Ebb and Flow of the Glamis Crowds

Sand Shark said:

let's go to China Wall at midnight. We finally did and it is dark scary place at night. LOL!

Click to expand...

Ive slept out there and its an incredible erie BUT a peaceful calm - gets cold too ! Sometimes a warm sleeping bag option is better than leaving the buggy out there.......Its definitly beautiful at 3 am with all the stars and cool noises of nature.

I LOVE THE DUNES SO MUCH !!!!!

Been going for 40+ years. 80's-90's were great. Could roll in on Thanksgiving day and camp in the flats or across from the store without issue. Watched it grow through the early 2000's with the heloc crowd all buying long travel cars. 2008-2012 after the economy blew up was like the 80's again with a lot less people. Hell our group had grown to around 30 families prior to 2008. After 08, there were 3 of us that could still afford to go regularly. We wouold try to hit it every other weekend during the season. Now that the kids are grown, we are doing fewer trips but they are longer, usually 7-10 days instead of 3-4. Our group is starting to grow again and it is a mix of cars, trucks, and sxs. There is still the core 3 of us that have been duning together for 40 years and the expansion of our group is our kids that all grew up together in the dunes now have their own toy's, RV's, and our grandkids.

I am the Ebb and Flow of Glamis.

Started in the 80's as a kid when my dad's coworker introduced us to Glamis with a couple of old ATC110s. Quickly morphed into family trips for all the big holidays, with the smaller weekends going to White Water (half the drive time). Then our Motorhome burnt down, that ended family trips.

The 90's I began dragging my HS buddies along with me in our trucks for summer trips, because that was when we had the free time, couple of ATCs and Quads, a Dirt bike or two...great simple times. Lasted until they all eventually got out of the sport, right before 2000's.

2000's started taking my new wife to Pismo and Glamis, family and friends that used to go started going again, then the kids came along and our groups got bigger. Joined GD in 2006 and the trips increased even more, new friends made, which was good cause my family started to slow down going. Family health issues hit us hard; my trips became guys only getaways @Orange_R @BaBaBouy @TheSPAINishLover and others became my desert brothers.

2010's and on was a huge drop in going regularly....it was random off and on.... we got into other things that my wife and kids could do locally; we still had to adjust life to family health issues.

Present day, just getting back into it.... still love it as much as my first trip, still think about the damn place daily it seems. Honestly, if GD was not a thing online, I might have left the sport in the ebbs of life long ago.

Damn crackhead website.

Long live Slappy and the brotherhood.

I am on my 5th year of the ebb and flow and am very happy about it. I haven't been out since 2021 and before that was 2017. Huge difference in the crowds from those two trips. I think the crowds that are there now have found various ways to get income and time off in ways that most of the older folks are not used to and can't figure out. There's more money in Glamis these days, but far less "activity" than there used to be. It has become a novelty destination combined with what was just a "way of life" for a lot of us.

I'll be selling my Trailer next month, keeping all of the quads and the Flatbed for day trips to Ocotillo and Glamis (maybe one each per year). We have grown into a family that explores the West Coast and all of the things that this country has to offer, my Glamis tunnel vision is gone. Which is completely fine... I sponsored ALMOST A DECADE of Glamis trips for another member here and had a great time in my 20's going almost every other weekend, no matter what. I had bikes and toy haulers to loan out and my hard work made for a hell of a time for more than just me. Now, my focus is (thankfully) on my family 100% and Glamis is just another place, these days.

Trips I have already paid for...

Oregon Coast/Dunes: Summer of 2026

Zion: Fall of 2026

Yosemite: Winter of 2026

Olympic National Park: Fall of 2027

Yosemite: Winter of 2027

Yellowstone: Summer of 2027

Zion: Fall of 2027

Tundra has received new Lower Control Arms, Brakes (all four corners), Serpentine belt, Pulleys, Knock Sensor Harness (mice), Coolant Valley plate fix, set of BFG KO3's, new battery... just need a Camper Shell and it's ready.

4Runner has received new Brakes (all four corners), BFG KO3's, Serpentine belt, Pulleys, throttle body and intake tube cleaned, new battery, coolant... it's ready to go.

Having two 4WD vehicles to swap out for these trips has been awesome, as well. It's pulled me out of my Sand Car funk and is a far better investment, overall.

I'm also focusing on all of my spare change going into the Stock Market, Glamis can wait.

I need to get back to the FLOW side of this...