Mooning the Train

A lot of people think California is "the land of fruits and nuts".  Sure, we have our share of unique individuals just like any place else.  Being a 5th generation native to California, I have noticed that the majority of "extreme" individuals here are not from California at all, but have moved here from ... I don't know, someplace nice and calm like Idaho or Wisconsin.  They just go crazy once they get here.  They're not used to all that sunshine or something.

That being said, we do know how to have our own brand of fun here.  Recently one of my girlfriends decided to celebrate her birthday by joining in on the 29th annual "Amtrak Mooning" day.  Eight thousand (yes, you read that right ... 8,000) people showed up to moon the passing Amtrak trains.  Some of them might have been drinking?

This event started 29 years ago when a patron of the Mugs Away Saloon in Laguna Niguel challenged a few buddies to go moon a passing train.  In exchange he promised to buy them a drink.  It is an unsponsored event, no one is making money off Moon Day except perhaps local businesses from the thirsty/hungry crowds. 

Forget trying to find parking anywhere within miles of this "event"!  This year mooning began at 7:30 in the morning.  Mooners came expecting to moon approximately 40 train passings by the end of that same evening.  Unfortunately, this year the police made everyone disperse around 3:30 in the afternoon. 

This is the first time in the history of the event that the police have had to break up the event early.  It was a disappointment for those who planned to stay for "night mooning" which begins at dark.  For night mooning, please bring your own flashlight or lantern to light up your ass. 

The police broke the event up early because apparently some women started flashing their boobs to the train this year.  Mooning is okay, but tit-flashing isn't.  In addition, a couple guys decided they might as well go completely naked instead of just pulling their pants up and down over and over again everytime a train went by.  Full nudity and tit exposure is not acceptable at a mooning event. 

The police also said there were a lot of drunk people there.  Really?  

Mooning, in itself, is not enough for everyone.  Some people decorate their butts.  Oh yes they do!  On the mooning website the question is asked, "I am overweight, in fact very obese, is it O.K. for me to moon?"  The answer is, "Yes, yes, please 'moon' with us.  We need people like you for the extra high intensity mooning you can provide."  I'm going to repeat that for you, "extra high intensity mooning".  Someone put a lot of thought into that sentence.  

The event also carries a disclaimer which says, in part, "Attending this event may be hazardous due to the high concentration of silly people."  It also states that if you fall and get hurt, "There is no one to sue," and that "the city and railroad would rather you did not bother to come to this event."   The disclaimer also states that there is no insurance covering the event because who would insure an event called "Mooning Amtrak"?   

Not only were there 8,000 folks mooning this year, the normally half-empty trains were packed full for this event.  What's more fun, drinking nonstop on a train while watching people moon you?  Or being a mooner?

The police said the very happy crowd dispersed peacefully when asked to this year.  Next year Mooning Amtrak will be held on July 11th.  Mark your calendars!

** You can read the sequel to this post about my personal experience Mooning Amtrak in 2009 by going here!  **

© Twenty Four At Heart

Comments

[Jan]

No one will insure this event? Has anyone even TRIED to contact Lloyd's of London?

Beloved and I would take a completely different stance on which is more fun (I'll have to mention this to him when he comes home this weekend). I believe I'd prefer to be a moonee - I can almost guarantee he'd rather be a mooner.

[alntv]

Seeing as how I work in the media and have contacts at ESPN, I'm gonna see if they can put it on their schedule for next year. I'm thinking a full day of coverage with sponsorship by Fruit of the Loom and Budweiser. I will have to come up with a pitch for graphics...but I'm sure I can think of something!

(Just to be sure...are you SURE you aren't just drunk and bored and have nothing to blog about? Maybe a little too much time on Photoshop? 'Cause this is unbelievable!)

[Kelly]

Omigod! Laughing my "ass" off!

[EricaB]

OMG! This is SO funny!

Have I told you the story about my siblings and I lining up to "moon" NYC? Ah, it's a great one...

[jo]

I used to moon barges on the Ohio River with a previous BF and his family....great fun. I guess we felt like we were giving the bored barge captain a little break from the monotony. This was so freakin' funny!

[Margaret]

I had never heard of this event until I somehow caught a YouTube video of it last week. I like your pictures!

[Lucky]

I have been attending this event for over tens years and even have the "official mooning picture website", amtrakmooning.com.

This year was certainly a little more crowded then normal. We parked our RV in Wed morning and got there on Friday afternoon to start the party. By Friday night there were already 500 or so people who were planning on partying the entire weekend. By 10am Saturday there were more people then I had ever seen there.

Even though it was more crowded then normal, I did not see anything going on that did not happen in the past years. I personally have 100s of pictures of girls flashing there tits and both guys and girls getting totally naked...it's all just part of the fun.

I believe the real reason the police shut it down was the size of the crowd. There were just too many people and with only one street to get in and out, it would have been a nightmare if anything did go wrong.

When it did get shut down I must say the crowd, although very dissappointed, handled it very well and packed up an left peacefully. And the Sheriff's Deputies who were there were great. You can tell they really didn't want to do it, but had to. They treated the crowd respectively and even had a little fun with us while we packed up.

I just hope that this is not the end of a really fun tradition.

[Beth]

Damnnit! All the fun is in California!

[Julie @ Angry Julie Monday]

Ha! That's awesome!

[Kaza]

You have inspired me to link to this in my post today!