fireworks, surfing, & loose
morals
925NEVER
GOES SOUTH OF THE BOARDER:
(Salsipuedes, MX)
Ever wonder
what it's like to hit the road on
a 925 trip... take a note
from our newest intern Amanda
Walker as she describes her
latest excursion with us south
of the boarder
After the craziness, debauchery,
and bonding of the past week,
Salsipuedes, Mexico was a
strange place that had begun to
feel like home.
Arriving in LA, the
stagnant “old people” feel of
Oregon was replaced with
adventure and anticipation. Ryan
exceeded my expectations as a
boss speeding away from the
airport and stopping to find me
a “roadie.” I was introduced to
more members of the 925 team
including co-partner/big bro
Shawn, Shawn’s fiancée
Kristen,
and rider Chris “Hurricane”
Butler. Looking like a beach bum
poster child, Butler’s long hair
and slow speech tipped me off
that he knew where the chronic
could be found. As the others
went to bed Ryan, Butler and I
chitchatted in the
garage/sweatshop sharing joints
and stories. The following
morning Ryan worked like a zoo
keeper trying to round up all
the little monkeys and the
traveling circus was on its way.
We worked our way down So
Cal picking up 925NEVER riders,
models, and dedicated alcoholics
along the way. There was Will,
nicknamed the Protégé. He
functioned as the attitudinal
mirror-image of Ryan. Alex, from
Redondo Beach, is a somewhat
reserved kid who would be
completely content with only a
folding chair and a fat spliff. The
boys from New York: Bryan (the
loudmouth) and Jared (the
hardcore surfer) whose
personalities play well off each
other. Phil, who came along
to
solely to witness the train
wreck in action and navigate the
Durango over rough terrain, and
finally two ladies joined the
crew. Ariel, the model/beauty
queen with a style so fresh and
unique it had not yet made it up
to the Pacific Northwest.
Accompanying her was Callie; a
tall, swan-like waif who tagged
along for photography, modeling,
and the experience. There we
were: 10 crazy Americans piled
into three packed cars
approaching the Mexican border.
Once we reached our
campsite, we all grabbed beers
and headed down to the beach.
Even though the water was
freezing and the sun was
setting, Butler and
Alex couldn’t be kept from the
waves as we all sat watching
their stupid bravery against the
Salsi rocks into the night.
The next morning, we were
all up with the sunrise at 5am.
The girls, two riders and I all
headed into Ensenada for snacks
and supplies. We wound up at a
Mexican grocery store where we
had to work hard to fin
d
foods that hadn’t already come
in contact with Tijuana’s water
supply. About two hours later,
we had navigated through
language barriers to come up
with all the necessities for a
margarita holiday.
Back
at the camp site, Ariel started
guacamole and everyone got a
little more naked as the
margaritas started flowing. By
the time the beer bong came out,
we were trash-bashed. Flashbulbs
went off like paparazzi as the
boys tried to get the drunken
girls into more compromising
positions. I watched my boss
snort a line of tequila. I
stared in horror as Bryan donned
a Speedo for no apparent reason
other than comedic
genius. Panties dropped left and
right as inhabitations were
lowered and alcohol continued to
flow.
When the roman candles
came out, we were all huddled
around, admiring the fine
Mexican craftsmanship on the
fireworks when all of a sudden,
it sounded as if a fuse had been
lit. I turned just in time to
see Butler holding a lit roman
candle and pointing it into the
crowd. It managed to ricochet
off not only the tent but
Bryan’s back as well. We all
stood stunned for half a second
before we realized that Bryan’s
shirt was on fire. Still
smoldering, Bryan exploded into
fury and socked Butler straight
in the mouth. W
ith
the two boys now even,
margaritas were resumed and the
hilarious incident was quickly
forgott
en.
As light faded to dusk, happy
campers stumbled around, rolling
together in the bushes. Girls
made out with boys who made out
with girls who made out with
boys.
