Wazzu Guys’ Trips

In the year 2000, four old Cougs who met in 1965 on 6th floor Orton Hall; George Willock, Mike Topolski, Bob Batley, and I (Ron Kingsbury); decided to start an annual “Wazzu Guys’ Trip”. All the trips have had a theme, generally having to do with the history or geography of the areas traveled. Retracing a portion of Route 66 was the first.

Some of the fun has been the retelling of old stories. One such story had Bob finding a good place for necking with his date, in the backseat of an unlocked 1958 Chevy parked in the Kruger McAllister lot. Ironically, years later he learned that the car belonged to Bob Couse, another friend. One of the favorites is the story in which George was carrying a brown bag into Orton Hall when someone from the 6th floor yelled out the window, “George, what’s in the bag?” Dropping the bag to the sidewalk as he scurried out of sight, a puddle of beer foam seeped across the concrete. Mike often tells us how great it was to be a young art student drawing pictures of nude coeds in figure drawing classes. Then there are stories of me trying to start my 1954 Chevy automatic by coasting down the steep hill by Orton Hall. It would start if it could get up to 30 mph, as it was slipped into gear. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the hill was a 90 degree turn to the right and then a stop sign at Stadium Way. It was all or nothing; either it started or it was stuck at the bottom.

Last trip we decided to go see the home opener football game against California. For three hours on a beautiful day, we walked around campus visiting old haunts. We attended the pre-game party in the field house where we had our picture taken with one of the cheerleaders. All was perfect until the first play of the game, when a California running back ran 80 yards untouched for a touchdown. It was all downhill from there, as WSU suffered their worst football defeat in school history, 66-3.

Still, a good time was had by all!

By Ron Kingsbury "69"