RE: Reyes the Rool Rally

[Ab Diver]

 calstate360
" Ok so which one of us is jinxed?"  
 
 I m putting my money on Otter, just cuz she ain t here to defend herself.[]  (just kidding, hope you are having a wonderful time in Hawaii)
 
 " I don t have a grill to take but I will let them know. Hang in there Dave we have our fingers crossed."
 
 Thanks, Sal. Appreciate the crossed fingers. I just got back from the Doc-- got a big ol  brace on the leg now. Give my best to the gang at Olema. Man, I hope your truck wasn t damaged too bad.  And let s hope Kevin s delay is not from anything worse than " waiting on the cable guy to show up" .
 
 What s WITH this weekend, anyway? [:@]

[otter]

 The Memory Maker
Hey AB:  I m not jinxed...not that I know of anyway. And I am here to defend myself.  It is beautiful in Kona...80+ degrees, snorkelling is fantastic, enjoying my son and his friends....
 But I sure am sorry to hear about your leg!  Was it a tendon?  How did it happen?
 I will be looking to see if Sal and Joan made it.  Plans do change.  
 OC and Cottonwood from the southern contingent and I are going to try to keep the boards going.  Hope you will join us.  We are in Ramble Rousing so far, but I m thinking we should move over to the Reyes thread.  We can surprise them when they get back by adding a few pages.
 Hope that your leg feels better and that the pain pills are yummy.
 Otter

[Ab Diver]

 The Memory Maker
" OC and Cottonwood from the southern contingent and I are going to try to keep the boards going. Hope you will join us."
 
 Count me in. It s our moral obligation to fulfill the responsibilities of rallyless Coughers by rousing whatever rabble is left behind. []
 
 I love Hawaii. Only been there once, but dang near didn t come back. I ve been ocean free-diving (holding your breath) in our cold local waters since my early teens, but Hawaii was the first time I ever went scuba (tank) diving. Took a resort course at Huanuama (sp?) Bay in Honolulu. They taught us barely enough to justify letting us go down 50 feet, and I got to pet a Moray eel. That was it, I was hooked on scuba! Years later, before we got married, I told my future wife she needed to be certified so I could take her on our honeymoon to some place where the water was warm (we ended up in Grand Cayman.) I started helping the instructor with my wife s class of students, and eventually became the lead instructor for the dive shop.
 
 Turns out I tore something in my calf muscle. At least it wasn t my Achilles tendon. It s either rotten timing cuz it happened before the trip, or great timing cuz it didn t happen during the trip. Since I can t walk on it to break down our " currently set up"  pop-up in our back yard, probably the later, eh?

[6Quigs]

 The Memory Maker
6 Quigs are all packed and ready to go.
 Plans are to leave after DD s basketball game, and arrive around noon.
 hate to miss all the fun Friday and breakfast Saturday morning, but at least we ll be there tomorrow.
 
 Dave, sorry to hear about the leg.
 keep it rested, and we ll see you at the next rally.
 
 Dianne,
 Hope you re enjoying the weather in hawaii. It was 20 degrees yesterday morning in Tahoe driving to the ski slopes, a litter cooler than your 80 degrees
 
 Cottonwooder and OC,
 Glad to have you to keep the rabbling continuing as we are all away, and I dare you to do a few Surfcal impersonations while we are gone[]

[Cottonwooder]

 The Memory Maker
The gauntlet has been thrown down.  Can the four of us rise to the challenge?  Am sure we can!  I ll head over to the Rabble board to bounce that gauntlet around.
 
 Dave, SO SORRY about your leg.  But yes, better to happen BEFORE leaving than during a camping trip.  You take care, OK?
 
