What a Weekend: Choo Choo Swap Meet Meets Chili, Cars & Cervezas (& Motorcycles) Followed by Adam Jones’ FMX Ramp-Age

What a Weekend: Choo Choo Swap Meet Meets Chili, Cars & Cervezas (& Motorcycles) Followed by Adam Jones’ FMX Ramp-Age

A very busy Spring weekend in Bishop welcomes the change of seasons with an eclectic series of events at The Tri-County Fairgrounds.

We all know and love the Choo Choo Swap Meet and the turnout, even in our typically unpredictable May weather, was heartwarming. It’s never not a good time seeing some of the area’s most eclectic creators, vendors, and members of the community come together for Bishop’s biggest yard sale.

Lane after lane of rusted treasures, cowboy boots, custom pottery, unique jewelry, discount perfumes, eccentric decorations, well-loved furniture, and children’s collectibles presented no lack of options for curious customers.

Oh, and if you needed some local Honey, Phillip E. Baxter from Independence followed through as he always does.

After perusing all that madness I was excited to see what the rest of the fairgrounds had brought to show.

Across the nation there are countless car shows for all different reasons with all different qualifications but California tends to bring out some of the best in show.

Truly classic cars and trucks were in no short supply. From Corvettes and Cadillacs to early model Fords and a Dodge Coronet, the offerings were truly something to behold.

Crisp, clean interiors and pristinely maintained under-the-hood combinations abounded to admire and garner inspiration for your own pet project. The owners were more than willing to sit and chat about how much love and care they’d put into these monuments to human engineering.

Now, before moving onto the food and beverages, we have to give credit to the motorcycle clubs that made their presence known. There was hardly a moment when you weren’t greeted by the rumbling of a Harley Davidson.

They were kind enough to bring along the music of a California native band by the name of Good Ol’ Boyz who spent literally all day Saturday keeping the crowd lively with their unique blend of outlaw country and underground hip-hop. Credit to their endurance of being able to maintain the energy hour after hour. ‘Out in the Open’ hits different when you see it live, an absolutely phenomenal performance.

Now… onto the Chili and Cervezas!

The winners of this Chili Cook-off are sent to the World Championship Chili Cook-off in Indianapolis in October, if anybody wants to take a trip!

Categories ranged from Chili Verde, Homestyle, to Traditional Red. Some of the winners included Jim Watson of Coyote Chili, who, as a side note, won the Salsa World Championship in 2016; “Hillbilly Chili” Bob White, 2015 World Championship Homestyle Chili winner; as well as Ron Boisseranc, of Ace in The Hole Chili, who raked in the big bucks with the $1000 prize winning for traditional red on Sunday, something he’s said is “more difficult to perfect” than other styles.

To wash down this challenge, for both chefs and voters, were offerings from numerous breweries from a few miles away and across the state.

Some of the options for the thirsty adventurer (over 21, of course) were Stone Brewing from San Diego, Farmer’s Brewing from Princeton, Lagunitas from Petaluma, Golden State Cider from Sebastopol, Shelter Distilling and Mammoth Brewing from Mammoth Lakes, and June Lake Brewing from, well, June Lake.

After the festivities came to a close people headed ho… wait… there’s more!?

Despite some delays due to weather the show must, and did, go on!

Adam Jones has been in the business of pushing the boundaries of personal excellence in freestyle motocross for longer than he might care to admit, considering his ever-youthful positivity, and came out swinging with a full set of insanity for everyone to enjoy.

A multiple X Games medalist and Nitro Circus athlete, he aims to bring pure entertainment and boundless fun to any audience lucky enough to be present for him and the crew he brings to the table.

Attending this event were Dereck Beckering who, as Adam put it, is “an epic whipper,” and Dustin Nowak, a Bishop local who, according to his website, landed his first backflip in 2003 and has spent significant time performing internationally including India and China. Also in the action was Javier “Astroboy” Villegas from Chile who rides with Adam at Nitro Circus, does “every single flip combination in the world,” and who Adam tries to book at every show because “his riding is just so good.”

It was a fantastic weekend and the perfect way to kick off the Spring and Summer seasons in this wild neck of the woods we call home.

MGraham