The Official Oppositelock TriState Meetup 2015

"JGrabowMSt" (jgrabowmst)
11/17/2015 at 11:49 • Filed to: Tristatemeet, HEMIWagon, High Point, Hawks Nest

Originally set up by Oppositelock user MountainCommand, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was held for the third year in a row, this year marking the most successful and largest meet yet.

The night before a meet up like this is always the hardest part. On one hand, you want to stay up as late as possible, hoping you’ll hear from lurkers or non-regulars saying that they want to come by, but at the same time, you want to make sure you get to bed in time to meet the first arrivals. Well, I opted for plan A, and stayed up until nearly 1AM, clearing up some last minute emails for lurkers that decided they were going to come by, and I’m glad I did.

If you want to call Oppositelock a car club (which I tend to be gracious enough to do), you have to stand back and look at all the cars parked in a row and really think to yourself, “what do all of these cars have in common?” The closest answer we could get is four wheels. Members of Oppositelock have such a diverse collection of cars, and an incredibly open mindset that we can park a Nissan Altima next to a BMW 550i without thinking twice about it. A V12 SL can park next to a Mercury Sable, and it really is all fun and games.

With the weather finally behaving for a TriState Oppo Meetup, we managed to enjoy what likely will be marked as one of the last great weekends of 2015. In previous years, the weather was either ridiculously foggy to the point of near complete lack of visibility, or it was so miserably cold that only the toughest of Oppos came out. With the weather being a beautiful mid 50’s with only a light breeze, it was perfect weather for a cookout.

We met up at a supermarket that shared a shopping plaza with a pizza place so that people had both a wide range of food options, but primarily because Aaron wanted bacon. After gathering 11 Oppo vehicles and 15 people, we ordered 3 pizzas, and picked up several pounds of beef patties, a couple 12 packs of Vanilla, regular and diet coke, as well as Bacon, buns, charcoal, grilling utensils and we were on our way up into High Point to figure out what to do with it all.

Photo by Brian Silvestro

Given the beautifully warm weather as well as picking up a 12th Oppo vehicle, we reached our critical mass of the day and much to my relief, everyone was really not just on their best behavior, but showing each other what it really means to be part of a car club. Grilling, chatting, checking out each others cars, and having a grand time.

In record timing (only about 15 minutes) all three pizzas were devoured, and the grill was already warming up. Starting off with the bacon and cheese patties, then moving on to the regular beef patties, Agrajag made quick work at the charcoal grill and did an excellent job cooking up our food. It almost makes up for TDi motor in his VW (I kid, I kid). After we finished up the cooking and the eating and everyone had felt sufficiently stuffed, we took our caravan to the top of the hill for a stunning cloudless view of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, while still enjoying tolerably warm weather. To anyone who organizes their own meet ups, no matter how big or how small, it was a dream come true. We managed to stick together, everyone was polite and knew that their behavior reflected not just themselves, but all of us, and we got a chance to show that not all younger drivers are knuckleheads.

After being up at High Point for about 5 minutes, we were joined by five members of the NJ Miatas club, which brought out some wicked little roadsters, one being supercharged even. Along with the Miata club showing up, another person brought out their Nissan 350Z drift missile. Not only did they fit right in with our completely random group of cars, but they were extremely well behaved on their own. Car culture gets a bad rap far too often, but it there were more meets like this, hopefully that would change.

The short clip of the Hawk’s Nest road.

After seeing one Oppo part ways to drive free and have fun, the rest of group had one thing in mind: The Hawk’s Nest. One of the few roads in the area that gives you almost a canyon feel. The same dangers, but not nearly as long. The speed limit on this road is 55MPH, with a 4-ish foot wall on one side, and what feels like a canyon wall on the other. The cautionary signs as you approach tell you 25MPH due to the extremely dangerous nature of the, but many cars blasting back and forth egg you on, one exhaust note after the other.

As a group, once arriving at the largest pull off area, we gathered around to see what may end up being one of the last weekends that people were driving up and down would be like. Most of us Oppos made a pass or two, but I think what kept most of us holding back was the cold. The pavement wasn’t letting the tires get warm, the whole lack of grip was definitely apparent. Pair that with the recent videos of canyon carvers wiping out and wrecking their cars, and it was sobering, even on such a short stretch of road. There were groups of motorcycle riders along with a small gathering of cars, a couple Civics, a stanced out Fiesta and a Mustang, marking the end of the spirited driving year before winter truly sets in.

