well...our NE trip got off to a late start. A few met me at my house and we headed out from there. Our initial intentions were to meet the rest of the NASTE crew on the PA Turnpike. But unforseen circumstances delayed them, and we had to get to Columbus so we didn't meet up w/ everyone until OH.
Seemingly stopping every 1/2 tank of gas didn't speed us up. But overall we weren't in a hurry to get there, and ended up arriving only about 1 hr later than expected anyway :tup:
Our first gas stop:
So then we drove and drove and drove. Daylight came again thursday morning. I stopped driving my STi after 550 miles in the drivers seat and hopped into Smaug's borrowed Yukon. Seeing my car being driven at 80+mph was a first for me
So i tried to get some sleep, but was rudely interupted by Dennis having the nerve of breaking a fan belt. Some nerve. So rather than sleep i ended up playing football in the parking lot of a Howard Johnson - which turned into quite the debacle. Apparently empty hotels don't like you playing football and riding minibikes in the parking lot becuase we were abruptly told to leave. This is an entire story in itself, i'll keep this one for those who actually attended NATS.
We stopped for lunch near St Louis at Cracker Barrel. This TOO was an entire story in itself. I had a Back to the Future moment, and met myself if I live to be 82. I must say, I'm quite cool in my old age :tup:
Many many hours later we got to the hotel and started to BS w/ everyone. It got dark a couple hours later and we were greeted the first night of NATS with this friendly site. It was pretty sweet in person.
We got some sleep, I got up and ate breakfast, worked out, and showered (4 things that some would say is atypical Renz behavior).
Day broke friday morning and it was time for me to start taking some pictures. For some reason every person that saw me gave me the same reaction:
The first pictures I made sure i got was ones of Robert's truck. This alone was reason to come to NATS. Obviously there are many other reasons - but this one in my mind sealed the deal for me. Plus, i was the first one to register on the website :tup:
So i hopped in the Swedish truck and shot some pics. I wouldn't sniff the seat too closely though :lol: How many 9sec cars have you sat in that have stereos?!
I couldn't believe Cam showed up in his Typhoon. What a moron. GREAT to meet him and see his truck in person...but wow - thats some dedication to drive that far alone. I say we try to hire some friends for him next year. :lol: His truck sure does clean up nice too...and I don't even like red cars.
We ended up not going to the dyno since they wanted a tad too much $ to really spark enough interest. So instead everyone dumped out the pile of parts they didn't want on the ground and tried to sell them
Hunger built so we chose the most obvious location to eat. Plenty of funny occurences here. Too bad you didn't come, or you'd know.
Seemingly stopping every 1/2 tank of gas didn't speed us up. But overall we weren't in a hurry to get there, and ended up arriving only about 1 hr later than expected anyway :tup:
Our first gas stop:
So then we drove and drove and drove. Daylight came again thursday morning. I stopped driving my STi after 550 miles in the drivers seat and hopped into Smaug's borrowed Yukon. Seeing my car being driven at 80+mph was a first for me
So i tried to get some sleep, but was rudely interupted by Dennis having the nerve of breaking a fan belt. Some nerve. So rather than sleep i ended up playing football in the parking lot of a Howard Johnson - which turned into quite the debacle. Apparently empty hotels don't like you playing football and riding minibikes in the parking lot becuase we were abruptly told to leave. This is an entire story in itself, i'll keep this one for those who actually attended NATS.
We stopped for lunch near St Louis at Cracker Barrel. This TOO was an entire story in itself. I had a Back to the Future moment, and met myself if I live to be 82. I must say, I'm quite cool in my old age :tup:
Many many hours later we got to the hotel and started to BS w/ everyone. It got dark a couple hours later and we were greeted the first night of NATS with this friendly site. It was pretty sweet in person.
We got some sleep, I got up and ate breakfast, worked out, and showered (4 things that some would say is atypical Renz behavior).
Day broke friday morning and it was time for me to start taking some pictures. For some reason every person that saw me gave me the same reaction:
The first pictures I made sure i got was ones of Robert's truck. This alone was reason to come to NATS. Obviously there are many other reasons - but this one in my mind sealed the deal for me. Plus, i was the first one to register on the website :tup:
So i hopped in the Swedish truck and shot some pics. I wouldn't sniff the seat too closely though :lol: How many 9sec cars have you sat in that have stereos?!
I couldn't believe Cam showed up in his Typhoon. What a moron. GREAT to meet him and see his truck in person...but wow - thats some dedication to drive that far alone. I say we try to hire some friends for him next year. :lol: His truck sure does clean up nice too...and I don't even like red cars.
We ended up not going to the dyno since they wanted a tad too much $ to really spark enough interest. So instead everyone dumped out the pile of parts they didn't want on the ground and tried to sell them
Hunger built so we chose the most obvious location to eat. Plenty of funny occurences here. Too bad you didn't come, or you'd know.
