What started has a road trip, ended as a life long memory.
By John Oro –
Early this year four friends decided to load into a 1973 Chevy Crew Cab truck with a huge camper on the back and drive it from Arizona to Dallas, to Conroe (North of Houston) and back home – 2500 miles, 746 gallons of fuel and a ton of great memories along the way.
This crazy idea started when I was at LST (Lonestar Throwdown) 2016. My buddy Chad and I flew into Texas and enjoyed it so much, I knew I had to do it again – but drive out.
From there Eastbound and Down to the Throwdown was a must. I would get my truck (YelLOWstone) ready and we would make the journey to Texas with any who wanted to join us.
We ended up picking up a few more rides from Arizona to roll South. Jason from ProDyno, Travis from AZ Pro Performance, and Brian from Grinder TV. John Oro, from the C10 Club flew out from California and jumped in YelLOWstone with us – Chad, Greg, and I – lets do this!
We worked on the truck well into the morning, before leaving around 530am to meet up with the rest of the caravan. We were all so hyped to make the trip that the adrenaline was pumping through our veins, and we were all on a natural rush.
We didn’t even make it 20 miles out of town before John’s phone, while sticking it out the window to get a pick, flew off of his selfie stick, and we knew it was going to be a great trip!!
Every time a big rig or box truck would pass us the entire truck, rolling down black top would sway, first towards the big rig, then it would get kicked out and everyone would scream “Whooooooaaaaa!” It happened a lot and we couldn’t help but laugh each and every time. it wasn’t biased either – who ever was driving got the same treatment from the passing trucks and the audible in the cab continued to get louder – Whoooooaaaa!! Even if someone was dozing off, they would fell the sway and awake just long enough to participate in the “Whoooaaa” experience.. #goodtimes
Wednesday night we made it to Odessa and Thursday into Dallas. Dallas? You might say – why Dallas! Well, we have some friends in Dallas and if your in Texas you gotta visit Rad Peeps. We ended up meeting up with one such friend Friday morning, KC Mathieu from KC’s Paint Shop. We put the word out that we would be meeting up there and leaving South on the 45 to Conroe. What we thought might be 10-15 trucks ended up being 22 and we picked up 3 more on the 4 hour “Cruise to Conroe”. Talk about a blast from the 70’s and 80’s – We had 25 trucks cruising the Interstate. People on the road that day had a rolling truck show out there windows.
We made LST around 3 pm after various pit-stops. We rolled in filling so fulfilled. We had made it – all the way from Arizona to Conroe without any Major issues. At this point we couldn’t be denied what felt like a great victory. People who had been following our adventure where cheering us on as we rolled into the show. “Great Job you guys”, “You did it!” “YELLOWSTONE!” you name it we heard it!
We had such a great time there for two more days, hanging with so many great people, putting faces with names from social media, and making new friends alike.
We were flying high for 2 days, the truck worked hard for us, and the people supported us the entire way. I truly fell people were essentially joining in to participate or watch us as some type of virtual experience, and we were able to give it to them. Taking a road trip where memories are made, shenanigans are played and life is lived!
After the show Sunday night, John caught a flight back to Cali, and Greg, Goose, and I headed to Austin. The other three rigs also went their separate ways. Jason headed back through Dallas, Travis and Brian through San Antonio.
We showed up in Austin around dinner time Sunday night, and man did we get the looks, people would look at us in this huge truck and their facial expression just screamed “WHAT THE………..!”
Monday we hung around Austin for a few hours doing the tourist thing and then decided we better quit screwing around and get home. We were able to stay in touch with the others as they did the same.
We, like YelLOWstone pushed hard to make it home. Stopping to fuel up both saddle tanks and bathroom breaks. Alternating naps and windshield time.
When it was all done we rolled into Phoenix almost exactly 6 days to the hour that we had left her. Six days, 2500 miles and a trip that will always make us all remember the first one. A trip that made four friends share an experience, lifelong memories that will bond them for time!
Photos: John Oro, Story: Ronnie Wetch (C10 Nation)