9,000+ tunes loaded up on the iPod? Check. Cooler filled with water and snacks? Check. Clean underwear? Check. Full tank of gas? Check. Well, then I guess we’re ready to go.

Where to start? After 2 years off, I have to say that I was a little apprehensive about getting back on the road with the LBR and to be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. The idea of putting the Jetta back on the road and heading out on a 1,900 mile round-trip rally was a bit nerve wracking to say the very least. But life’s too damn short to puss around, so with fears and uncertainties tucked firmly out of my mind, I started making preparations. I must say, the combination of our current economic crisis and the fact that the official H2Oi dates hadn’t even been announced until mid-July had me worried that attendance for this years LBR would suffer. To say we were pleasantly surprised by the final numbers though would be an understatement. 66 total registered cars and folks actually approaching us at the departure points asking to register onsite. There was the host of usual suspects, familiar faces, old friends… there were a few crazy Canadians that had made their way down through Minnesota and Wisconsin from somewhere named Thunder Bay. Man were those guys lightweights. 1 bottle of MadDog 20/20 and they were out. ;) and then there was the dude that actually drove from NY to Chi to meet up with us, only to make the drive back out to the east coast. That’s some crazy ass dedication right there. Things were def. off to a good start.

The Northern Leg officially kicks off in Kenosha Wisconsin and makes it way down to Chicago to pick up the few of us that live in the big city. :D After a brief delay as we waited for a fellow ‘baller to show up I made my way down to US Cellular field for the Chi-town meetup. 15+ cars were there waiting for us and I have to say, I started to get that feeling that this was going to be something very cool. After saying our hello’s and handing out all the reg packets, we made our way to the highway and our second scheduled stop where we’d be picking up a few more dubbers in the wonderful state of Indiana. Umm, for the record, FUCK INDIANA. Haha. As we bombed our way through Indiana we managed to attract the attention of the local highway patrol and before ya knew it, they had 7 of our pack pulled over and ticketed. Looks like one Indiana super-trooper was gunning for a bonus. Prick.

Licking our wounds we forged ahead and made it to the next designated stop, the worlds shittiest rest stop of all time, just over the Indiana border in Ohio. God damn, the entire place stank of a urinal. Although my boy Dylan did pick up a very snazzy pair of purple sunglasses. Once we were officially stylin’ we headed out for our final destination of the day, the Red Roof Inn Monroeville. Oh yeah, when we go, we go classy. Haha. When we rolled into the parking lot, the locals were already there waiting for us and the party was on. Cases and cases of cold Yuengling on hand and a pizza delivery guy that looked like he was afraid for his life and the festivities were well and truly underway. Catching up with the folks from our newly added Southern Leg who had departed from Lexington Kentucky earlier that day, the Pitt crew and the folks that had made their way up from Ohio was awesome. And did I mention the ice cold yuengling, and the pimps and hos and the dudes on the third floor with the dank nuggets that you could smell all the way down in the parking lot? GOOD TIMES!!! But, as much fun as pizza and beer and dubs can be, there was sleep that needed to be had because Friday’s 7:30 meet up time was fast approaching. The next morning, I was up bright and early and thought I’d get a jump on things by heading down to the parking lot to get reg packs ready etc. what I wasn’t expecting was 150+ people standing around waiting for me. It appeared that I was a little late to the party haha. The mobbing commenced and folks were clamoring around for their reg packets. I managed to butcher 30 or so people’s names and no doubt pissed a few people off, but oh well. By 8:30 everyone had their stuff, we handed out a bunch of bottles of NOS energy drink to help keep folks awake and day two of our journey was officially underway. Except for one of our old friends that had had some unfortunateness happen with one of his axels. Thankfully, the fine folks at Minekkee of all places hooked him up and he was back on the road a mere hour after the rest of the pack had rolled out.

Now, I’ll be honest, Friday is kind of a blur. I was tired and hungry and super crabby. There was def. a fuck you vibe coming off me all day, and not the good sexy kind either. My head wasn’t in a good place and if I was mean to you or insulted you or hurt your feelings, well, I apologize. However, as we neared our final official meet up point just outside of Maryland, things started to look up. Even though you’re still a few hours away, there’s something about the ocean air, the Bay Bridge, being so close you can literally smell it, that really changes your perspective. The excitement starts to build, that anxious feeling in your gut that has the little kid in you asking “are we there yet” all starts to come to a boil and you really just cannot wait to be there already. We stayed behind and let the rest of the pack roll on without us so that we could wait behind for the straggler making his way from the repair shop in Pitt. Back on the road, go fast pedal to the floor we pushed through the last couple of hours of driving, trying to get to OC as fast as possible. The excitement really starts to build once you get onto 50, all of a sudden you just can’t get to OC fast enough. And sharing that excitement and anticipation with a bunch of folks that have just shared the last day and a half of driving with you is awesome. Jockeying for position, friendly triple digit pulls when traffic opens up. Pretty much a smile on the face of every person in every car that you pass or that passes you. It truly is awesome.

Countless others have said it before, and I’ll continue to say it, you really just can’t appreciate the magnitude of the H2Oi weekend unless you experience it for yourself. Rollin down 50 and over the bridge onto the main strip is a surreal experience. It’s as if every other car in Ocean City has been replaced by a dub. Everywhere you look there are dubs. Cruisin, racing, spillin out of parking lots… Making that first drive down the strip is awesome. People have lined the streets with lawn chairs and basically set up camp to just watch as folks roll by. It’s awesome. All of a sudden you realize just why you made that 900+ mile drive. The people, the cars, the excitement, there’s no escaping it, it just engulfs you.

H2Oi and ultimately the LBR as well, are more about the experience, the time spent with friends, cruising down the highway, hittin the strip, chillin with a cold beer and catching up with old friends. The show itself is just the cherry on top.