Jack Trip 2010 - Day 5

Friday... another beautiful day in the hollow!   We all had a great sleep in the RV (well, not Jim or Darrel, the firewatchers...)  We finished getting the site set up, including all the fall theme decorations, Canadian accents, and banners.  I worked on the big meats.. brisket and pork butts which needed some deep tissue love in the form of injections... followed by a heavy rub.   The rest of the crew hung out... did some prep for the Friday side events, baking dessert, and prepping ingredients for the Home Cookin' from the Homeland event.  I also managed to get my newly purchased Jack barrel lid around the grounds to meet as many teams as possible.

We started lining up for the parade around 3:30.  We got there early enough to get a spot near the front.  The whole team showed up at 4 when the parade began. The parade took us through town through a crowd of thousands (dozens?) of cheering fans.   We disbanded at the JD visitor centre and waited for the buses, which would take us to the top of "BBQ Hill"   They treat the teams, judges, sponsors, etc to a fried chicken meal which was good but no match for the spectacular view of the sun setting over the Lynchburg town site in the valley below.   Since this big pavilion is across the county line, JD is served and sometimes generously.  We met some new friends, had a great time, and headed back to camp at 9:00.   The big pit got fired up and the meats went on the pit around midnight.   Once again Jim and Darrel manned the pits so I could get a good rest...  which I needed after some wicked short term flu that almost took me out of the game early.

Jack Trip 2010 - Day 4

Day 4 -Thursday.  We head to Lynchburg!
 
First order of business was to pick up our friend Angie Quaale, 7 AM arrival at the airport in Nashville.  She was right on time and despite getting very little sleep in the prior 24 hours, she was smiling and excited to be there.  We headed back to the campground to pick up the rest of the family and then headed to Waffle House for breakfast - I think there are more of these joints in the South than Starbucks in the PNW.

      From there we headed South... Stopping only at the Liquor Barn for... um... supplies for guests.  Yeah.   We pulled into Lynchburg at 11:00, and were directed straight to our spot for the weekend.

 

We unloaded most of the trailer, set up the canopies and tables, then headed back into the square for some souvenirs.

 Next on the agenda was a tour of the distillery.   All the JD sold everywhere in the world, is brewed right here in the hollow.  It was a really interesting tour!    


     

 

Back at the cook site, we finished setting up and said Hi to our remaining 2 crew members - BBQ buds from Manitoba who flew in to cheer us on and see "the Jack" for themselves.   Darrel and Jim had huge smiles on their faces when they piled out of the rental car, they were as excited as us to be there.











      We were invited, along with all the other International teams, to a southern catfish fry hosted by the JD folks and Jim Johnson, who we met the previous year in Morden, MB and who was  also generous enough to pull the big red "Beckie Sue" pit for us to cook on... all the way from Memphis.   For supper that night we feasted on fresh, cornmeal battered catfish, fried okra, fried pickles, fried jalapenos, etc.  It was all delicious and it was a good opportunity to meet some of the teams from overseas.

Smokin' Jim, Jacy, and "itchy nose" Rob at the International team dinner

       We fired up the big Oklahoma Joe pit soon after, to cook the 4  meats for a seminar being held the next morning for the International teams.   Jim and Darrel came to the rescue and agreed to run the pit overnight; this gave us a chance to watch how it cooked.   They stayed up most of the night and got the meats done in time.   Thanks guys!