The next day I was
disappointed to learn that my
position as an intern required
that I would have to stay to
watch the campsite while
everyone else went on a photo
shoot. I lightened up when I
learned that Butler, Callie,
Bryan, and Phil would be
toughing it out with me. We sat
in the sunshine drinking beers,
smoking weed, and asked what we
dared to ask. Over the next
three hours we explored every
raunchy topic we could think of
from rim jobs, to fisting, to a
little Dirty Sanchez action…
When the troops returned
home, a scheduled photo shoot
down by the beach had to be
postponed due to nobody
listening or caring about what
anyone else had to say. Work was
forgotten and making new friends
with the other campers became
top priority. Papa Bear Zappone
was complaining about the
unfinished photo shoot but
troubles were soon forgotten as
margarita night round 2 got
underway.
On my final morning of
camping in Mexico,
I was rudely awakened to The
Darkness “I Believe in a Thing
Called Love” and a little
redheaded terror jumping on my
legs. “Steamroller!” was her cry
as Ariel blasted us from
dreamland to reality. Papa
Zappone was still perturbed at
the lack of a photo shoot the
night before. Hung over and
grumpy, the 10 of us trudged up
a dirt mountain to catch the
morning sun on its rise over the
hills. In the world’s fastest
photo shoot, clothes were
haphazardly thrown on, shot, and
then strewn about in an effort
to get everything in. Joints
were blazed to keep the sanity.
After the morning’s
activities, most of the kids
headed off to the beach leaving
a select few to begin the
daunting task of cleaning up and
packing up the entirety of our
shit. As we all stuffed
ourselves into the vehicles once
again for the long ride home, I
turned at the exact moment the
sun was sinking below the
waves. “’Till next time Salsi,”
was all I could think.
Safely back in the states
and on my way home to Oregon, I
reflect on the amazin
g
time filled with great friends
and a high alcoholic
content. While it was rough
going four days without
nutritious food or a functioning
shower; sleeping on the ground
and cutting your feet on the
rocks, I am so depressed to be
leaving everyone and everything
behind for a life far less
exciting. Salsipuedes, Mexico
was a 925NEVER bonding
experience that brought 10
strangers together for one of
the most exciting, entertaining,
and irresponsible camping trips
I have ever had the pleasure of
being a part of. If I’m lucky, I
might just get invited back next
year.
a tale of two boat
launches....
925NEVER
GOES ON LOCATION:
(somewhere in
random Arizona)
So
we've already taken a little
flak for alluding to the fact
that our first photo shoot of
this year had to occur in a
place that we deemed "white
trash". Screw that, we are
white trash and we'll call a
spade a spade! Normally
we'd care a
bout
offending people (really?);
however, this time we cannot.
When the Hotel... er wait I mean
trailer, you're staying in was
built in the 50's and is parked
above a boat launch - well you
take the next step in this
equation!
This may have
stopped some people, but not the
crew at 925 - for we had a
purpose! And, thanks to
the promotions squad at MONSTER
ENERGY, we also had a grip of
mixers for all the vodka it
would take for us to stomach the
weekend. So to the
highlight real... We drove
out of LA Thursday night with
the megaphone hangin out the
window of the car and picked up
the models in San Diego - one
sucked shit and should have been
left at home, but we needed a
hand lifting stuff and looked
like a good mule.
Friday morning we
took off to the boat launch.
We were told we had a water
front "room" that would be "just
perfect"
for a photo shoot and that the
neighbors wouldn't bother us if
it got a little risqué. As
you can see from the pictures we
were not only alone, but our
neighbors got quite the show.
After two days of this, hangin
out with the bartender a little
too much we actually took one
last ski and packed it in....
did
we
mention the ski was behind a
Tri-poon boat - it was a little
awkward.
On a last serious
note, we definitely want to
thank all the guys from MONSTER
- especially Eric for coming
through for us, all of the
models especially Shawn and D
for doing the hang over tour.
And lastly, we'd like to not
thank anybody associated with
the trailer park that we had the
unfortunate experience of
staying in.... next time we'll
ask for pics in advance so it'll
be ok.
Also, as of this
month 925NEVER has it's sponsor
profile on Action Profiles for
everybody looking
to
pick up sponsorship. If
you're a rider and you're not
already on there - fix it b/c
it's easily one of the best ways
to get hooked in w/sponsors, and
then hit us up because we're
always on the lookout for up and
comers.
- El
Zappone