 Dianne, Hawaii, huh?  The heatwaves we ve been having here -- even normally frigid Ventura right on the coastline -- might outdo the temperatures you re enjoying over there.  We look forwarding to spending more time with you and Lon in SLO than we did in Cachuma.  []
 
 Scott, waking up at 6:45am is too late?  Anything before 8am isn t even in my time zone [&:] 9am is even better!  I ve noticed times of 4am and 5am on some of your posts, and wondered if you were staying up helluva late or waking up helluva early.  I guess you re an early bird, not a night owl. [&:]

[Cottonwooder]

 The Memory Maker
Something just occurred to me...
 
 Left behind to tend to our cyber campfire is Dianne, Jacqui, Dave, and myself.  Dave suddenly has a little harem, LOL!
 

[otter]

 The Memory Maker
Cottonwood ER, huh?  Can ou tell that i am not a detail person.  My aplogies for not  getting your name correct.  Why did you select that name for the boards?
 I have had a lazy day.  am  yawning now that it is only 8:30.  But I made a great find.  My son is a wine and liquor distributor on the isalnd and is given odd things by the companies.  One is a great camping hat advertising Bailey s.  After one of larry s fantatic dinners G-whiz makes a pot of real coffee and I do a pot of decafe coffee and do the coffee and Baileys thing.  I am missing that right about now.  I think I will score one of these hats and add it to our collection of camping items.  
 How is the leg AB?  I have a grandaughter we call AB, but that is because her name is Annabelle.  Do I remember your name is related to Abalone?  
 How did the painting go OC...  You know if you do a lousy job you won t get asked again!!!  Let Randy be the expert.  
 Anyone else home for the weekend?  
 hugs and peace

[Cottonwooder]

 otter

Why did you select that name for the boards?

 Because our PU is a Coleman Cottonwood.  []

[Ab Diver]

 The Memory Maker
" Left behind to tend to our cyber campfire is Dianne, Jacqui, Dave, and myself. Dave suddenly has a little harem, LOL!"
 
 [][][]
 
 " How is the leg AB? I have a grandaughter we call AB, but that is because her name is Annabelle. Do I remember your name is related to Abalone?"
 
 Yup, that s what it stands for: " Abalone Diver" .  But, I d like to point out something, out of respect for one of our favorite sons: " AB"  is short " Austin Boston" . I ll settle for " Ab" . Does that make him " big ab"  and me " little ab" ? []
 
 And while I m talking about AB... a while ago he (AB) posted about wanting to go camping when he couldn t. Among the replies to his post, my tongue-in-cheek response was to do a backyard camp. I think I m gunna take my own advice tonight... the trailer s all set up cuz I was gunna load it, the firewood is all stacked next to the trailer so s it could be tossed into the truck, the folding chairs are laying next to the trailer. Heck, even the cooler has beer and ice in it. (told you this happened right before I was gunna load everything for the rally) Think I ll hop on out to the trailer on one foot, open a chair, toss some wood into the Weber, grill some meat, and try to be at Olema in spirit.
 
 The leg hurts. I may not be able to make the trip in person, but that Vicodin sure helps to make staying at home less painful, if you know what I mean.

[otter]

 The Memory Maker
Backyard camping!!!  Always a hit in our house.  When the kids were little we used to do it a lot.  
 How is the leg this morning? Some of these injuries are so painful.  I just hate that feeling of being debilated and not being able to do what I want.
 Well, after vegitating all day yeserday, I m off metal detecting at the beach this morning then a snorkel.  What a lazy pace here on the island.  My son, girl friend and and her sister & hubby (visting) are off for a helicopeter ride to one of the 5 volcanoes on the island.  This one is active and putting on quite a show right now.  They were excited about it.   I am happier at sea-level with my fishes.  
 Tomorrow morning we all go out on a boat which takes us whale watching, and flying fish watching, and takes us to a bay which is protected as a marine biological group .  You can only get there by boat and the snorkelling is FANTASTIC.  So I am looking forward to that.  
 check in later folks...  lets gab for a page or two.  
 

