RE: HalfDome Hyjinx

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Calstate361
Scott -
 Thanks for the pic s.!  Looks like another succesful rally.
 
 Dave/Champ -
 Nice new rig!

[champ521]

 Calstate361
We got home about 4 this afternoon. The trip home took a little longer than the trip there. I had to make a couple of extra pit stops because of the over indulgence of food and drink on Saturday night. We had a great time checking out Yosemite and speaking of Saturday night, did we get shut down or what? I missed the conversation but I know that as soon as the " ranger"  left, Dave/Ab was hosing down the fire and everyone was going back to their trailers.
 
 Neff-There were no sales pitches to be heard. At least not by me. Mrs 6Quigs was actually inquiring about a membership.

[Ab Diver]

 Calstate361
Made it home, all s well. We actually convoyed with Sammyslave and Craig for a while--- funny since we left before they did, and then we saw them pull out in FRONT of us farther down the road. (and I thought *I* knew all the shortcuts [] )
 
 Long drive home, plus a stop at Chilie s for dinner. Just now got the popup popped up and unloaded. Will give a much better description of the weekend s event from my humble point of view tomorrow night.
 
 BTW... Jeff---- *I* was offered a membership. I told them I was in a hurry, but would welcome any and ALL information they could send me. They said they would gladly ship me a whole boatload of paperwork ASAP. I gave them all the neccesary info, starting with my name: " R. N. Barchetta...."   []

[6Quigs]

 Ab Diver
Another great NNC weekend under our belt.
 As we are driving home, one of the kids said
 " I love when we go camping with Popup Times. I get to play with all my friends" .
 Sums it up from the kids prespective, they all had a blast, and we never lost any of them this weekend[&:]
 Food was great, as always, and the company, excellent.
 Nice once again to camp with a small group, you get to spend more time with people.
 Sal & Joan, the campground was excellent. Plenty to do for the children, and yes Margaret was asking about membership. There are currently 5 being bid on e-bay, with some offers of around $500.
 
 I ll post pictures tomorrow

[SactoCampers]

 Calstate361
Sactocampers got home around 4:30 yesterday. I washed both the popup and minivan and they are resting peacefully in the garage. We had a great time, we didn t get offered a membership.....must be because we have a Tracker. We get no respect. []
 
 Dave (AbD), sorry we had to take off without caravaning. Megan fell asleep while Jennifer was getting some drinks at the store so we figured we better get as many miles under our belt while we could. She was a champ on both the ride there and back, considering we hit traffic on the Yolo causeway which delayed us quite a bit.
 
 Let s see, how many NNCers did we see pass by us while we were eating at Quizno s in Oakdale?  Champ 521, Ab Diver, Sammyslave, CA-Girl, and the couple with the older Coleman Niagara (I didn t meet them, but then again, I didn t see them the whole weekend. Were they with us?). I also passed TowRod on 99 heading back towards Sacramento. Didn t get to stop at Manteca Trailer Sales on the way home, though, to look at Rockwoods [][].
 
 When we got out of the minivan at Quiznos I noticed one of my bikes on the roof was leaning over way too much. Turns out one of my so-called " mighty mounts"  broke. I was never comfortable with the amount of movement of the bikes on the roof. Now I know why cars were keeping their distance behind me. I need to call Yakima and find out what the he!! is wrong with their equipment. Fortunately, I had enough room to fit the bike in the minivan on top of everything after taking off the front tire. The other bike did fine on the way home.
 
 Took Priest s Grade down in first gear with no problem, pulling aside for others to pass. My transmission held up! And who said DC minivan transmissions were made of dental floss, chewing gum, and elmer s glue?
 
 We go to bed pretty early, so I missed the  park rangers  telling you all to keep it down. But I did notice it got quiet all of a sudden [].
 
 Dave, regarding your late Saturday arrival, Mrs. Sacto caught Mrs. Ab Diver say, " I ll be mad at you later, but right now I m glad you re home."  [][8D]. Oh man, I bet you re in the doghouse! Worry not, though, because she said I would have been in the doghouse too.
 
 Thanks again, Sal and Joan for wagonmastering this rally. It was a nice weekend to spend our 5th anniversary.
 
