Thunder at the Beach
Torn and MaxxTraxx's weekend in Paradise, as posted by Kevin on the MaXX TraXX forum after getting back from Thunder on Sunday, October 1.
Read the post below, or click on any of the three links to see pictures from the weekend.
Pic Page 1 Pic Page 2 Pic Page 3
Hey guys, I havent even unpacked yet--I couldnt wait to run in here and post. Now get comfy because this will be long.
xxxxxSo I wake up Friday, go get my girlfriend, get last minute things, pack car and Don and Dave meet me at my house. We head off and get down to Wildwood around 4. After unpacking in the hotel, we headed down to the beach to scout out where we would be--a soggy, puddle-filled beach. By the time we were done there and got to the block party, it had already started. We pulled up, put out a table and by the time I put down my Clodbuster, about 20 people had clustered around the table. We could barely set up. Suddenly a face appears: Dave Schulze from Baltimore. Cool, we got one so far. Finally we get organized and set up a car crush. BAM! About 100 people swarm around--we drew more attention than the actual monster trucks. About an hour goes by, and out of nowhere Sammy Baca and the 5000 dollar T-Maxx show up--straight from California. GREAT! We start jumping T-Maxxes. I was crushing and destroying Lexan bodies and pulling some wheelies for the crowd; Sammy was jumping (and quacking)--we had a blast at the block party alone. At the last minute Oscar (rex01) shows up and joins the fun. Around ten, it was back to the hotels with us for a Group Maxx Wrench Session.
xxxxx6:30 AM Saturday rolls around and we "try" to wake up. Eventually we head off to the beach (it hadn't dried out too much overnight). We set up a large display--two tents, several tables, and a few banners, and Slateterra shows up. We began building and roping off a running area--one jump for the moment since it was fairly wet. Who could resist? We had T-Maxxers galore out there so we started em up and just started running them. We were burning up servos left and right. Carlos (revel67, from New York) arrived, and time2kill and friend showed up from Michigan (these guys DROVE sixteen hours to Jersey after being informed they couldn't bring their Maxxes on the plane, only to stay for the afternoon and drive back that night!). Frank (ballpar605) from Jersey, Jason from Georgia...so many more just kept pouring out. One of our biggest thrills...Jason brought with him the wonderful Twin Maxx. *drools* There is nothing like seeing three Maxxes but hearing FOUR engines. Finally we get a break, and did some begging and pleading to get a front-end loader to dump us a huge pile of nice, dry sand. We built some tiny jumps and then large ones. NOW, the fun starts. We were jumping and bashing--just breaking parts left and right and nobody shed a tear about it. Finally a second break; they dump more dirt for us and we build a track: a small straightaway leading to a Lexan-crushing jump, onto an in and out , then woopty doos, only to end it with a beautiful four-foot-high jump to a finish line. The crowd (and did we ever attract one!) was going nuts, actually oohing and ahhing and cheering. We proceeded to race on into the night. Yes night .. we ran RCs from 9 in the morning till about 9 at night. It was great--we were getting awesome air off the jump and crashing each other up...just ask Dave Schulze. At one point I saw him going for the large jump and just as I was ready to hit it. We both took off at the same time and collided in midair about 4 feet off the ground. The second Jason flipped us over, I nailed the throttle and drove right up over his Durango Maxx. Heh...sorry, Dave. Well, he did get me back. I stalled out and was just casually walking out to start it when I heard Dave's truck coming...I just thought to my self "UH-OH!" Before I knew it, "BAM!" *dave chuckles to himself* *sneech flicks off dave*
xxxxxRevel's buddy was running a smaller nitro monster truck and decided to race one of the T-Maxxes. Once he hit the in and outs, his tire fired right off the wheel like a bullet. The crowd loved it--hey man, you need just qualified for a free bottle of CA glue! I had to rebuild my ring and pinion AND my engine out on the beach and I didn't even care at all. Yeah, we broke lots of stuff, but I have to say it was well worth it--I don't think anyone left without a smile on his face.
xxxxxSunday a few more new faces showed up and played. There was a Maxx with an HPI SS engine--that thing just whaled over the jump. Then a nitro mt witha GraveDigger body and sand paddles was clearing at least 8 feet up and 20 feet out off the jump.
xxxxxWe are already invited back for next year. We are planning a lot for this. We would love to see you all there. Man, if we could even get 50 people I would just have to cry. Sure we did spend tons of time wrenching, but we still had a lot of fun and met some great people--not to mention a great group of people. People were loaning people engines; if you needed something that another person had, they would just hand it to you and not even think about asking for money (note: we had never met before this day...none of us)! It was just incredible. At one point I gathered everyone up and I just didnt know what to say to them...I was in awe. I already miss you guys! I wish I could tell you all the little stories but I am sure they will come out as soon as everyone gets home. Plus I still have to unpack and get some sleep and also a bath of aloe vera would be nice as the sun burnt me to a crisp. Oh I didn't even mention, the weather was absolutely beautiful. I did not want to leave today at all. I really miss all you guys and being down there. I wish everyone of you could, even just for a few minutes, experience the weekend we had. Well I need to get out of here for a little while--I am sure I will be back. Talk soon guys,
sneech