Saturday started early for most EveryBus campers. At 7AM it felt like the Fist of God had come down from on high as a thunderbolt shattered the silence of the campground. After that a lot of people figured they might as well get up and brew some coffee, and the campground slowly woke itself from slumber.

 

Once I was up I knew what had to be done... I had to secure the campsite against the promise of a rainy day, and we needed to get the Breakfast burritos rolling. So once I had made sure that the rain wasn’t going to destroy our campsite I headed over to the pavilion to see what needed to be done.

 

Apparently the main need was to get some bacon cooked. So that’s what I did, lighting up my grill and putting heat to about 6 lbs of bacon before the feed was over. It was good to be working with the usual crowd once again... Frank, Ian, Ric, Chris, Jamie, Madonna and the rest kept things moving smoothly and no-one went away hungry that I know of.

 

During the Breakfast Chris spoke up regarding Adoom’s situation with the pooched engine. He clearly wasn’t going to make it to EB without some help. We passed a hat to raise $$$ to cover a rental car. It didn’t take long to raise the needed funds with some left over allocated to help with Dennis’s fuel costs. It’s great to see the community looking after one of its own.

 

The rain dampened the campsite but didn’t do much to dampen anyone’s spirits. We continued with the usual activities, I took a few pictures and then discovered that my digital camera’s lens was stuck closed. I tried to get it loose for a while but eventually gave up and switched to Colleen’s camera instead.

 

When evening came around we saw people staking out their places around (and inside) the pavilion, so Colleen and I grabbed some lawn chairs and found ourselves a place not too far from the front. Chris gave his usual comprehensive “Thank You” speech and then abruptly turned the spotlight over to Jamie Auch.

 

Jamie’s mission was to present an award highlighting a member of the VW community who he and many others appreciated for his helpfulness. I listened politely, wondering why Jamie hadn’t mentioned this guy to me. But when he mentioned that he was presenting the “Golden Pancake Award” the shoe finally dropped.

 

I was speechless. Or as near as I am ever likely to get...I’ve written a better thank-you speech a dozen times since in my mind, but right then I was WAY too surprised to think that clearly. The award was very cool -- a golden plate of pancakes and syrup standing atop a knife, fork and 13mm wrench on a wooden base. But that wasn’t all... they also presented me with a brand new 15” LCD Television/Computer monitor AND an envelope containing a thank-you card with more than enough cash inside to cover the gas home. By then it was all I could do to find my way back to my seat, so my thank-you speech wasn’t all it could have been.

 

Golden Pancake Afterthoughts: (the speech I would have given)

 

Like I said earlier.. The VW community is a great bunch of people... That’s why I work at it. I have also been the recipient of much good will from the Community... The bus I drove to EB was “Free to a Good Home” in the spring of 2000.

 

When my engine dropped a valve seat in 2002 a bunch of guys from the local club came to my house every night one week because I was out of town on business. They had the engine repaired and back in the bus before I got home so I was able to go camping at noon on the day I got back.

 

 

After the Award was presented Chris moved on to handing out the door prizes... I was horrified and amazed to see that the first prize handed out was only one number away from our ticket. Taking the first door prize right after being presented the TV would have been WAY too strange. And besides that, we already have a German first aid kit in our bus.

 

Frances was fun to watch as she helped Stella and Casey hand out the prizes... Doc Ric’s daughter did the same job back in 2001 and this year she was at her High School Prom. The years do go by fast sometimes, don’t they.

 

By now I was pretty much watching the gate non-stop waiting for Adoom to arrive, but it was already dark and there was no sign of him or the rental car. To keep busy in the meanwhile I went over to the pavilion to watch the band... A trio called “The Carolina Chocolate Drops” were busy picking out some fine bluegrass and early jazz numbers to the obvious delight of the crowd. They were good... swapping instruments amongst one another between numbers, including the guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, jug and kazoo in one or another song. They also encouraged people to sing along and the energy was contagious. When their set ended I was quick to snap up once of their CD’s for $10 and made sure to get on a mailing list to get told when the next one would be available. Me, on a mailing list? That’s new!

 

It wasn’t too long after the music ended that we finally spotted a silver jeep 4-door making its way into the campground. Heather was at the wheel with Adoom in shotgun. Working two days on the bus in the pouring rain had made Adam a poor choice for long distance driving, so Heather took the wheel and did a very good job of shortening the required driving time to join us at EveryBus. Adam quickly got to work handing out shirt orders and we got to work keeping a beer in his hand.

 

It was much later than I had planned on staying up, but sometimes plans are meant to be laid aside. This was one of those occaisions. There was no point in going to bed while there was still beer in a cooler and stories to be told, so Ian, Chris, Jason, Adam and I swapped beers and tall stories for as long as we could stand it. Or until the beer ran out, whichever was later. Around 2AM I determined that we had outlasted the beer: it was time to call it a night.