Shawn's Blog #8

November 22, 2012


3:00am Ive listened to 3OH!3 a hundred times, I've consumed all of the Monsters i bought AND a 5 hour energy i found in the glove box, sleep is setting in, I started to get that 1 eye sleep thing going on and decide I better stop driving before I end up in a ditch. I found a rest area, checked the time and made a rough estimation of how long I could pass out for and still make my flight... only 1 hour. I get my 1 hour of sleep and start driving, I feel great! like I just slept for 8 hours!

I get to the airport at 5am, park the car and hurry inside, technically I should have been there 2 hours early being an international flight and all... wasn't in the cards, sleep was more important, once inside I find myself in a massive line at customs.. great, this is why your supposed to be there 2 hours early. I must have looked like a drug addicted when I'm loading all my stuff onto the X-ray machine, I'm sweating and my hands are all twitchy from lac of sleep, I must not have raised too much suspicion they let me through. I just make my gate 5 minutes before boarding, jump into my seat, use my previous experience with seat belts, buckle up and pass right out even before they teach you how to use the seat belt. I know! I'm SMRT! unfortunately, the flight from Edmonton to Seattle was only like an hour long and didn't provide me with much rest! The one hour layover gave me enough time to get some breakfast before boarding my next flight to Minneapolis.

Not much to report on the flight, I slept from take off till landing, finally some solid rest! I landed at 2:30pm, picked up my luggage and grabbed a cab to the self storage place we had stashed the truck and trailer for the past couple of weeks. Now I get to play the waiting game because Kris' flight doesn't arrive till 9pm. I figured the best way to kill some time was go hang out at the Mall Of America, but when I arrived there everything was closed.. oh yea.. US Thanksgiving.. damn, The movie theatre was open though and I decided to kill 3hours of my wait watching SkyFall the new Bond movie.

Well finally I get the txt from Kris that he's landed, I started heading over to the airport, but what terminal? Kris doesn't know and I just passed the terminal 2 exit, ok terminal 1 it is! I'm circling the terminal 1 pick up when he txts me "TERMINAL 2" REALLY?? back out to the interstate and over to terminal 2, I find Kris with what looks like enough luggage to be ALL of his belongings. Haha

Off to Duluth we go! After resolving some dodgey directions supplied to us by our ever so accurate APPLE MAPS, ... APPLE if your reading this, entering the interstate then crossing 5 lanes to an exit on the OTHER side within 50 meters is NOT acceptable as directions! As we continue north weather starts to become an issue, snow then hard pack ice on the highway. I still haven't installed that new front driveshaft yet...

We arrive in North Branch, MN the same place we had attended HayDays and stored the sled, I think its probably a good idea to install that front shaft, after some more swear words and laying on my back under a running truck in a blizzard i get the shaft on and join Kris inside the warm truck, at this point I'm feeling light headed from being upside down under the truck and suggest Kris continue with the driving duties. The highways just get worse and worse but at least we have 4x4 now! Our top speed was somewhere in the 30 MPH range.

By the time we reach Duluth its around 1:30am and we're both completed drained of energy, we set up the generator and start to get some heat pumping in the trailer, time to TRY and sleep, the trailer never really warmed up, the wind was blowing so hard it must have just kept sucking all the heat right out. I remember waking up probably around 3am and hearing the generator running and thinking I should go refuel it, but my body disagreed and I just fell back asleep.

Shawn's Blog #7

November 21, 2012

Well this being my last day of work and my flight being in Edmonton at 6:00am in the morning I think who is the moron who booked this flight... oh ya me, it makes more sense when your credit card is out and your booking flights according to cost. Then when flight time comes it seems ridiculous that I work till 7pm then have to drive 5 hours for and early morning flight... Anyways I still have a ton of things to get done before I leave for Edmonton so I decide I wont be sleeping tonight, I'll just drive straight to the airport.

So its 11:00pm before I finally get everything done and say goodbyes to everyone, load up on coffee, fuel and energy drinks. Make sure I packed my spare Fox Shox and all of my HMK gear. I start driving and realize I left the FM transmitter in the truck in Minnesota, the AUX cable in my car is broken and there's no transmitters available for my stupid iPhone5 yet!! hmmm whats in the CD player... 3OH!3 Streets of Gold, Alright that's cool haven't listened to it in a while.


DRIVE ON...