 Oh, also wanted to give a big thanks to AbDiver s and SCCS  youngest children. They were so great with Megan all weekend and her eyes light up when we ask if she had fun playing with them. It was nice knowing we had little " babysitters"  with another set of eyes to look out for her.

[towrod]

 SactoCampers
Got home just before 4pm yesterday.  
 Trip home was uneventful, Rachel fell asleep in the van before we left the campground and didn t wake up until we were on Hwy 99.  Nice to get home with clean carseats![: (]    
 
 I thought I saw Brian pass us but _knew_ it wasn t Sactocampers when we noticed only one bike on top - glad to hear that it didn t fall off!  
 
 Thanks again to Sal and Joan for setting up the rally - and to all for the great fun, food and conversation.
 
 Special thanks to 6Quigs... Nathan talked about getting a Gameboy Advance half way home.  It will be on his Christmas list
 
 BTW my " E-Z up" canopy finally cooperated back home with some additional persuassion(wd-40, hammer, pliers, [:@])

[SCCS]

 Calstate361
Glad to see that everyone made it home without any kind of trouble (except for Sacto s bike rack).Hope that isn t to difficult to fix.[]I guess sammyslave,ca-girl and craig made it home alright too,as they posted in other threads.Chat with you all later.

[Ca-girl]

 SCCS

I guess sammyslave,ca-girl and craig made it home alright too

 I can t speak for Sammyslave or Craig, but we made it home with no problemo!  Since today was the first day of school for the kids, I ve been kind of busy since we got back, and haven t been able to post until now.
 
 

Let s see, how many NNCers did we see pass by us while we were eating at Quizno s in Oakdale? Champ 521, Ab Diver, Sammyslave, CA-Girl

 We didn t catch you at the Quizno s Sacto, but I could have sworn I saw 6 Quigs hitting a McDonald s drive thru in Oakdale!  One of the benefits of the pop-up I guess....I m pretty sure we d cause major damage if we tried that with our Caravan! [8D]
 
 Of course, in our opinion anyway, it was another great NNC rally...just the right size - enough people to always be able to find someone to hang out with, but few enough people to be able to spend time with everyone. As always, there was too much food, too much fun, and not enough time.
 
 Here are my pics - http://community.webshots.com/album/87400599ZmcFEF

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Calstate361
Tania -
 Thanks for the great photo s.!
 I can hear Rita s wonderful giggle too!
 
 So if you had kids in class today then I guess you had to start work last week huh?  I don t understand different districts schedules.  Amy doesn t have students in class until next Tuesday.  Weird.

[Ca-girl]

 Red neff Barchetta

 

ORIGINAL:  Red neff Barchetta
 
 Tania -
 Thanks for the great photo s.!
 I can hear Rita s wonderful giggle too!
 
 So if you had kids in class today then I guess you had to start work last week huh?  I don t understand different districts schedules.  Amy doesn t have students in class until next Tuesday.  Weird.
 

Actually, I m on the same schedule as Amy...I don t " officially"  start until next Tuesday.  Of course, they always find meetings and inservices that have us going back a few days early [:@][&:] The different schedules can cause some conflicts from time to time, but I must admit having my last week of summer vacation with the kids at school and Kevin at work is pretty relaxing! [][]

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Calstate361
Gotcha Tania.  You meant YOUR kids were at school today.  Our 9 year-old doesn t start until next Tuesday.
 Enjoy your peace and quiet.
 Amy has to report this Thursday although she s been getting things ready (like her wardrobe (read $$!)) since late last week.
 We ve been priming our 4 year-old for his first day of school (ever) next week with some half-days throughout the summer.  I went with him 3 days last week and had a blast doing all the works with him.  He is fascinated by the " 100 board"  although he s still figuring it out.  I m really going to miss this age!  Not enough to have another though, lol.  He ll probably freak out next week when I take him and leave.  Not to mention the lovely screaming child that leaves the poor teacher with.  Good thing she knows what a calm kid (usually) he really is.
 Have a great year!  Next summer will be here before you know it.

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Red neff Barchetta
Can you tell I m sitting at the desk working this afternoon/evening?  Got a little behind with all the camping we did this month.  Well worth it though!

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Red neff Barchetta
Btw, why haven t this rally s wagonmasters checked in yet?
 
 Joan, Sal, where are you?

