TODAYS UPDATE!
While JR was working on Jason’s Truggy yesterday, I was at Hollister Hills for the first time at Nor Cal Off-Road’s Blazer Fest 2008. There is both good and bad to report from my trip and I might as well get the bad out of the way first. As soon as I arrived; Kevin the owner of Pacific Fabrication advised me that the plans to take J’s truggy there for a week so bggrnchvy can complete the generally cosmetic portion of this build was cancelled; he is just too busy to fit J’s Truggy in at this time; this was a big setback and disappointment. He did offer to allow a couple of build days but the logic of that plan escapes me because it takes 5 hours driving each direction. I remember what a long day it was when Jason drove to Pacific Fabrication to build Kevin’s link suspension for him on his Truggy and then drove home that same day getting home between 2 and 3 in the morning so he could be at work at 7AM that same morning; but that was Jason, anything to help. Or as Jason’s mom reminded me of all the times we would see Jason in the shop at 1 and 2 in the morning after working all day making a part for someone. When asked why he didn’t wait until the next day he would always say they need it and when asked who the parts were for he would always say, “Someone”. We would see him the next morning leaving for work at 6:30 and ask him what time he went to bed and he would say, “around 4”.
Now for the good news from Blazer Fest; to start with, bggrnchvy stepped up and offered to come to Bakersfield the 4th of August and stay that week and complete everything needed to get the Truggy ready for Moab. While at Blazer Fest I had the opportunity to talk again to many of J’s friends that I had previously met at his memorial as well as meeting many new ones. I now understand what Jason had told his mom and me about how he loved so much the diversification of individuals that belong to all the different clubs, including Nor Cal Off-Road (it’s hard for me not to say NorCal Big Dawgs). I had an opportunity meet people that wanted to tell me stories about them and Jason, about how their relationships with their families have changed and in general, what their lives are like today because they knew Jason. It was enjoyable seeing people that didn’t have the discretionary funds to build a fancy buggy or truck but just loved to wheel whatever they had. You could sense their passion for the sport as Jason had and it was their intention to push their rigs to the limit, no matter what the outcome. Also, there was in general a deep feeling of comradeship between this diverse group of individuals that had come together with one goal, survive a day of intense wheeling and be able to talk and laugh about it that night. As one member told me, “I save all year to be able to fix my rig and pay for this trip; this is what I look forward to all year”.
I know I’m running on but in closing I want to say thank you to Dan (gokartergo) and his family and co-workers for a great event and the Mug Root Beer / Nilla Wafers salute to Jason as well a remembrance Noel last night and the honor of being named Member of the Year - understanding that it was another way of honoring Jason.