NORTHERN INCURSION
Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something black and blue…
Words by Arab
What started as a passing thought a couple months ago turned into reality about 3 weeks ago when Frank Curtis warned me that time was running out to skate his Gargoyle pool in Sacto before he filled it for summer. A couple days latter I was telling DP about the pool, he told me that he had to do some US Bombs shows in Nor-Cal and that we should put together a session at Franks and whatever skate parks were happening. I called Chicken to see if he and Hamrock were interested in going, coincidently Chicken said that they were gonna call me to find out what’s up with Franks pool because they wanted to venture north also, I told them that if they could wait a week we could all go together. So the plan was set fourth, Chicken just got a new truck that needed to be broken in, Hamrock, Matt Miskell, myself and my kid Nathan would head north, along the way we would stop at whatever skate parks there were off the 99.
Thursday we get out of So Cal and make our first stop at Delano ( pop.38,824) skate park (no photos), it’s a fun little park that is better then most So Cal parks, There after its off to Selma, oops, missed that exit and there is no turning back. Madera (pop. 43,207) is just ahead of that, so we stop there and get an hour of skating in before they close (No Photos). Everything you have probably heard about the park is true, it sucks, its killer, its ok etc etc etc…
The plan from here is to try and get up to Sonora (pop. 4,668) before Smogtown, The Stitches and The US Bombs play that night.
Friday morning we make a quick stop at the Sonora skatepark then its off for the 1 hour scenic drive along SR49 to Ione (pop. 7,129) skate park to hook up with the Nor-Cal contingent of Frank Curtis, Steve Hirsch, Sam Cunningham, John Drummond and Nate. I would say that per capita Ione has the best skatepark in California. After a killer session at Ione its off to the new Granite skatepark in Sacto (pop. 407,018). There we hook up with Ricky Windsor and Peter ‘Kiwi’ Gifford and a few more of Nor-Cals finest with the exception of the ever elusive Johnnymonskate who seems to still be a figment of all our imaginations. Granite is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! And what a waste of concrete, the general consensus was that the bowl with the little curb in the back was the best thing there. The 7 other bowls were just yer basic cookie cutter designs. BORING!!!!!!
The Gargoyle was like a cross of Chickens, Jokers, Punkers and Burgers. Everybody was pretty spent after Ione and Granite but the session went off big time with a few more of Nor-Cals finest joining the fun. It was a bummer Sam and John had to head home but making up for them was one of my oldest friends Mike Lohrman of the Stitches, I’m always trying to get Mike to come partake in the OC pools, but between, work, bands, family and injuries he doesn’t get to skate much, but this day, it was on. Getting to skate with some of my oldest and closest friends Chicken, Lohrman, DP along with my kid Nathan, Hamrock and the Nor-Cal crew was worth every penny and hard work it took to get to this moment.
Hirsch RnR’s the hip.
Heard rumor that both Nor Cal Local and Johnnymonskate were at the Grand Opening of the Granite skatepark and didn’t even recognize each other even after skating the same spot together for hours, Go Figure.
Oh yeah, we stopped by Independent Headquarters too…
Exit.