Shawn's Blog #6

November 6, 2012

No alarm needed this morning, we sleep in till 9, shower and tidy up the guest house and head downstairs. Kirk is hard at work so we wander around checking out all the new product and test fitting stuff, so much cool stuff in one spot. Lucas arrives and we meet him, he points us to our mountain of gear, 

We load up our massive gear order and I test fit my new boots and jackets, I also decide to buy a 3^rd helmet and 2^nd pair of boots so we do up another order. Finally satisfied with the amount of HMK stuff in the trailer we pry Kirk away from his work and board the HMK van again to hit breakfast.

11:00am on our way to breakfast Kirk gives us the tour of Hood River, we pass by the WAAM Museum a vintage automobile and aircraft museum, he tells us how absolutely insanely cool this place is and his son hangs out there all the time. He said there’s a killer 50’s Mercedes he’s in love with there.

Breakfast time… ish its almost noon but we still order breakfast, I pretty much inhaled my breakfast leaving no trace there was even food on my plate and I chug back a litre of chocolate milk. Kirk continuing to be the coolest dude ever pays for our breakfast and says “guys I’m taking you to the museum, you need to see this” I walk in the front door of this place and wow my jaw hit the floor, there were so many sweet old cars and planes in there. We kinda rush through because Kirk doesn’t have all day but he gets us to all the important stuff, Kris takes a million or 2 pictures.

As we walk into the last hanger, front and centre is the 50’s gullwing Mercedes Kirk was talking about earlier with the owner sitting in it! We leave him there temporarily and finish off the hanger, I see the most badass ’72 civic and pose for a pic with it, I’d totally rock that car. We scoot back over to the the Merc and join the convo. The older fella who owned the car was telling us of his racing days and one time he won a race and a guy he knows Carroll [Shelby] gave him a set of tires. Kirk, Kris and I all look at eachother, thinking did he just say his friend CARROLL SHELBY gave him tires like it was no big deal!! Ok so when we were done getting over that he goes on to tell us he bought the car used from a guy named Pat… [Boone] a Hollywood type he says! So cool listening to his stories. But it was time to go, unfortunately all of us have places to be.. Kirk at work, us across the country!

Back to HMK, I decide it’s a good time to adjust the valves on the diesel and install the new steering shock I picked up, get her all finished up around 2pm. Kirk invites us to stay another night but we know we have to get going. I just wanna say Kirk Zack owner of HMK is probably the nicest coolest guy ive met in the industry! Thank You so much for your support

Off we go, our goal for the night is Missoula, Montana approx. 820 kms away. We ended up making it to Butte, Montana that night 972 kms. We were bagged by then, setting up our cots in the trailer at a rest stop at 2:30am. We learned our heater has a really bright light on it when the heat is on, so we shut off the genny and the heat because im waaaaaaaay to tired to figure out how to have the heat without the light. Goodnight!

Shawn's Blog #5

November 5, 2012

7:00am RUDE alarm wake up but I don’t care, I jump out of bed (couch) and run upstairs. Kris is already up and first thing he says is “Dude I’m so excited” I agree and we truck it straight to Performance All-Terrain. We had pre ordered a mountain of spare parts and a Honda generator for the racing season. Without the sweet hook-up from Jim we would have been much less prepared for the start of the season. Thanks Jim!

9:00am after some BSing, handshakes and high fives we leave Performance All-Terrain and head up to see our buddy Mike at GT Auto Recyclers about a front driveshaft for the diesel, he hooks us up with a good deal on a good used shaft, bring on the snow!

10:00am FINALLY we get on the road out of 100 Mile House, way later than we would have liked. Pop in the PulpMX podcast, crack a fresh Monster and away we go, heading for RMR/H2R Fox Racing Shox in Abbotsford to pick up my shocks.

2:00pm we have a fight and become “friends off” with Apple Maps just to learn we were wrong and Apple Maps was actually right… for once… We were very pleased to meet Rod and Melissa at RMR/H2R Fox Racing Shox, very friendly and willing to help us however they can! They fitted us with some sweet Fox Racing Shox pit shirts, decals and a huge banner and built my Fox Float2’s into evols!, Thanks guys we are stoked to work with you!

A few moments later it was time to brave the dreaded border crossing.. After they gave Kris a cavity search and gave me a high five and some candy we headed towards HMK headquarters in Hood River OR.  We shot Kirk at HMK a text to let him know we made it across but behind schedule, we didn’t hear back right away and were un sure if it was too late to still stay at his place.

