dunefreak

Thanksgiving is the day of giving thanks for everything we are blessed with in our lives. It’s the time of year when us duners take a few days, hit the sandbox and enjoy it with our friends and family. In order to keep with the Thanksgiving Day tradition, we get creative and cook our feasts out of our RV's at Dumont. Some deep fry their turkeys, others use methods like infrared cookers or deep pit style. The dunes are our home and we wouldn't have it any other way. It's one of the longest holiday weekends of the year, therefore some sand-fanatics who live farther than most regulars make this their one big trip of the season. Others come out early and enjoy a whole week in the sandbox. Dune Masters and Sand Pipers In true Thanksgiving tradition, the waterpumpers return to Dumont! The Dune Masters and Sandpipers Club will be hosting their 48th Annual hill climbs and drags. That's right, 48! The club was founded back in 1968 and they have returned to Dumont every year since then with their V8 powered buggies. They make up a big part of the history of Dumont Dunes so be sure to check them out. They will be set up on the steep, left side of Comp Hill for the hill climbs on Friday and then on Saturday the drags will take place along the back stretch of sand highway, where you would drive out to the north pole. Schedule Friday, November 25th, 10am Hill Climbs at Comp Hill Saturday the 26th, 10am Drags on the back stretch Sorry, Club members only in competition but spectators are welcome at both events. Forum Discussion Last Year's Trip reports & Pics Thanksgiving 2015 Gallery http://www.dumontduneriders.com/invision/gallery/category/20-thanksgiving-2015/ Planning to deep fry a turkey?

Deep frying your turkey at the dunes is probably one of the easiest methods other than cooking it at home and bringing it out there to reheat, but what fun is that? Every time we've deep fried a turkey out there it becomes the center of attention in camp and is a good time. Using a deep fryer can be a little messy so the dunes are a perfect place to do it. Deep Fryers So where do you begin? Don't own a deep fryer? Get one! They are relatively inexpensive and very easy to use. You'll want a 30 QT deep fryer like this one on Amazon, 30QT Turkey Fryer. Picking your turkey Usually 15 lbs is what I shoot for. If yo go too big,it doesn't fit well in the fryer. Be Careful! First things first...safety. Although you’re out at the dunes, a propane deep fryer can still be very dangerous so here's a couple tips. Completely thaw your turkey. Even a partially frozen turkey will cause the oil to pop and possibly overflow. Never leave it unattended and be sure to carefully follow the instructions. Make sure you are outside away from your RV, camp chairs, and anything flammable. Have a large grilling glove handy. These are good gloves to have because they handle the heat and cover your arm from getting burned by the oil: Cooking Gloves With Textured Palms. Prepare Your Bird & Fryer Remove the wrapper from the turkey. Take out the giblets and toss em. Determine how much oil you need for cooking. Put the thawed turkey in the fryer basket (or on the turkey stand) and place it in the fryer. Add water until the top of the turkey is just barely covered. Remove the turkey, allowing the water to drain from the turkey back into the fryer. Measure and mark the water line, and use that line as your guide when adding your oil to the fryer. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Do NOT put a frozen or partially frozen turkey in the fryer. Add the peanut oil to the fryer (based on the water line you made earlier). Preheat oil in the fryer to 375° F. While the oil is heating, prepare your turkey with any seasonings. Some people inject flavor into their turkey but this isn't a very good idea for two reasons. 1. Your messing with the turkeys natural flavors and 2. the added moisture in the hot oil. Stick with just seasoning to play it safe. Time to Cook When the oil is up to temperature, turn the burner off and slowly lower the turkey into the hot oil. Slowly lowering the basket/rack helps prevent the oil from bubbling over. Once the turkey is placed in the fryer, turn the burner back on. Cook the turkey about 3 to 4 minutes per pound. A 15 lb turkey will take about 45-50 minutes to cook. The turkey is done when the dark meat is at an internal temperature of 175° F to 180° F and all white meat is at an internal temperature of 165° F to 170° F. When the turkey is done, slowly lift it from the pot and place it in a pan or on paper towels to drain. Let the turkey stand for 20 minutes before removing it from the rack or basket. Carve it up and Eat! Video Here is a how-to video to help guide you through the process. Most of the tips and cooking times are similar to our info.

