ZookiMelt
2004
Ah, sweet summer is here. For many of us
that means more time outside enjoying family and friends as well as the
weather. That is definitely what it means to the Champoux family, well that
and ZookiMelt! This year we had some major changes in our melt plans.
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Larry and Terrina Harris
were there already with their granddaughter Kayla. Then Murph and Brandi
showed up, along with Ray from Canada EH!, Billybob, Bill Johnston and his
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 Thursday, we all awoke to the sweet smell of
sausage cooking on the grill. Billybob gets up early and starts breakfast
before most of us even think about moving out of the sleeping bag. Biscuits
and gravy with sausage and eggs were for breakfast. You never eat as good as
you do when Billybob is cooking for you. That is a statement you can take to
the bank too. Freshly fed, showered and ready to wheel we all head out for
the Badlands for double check the trails making sure they were marked well
and do some wheeling together, for the most part this is something we dont
get to do, since we are running registration and making sure that things are
going smoothly, we end up with limited time to hit trails as a group.
 He hit
the blue/yellow trail with the Johnstons, the Harris, and a few others. We
all in all had a great time except for Larry, who after the weekend finally
figured out that you should always listen to your wife. Larry took the wrong
line in the trail and went up on a log, and right down on top of it smackin
his unprotected t-case. There he was with his mad wife and scared grand
daughter in the truck waiting for him to get the truck off the log. It
wasnt long before we got them off the log and out of the trail. A parking
lot fix had Larrys truck up and running again in no time at all. We spent a
bit more time on the trails before packing it in and heading back to the
campground to clean up and eat. Thursday nights dinner was cooked by Billybob fried chicken, with tater cakes and green beans. I dont know who
ever said that you dont eat good when your camping, because we eat like
royalty. After dinner we opened up a registration table at the campground to
help cut down on the long lines at the Badlands. It was very cool seeing
some of the regulars as they got in line. Terrina, my mother in law,
Darlene, and I had our hands full for a while there, but we got a ton of
people registered! I spent the rest of the evening being hauled around in
Murphs Zuk and a half (his Zuk and the half of a truck he made into a
trailer).
 Bill Johnston drove with Murphs girlfriend Brandi riding shotgun,
Lisa Ellsworth was standing in the back of the Zuk selling raffle tickets
for the 'Buy In' Raffle and Murph, Ray and I were in the trailer getting
people signed up for the night run. Talk about a fun time! Riding from
campsite to campsite talking to folks, checkin out the trucks and getting
free beers (except for the driver...). One of the reasons we all enjoy the Melt is the friendly
people. After some more campfire time, we called it a night. |
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Friday morning we awoke again to the smell
of breakfast by gas grill. We thru some food down the pipe and headed into
Attica bound for the Badlands. My father in law and my son were our very
special passengers for the weekend. It was hard to gauge whos smile was
bigger, my sons or my father in laws! They both love wheeling!
 I spent
some time at the registration tent helping out and then it was time for the
trails! I took a turn riding shotgun with Ranger Rick Hall, what a
privilege! He is one of the most interesting people there! If you have
never met the man, I highly suggest that you seek him out when you come next
year. We hit the trails taking turns driving my Tracker thru the trails. The
only body damage of the weekend was caused by my father in law Jim, a newbie
of sorts, he has always been into wheeling, but never really got out and
done it behind the wheel,
 let alone behind the wheel of my Tracker, he
dragged a downed tree against my passengers door, leaving some nice
natures pin striping. We had a blast, my son slept almost thru every
trail, there is just something about being outside in the heat with the top
back and the low rumble of the 1.6 and the Swampers that is like Nyquil to
the boy. Heading out of Attica bound for the campground, things turned for
the worse as a storm began to rumble over head.
 We got dumped on back at
camp! There were sheets of water falling, I remember someone saying the next
day that we had gotten three inches of rain in a few hours. What a mess that
was to try to cook and serve over 200 people the iZook sponsored dinner! But
somehow, we managed and I think that a lot of people were grateful for some
warm food to eat. A handful of folks headed to near by towns due to water
logged tents and soaking wet gear. The rain stopped by evening and we sat
up around the fire for a few more hours listening to Johnny Cash from RayEhs truck and swigging on some interesting campfire drinks.
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 Saturday, was the BIG day, it is the one day
that EVERYONE is there. Some people cant make it during the week like we
do, but come Saturday, everyone is there. We ate breakfast and drove into
the Badlands. We hit the trails hard on Saturday. Mitch and I took turns
driving and we let his dad take the wheel too. We had a great time. A whole
weekend of wheeling my Tracker and no major damage. That is a beautiful
thing! Some folks werent so lucky Tim Tackett flooded his truck going thru
the left tube in the river with my father in law riding shotgun. Gotta love
Tims spirit! He went for it and drowned the truck! Poor Scott Yach, forgot
how to ramp his truck and flopped it over on the RTI ramp in the parking
lot. There were also some major breakages being repaired as always. |
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When we got back to camp the Izook Family had
smoked BBQd ribs, courtesy of my father in law Jim and these wonderful
potato and onion pockets that Murph and Brandi provided.
 Ahh, then it was
raffle time. While the prize list wasnt as long as it had been in years
past, we had a ton of great prizes to give away. There were a few parts I
wouldnt have minded getting myself! After the raffle and awards were
finished we ended up around the campfire again.
Swappin stories with the
Bedford boys. Talking about trucks and piccolos until the wee hours of the
morning. I dont think I have ever laughed as hard as I did that night.
There is a group of folks that I am very happy to say that I have gotten to
know a lot better this year than in years past. Smitty and Adam, Brent and
Heather, Grumpy, Jim and Mary Z., Geoff and Julie Carlson, Andy and Cristal
were great! I know there were a ton more but I just could go on and on and
on and this poor article would never get published.
J
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 This year was a special year for the Champoux
family, it marked a lot of firsts for all of us. My sons first camping
trip. The first time he was in the Tracker in the trails. It was also full
of firsts for my father in law, Jim. It was hard to figure out if he was
having as much fun as we were or if he was having more. I dont think I have
ever seen him more in his element, talking with people hed only heard about
for three years. He was making small talk with anyone and everyone around, I
bet by the weekends end everyone knew my lovely in laws. You definitely
couldnt ask for better ones! He has helped us out working on our projects,
whether it be with ideas and insight or plain old brute strength he has
always been there. It was only fitting that he got a chance to share in all
the fun that wheelin at ZookiMelt is all about. |
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| I have said this before but I will say it again IF you didnt make it this year, you missed out! You need to mark it on your calendar for ZM 2005 and start wrenchin, cause we are and we will be there!! |
08/11/10 15:33:06
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