Story by Joey DiGiovanni for UTVUnderground.com
Photos by Joey DiGiovanni / Rusty Baptist for UTVUnderground.com
The 2012-2013 desert season has arrived and there was no better way to welcome it in then by attending the 1st ever Endless Summer UTV Party. Mike Lasher of SXSPerformance.com along with partner and International SXS Association (ISA) President Jeff Knoll laid the foundation for this first ever event in early 2012 with hopes of raising awareness to the newly created ISA. The goal for the weekend was to get together with likeminded enthusiasts, do some riding, throw a huge party, and get to know the people behind the ISA. In the end, the event did that and so much more. New friendships were formed and bonding amongst many who have never met in person was had.
The trip for us started on Thursday. My wife, 3 kids, and our Kawasaki T4 and Polaris XP4 were all loaded up full of excitement and anticipation for our first trip of the season. Glamis North Hot Springs Resort located in Niland, CA is where the event was to be hosted and I think MANY more events in the future will be held here thanks to this trip. It took around 3 hours for us to reach Glamis North Hot Springs from our home in North County San Diego. We made a few stops along the way for gas and food for the weekend, when we finally pulled in the sun was long set and the resort was quiet. Cal and his lovely wife Roslyn were still hard at work preparing for the rush that was about to hit on Friday. Cal took the time to guide us to our rented park model home and show us around. It was pretty cool when we walked in. To our surprise we were in a Pirate themed unit that was decorated to the hilt with really cool pirate ship themed decor. The kids loved it! There was covered parking almost big enough for 2 UTV’s and plenty of room for our trucks and trailers. The park model was fully equipped with a kitchen stocked with all the amenities including cups, plates, and silverware. The sink, microwave, refrigerator, oven and stove all worked and were clean. The A/C was on when we arrived ensuring we were all very comfortable. The unit features a large living room and dining room, 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. One bedroom is a master with a california king bed and bath. The other room is equipped to sleep up to 5!! Needless to say, we were extremely comfortable all weekend long!
Waking up on Friday was a little different then most desert trips. Its a bit of a change waking up in a california king bed, hearing the kids running around the living room all while still hearing the hushed sounds of off-road vehicles driving by. Our first destination was to Sassy’s Outback Cafe which is the onsite restaurant / bar. Sassy’s has a FULL menu and the meals we would share this weekend were amazing! Pancakes and Bacon were killer and the pizza we shared on Saturday evening was awesome. We plan to take full advantage of this restaurant every time we come back to Glamis North. Sure we all still love a good campsite BBQ but there really is nothing better than being able to pop into the restaurant and order up a solid meal without having to cook or clean. On top of that Sassy’s has ice cold beer on tap and wine to order by the glass or bottle. Every evening on the weekend between 3:30pm-4:30pm you can stop in and have a free glass on Cal on Roslyn. In addition to the restaurant they have food, snacks, drinks, and ice ready for purchase along with some of those last minute riding needs such as oils, goggles, and gloves.
Friday was all about gaining a sense of our surroundings. We explored the resort in the comfort of our freshly built Kawasaki Teryx4 and our Polaris RZR XP4. We hopped from campsite to campsite, welcoming those arriving and sharing cold beverages with friends and family who were already settled in. The resort features full hook up RV sites large enough for full size motorhomes and trailers. For those without an RV or toy-hauler you can take advantage of the single cabin rentals or full scale park model (doublewide trailer) rentals. This allows you to simply load your toys on/in the trailer and haul them on out staying in a fully furnished park model or bring your bedding and stay in one of the cabins. If you need an extra room for your RV or cabin then Glamis North has some awesome little covered wagons you can rent that could easily fit up to 2 adults or 2 children. Once we found our way to the mineral water hot spring pool area I quickly realized that this could be a good and bad thing. Good thing is, its a pool area perfect for the afternoon and evening pool parties. Bad thing is, I don’t think I will do as much riding because hanging by the pool and having drinks is too much fun! Friday found us spending most of our day here enjoying the fresh mineral water and spending time with family and friends. PRP hosted their giant parrot head pool party that night and supplied a taco cart and full open bar! There was enough food and drinks to feed an army. It was a solid time!
Saturday kicked off with breakfast at Sassy’s before loading up and heading out on our first ride of the weekend. There is tons of riding to do right out of the resort. Plenty of destination points can be discovered outside of Glamis North. You have short rides and day long adventure rides you can pull, whatever suits your needs. We chose to ride to the “Oasis” on Saturday and while it was a rough and rocky road to get there it was still awesome to get out with friends and family on the open trail. After spending a few hours on the trail we made our way back to the resort to take a quick dip in the pool and get ready for the organized games and events. Jeff Knoll & Mike Lasher made a course around kids track, yes there is a kids track too, that was perfect for the wet lap race and potato race. Everyone gathered around the area and had a ball watching teams compete for prizes. As the sun set and the games wrapped everyone broke off to enjoy dinner. A large group of us made our way back to Sassy’s where we would enjoy pizza and beer. Once dinner was done we would go put the children to bed and make our way back to the pool where we would party the night away once again. Many would load up and head out on a night ride while most of us would enjoy the warm mineral spring water.
Sunday started a little slower. The long nights and days made the final day at Glamis North a bit more quiet. 9am brought a handful together for the 1st annual ISA convention. The ISA (International SXS Association) was the catalyst for this first ever event at Glamis North. The idea was to host an event that would introduce enthusiasts to the board and to the association as a whole. The idea behind the ISA is to unify the industry and provide a singular voice to help better fight against land closures, laws that affect UTV’s and to one day unify UTV racing. With the sport growing as fast as it is it is only natural that laws and regulations affecting our sport, machines, and off-road lands will be put in place. We as a community need to be prepared to face these situations in a organized way. Otherwise we risk losing the things that make our sport so attractive. While it was a solid meeting we did not have nearly as many people attend the convention portion of the weekend as we would have hoped. Part of that was hosting it on Sunday, but overall we were thrilled at those who did attend, offer support, and insight to this new association.
There is a lot I haven’t mentioned about this glorious resort in the desert. There are many stories I have left out and there isn’t enough time to explain the memories that were made. All I can say is, don’t miss a chance at staying at the Glamis North Hot Springs Resort. I will also say that the next time UTVUnderground.com gets together out at Glamis North with our friends make sure you get in on attending. It was an amazing time and we can’t wait to get things organized for another event!
Special thanks to Mike Lasher, Jeff Knoll, Bill Lasher, and Pete of SXSPerformance.com for all of their hard work in organizing this event. We also want to thank Cal and Roslyn of Glamis North for all of their amazing hospitality. The Board of the ISA – Jeff Knoll, Mike Lasher, Reid Nordin, and Tim Orchard for all of their hard work in organizing the ISA. Aaron from PRP Seats and his whole staff for the kick butt Friday night pool party and ALL OF THE UTVUnderground.com MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED!!!!!!
ISA (International SXS Association)
Glamis North Hot Springs Resort