[Surfcal]

 The Memory Maker
To All:
 
 Ab Diver, I am so sorry to hear about your foot.  I just came back, pulled out a day early because I need to do some stuff for work.  But I got a couple of vintage days of Nick-Neff-Cough camping.
 
 You guys wouldn t believe the kind of weather we ve had.  It is bright sunshine, blue skies and with no wind.  It was the kind of weather right out of Central Casting.  That area is pretty notorious for fog and it didn t even make an appearance.
 
 It was good to see CWB.  Of course Larry, Scott, Georgeanne, Rita, Jeff, and Nick and all the rest of the gang were there.  For those who couldn t come, we dearly missed you all.    Dave, I want you to know that people were rooting for you to be able to make it, but from the sounds of it, we re lucky to hear that you ll be just fine.  Even though you missed a great event, your good health is more than we could ask for.
 
 Nick made the best beer.  It produces side effects, but man did that brew taste so good!  He is a brewmaster!  I got tanked on his beer last night.  Larry as usual is the king of camp cooking.  The first night we were there, he made these little lobster and rib-eye nuggets that we all devoured.  It was so delicious.  Can you imagine that?  Lobster and steak at a campout.  A little side note, Larry burned his left hand with oil while serving one of his fabulous meals.  He s alright, got some blisters, but as usual, we re always very concerned when one of our own gets hurt.
 
 We did the oyster run and got lots from Johnson s Oyster farm.  Then we proceeded to take in some of the Point Reyes scenery by taking a Friday drive to Tomales Bay State Beach and all the way down to McClures  Beach parking lot.
 
 There were so many people there, the regulars and new faces alike.  And everyone gets along very well.  On one trip to the bathroom last night, which was a short walk from our loop, you can just see the group all gathered together, bursting with laughter and you can tell that it s a major event.  There they were just drinking and eating away under a couple of canopies strung with Chile Pepper tacky lights, some by the campfire, but all in all, it was abuzz with activity and a social spirit.
 
 If you had never been to a NNC event, last night was a great night to be a newcomer.  And if you re one of the veterans, not only was the energy high, it seems that with every succeeding rally we hold, it just keeps getting better and better.
 
 I got there first and because of some site assignment fiasco by the front office, I took Larry s spot.  Then Larry and Scott arrived, but since I took Larry s spot, Larry bumped Calstate, and he was none too happy.  Well, the chaos was pure Nick-Neff-Cough, a lot of confusion, but in the end, it all seems to work themselves out.  By dark, everyone seemed to be happy campers.
 
 And by day, it was the normal frenzy of morning chit-chat at the ol  Nick-Neff-Cough galley and mess hall.  Because of Larry s burn, there were plenty of other folks that pitched in to cook.  There was enough food to feed an army and there was an army of NNCers.  And it was the kind of heart stoppers that we ve become known for.  And by mid-morning, SUV s and TV s all pulled away to conquer the many attractions nearby, from wineries, to oyster farms, to National and State Parks, to the Cheese Factory, car after car pulled away to seek their day s fulfillment.
 
 And there I was left as the lone figure in an empty campground only to pack up and pull up stakes.  But even in such a short time and a trip ended too abruptly, it was another great NNC event.
 
 In the two days I was there, I brought my video camera and taped some testimonials of the veteran NNCers.  It was fun talking to Larry, Nick, Neff, G-Whiz, CWB and many folks about what NNC is all about, the little idiocyncracies of the group and individuals.  But all in all, a nice way of cultivating thoughts from various members.  It was refreshing, sometimes reflective, most often funny, but most of all, insightful.  And what will come out of all this?  Well, I plan on stringing these thoughts together and see what stories can be told through the eyes of our various friends.  It will be a mini-doc.  And when it s all done, I ll send a copy to all, and perhaps, it ll be a tape we can send to prospective members.
 
 So for all those that couldn t make it, this is a report of a rally that is still in progress.  I don t have any still pictures because I concentrated on the video work.
 
 We ll just wait and see what others post tomorrow for a full report from everyone.
 
