I don’t think it matters if you are an off-road enthusiast or not (but it might help). Picture this, 190,000 people, more RVs than you could possibly count and five times as many off-road vehicles. People from all over the United States flock to this Southern California OHV park for the holiday weekends. Thanksgiving is the busiest of them all and many of the families have had this tradition for generations. Our family has twelve under our belt and we were rookies compared to the people who have been doing this for a LONG time.
When we first broke from the typical Thanksgiving tradition we were almost cut out of the will, but as a young family we wanted some of our own traditions and this is what we came up with. So, every year we load up and head out for one of the most entertaining holidays you can imagine.
First off, there’s the riding. If you have never been to Glamis to ride, GO! You will probably be hooked for life. You can blame me if you want, but if you’re into off-road you have to go. There are thousands and thousands of acres of unobstructed dunes to ride huge bowls (I’m talking full throttle and wishing you had a little more huge). Hill climbs that seem straight up for 250 yards! You can transfer from dune to dune for miles and never hit the same one twice. There are also semi-organized hill races where it’s not unusual to see 100+ HP quads shooting the hill. There are "run what you brung" sand drags that have everything from three wheelers to full blown dragsters. The old dune buggies are slowly being replaced by long travel sand cars with V-8 power plants. It truly is an off-road wonderland.
Some very close friends that we still go out with every year introduced us to the dunes. In fact, Terry of ToyHauler Magazine™ brought us here for the first time. Now we know who to send the bill to!
While Glamis has gotten a bad rap over the last few years because of a few unruly people, for the most part, it really IS all families doing the same things you always do on Thanksgiving, except out in the desert. This is a huge family event! Most groups have a pot luck type set-up and everyone makes their best dishes to bring. Some of the giant spreads of food can be twenty feet long. Our group makes several types of turkeys...one they wrap in burlap and bury in a pit all day, and another will be smoked or deep-fried. There is every kind of side dish you can imagine and the desserts are enough to put you down for a nice long nap.
Until recently after every one ate there would be group rides over to Competition Hill. You would see groups of 30+ off-road vehicles coming through the dunes like ants following each other. I say until recently because Competition Hill is now closed at night on holiday weekends because of those unruly few I told you about earlier. Like it’s not bad enough every environmental group wants the dunes closed. Anyway, the other remarkable thing about Thanksgiving at Glamis is the number of RVs. There are thousands of toyhaulers, motorhomes, race trailers and campers of every kind. The main road in (Gecko Road) is five miles long and you would be hard pressed to pull a pick-up into the space left come the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
So some of you may be thinking... why? Why would you take an otherwise peaceful holiday weekend and fight the crowds? That’s the really funny part. It’s the crowds that make it so entertaining. Meeting the people from all over the U.S. gathering in one place to enjoy five days of family, friends and off-road fun.
Where are you going to be next Thanksgiving? - THM