We arrived in Portland around 10:00pm several hours later than we had hoped, kinda bummed we’d have to sleep in the trailer and test out our new cots instead of warm beds at HMK, just then my phone rings… “Kirk HMK” I answer it , Kirk says “hey where are you guys?” I tell him were still 40 miles out. He says “what mile marker?” ummm mile marker 24 I say “I’m 2 miles behind you guys! Ill speed up hold on” 5 minutes later we see Kirk’s HMK mobile and trailer in town catch up and pass us! He calls back and says “FOLLOW ME!” Seriously? He just happened to be 2 miles away when he calls. We were stoked.

We arrive at HMK headquarters in Hood River Oregon around 11:30pm. Kirk gives us the tour of his operation, then to the guest house which was a pretty sick setup. We’re starving because we haven’t eaten today, Kirk points us in the direction of a 24 hour restaurant and throws us the keys to the HMK van and says good night. Kris and I go stuff ourselves with extremely healthy burgers and pie shakes, yes you read that right PIE shake, haha. After attempting to get on Kirks wifi several times we give up and pass out.

Shawn's Blog #4

November 4, 2012

7:30am and waking up almost without my alarm. Kris snags the shower first and he’s in there till November 5^th haha just kidding but it did feel like a while. I guess I was just excited to get going. I get a quick shower and jump into some sweet HMK threads. Today is all about building a regular 20’ car enclosed trailer into a mobile snowmobile workshop. First stop is Princess Auto for some shop supplies, next we hit up Home Depot for wood and insulation. Already at this point I’m feeling in over my head, construction of things with wood is totally foreign to me. Give me an engine or machine of some sort and I’m your man. Anyways Kris knows what he’s doing and for that I’m glad. After a few hours  into building a work bench in the front of the trailer, Kris has the ceiling completely insulated, we fix a few things around the trailer and install a vise, heater, bolt bin and bench grinder. We reinstall the ceiling panels and sweep out the trailer, BOOM mobile workshop complete.

12:00am time to sleep right? WRONG! We pack the rest of Kris’ gear up and head for 100 Mile House, BC, my home town and location of my house (which I currently do not live in) We need to be in 100 Mile for 7:00am when  Jim opens the doors at Performance All-Terrain.

2:00am we arrive at my house and both pass out instantly! Zzzzzz

Shawn's Blog #3

November 3, 2012

What? No brutally early alarm and wake up? Damn I forgot to plug my phone in!!  I wake up at 10am I guess I was pretty beat from the fiasco the night before. Oh well I get some much needed rest and start back out on my way to Kamloops. Nothing exciting happens today, I just put my head down and charge to Kamloops, stopping only for fuel and food. I arrive in Kamloops at 7:00pm, we wheel the trailer in to Kris’ uncles shop and get it ready for a minor overhaul. We make a team decision that getting a good night’s sleep and starting early is our best bet. We found our way into some brews and a pool table to help relax then hit the hay.

Shawn's Blog #2

November 2, 2012

6:00am wake up! The excitement for the trip is starting to build, first things first I pack the MOST important items… Passport, wallet, C&A Pro Skis, Woody’s Traction studs, Leatt neck brace, underwear aaaand toothbrush! Priorities right? So I load my commuter car into the race trailer because I will be flying back to Edmonton from Minneapolis on the return trip. Fuel up the diesel, say a few goodbyes and reset the trip meter!

10:00am and I finally get out of Fort Mcmurray.  Roads are looking good, no new snow and temps around 5 degrees C .  I’m thinking I can probably make up some lost time, which for the most part I was right … right up until I get 10kms north of Redwater AB the truck starts making a horrendous growling noise from the front end, so I slow down and the noise turns from a growl into a clack, clack, clack. So much for making good time.. Now I’m thinking I’m really glad I packed some winter Nomex jacket and pants and a tool kit! I get suited up and roll under the truck to assess the damage, front driveshaft has come almost apart.. CRAP. Some cuss words and a few bashed knuckles later I had it out and back on the road again (in perma 2wd now) By this time it’s late in the afternoon and I abandon the idea of making it to Kamloops tonight. I give a friend in Edmonton a call he invites me over some for some adult beverages and lets me crash on his couch.

Shawn's Blog #1

November 1, 2012

Last day of work, yeeeesss, but it doesn’t end when I clock out that day, no. I still have to replace the upper and lower ball joints, drag links and tie rods, 2 tires and do a wheel alignment on the truck before I can go home, by the time I get all that done its around 10pm. She’s all ready to make the long journey to Minnesota.  Then I head home and start to get my stuff together for the morning.