 Reporting from San Francisco, I m Surfcal.

[otter]

 Surfcal
Welcome home Ray:  sorry you couldn t stay for the whole time.  when I saw your post i thought maybe you were posting form Olema.  
 sounds like a great time.  But with allthe injuries, maybe I m safer waaaaay across the pond.  
 Poor larry.  I hate burns.  I guess all great cooks  get their share, but ouch!!
 Thanks fr the blow by blow and the overview too.  I know fun was had by all.  
 I ve had a really quiet weekend as my kids have company and are off doing all the toury things.  I even went to the movies by myself ( a first)  saw  Chicago .  I am not a musical fan , but am a jazz and stage fan and wow!  i could have turned around and walked back in to see it again.  Will need to get the score.
 Well, don t work too hard.  I ll be home at the end of the week and start prepping for the Delta.  
 thanks again for the update.  
 

[Ab Diver]

 Surfcal
Ray, thank you so much for taking the time to post that. I m sure that if you had to cut the rally short due to work, you re pressed for time right now. Makes me feel like I m almost there, Bro. Did the campground ever post my note on the bulliten board? I d called there and left a message for the group.
 
 Ouch!  So sorry to hear about Larry s hand. Burns are such painful injuries. I hope he heals quickly and completely.
 
 Sounds like the group is having a wonderful time, although I d expect nothing less from NNC. Not only the old timers, but the new Coughers as well. I expect they " adopted"  the one or two campers who reserved spots in the middle of our group, no?
 
 Nice to know those of us who couldn t make it were missed. I d taken yesterday off work in order to get an early start for the rally. Got a few last minute chores done, and then disaster struck. I just hope G-whiz s ham didn t go to waste. That said, I was there in spirit last night. Did you see that one puff of smoke that wafted away from the fire in the opposite direction it should have? That was me.[]
 
 Ray, once again, your eloquent capacity for emotional expression remains unsurpassed. I could almost taste Nick s beer. Thanks again for posting.
 
 Ok-- Ralph, Tania, Naomi, and the other new members: sorry I didn t get to meet you. I expect a full accounting of your impressions of our group. And to you veterans: I expect " the rest of the story" . []

[OC Campers]

 Surfcal
Ray, thanks for the rally info.  It sounds like another fabulous rally.  I am so sorry to hear about Larry, hopefully he will be ok.  Burns are so painful.  
 
 Well, at least there were a few of us to keep the boards going while everyone else is out playing.  It is Saturday night I wonder who has had a few too many around the campfire?  Those Ya Ya girls always have some fabulous wine.  Are the Kazoos a singing?  Ray, who is tending the fire while you are away?  
 
 Well, I guess it is back to my painting.  :::sigh:::    I would rather be camping.  We are headed down to South Orange county (San Clemente SB) next weekend.  We haven t been out since Lake Cachuma.
 
 Dianne and Patricia, I guess I am a day late and a dollar short, missed you at Reyes the roof section

[Cottonwooder]

 Surfcal
Wow, we flipped onto another page!  Wonder if we can hit Page 4 before they start returning and posting tomorrow.
 
 Ray, what a great piece of writing!  Many thanks for that descriptive update.  I could feel the atmosphere as I was reading.  That video you re shooting sounds wonderful, a real priceless gem that will only become more precious with time.  Sorry you had to leave a day early.  I m guessing that s even more of a bummer than not going at all.
 
 Steak and lobster while camping??  We couldn t join Larry  n  Rita that night at Cachuma, and so haven t had the fortune of sampling their culinary delights.  Will just let my mouth water while reading your descriptions.  Hope that hand is doing OK!
 
 Dave, Austin Boston is your son?  BTW, how s the leg doing today?
 
 Well, it s nearly 9:30 on a Saturday night, and I m an hour late for my weekly scrapbooking session, so ta-ta for now.  Be back later.  I ve been thinking about you guys all day.  []