Friday, March 18: Pappa John, Leah, and Solarx4 met up with me in Rogers around 3:45pm to caravan to the xcursion. We made a couple stops along the way in the Mark Twain National Forest/Roaring River State Park area to find some geocaches. We managed to find three geocaches, including one that gave us quite a hiking workout. By the time we returned to the vehicles it was close to 6:00pm so we made our way to the cabins at the Green Cacoon in Shell Knob, MO.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by ozark-X, Casey, and wxornot. We unpacked the trucks and started up the grill. Shortly after, KCX arrived with his video camera and the HXOC xcursion tape. We watched the footage and talked about previous xcursions. ChrisMc joined the group later on.

In each of the cabins were several copies of "The Knob Rock Rattler", a local newspaper that the cabin owners kindly left in each of the cabins. We noticed that Heartland Xterra Owners Club had made front page news!

Excerpt from The Knob Rock Rattler: "You may see an XTERRA around town this weekend. What's and XTERRA? Keep an eye out and you may spot one of these unique vehicles. The Heartland XTERRA Owners Club will be here for their annual XCURSION in the Mark Twain National Forest. The Green Cacoon will be hosting the group for their third annual visit to Shell Knob." - Jeannie Jones (Around the Knob)

Saturday, March 19: After stopping at a local gas station to pick up some last minute trail snacks and a fuel up, we set out to hit trails. We started with a very easy trail to get everyone started. For the most part, we didn't stop much except for one rocky ledge towards the end the trail. I spotted everyone through the obstacle and then we continued down another branch of the trail.

We did encounter a watery path that some nearby ATV riders said they wouldn't try. Pappa John braved the way through the water and made it to the otherside with ease. One by one, we all followed and made it to a dry trail. We stopped for lunch on the trails around 12:30pm. The area was very peaceful and the weather perfect.

After lunch, we set out on the trails again. After a lot of winding around in the trails, we entered a rocky ledge area. KCX spotted me through the first ledge and then we spotted Pappa John up as well. Pappa John and I continued up the ledge path to determine if we should have everyone continue up. After a good hour of working with everyone to get them up the ledges, we decided we needed to get back out to a main highway so that wxornot could leave since he had to work later that evening. Instead of climbing the ledges more, we took the trail back out. Halfway out, ChrisMc decided he was going to take a different trail back. He later met up with KarityKat on the trails.

Once we got back out to the highway, we decided it was time to go back to the cabins and enjoy a cold one. We grilled out again and then setup the table for a friendly game of Texas Hold 'em. After the game(12:00am), everyone was pretty worn out and decided to go to bed.

Sunday, March 20: Everyone except for myself, Karitykat, and ChrisMc left the next morning. The three of us decided to run one last trail before the departing. We headed out around 10:30am and found a trail that we had traveled in previous xcursions. We traveled the trail until it led back out to highway 76 around 2:00pm. Then we all went our separate ways back home.

Overall, it was a great xcursion! We had very little carnage and got to meet some great people. Thanks to everyone who attended!