Good times are here again! Dune season kicked off Halloween weekend bringing back the energy of the pre-recession days of Dumont Dunes. Let's face it. Some of the holiday weekends over the past 5-6 years have been rather stale and low on attendance. This year seemed a bit different though. There was an added element of vitality and excitement in the air. This recent boom may have been sparked by the side x side craze. Back in the day, duners would acquire big ticket sand toys by using their home equity. Nowadays, companies like Polaris and Can Am make it easy to finance a toy that the whole family can enjoy year round. Whether this is what reignited the spark or not, Halloween weekend definitely had a huge crowd as shown from duner, Chad Lozier’s, high flying drone. The BLM recorded 16,000 duners were in attendance. As if that didn't give us a good enough perspective, paragliders, Bill Baby and Ryan Thomas, flew overhead capturing the view from their own bird's eye view. Talk about the best seat in the house! Vendor Row was lacking a few vendors this year compared to other years, however duners still got over there as early as Friday morning to cash in on early weekend deals and to get some dune shopping in. Beefy Boys BBQ served up breakfast, lunch and dinner while California Casuals offered their famous holiday weekend t-shirts that almost every duner has owned at some point. The weather was overcast a good portion of the weekend, but the sun managed to break through the clouds making for some much needed A/C time in the RV. Temperatures were warm all weekend ranging from the low 70's after the sun went down to 93 degrees on Saturday afternoon! It was shorts weather all day and into the night. Campfires weren't even fired up until late. Speaking of weather, the recent rain that hit Dumont that Monday and Tuesday before Halloween weekend made for some choppy sand conditions. The dunes were already tracked and rutted out as early as Friday morning. So much for a smooth dune run before the crowds rolled in! That sand was wet underneath all weekend. It didn't stop everyone from having fun though. Just getting back to the sandbox after a long summer was good enough. The BLM opened their doors to the visitor center. Park Ranger Art provided safety and wildlife information and let duners pet the lizards and snakes that were on display. Rangers and medical staff were ready and responded to a few accidents throughout the weekend. One fatality was reported when a Banshee rider was unable to stop at the top of Banshee Hill. Full story here. Once the sun went down on Saturday it was Trick-or-Treat time! Little duners and even some of the parents got into costume and went camp to camp for candy. Dumont is arguably the best way to spend Halloween for kids and adults. Duners decorated their camps and really got into the spirit out there as always. This year we saw the Star Wars crew, dinosaurs, nuns, pimps, and lots of Donald Trumps! Comp Hill was literally lit up with lighted whips that stretched 5+ rows back. Drones were flying around with ghosts hanging from them, the Star Wars Landspeeder was making it's rounds passing out candy and taking pictures with everyone, and there was the loudest stereo system in the world blasting music from the front row into the crowd. That's not all. People were actually racing this year too. Imagine that...racing at Competition Hill. Let's not forget the famous McFlurry. It was in tow up and down the aisles as people cheered it on. Video presented by Bruner Racing Drone footage by Jeff Bruner and Jimmy Redmond Sunday morning started as another overcast day. The sun came out for a minute, then out of nowhere there were 30+ mph winds blowing sand and dust so hard that it was impossible to see across the camp area. It came at an unfortunate time for duners as most were just getting packed up. Some of the people who were camped in tents faced even more of a challenge. The wind turned their dune home into a hang glider! As we all know, this "W" word is what makes Dumont so awful and great at the same time. It can ruin our day of duning but at the same time fix the place right back up after a busy weekend. Come Monday, the dunes were back to how we love them, nice and smooth. For more pics and trip reports, check out the Halloween thread on the forum... More photos from our social media have been posted in the gallery... Next up, Thanksgiving! It's only a few weeks away. Start getting those dune toys ready now because it will be here before you know it.