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Once again the members of Groove Driver have journeyed to the mountains of New York. Fans have asked for a detailed account of what happened on the tour. This a diary of events as described by Josh that occurred along the way. Friday morning I make it to Mark's house to begin the seven hour car ride. Lucky for me, Mark was willing to drive this year. After gassing up the van, we hit the road looking for adventure. The morning was filled with bad jokes and Mark's war stories of when he was in the service. Due to the consumption of way too much coffee, mother nature was calling for a much needed stop. I told Mark that by taking a shortcut up route 28 we would make much better time. Little did I know that we would not find proper accommodations. First stop of the day brought us to Trenis, Va. This is a picture of the Exxon/Hardware/Food Mart store.
I asked the simple question that all weary travelers ask. "Where is the bathroom"? The answer was "The port a john is outside". Here is a place that sells gas, food, and power tools but no indoor plumbing. What in the world. At this moment I knew that our camping trip had begun. At this point, there was no turning back. Feeling much more relieved we loaded back into the Van to venture north. The long road can sometimes help those to think just how nice household amenities really are. With open road ahead, it was time to admire the blue ridge mountains and anything else of interest.
As we made our way into West Virginia it was time for me to do my thing again. We proceeded to what looked like a very nice deli. There all kinds of sandwiches and chips displayed. This was looking good. I asked my 20 million dollar question again and the lady told that there was no bathroom. This is a restaurant; how can there not be a restroom? The answer was that they only did carry out. Then I asked the lady "well, where do you go when you are working here all day?" That is when they said that customers were not allowed in their private area. Very frustrated and jumping on one foot I asked "well, can I go in the alley?" And they replied "sure." Ah, West Virginia charm. Back in the van, Mark and I decide to put on our racing hats to make up for the lost time.
Making good time, Mark and I made it to Pennsylvania within minutes. Forgetting to take off our cool racing hats we got some strange looks from the locals at the rest area.
Pennsylvania is always a much bigger state than what I remember. It just seems to keep on going forever. Route 81 is quite scenic and mountainous and it beats the Jersey Turnpike hands down. There are a lot of ski resorts and rivers that are supposed to be some of the best small mouth bass fishing on the east coast. Also, there seems to be a good number of "specialty massage" places that Mark and I believe may be more than just that.
By the time we made it to the camp ground at Roby Fest it was completely dark and a little foggy. Alan, Steve, and TJ (roadie/stagehand) were to show up at any moment with the trailer. Since there was time to kill, it was time for some adult beverages and hanging out. After setting up our tents, the guys showed up with the gear in the U-Haul. As Alan made his way to the stage with the truck, he miscalculated the size of the bridge and got the trailer stuck in the creek. Alan has a really nice truck and it was just spinning the wheels going nowhere. Amazingly, Steve brought a floor jack and we all made an attempt to jack it up out of the creek. Unfortunately, that did not work. So, we decided to put rocks under the tires to give some traction. Still nothing was working. Then, from out of the hills came a gang of four wheelers in full mud gear. With their assistance, we were able to lodge a piece of wood under the tires and drive to safety. Those guys were nice to help us out and they said that last year they could hear us two miles away and look forward tomorrow's show.
After playing in the mud, Alan wanted to set up the tent. At this point the consumption of beverages had gotten the best of me. We ended up putting it together wrong and had to take it completely apart again. Tempers were flying and we were in need of some food. After reading the directions the stage tent was erected and it was time to eat. Being that it was late there were not many options for food so we settled on the 24 hour truck stop. The TA's "Buck and Horn" was rather happening at that hour. My ribs were apparently the specialty but I thought they were a little on the dry side. After our late night pig out we made it back to the camp ground to crash out for night.
. In the morning I exited my tent to find everyone stirring about wondering what to do about breakfast. The decision was made to try place in town that was quite affordable. Being hung over I headed to the outhouse to take a minute to collect myself. With not much time to pull it together we loaded the van and went into town. We ended up at Niko's Restaurant which is not too far from the TA truck stop. There was a funny sign that said the chickens are here Tuesday through Saturday. Are the chickens some kind of celebrity or is this some kind of band or something? Never did find out. One thing they had was a real bathroom with hot water. Taking advantage of the situation I cleaned my hands and face and did the poor man's shower.
Feeling rejuvenated we made our way back to the camp ground and started on building the stage. The weather was perfect and things were getting off to a great start. We experimented with some giant cable spools that were lying around. We rolled them under the tent and put sheets of plywood on top to raise the drums. I was asked to jump up and down on them a few times to test the stability. Little did I know that they were infested with bees and it did not take us long to realize that this was a bad idea.
New this year was the structure that was built by a guy named Gweedo. Past few years there was not an area for hanging out in the shade. But this thing did the trick. One of the more interesting features was the swinging sofa. There is a mental institution down the way that was getting rid of this couch so it got incorporated into the shelter. Also, he built a serving table which doubled as a guitar tuning area. It even folded up for when it was not being used. Pay attention to the yellow wheelbarrow because it plays a role later in the story.
The wood/stuff for the bonfire was looking good this year. There were sofas (maybe more from the institute), trees, palettes, mattresses, and other flammable items. Someone had even gone through the trouble of spray painting a piece of wood with Jeff Gordon's race car number 24 on it so that it will piss someone off when they see it burning.
