership and his service. 

Here is our new Electric Drive Smart car. We have named her Grasshopper or Hopper for short. 

Unfortunately, we made the tough decision to sell of Dan's RTR, Thunder, when we decided to go electric. Thunder, although beautiful, was a major gas guzzler and an all around expensive toy. It was very sad to see her go, however we hope that she has found a new home and hopefully someone who will take her out on a race track where she belongs. 

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​Lots of great memories in Thunder, especially our mega road trip in Utah.

One of the major negatives that we keep hearing regarding the ED Smart is lack of range. When driven sensibly, it can go up to ninety-one miles on a charge. Naturally, we like to push the limits, so on our first day of having Hopper, we took her from Glendale to the top of Mount Wilson in the Angeles National Forest. The drive was approximately sixty-five miles round trip and half of it is a hard climb.

We mounted a GoPro to the interior of the car, so that you can see the dials during the drive. The video is nearly an hour and a half, but the camera battery died before we could finish our run. We started with a full charge and returned with slightly over forty percent left. Admittedly, we were worried when we were just over thirty-five percent when we reached the top of Mt. Wilson, however we charged on the way down and ended overall gaining a charge! We really didn't know what to expect with this run, but we were very pleased with the results.  

Here is our GoPro video. 

We also took a few pictures at the top of Mt. Wilson. Not bad for Hopper's first day out of the dealership. 

Coming Soon, our experiences with the local EV charging stations. We have some gripes! 

Sunday Drive with the GoPro

Dan surprised me with a GoPro for Christmas, complete with a cool car mount and fancy Pelican Case to store my new toy. 

Toys

Pelican case- Packed for Adventure!

We finally had a free day to play with our latest camera. I'm not sure how I envisioned using the GoPro, as neither of us currently do any crazy adventure sports and it's definitely tailor-made for those crazy folks. When we went Hot Air Ballooning in the summer a skydiver jumped off of our balloon with a GoPro mounted to his helmet. So cool, but I'm not skydiving! It's waterproof, so I can't wait to take it into the ocean this summer, hopefully to Hawaii. We ended up breaking it in on a sunny winter day on the Angeles Crest Highway.

The entry point to the Angeles Crest Highway is a ten minute drive from our house and we decided to stick the camera mount on the Smart Car, prior to heading up into the hills. The plan was to place the camera on the mount during a gas station stop a few blocks from the entry point.

Disaster struck as we were approaching the gas station. The mount popped off of the car and landed in the middle of a busy street. I ran out and recovered it, minimal damage done, but it was missing a part and we had to head back home to replace it.

On our second try, we made it to the gas station and mounted the camera, triple checking that the mount was secure. Dan even gave it a lick to make it stick.

And finally, the GoPro is added.

It looks like it's firmly stuck on.

Sticking the mount, take two.

Dan adds a personal touch to make the mount stick.

Driving with the camera mounted was nerve wracking at first, especially as we hit the tight curves and picked up speed. If the mount popped off this time, the camera would surely be a goner, probably off the side of the mountain. However, in the spirt of adventure, we just went for it, hoping that it wouldn't be both a costly mistake and the shortest lived Christmas present ever.

On the way up the hill ( We drove approximately thirty minutes to Newcombs Ranch) we recorded at sixty frames per second. Here is our video.

By the time we hit our pitstop at Newcombs Ranch, we were no longer worried about the GoPro mount falling off of the car. It was stable. We had no clue if what we had recorded would turn out or be utter rubbish, but that is part of the fun.

Newcombs Ranch is a hidden gem. Unfortunately, we had a huge breakfast prior to the drive, so we only stopped for coffee and a piece of the best pecan pie ever made. Seriously, make the drive for the pie. Although sunny in Glendale, it was chilly up in the mountains, so we cozied up next to the fireplace. I look forward to coming back for their BBQ Lunch that was heavily advertised. Check them out.

Newcombs Ranch Official Site

There were a ton of bikes in the parking lot ( Newcombs Ranch also has a bike shop), but we also saw some pretty cars keeping our Smart company.

Cars at Newcomb Ranch.

Cozy Fireplace, great spot to enjoy pie and coffee.

We saw lots of melting snow.

it was cold at the top!

We changed the frame rate to thirty frames per second for the ride down to get a comparison.

I'm happy to report that the GoPro and mount made it back home in one piece. We think that the first video, 60 frames per second, looks sharper. I was surprised at how great the mount worked to keep the camera steady, even on the very twisty roads and high speeds on the freeway. It's not jarring to watch at all and the image looks great. I couldn't be more pleased with my new camera and can't wait to play with it more. 

Next time, I am going to try controlling it with my Iphone, there is an app that Dan found, that allows the camera controlled remotely. This is great for when it is mounted on the car, but we didn't want to fuss with it on the first time out. Speaking of which, we let is run and the battery lasted the entire trip, both ways. This is an impressive gadget.