| Hummer
Gathering
Hummer Weekend diary....as written by Corey Arsenault (Photo
Gallery) It was awesome having the 4 Hummers, Corey (98 Red Wagon ,lined up at the bridge, lots of looks for sure! We then took off for Summerside arriving in at 5:30, and went straight to the Linkletter Inn for visitor check in. We managed to get everyone in the same hotel and linig all the trucks up again was very cool. On our way into town many of the local businesses had placed "Welcome Hummers" on their outdoor billboards. The visitors were very impressed. The Petro Can gas tation was the easiest to convince, as they knew 5 Hummers filling up at one pump would be good for business. We met up again at 6:15 at the hotel, took a spin through town during rush hour and dropped the trucks off at Chem Dry of PEI auto detailing shop, where the 4 Hummers were given a bath, a shine and then parked out front in a row. Talking to the guy who cleaned the Hummers, he said it took twice as long because there were so many people stopping in to see the trucks! We had reservations at 6:30 at the Feast Dinner Theater. The meal and show were awesome, very talented performers who made us laugh and clap our hands all evening. The highlight for me was when Jim had not been given his main course, yet the actors were all around fooling around with him. he finally blurted out "alright! Stop screwin' around and get my F****N salmon!" The crowd was howling at that one! After the Dinner theater we went over to the Deckhouse Pub to catch some live music and a few drinks. Everyone, except Jim and Corey, retired back to their rooms for the night. Jim and I went out to the local bar, parked the trucks out front and talked where we were stayed until 2:30am. Saturday morning came early for some of us, with the Hemphill GM Dealer show and shine , at 9am. This was our first opportunity to actually get a look at the the other Hummers who had made the trip. Around 10:30am David and Karen (93 Yellow Wagon) , arrived from Moncton, bringing our total to 5 Hummers. We all lined up in front of Hemphill GM along the main street of the City. The GM dealer had placed ads in the local paper telling people the Hummers would be there, and there were a lot of people around. Being right downtown it created quite a scene as passers by were gawking and almost causing accidents. We left the show and shine for Spinnakers Landing, and the 2nd annual cardboard boat races. I had spent the past 3-4 weeks building a Hummer boat , for these races, not knowing if it would sink or not. It was made out of cardboard fridge boxes and duct tape, with some plastic for the grill. We got lots of pics of the Hummers lined up on the waterfront, as well as a bunch of the Hummer boat in front of the 5 Hummers. There a few pics of Glenn and I inside the Hummer boat, although (un)fortunately Glenn did not want to come in the water with my crewmate Jeremy and I. We put the Hummer Boat in the water and surprisingly it did not sink immediately, but rather sailed very well in our race in the 2 man class. We were leading for most of the race but because we did not have a rudder and had such a flat bottom we had a hard time steering it straight. We finished a very close second, and surprised many people including myself and Jeremy, and my father who watched the boat construction from the very first fridge box and duct tape. It was a lot of fun, lots of pics were taken by the huge crowd watching as well as the 5 Hummer owners and we were featured on the front page of the local paper. We also won "Most Humorous" and "Fastest Sinker" for our efforts. At 12:45 we fueled up and headed out towards Cavendish for our deep sea fishing . The weather was 28 degrees celcius with a little breeze, it was hot! Jim, David and Karen didn't come out on the boat, so it was Marcel, Louise, Monica, Glenn and Debbie as well as my buddy Jeremy and I. The catchings were few and far between, as I was the only one to catch anything, a little mackerel. All in all though it was a hoot, my first time and I belive the first time for many of the guests out deep sea fishing. , We left around supper time for the "all you can eat" Lobster Supper in North Rustico, where everyone filled up on fresh Island Mussles and salad, and of course lobster. It was good stuff! We then headed for Anne of Green Gables House, to the fruitless objections of some of the husbands! We saw a great 19th century horse and buggie cart with greater ground clearance than our Hummers. Glenn guessed it had 56" Tires (might have been Mickey Thompsons, I'm not quite sure) a sweet independent suspension system and what looked to be an early 19th century version of CTIS. A tired bunch of folks headed back to the motel around 8pm to nap and clean up. Around 11:00pm we went over to the Harness racing finals, where we all lost in opur betting. 'nough said. I should mention at this point the great camaraderie that existed over the weekend. When we were all driving somewhere if someone caught a red light, the ones ahead would pull over and wait. , We travelled some long distances and always managed to stay five in a row, I just wonder what oncoming traffic would think at the site! Sunday morning was a "sleeping in" opportunity for everyone, Marcel's first 10:30am wake up in years!! We took off aound 12:30pm out to Desable, Near Victoria along the way to the Confederation Bridge for the "King of the Hill" off road show that we had been invited to. The Hummers were a big hit, especially when Jim pulled the high centered truck off the hill....after the tow truck , wouldn't even budge it. After a victory lap around the track, sadly Jim and Monica took off for home. We said our goodbyes with the promise to meet again. Shortly after, the rest of us did a little exhibition , on the track, took some kids for rides and then left. The crowd was eager to see us go hard, but as Glenn put it best "we don't want to go home on a flat bed". We lost Marcel and Louise on the way back to Cavendish as they took off for Grand Falls, a long 6 hour ride home. David and Karen, Glenn and Debbie and I arrived into Cavendish where we did some shopping and had some supper. Glenn and Debbie and I left for back to Summerside and said goodbye to David and Karen who were going to spend a few more days in Cavendish. Before we left Debbie purchased a broach, with 2 aliens in love as well as some PEI Dirt Shirts, a must for every Island Tourist!! You'd think that would be all for the weekend, but no! I met Glenn and Debbie at the pub for a drink later that evening. We then said our goodbyes and that was all. Or so I thought. Monday evening I took off for Halifax to see my girlfriend Kim , and we found Glenn and Debbie at their motel, and invited them a few steps out the front door to the local pub. Tony and Crystal had arrived as well a Tony had a show the next evening in Dartmouth. After listening to some tunes and howing Tony the Alien Hummer in the underground garage we said our goodnites, planning Wednesday for the 6 of us to get some lunch and then head out to Peggy's Cove. Glenn and Debbie got to meet Tony, and the guys talked Hummer which was very cool! It was a nice break for Glenn and Debbie not to be driving as we took Kim's car. Around supper time we dropped off Glenn and Debbie at their hotel in Downtown Halifax where they planed to stay one more night before heading for home. They were going to try and catch an early ferry that would get them into the USA by afternoon. In the end I believe Glenn said he drove over 3000 miles in that week, he said he'll come next year but bring a cheaper vehicle! And that ended the 1st annual Maritime Hummer Gathering. Marcel
mentioned that he would love to be the host in 2002, up in Grand
Falls. We had such a great time, I think we can do it again. And
because we have a succesful weekend under our belts, the Ontario
Hummer Owners Group would be up for making the trip, as well as
other HML'ers who read Glenn's post to the list. Thanks to everyone
for making this the best weekend of my life, hope to see you all
again soon.
Hello Corey, Just wanted to tell you that we had a great time in PEI! All
the activities were well selected, the plan was well scheduled,
and all in all it was great! You're a great host - hope PEI #2
is in the works.
|