The Group of most of us that showed up, minus only two cars that left earlier. (Photo by Brian Silvestro)

Once we were all finished up at the Hawk’s Nest, we began to go our separate ways, Stevo777, RicoRich, Dr Benjamin Rolland and myself all grouped up and headed back towards home, stopping for milkshakes along the way. Being able to hang out and enjoy each other’s company for the day is everything that Oppo is about. It was certainly stressful putting such a large group of people “from the internet” together, but the results left me feeling relieved and incredibly proud to be continuing this tradition along for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . In coming years, hopefully he’ll be able to return and make a guest appearance soon, because this tradition wouldn’t exist without him.

Oppo Cars at the Meetup (correct me if I’m wrong):

Cadillac DeVille

BMW 550i

Ford Focus

Ford Fiesta ST

Mercedes Benz C300

Dodge Magnum RT

Nissan Altima

VW Golf TDI

VW Jetta

Audi S6 wagon

Subaru WRX

Subaru WRX wagon

More photos and videos of the Oppo Meetup:

Brian Silvestro’s Flickr Album

Extended Cut High Point to Hawk’s Nest Run

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (45)

Brian Silvestro > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 11:55

ace write-up, thanks for organizing

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:11

Sorry I didn’t make it like I said I would...Can’t wait to see some of you guys next year at the C&C in New Canaan!

Punk_Girl_98 > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:12

Kinja'd!!!

What a bunch of handsome boys! Awesome gathering, sounded like a blast!

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:12

Maybe next year...

JGrabowMSt > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches
11/17/2015 at 12:14

Maybe next year? Where would you be coming from?

PushToStart > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:14

This is good Oppo. Wish I was in that area and could've joined you guys.

Your boy, BJR > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:15

Clearly Sunday set the bar for “I’m going to meet a bunch of strangers I know from the Internet.” I drove up knowing almost all of you in the context of oppo, and headed back down the shore to my beachside hidey hole that night, happy and proud to now know you all as friends.

Thanks for making Sunday happen, James. You’re Opponaut of the year in my book.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:15

Minnesota,down through Maine and on til NY then back across the country through Cali and back up.

JGrabowMSt > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches
11/17/2015 at 12:15

Oh, there’s a few Oppos up there. If you want to shoot me an email, I can see if I can get you in touch with them.

pjhusa > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:16

Good!

Food!

ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:17

Kinja'd!!!

proof I was there! lol

JGrabowMSt > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches
11/17/2015 at 12:25

keep in touch with me, we can certainly make sure you make it to some meetup somewhere.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:32

Where the hell have I been that I missed this? I’m in south jersey and would have probably gone to this. Haven’t been to the hawks nest in YEARS, and the last time I was I was in a Dodge Caravan. Looks like it was a good time. There’s always next year I guess.

soFreshAndsoClean > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:32

Kinja'd!!!

Awesome day!

Agrajag > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:38

Nice write up!

Tom McParland > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:40

Kinja'd!!!

This dude’s style game is on point.

RWS Motorsport > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:48

Hooray for the nice place on the internet that is Oppo. Meeting up with strangers of the internet seems like a great way to get your organs harvested, but not when oppo is involved clearly.

banjo cat ghost of oppo past > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:51

Swag-tastic

Aaron M - MasoFiST > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:54

Looks like a good time. I wonder if there are enough New England oppos to do something similar that’s actually within driving distance.

TheHondaBro > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 12:54

I vote for a PNW Oppo meet.

JGrabowMSt > Aaron M - MasoFiST
11/17/2015 at 12:56

There were a couple of Oppos ready to come down from CT, but their plans changed last minute and they weren’t able to make it. That said, they’ve come down for meets before.

There’s a large number of Oppos in the New England area, so I can see who’s willing to take on the task of organizing people, it would be great to see more big meets like this, even if it’s just once a year.

JGrabowMSt > TheHondaBro
11/17/2015 at 13:03

Shoot me an email, I’ll see if I can put you in touch with other people in your area

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 13:03

This is good OPPO.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 13:13

I think that’d be really cool. CT is a bit different than the Boston area as far as driving distance goes, it’d take me 6 hours to get to NJ in most circumstances.

Rico > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
11/17/2015 at 13:21

Shoot James an email and he can add you to the list of Oppos in the Tri-State area. April is Cars and Coffee at New Canaan and May is most likely our next meet.

Rico > JGrabowMSt
11/17/2015 at 13:23

Great write up and nice footage! I want to see the extended cut but it’s marked private on Youtube. Thanks for all your work organizing this, it was a ton of fun.

JGrabowMSt > Rico
11/17/2015 at 13:24

I just fixed that. I had to verify my account to upload that, but it’s all good now. For some reason it stayed private before, but it’ll work now!