I look at my watch, 6 am on Friday the 13th. It may not be the best day to head out for a 1200 plus mile road trip, so I looked down at my spotted friend with tired eyes and asked the magic question: “ Rover Dog …. Do you want to go Adventuring?” Rover Dog sprung to life as if Frankenstein himself electrified every spot on his body. “I'll take that as a yes”. I told him grabbing a pre-packed Pelican Case.
20 minutes later, we walk outside to load the F250 tow rig. The 20 degree cold air slaps us in the face. I just laugh it off thinking of how cold it will be in Maine. On our way to meet Gavin we stop off for some piping hot coffee. Thank god for coffee. A few sips of java later, Rover dog and I arrive at the shop to meet Gavin. We strap the Lucky8 D1 to the trailer and head out for our adventure with a big bag full of Gavin’s mom’s homemade scones. They are worth the trip alone.
I would like to say the road trip was filled with great events and near misses but is was just about as boring as it could be. The Ford 5.4 was working hard on the up hills, but for the most part, we were able to move along at 70 mph or so.
After about 5 hrs of thruway driving, Rover Dog had given up all hope of ever getting there and went to sleep.
He would only wake up when it was time to eat. Just in case you want to know, Rover Dog prefers Burger King cheeseburgers with all the toppings on them.
We get off the Waterville exit and start looking for the hotel. Gavin quickly spots Kevin Buckley’s yellow coil over sitting next to Robert Courtney’s 110. We say hello to the boys and they invite us out to dinner at some NEW Mexican joint. I hope your thinking what I’m thinking a Mexican restaurant in the middle of Maine? Five of us hop in Robert’s beautiful 110 for the snug but short ride up the street to the restaurant. Bruce Fowler, the organizer of the winter Romp, had a room set aside for the Group. It was a good thing because the place was packed. We walk in the door and are escorted to the private room like kings. We high steeped up to the bar for a few pitchers beer to get the oil flowing. I could have gone through a 12-step program faster than it took to receive the pitchers of beer and you don’t want to know how long it took to get glasses. Enough of that, lets move on to the food. When I was in China I learned to order food that would be cooked for one and over cooked if I was lucky. Applying this knowledge to the mystery Mexican restaurant, I chose the chicken fajitas. Gavin chose the pork shown on the menu. Big mistake. The first picture is from the menu, the second is his food. Rover Dog would not eat either one. More on Gavin’s food later.
Champion! Is what the English say when things go good. Champions was the name of the bar we went to after dinner. They were complete opposites. Steven King could have used this place as the beginning for a novel or two. We walk in and see:
Under sized bar maid wearing a shirt way too big. “A little strange”
Over sized bar maid wearing the under sized bar maids shirt. “Not good”
Women claiming to be miss penthouse pet 76 wearing little to nothing. “Not good"
3 girls with tongue rings taking turns kissing each other and snapping pictures. “This was good and bad all at the same time”
A Garth Brooks look a like big hat and all dancing to Jay Z. “Bazaar”
Multiple guys looking like MM dancing on the speakers .“Very Bad”
This is when Gavin and I said we have seen enough to know we have seen it all and went back to hotel.
7 Am Saturday 14th Rover Dog is ready to go! As I get dressed, he is running around the room at Mach 5 in excitement. RD is amped up because he knows we are going to Big-Gs for breakfast. In the quick 13 hours that took us to get to the romp, we had some time to discuss what we are going to have for breakfast. After great debate, we chose the bacon omelet with extra bacon. You can decide whom the extra bacon was for. It is now a little after 8 and we need to get moving, I go over to get Gavin from his room when he tells me “I need some more time”. He mumbles something about Mexican and runs for the banos “bathroom.” With Gavin fighting Montezuma’s revenge, Rover Dog and I unload the Disco and prep for the day’s events.
9ish at Big Gs. I’m stuffing my face looking out the window at Rover Dog in the truck, while he is looking at me eating the bacon omelet. Rover Dog was not amused. After the huge breakfast, we head over to Bruce’s house. This is when we get super lucky. I meet up with Kevin Buckley from last night to ask him how the event goes down. He tells me Bruce is trying to split the large crowd up into manageable groups and has asked VTXS to hit the trails together first. Kevin invites me to join in. The event gets even better because Kevin says they are going to tackle some of the harder trails. I really think Lucky8 Disco smiled at this. I know Gavin did. I tell Kevin yes and we will meet up with him at the trailhead. As Gavin and I go to get the L8 Disco, we see our good friend Mike Lambert changing tires on his D2. I ask Mike if he wants to jump on the VTXS bandwagon. He says “Hell ya!” New tire on the D2, we depart for the trailhead.
With the bluest of skies above, I make a left of the last paved road we will see in daylight. The L8 disco has to work to keep pace with the VTXS boys as they sleekly cut their way through the maze of trails. In less then 5 minute of driving, you can encounter a huge variation in conditions. As we drove through the deep snow, it would give way to pure ice, making turning and stopping a joke. As soon as you get used to the death ice, it would transform into mud holes filled with Samsonite sized ice chunks floating about. You can't help but smile, as massive ice chunks bounce off the truck. As soon as you climb-out of the ice filled water holes, you need to Kung Fu fight your way through never ending sea of tree obstacles. If I learned anything about Maine, it was they have a lot of trees and big ones at that.
Every adventure has its special time and this was it for me. Peter Vollers broke a front U joint on his JK. I know what your thinking. It's getting late, the sun is going down, and the temperature is falling faster than Wile E Coyote on a set of Acme rocket skates. How can we get this truck out of here???? ! As previously stated this was the best part. Peter had spare axels and U joins. What happened next would make the A-team jealous. We attacked that broken axel with a vengeance. In under an hour, the front tire, brakes, hub, abs sensors, U joint and axels were pulled out and replaced. Off-Roading team work at its best!
After quick stop at lookout point for Mike to get a Valentine's Day picture with his sweetie, we head back to the hotel.
On the way I ask Gavin “ you hungry?” He says “a little” Then I ask, “ You want Mexican?” Angrily he replies “ NO!” Really mystery meat from a Mexican restaurant in the middle of Maine? What was he thinking? With the Romp under our belts, it was time to have a quiet one, or two.
7 PM ish. We head over to You Know Whose Pub for dinner and to meet up with a bunch of Romp attendees. The food was great, the beer was cold and the conversations entertaining to say the least. Time flys by and the pub is thinning out. Gavin and I are faced with a choice. Go back to the hotel pack up for the 13 hour ride home and get a good night sleep. Or go out for a beer with VTXS crew. Warning! Do not go Drinking with the VTXS boys. Sunday was a hard ride home.
Bruce, Thank You for The Winter Romp! We had a great time and will be back in 2010.
