In part one of my 3-part series telling the story of the creation, the history and the ultimate decline of my alter-ego, Shasta McBoogie.  Read part-1 of the story from yesterday to find out the shameful reason Shasta even came into existence.

The first time Shasta McBoogie made an appearance was at Arctic Man 2004.  Google Arctic Man to see the insanity that IS this event.  A field in the middle of the tundra becomes Alaska's 4th-largest city for four days every April.  It was my first trip to Arctic Man, and my snowmachine crew was there for work.  That didn't stop the party.

After a full 12 hours of partying and cutting loose, my internal switch went off.  I'd had enough.  That's why, right there in the middle of the beer tent with plenty of vodka, Red Bull & live music flowing, I devised a plan for an exit.  I'd hoped their early race time the next morning would discourage overdoing it on the first night, but I was wrong.  I couldn't hang.

There was literally a line of humans passing vodka-and-Red-Bull hand-to-hand like an old-time fire brigade.  I knew one of those drinks was coming for me, and I couldn't get one more in me without ruining the next day and possibly the day after.  I boogied.  I might have even pulled one of those, "Hey, look over there" moves before heading for the door.

It was during the party recap the next morning that my very hungover friends coined the phrase Shasta McBoogie.  "I turned around to hand you a drink and all I saw was the back of your head walking out the front door", was how they saw it.  I saw it as an escape fromAlcatraz.  Whatever it was, it was the beginning of the legend of Shasta McBoogie.

YouTube screen cap. NatGeo
YouTube screen cap. NatGeo
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It didn't take long for Shasta to make another appearance.  I tried to hide out and avoid the beer tent altogether the very next night, but I was found hiding in my Dodge Durango.  All I was doing was enjoying the northern lights that were making a full, dazzling appearance that night.  Instead of enjoying the beauty of nature, I had a personal escort to the beer tent for night #2, meaning I'd have to adapt to survive.

I knew they were in a hurry to make it to the beer tent, and I knew if I made it inside I'd never leave without being carried out.  It would be their punishment for the early exit the night prior.  It was walking up to the beer tent that my opportunity arrived.  A helicopter was returning from a trip to Anchorage with a snowmachiner that had been trapped in an avalanche that day and died.

There was snow flying & people scrambling as the chopper approached, and I used the distraction to my advantage.  I never even made the front door.  As they approached the door and noticed I was gone, I was halfway back to my car.  It's not that I didn't go to Arctic Man to party.  It's just that I'm so good at it I was partied out before sunset.  Early to bed, early to rise and drink the next day.  Early bird gets the worm... at the bottom of the bottle.

From that time on the name stuck.  Back in Anchorage I continued my Shasta McBoogie appearances until later in the summer when I moved back to Texas.  Since then, Shasta McBoogie appearances have been few and far between.  It's not that I party more, it's that I go out LESS.  I don't put myself in that position often.

That doesn't mean it never happens.  Shasta has actually been seen twice in the past week.  In tomorrow's exciting conclusion of the 3-part saga of Shasta McBoogie we'll find out more about the modern day antics of my alter-ego.

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