Take Me to the River

The rolling stock of the RRCC combines for 1,715 total units of cast iron and canoe hauling horsepower.



(Left) 1997 4x4 ¾-Ton Chevrolet Suburban, with V8, 454 cu.in., 7.4 liter, 300-horsepower engine, 45-gallon fuel reserve, heavy duty suspension and 10,000 lb. Warn winch.

(Right) 2005 ¾-Ton Diesel Dodge Ram pickup truck with 5.7 liter 305 horsepower High Output Cummins Turbo Diesel engine, hydroform heavy duty suspension, towing package and custom canoe rack.




1985 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60, 4.2 liter, 212 horsepower in-line 6 cylinder engine with 32” Mudders, manual transmission, lock-out hubs and utility rear seat fold-downs.






1988 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ62, 4.2 liter, 212 horsepower in-line 6 cylinder engine with 32 x 1150 x 15 Mud Duelers and American Racing baja off-road rims, 10,000 pound Warn winch and ARB Mexican Cow Catcher (aka "Pedestrian Guard").





1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, eggplant, with V8, 5.7 liter, 350 cu. in., 260 horse Police Engine and heavy duty suspension, perimeter frame, transmission and sway bars.





1973 Chevrolet Probable-Cause-Mobile, 350 cu.in., 250 horsepower engine, cherry red, convertible, with 4-speed transmission, Gymkhana suspension and heavy duty ashtrays.





1992 Acura “Vigor” sedan with 2.5 liter, 176 horsepower, in-line 5-cylinder engine.

Acuravigorclub.com says The Vig was only made from ’92 – ’94 but its owners are “an enthusiastic, fun-loving and Vigorous group.” “T-MaN Tominizer” no longer updates his House of Vigors web site because he’s “already two cars past [his] Vigor” but he still gives it this heartfelt endorsement: “It was a car I never regretted owning at any time.”

The Japanese mirror site, Nothin' But a "V" Thang is sometimes down, but we still found this Vigorous description of the car's specs:

The exterior of the Vigor GS has a flawless fit-and-finish, in legendary Japanese tradition. However, it has little in its styling to suggest a kinship to earlier, smaller Japanese imports. For it's time, the dramatically flared front and rear fenders, a slinky aerodynamic profile and slightly upswept rear fenders put the Vigor GS at the head of the class in the sports sedan styling. In the front, a rather small black grille showcased the Acura logo and was framed by a thin ribbon of chrome. Broad, four-section headlight assemblies occupied almost 50% of the front end. Above, there is a sloping, sculpted hood that, taken together with the grille shape…

In profile, a black vinyl splash guard/rocker panel molding adds to this vehicle's sport sedan image. At the time, these styling touches set the Vigor GS apart from its competitors, such as the slab-sided European offerings and the rounded, cookie-cutter domestic sedans. A wide, protective side molding traveled from the front fender well to the rear well and matched the car's body color.

Oversized side-view mirrors and recessed door handles also matched the body color. The rear fenders and upswept trunk lid highlighted the rear styling treatment. Oversized red and white tail-lamp assemblies wrapped around the rear fenders. Molding identical to that on the side of the car protected the body-colored vinyl bumper; this molding encased the bumper and extended to the back of the rear wheel wells, giving the trim a uniform look.

Out Like a Lamb

The RRCC celebrated the end of Spring with the Post-trip Banquet on summer solstice day (observed) - making the longest day of the year an hour longer by keeping it going until 1:00 am.

We accomplished almost none of the things on the agenda. No money changed hands, no gear was returned, no date was picked for the fall trip. It was a total success.

Re-Vote!

Price Waterhouse Coopers is declaring the last poll void. Apparently a hanging chad will never vote for anyone but The Stones. Try it again here.

"What Song is it You Wanna Hear?"

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Tumbling Dice I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll New Years Day Dirty World

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The Music Issue

Even with professional drinker-musicians in our group, alcohol is a big problem for the RRCC Jug Band. It’s not that we can’t remember the songs after 16-1/3 beers per Member, it’s that we can’t remember what songs we remember. When we can’t think of any songs we sit around staring at each other, getting unrealistic suggestions from the rest of the Club (Eruption, Bohemian Rhapsody, No. 9 Dream…). And in return, we subject everyone else to endless repetitions of the same songs (more on the repetition problem below).

So up in the top corner of this web site we have set up a permanent link to generate an official Rebel Rivers Songbook. Nominate songs by using the “Comments” button and if it seems doable we’ll print up the lyrics and chord changes, plus the bass line for Roy and a rippin’ three-string banjo solo. If a song seems like a keeper, or actually gets played, we’ll declare it part of the songbook which will be printed out before each trip and put in the lid of the Chuck Box. As long as someone is sober enough to remember it’s in the lid of the Chuck Box, the hills will be alive with the sound of music. We already have six songs.





On a related subject, while the rookie Member of the Jug Band has already doubled the hit total of 4 Non Blondes and other more famous acts…it’s still probably time to learn a third song. It only seems fair that since everyone in the club is going to hear it repeated often, everyone should get to participate in choosing the song. So make your choice by voting below. Site visitors (like you, Carno-man, and Josh’s co-workers in Europe) are free to vote too. Here are your choices:

1. Tumbling Dice, because there's a fever in the funkhouse now.

2. I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll because I want to 'lectrify my soul.

3. Take It Easy, because it's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me.

4. New Year's Day because her name is Pussywillow Rose.

5. Dirty World because if you need your oil changed I'll do it for you...free!

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Follow this link to VOTE HERE











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The RRCC Songbook

- Use the Comments button to nominate a song -

Beatles - Rocky Racoon
Dylan, Bob - It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Holly, Buddy - Rave On
Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel
Walker, Jerry Jeff - Rodeo Cowboy
Williams, Hank - Tennessee Border
Young, Neil - Powder Finger

Beer Accounting 101

It’s time to apply some hard numbers to the ongoing debate over how much beer to take on the canoe trips.




The Beer Auditor


Part 1: Beer for the River

Jim/Bob bought 12 cases of beer for the 12 members on the Spring 2006 trip, for a total of 288 or two grosses of beer. In case you thought only bottle rockets (see 100th Post, below) were bought by the gross.

The post-trip inventory showed 92 beers remaining. Therefore, we drank 196 beers (just over 8 cases) which equals 16 beers per member with a two beer margin of error for Foster’s oil cans, tall boys and spillage.

We will leave open for discussion at the post-trip dinner whether this data suggests a change in the number of beers we take in order to reduce the cooler-per-boat ratio. The 92 beers were declared surplus by the commissioner and disposed of by method of disposal number five (5).




Part 2: Beer for Post-Trip Banquet

We’ve also never before figured out a method that anyone can actually remember for assigning beer duties for “organizational meetings” and post-trip gatherings. From now on we’re dividing the members into verb and non-verb groups for an alternating method of supplying the beer we won't forget: if your name is a verb you will bring beer to Mike’s on Thursday. Next event the non-verb name members buy.

Bringing on June 22: Skip, Rob, Bob, Rob, Josh, Jack and Bill.