Rumors were starting to go around about John Roby building a new house along the creek. Did I say house? I meant "structure". Once John made his entrance I had ask about getting a tour of the construction site. Following John down the dirt road, I found a spot on the creek that looked like it could be the site. They had damned up the creek with a steel wall and were directing it with pump a little further up. Looked like a lot partying had been going on here in the past. They have lined the creek with sheets of steel and on the right hand side there will be a steel wall to direct the water. Once the wall is built, a bridge is going in that will have a gate that damn the water to create a pool. If all goes well it will be like a "structure" with water front property or a type of swimming pool area. There was even talk of stocking it with fish for effect. I asked the question what will happen to the side that doesn't have a steel wall? Won't the rocks wash away? I was ensured that it will be fine. So, next year I am expecting to see how all this turned out.
I asked John how he was able to do this. Getting all of the rocks out of the creek would have taken forever and where did he learn to weld. It turned out that there were a few bulldozers involved. As for the welding, he has had some experience with that as well. I was shown a boat that he made a while back that looked like the ultimate party barge. It took a few engines to move the thing but it was really cool. I thought about making my own version to ride on the James River but I would not know how to build one. There seemed to be enough room for the whole band with room left over for a dance floor.
Back at the stage things were coming together. All of the gear was set up and ready for power from the generator. We now have a power distro that Steve built which we have been using at clubs for a while. It is basically a circuit breaker box that plugs into a 220 outlet. A problem presented itself when we tried to plug it into the generator. It did not fit. So we nominated old man Roby to go to the hardware store and buy the right size plug. With the nearest hardware store being an hour a way it was going to be while before sound check.
With there being time to kill it was time to do some eating. The best part of this trip is the food. The chicken always has this great taste because of the dry rub they use. Also, they always make "spiedies" which is meat that is marinated in a special vinaigrette for days and then grilled. This party never runs out of adult beverages either.
After stuffing myself, I decided to to go for a walk and check out the swimming hole. With all of the bulldozers around this year the hole was quite deep. This is truly a magical place. The scenery is breath taking. One thing about New York mountains is that there is never any humidity. I can't help but think of Woodstock and what a good time that must have been. This is closest I will ever get and to be honest I like this much better because I feel as though I am a part of the family.
After swimming, I came back from the creek and noticed lots of people were starting to show up. With our start time getting close I wanted to do as much hanging as could before show time. Being a little tired, I took a little nap back at my tent. When I got up I met a guy with a wild car named Brian. He is big on going on tours with bands and I have to say I was little jealous of his accommodations.
At last, old man Roby shows up with the 220 plug we need for the generator. As he got out of his truck he sees Gweedo hanging out and decides to throw the part to him in a brown paper bag. Well the toss did not make it to the intended recipient. Do you remember the yellow wheelbarrow? Well that is what is hit. After landing on the ground I examined the contents and noticed the plug was in pieces. It had cracked in half. At this point the hardware store was closed and there was not going to be another trip. Some how I was nominated to show Steve the condition of the broken part. Thinking that the whole show was doomed, I told Steve the situation. Once again Steve saves the day with use of some duck tape, a.k.a. West Virginia Chrome. With everything in place and powered up, it was show time. Unfortunately, I am unable to take pictures while I am playing but check out one of our fan sites that has show pictures at the following link. http://www.geocities.com/rwslounge/robyfest.html. Take notice of my hair. It seems to braking the laws of gravity. No hair gel here, just natural bed head. Also, looking a little red from sitting out in the sun all day. About half way through the second set they lit the bon fire. The fire is so big that it may have been visible from outer space. The heat when it first gets lit is almost unbearable. It is like playing a gig on the sun for few minutes.
With show over, it was time to load all of the gear back into the trailer. This was no simple under taking because of the lack of light. Being tired did not help things along either but, Steve kept things moving. Once everything was back in the trailer Steve and I check the stage over one more time to be sure that we did not forget anything.
With the work behind us, we finally had some time to party. Mark pulled out his acoustic and did a little picking and grinning. One girl was trying to use stilts and kept running into people to the point where she was soaked in beer. It may have just been a diversion because I thought I saw her friend building a huge plate of food for the road. Enough to easily feed ten people. None of my business if that is what really went down.
It was at this point, Steve decided to have a drink. I have never seen him drink ever. Maybe once at a show because someone bought everyone in the band a drink but, never a drink willingly. In fact, Steve finished the rest of the bottle. Very impressive in my book. That is when Gweedo and one of his friends started talking that drunk nonsense.
I don't remember exactly what the conversation was about but I believe it caused some disbelief. Something to do about a eight foot tall big foot that roams these mountains and we had better not sleep tonight because he could get us all kind of thing. Since it was getting a little deep I decided to go and look for this creature myself.
I took a few more bonfire pictures before crashing in my tent. Right before I fell asleep I checked my pictures from the day and found this photo. Could this be the creature Gweedo was talking about? Spooky huh? Alright, maybe I am making this part up.
At about 4:00 in the morning it started to rain. In my underwear, I ran out and threw a tarp on my tent. With my feet covered with dirt I jump back in my shelter to sleep this off. That did not happen. Two hours later I was awoken by Steve and Mark and was told that we were taking off. With everything soaked I threw my camping gear in to van and crawled into the back seat. It did not take me long to pass out again. When I finally woke up we were on route 81 in Pennsylvania. Dying for a shower and a shave we made our way homeward.
Thanks to all the people who made this year's Roby Fest possible. Hope to see everyone next year. By the way, warn me about the bees next time. |
