Willie Vasquez Memorial Campout 2010
June 4-6, 2010
by Evan Silverman
I feel this Willie V Memorial run was an excellent tribute to our
late friend. Willie was a great friend and this trip to me has more to
do with hanging out with friends then wheeling. One of the best things
in life is hanging out with friends and wheeling. Although Willie died
young, he lived life to its fullest and probably passed with no regrets.
The trip to Grainsville was a long one taking us over six hours
but upon arrival we were pleasantly surprised. The Pine Grove motel,
although small was a nice little establishment. Although it is not the
Plaza or the Hilton, It was clean and the proprietor was very
accommodating and glad to have us. We hung out literally in the owners
back yard and six of us camped in three tents. John and I shared a
tent, Mat and Brian another and the only strait couple of the group
Dimitri and Stephanie were in the last an smallest tent. They must
REALLY like each other although I think that Stephanie would have gone
to the prom with me if we were in high school. Most of those not
camping stayed in the Pine Grove hotel with the rest staying a few
miles away at another hotel.
Our first night was filled with pot luck meat cooked up by our
fearless leader Joe, and lots of Booze and Laughs. We had a great fire
thanks to Jim's stainless washing machine basket and fire wood. We
were visited by our trail guides and hosts Michele and Doyle . They
probably think we or at least me are a little weird especially after we
had the 6th installment of the Warn verse Super Winch battle while
drunk, which makes it a much more fun discussion as compared to when
we are sober. By 12:00 most of the old folk went to sleep but us
youngens stayed up past 2:30 where we met Gary at the Cumberland farms.
He has worked there for 11 years and was going to retire in 2 more
years because he has a lot to do.(made me a little nervous) John and I
tried to sleep but between Dimitri and Stephanie's snoring and Mat and
Brian's talking about Disney World we could not sleep plus it started
to absolutely downpour. John and I asked Willie to stop the rain for
tomorrows wheeling.
We woke after 2 1/2 hours sleep to some light rain, but after a
nice breakfast at the Pine Grove diner most of the rained stopped.
Thank You Willie. Now I have to tell you that Joe must have been
watching some cool war movie or something in his room that night
because he really grew some balls.( can I say balls?) Well anyway balls
it is. He was like a drill Sergeant leading our Dirty Dozen group of
misfits like a well trained battle hardened platoon. It reminded me of
my Sergeant back in Nam. Any way he was on us like white on rice (what
ever that means) and got our rag tag crew to Mettowee on time.
Mettowee was what we expected, muddy, very muddy, boots stuck in
the mud trying to dislocate you knee muddy. They do have trails that
Doyle was spending the day showing us, but they also have these 6 foot
deep water and mud holes that these guys race across. I would love to
see that one day. Back to the trails, they were muddy but it did rain
like crazy the night before and Doyle swears that the trails are
totally different when is is dry, as it was the day before we showed
up. The day we wheeled was very little traction. I found it very
frustrating. I was beating the sh-t out of E Rex. It made me think of
a bumper sticker that I want to make. I Can't Beat My Wife So I beat
My Jeep. what do you guys think? Back to the trail report. Mettowee
is not very large put definitely big enough for a day of wheeling and I
think that as the trails get used, the mud will wash away and the rocks
under the mud will get exposed. Although it was not our clubs
preferred type of wheeling it was still a good day out and our trail
guide Doyle was great. I think that this place will get better with
time. The only thing is that it is so dame far.
Most of us were back at the backyard by 5:00 with a few staying
later on the trail. John, Dimitri, Stephanie, Steve and I started the
prep work for diner which work out just as I had hoped. Working as a
team we managed to cook sauteed onions and baby portabellas, corn on
the cob, baked potatoes, baked beans, grilled vegetables and 21
beautiful New York Strip steaks from Setauket Quality meats. We also
had pasta salad and desert provided by Stephaniee. I was proud of our
diner and all the help the rest of the club gave cleaning up. We
stayed up the rest of the night drinking and talking about wheeling and
how we got into the sport. We went to bed around 1:00 It started
poring again after we went to sleep(thank you Willie again for keeping
us dry)
The next morning we packed our wet gear had breakfast at the
diner again, said our good byes and went home. What a great trip. It
reminded me of the days at Walker Island when half the club would show
including Willie. I am sure he had a smile on his face.
Evan
P.S. I rolled E Rex AGAIN!!!!!!!!! F--kin S--t