Where to even begin?

My Expo shenanigans began at Willard's house in Charlotte Wednesday night. I left RDU after work and headed up there to meet Rob (Bbasso), Nick (Johnny Tran), Craig (AssPenny), Dave (Dave-ROR) and Andy (Hooch'n). Had a few frosty beverages and made fun of Nick for not going this year. Then we sacked out in preparation for an early departure Thursday morning.

We were fed and on the interstate by 6:15am, making tracks across NC and TN. Took this somewhere along the way, probably TN from the looks of it.



We turned north at Nashville and headed up through KY, then across IL. IL is boring as hell - put Willard right to bed



Woo hoo! St. Louis arch!



Stopped in St. Louis for dinner, at some "award-winning" barbecue place. I played safe and ordered the beef brisket, knowing that they probably have far different ideas about pork barbecue than I do The food was pretty good, service was "awesome!!," but their Carolina sauce was

Also outside of St. Louis, some sort of military vehicle graveyard.



Lost count of the big rivers we crossed, but this is one of them:



Sunset somewhere in between St. Louis and Kansas City, still got some miles to cover.



FINALLY!! A little after 1am local time, we got to the track. Chris (Aquafina) and a few others were already inside, in a little "holding pen" within the main gate, but outside the track gate where the worker was the rest of the weekend. So naturally, we started enjoying a few beverages while waiting on the track guy to let us in. While we were waiting, Scott (RR98itr) rolled up from Portland



Craig and Dave's tent, aka "The Palace"



Early Friday morning, they let us in the main part. We set up Camp We-Todd, aka "The People by the Fence."



Craig's RS, pretty clean despite the drive.



Heh



Craig's got a little captain in him, Friday afternoon.



Best $20 I ever spent, right here.



Craig getting ready for the group photo. He was bitching that he can never pick his car out of the aerial shots, so he and Dave just took the hood off. Oh, there was a tape shocker on top, and WTDR across the hatch.



Random pit/paddock shots:





Rob explaining in detail how the sticky-ickies he had on the car let him roll all.



Craig on the dyno. Dropped the cat, gained 20hp. Deafened everyone.



Post-banquet troubles in the parking lot



A little more captain in Craig







No idea what's going on here





The gheylude has already turned him



Me reuniting with Junior







Catching up with Ryan (CanuckR), who so unselfishly offered up his airbag for sacrifice



Show kaa - I think Rob washed it three times over the weekend.



We said goodbye to folks at the track, including the NY crew, and at around four and made tracks back southeast. Made it to O'Fallon, IL the first night and crashed a hotel to catch a quick Honda-Tech nap before leaving again bright and early Monday morning. We had left Rob at the track, so it was just three vehicles heading back.

Stopped in Metropolis for fuel/gas/snacks.



Had some lunch and said goodbye to Craig and Dave in Nashville, they were headed down to ATL. Andy, Willard and I then went hammer-down all the way to Charlotte.

Mmm, buggies. Saw another one later in the evening.



Dome from the Worlds Fair in Knoxville:




Great seeing all the old faces from previous years, and meeting some new ones. Got to thank Willard again for my fourth Expo riding shotgun in the Dodge. I was able to help him drive a lot more this year since he didn't trailer 01-0154 up with us.

Had a blast, can't wait to do it again. Next year maybe Mrs. Splat will agree to come with me

 

was he the only portland itr owner there? thats quite a drive!

great pics, looked like a blast

 

Great pics, Pat -- it was nice meeting you this year.

 

Good to see you man, Thanks for the pictures....i didn't bring a camera! Had a great time again and hope to see you and maybe the wife at NOPI.....yo. I'll keep you in the loop about We-Todd-Edition.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Splat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Me reuniting with Junior


</TD></TR></TABLE>

O damn twins. j/k lol But damn you and Jon do look alike.
O and Will did not take the R this time?

 

OMG, everything makes sense now...
this has been nagging me all this time!!!

 

great pictures!! from the looks of all these pictures it doesnt look like there was anyone that didnt have a great time!!

 

great pix. Looks like a good time was had by all.

 

funny....the 'captain' made an appearance friday in charlotte as well.

We shall say me and a rather large 'statue' of captain morgan climbed on stage of a small concert that eve.

nick, who says the 'Aristocrat' double shots made him do it.... :barf:

 

Nice pics Splat and thanks for being a human shield from the parking lot shenanigans!!!!

 

lol..... the big revelation of the weekend.

john d = splat jr.

the world was 'right' again after we figured this out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris N &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">lol..... the big revelation of the weekend.

john d = splat jr. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, that picture is kinda eerie.

Also this one:

 

Hahahahaha .....

So, jesus was married?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Albino Dragon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nice pics Splat and thanks for being a human shield from the parking lot shenanigans!!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

LMAO

Was that when the airbag blew? Good stuff

Mickey - no, Will didn't want to take the Hype R up this year, and I honestly think he had more fun/time to relax without it there. He was able to bum a drive or two, and it did make the drive up a whole lot easier.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Splat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"></TD></TR></TABLE>

I was hoping someone would post that pic.

 

wow nice nice to see more pics lol wish i was there

 

Nice pics........wow i was pissed i didn't have a camera. I guess i didn't need one, eveyone had one but me. haha

 

Nice pixors Pat

Always good to see joo at exbo.

Ryan-Who thinks Chris has to much time on his hands

 

Wish I would have gone.
Maybe will have time off next year.

 

Oh, and any chance someone in Team Lazy could send me another hugger? Seems like Mrs. Splat wants to be a member as well

 

Great pics!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Splat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oh, and any chance someone in Team Lazy could send me another hugger? Seems like Mrs. Splat wants to be a member as well </TD></TR></TABLE>

Pat...great to meet you for the first time! Funny i have had long lost relatives that i didn't even know about, let alone look just like them . In regards to the huggy/koozy .... i have an extra if Mike handed out all 9 billion he had. Just pm me your address and we'll get you another

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jon D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have an extra if Mike handed out all 9 billion he had. Just pm me your address and we'll get you another </TD></TR></TABLE>

woot! Thanks, Junior

PM on the way.

 

poor little(ok, not so little) prelude..

Pat, you're on the Poplar St. Bridge, coming into STL, in that picture..