Well, without further ado, I’ll get on with the trip report. As planned,
the Beavermobile hit the road at 7 a.m. on Friday morning. A quick stop for
some coffee and we were headed for The Dalles. Turns out that four people and
their gear inside the van along with “aerodynamic limitations” (read:
all the stuff on the top, not least of which the mannequin) creates a significant
drop in top speed while climbing a grade of any significance-- even the slight
ones in the Gorge. I wondered what climbing the Blues would be like.
Still, we arrived in The Dalles on schedule, at 9, for breakfast at Cousins
restaurant. Plenty of OSU fans in attendance there, and some of the wait staff
came out for a quick look at the van. The hostess was a sweet little lady, and
she produced a Polaroid to take a picture of the Beavermobile in front of the
restaurant, though her manager (no doubt a duck fan) put the kibosh on the deal.
Not sure what that was all about.
We left The Dalles a little late thanks to an inept gas station attendant who
couldn’t figure out how to fill the tank on the van, and some supply stocking
that went a little out of control at Fred Meyer. We hit the road at 10:30 or
so and pointed the van East. Co-pilot and I amused ourselves by blasting the
air horn at every truck we passed by, and shouting over the PA at every Beaver
vehicle we saw. The women watched a movie in the back on the TV we picked up
at Fred Meyer.
We stopped in Pendleton to fuel up and grab a bite to eat for lunch. Wendy’s
hit the spot and we began the long climb up Cabbage Hill into the Blues. Plenty
of honks of encouragement as we rose into the mountain range, and the Beavermobile
kept chugging along, though not at any kind of record-breaking pace. We reached
the summit (4,193 feet) at 1:30 p.m., and everyone in the van cheered. Another
stop for fuel in Baker City, and we stopped in Ontario to get OA’s favorite
uncle. Who walked out wearing a Boise State shirt.
Boo.
He did gain a little favor back by showing us the Oregon State shirt he was
wearing under his Boise State shirt though.
We arrived in Boise a little behind schedule, at 5:45 p.m. local time. We did
have a stadium parking pass waiting for us, thanks to the BroncoCountry.com
guys, but unfortunately the stadium lot was full. Once again, the BroncoCountry.com
guys came through, somehow talking security into allowing just one last vehicle
into the stadium lot. We picked up Navalbronco and his crew a half mile from
the stadium and they all piled in, as we drove through with the fight song blaring
over the PA. A wrong turn took us around the North end of the stadium by the
river, where we passed the OSU marching band, Benny, and the cheerleaders. The
BroncoCountry.com guys didn’t seem to mind the detour as they admired
the scenery and complimented our talent level in the cheerleading department.
We got hold of Broncovan on the radio and figured out where we were needing
to go and turned around. As the van crept through the crowd, one of the funniest
moments of the trip happened when Navalbronco’s father jumped out to challenge
the manhood of a 6-5, 270 pound Polynesian Boise fan who refused to move out
of the way for the Beavermobile to creep through. I would estimate Navalbronco’s
father’s age to be approximately 70.
A loop around the parking lot with the Broncovan drew a wide assortment of
reactions, from good-natured boos, fans thanking us for making the trip, and
one slightly inebriated fellow who offered to drive the van around the lot for
me. There were also pockets of OSU fans who cheered wildly and thanked us for
making the trip, including a woman who introduced herself as Derek Anderson’s
mother. Turns out that the slapping sounds we heard as we rolled through the
parking lot were Boise fans generously adding Boise State stickers to the exterior
of the van as well. Luckily they came off easily.
We got the van parked in next to the Broncovan and wandered over to the BroncoCountry
tailgater, gathering jello shots and welcome shouts from Boise fans along the
way. Some tailgating and relaxing later, and we headed in for the game.
The trip home was largely uneventful, with mostly OSU fans giving us the thumbs
up and waving with a sad smile, arriving home around 8 p.m. on Saturday. The
jersey on the mannequin is a little worse for wear and we’ll have to replace
that with a 28 jersey before the New Mexico game this weekend. Hass is the man.
Quick stats, insignifica, and raw data…
Miles traveled: 893
Gallons of fuel consumed: 147.2
Dollars spent on fuel: 317
Chances that we’ll drive the van 1300 miles round trip to the Stanford
game: 0
Number of thumbs-up received on the way to Boise: 37
Number of times we got the bird: 1
Number of times we wished we had the water cannon hooked up: 1
Number of vehicles to slow to 45 mph to take pictures of the van: 1
Asses hanging out of the window during said pictures: 0 (sorry Richard, we’ll
do better next time)
Number of truckers startled by blasting air horn: 12
Number of truckers who attempted to pursue the less-than-fleet Beavermobile
after a horn blast: 1
Top speed of said pursuit: 62 mph
Number of truckers who honked back and waved instead: 14
Number of hot co-eds who slowed down to wave and flirt with OA and co-pilot:
2
Percentage of happy faces in the back , where the girls were watching Dirty
Dancing Havana Nights: 0
Number of coeds to flash OA and co-pilot: 0
Percentage of happy faces in the front between OA and co-pilot when the coeds
drove on: 0
Number of Boise State stickers plastered on the van: 27
Number of times the van broke down and needed AAA assistance: 0
Number of cute Boise State coeds who offered to console OA after the loss:
3
Scale of 1-10, how happy OA’s gf was about this: -9