[Ab Diver]

 Red neff Barchetta
Well, here we are--- another Rally under our belts, another chapter written into the NNC archives, and another collection of memories my family and I will cherish for the rest of our lives.
 
 First and foremost, THANK YOU to Sal and Joan for organizing this rally, and for letting us join at the last moment. To the other members with which my family shared the weekend, many thanks for making it so enjoyable for us. I actually *DID* " adopt a Quig"  for a day, and she was the perfect little angel... any parent would be proud. (in fact, all the parents attending should be proud of all their children. What a great group of kids!)
 
 For those of you who have not been to Yosemite, mark it down on your list of places that absolutely must be visited in this lifetime. The sheer size and scope of the individual features of the Valley defy description, and the incredible power needed to create such a wonder is beyond belief. Taken together as a whole, a visit to Yosemite leaves you awe-stricken at it s beauty, and humbled by your own insignificance.
 
 Friday, most of us headed for Yosemite Valley, singly or in groups of a couple families. We convoyed with Ca-girl in the morning, but bumped into Sacto and Towrod during lunch. Towrod joined our group for the afternoon while the Sactos continued their two-wheeled journey to parts less traveled. The Ca-girl s and the Ab Diver s hiked up to Bridalveil Falls, among other activities and viewing pleasures. A personal highlight for me was when Towrod, Ca-girl-DH and myself, along with selected children, made our own attempt at climbing El Capitan. We hiked up to the bottom of the sheer cliff, found a spot where the vertical face of the mountain actually touches flat dirt, and started our assent.  We made it all of 7 feet up.  []  However, a more serious team was starting their climb about 150 feet away from us, and we were able to see for ourselves what a *real* assent looks like at it s beginning. Cool! Then, with stiff necks from looking straight up at the almost never-ending scenery visible from the valley floor, we ended our day back at camp with a traditional NNC Potluck Feast and Brew-Ha-Ha (and not necessarily in that order).
 
 Saturday, myself, DD #1, my adopted Quig-for-a-day DD, and Ca-girl DH and his DD, all piled into the " 21-Six"  and convoyed with the Towrod s to The Big Trees at Mariposa Grove. Jumped onto the shuttle for the trip up the hill, and walked the second part down. What can be said about these trees that hasn t been said already?  All I can add is that, accustomed as I am to seeing the Coastal Redwoods and their versions of the words *Big Trees*, the Sierra Redwoods are absolutely stunning in their size, height, and age. Then we drove up to Glacier Point for a " View From The Top" . Looking across the Valley at Half Dome from Glacier Point, while seeing the valley floor a couple thousand feet below your feet, is a jaw-dropping, soul-inspiring sight that you will NEVER forget.
 
 Other members of the Rally decided to stay at camp for Saturday, and spent the day kicking back, visiting, and swimming. The Glacier Point group got back a little bit later than expected, none the worse for wear, but hungry as heck. Dinner-- what was left of it-- was delicious. (hey, half of a *huge* feast is *still* a feast!)
 
 Sunday was take-down day, and since the Sammyslave s had wowed us the previous morning with Eggs Benedict for breakfast, they evidentially decided that one killer breakfast wasn t good enough for a single weekend. So they made bacon and blueberry pancakes for everyone. Larry and Rita, I dip my Ab-cooking hat to you!
 
 Sunday was take-down and departure day for everyone, with the exception of Sal and Joan, who will stay for several more days. It felt weird leaving them " alone"  at the campground, but I know that even as I was working my tail off today, they were relaxing in that very enjoyable location called Yosemite Lakes.
 
 One thing we all noticed at this rally was our site location relative to each other: we were back-to-back in the loop instead of facing each other across a road, as is usually the case. This gave the rally a much more intimate feel, as if we were all hanging out together in our own back yards instead of visiting from across the street. This particular pattern of site choice may be a good thing to try for in future rallies. Talk was tossed around for a repeat rally next year, to which I heartily agree.
 
 
 <<<< kicks chair back to the center of room so someone else can take a turn and (finally) get a word in >>>>

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Red neff Barchetta
Damn Dave!  Well written and said!
 You all had a much better Yosemite experience than we did.  Although we did enjoy ourselves.
 I would have loved to watch the ascent team as they prepared and departed.
 I think Sal & Joan are having the last laugh then since they are still " there"  and we are all " here"  today.