No Name Rally (Olema) February 17 - 20, 2005

[g-whiz]

We made it back to Ventura with no problems.  It rained a little as we left the campground this morning, but as soon as we got out of the hills we had clear, and finally sunny, skies to take us home.  When we got to Ventura it was so clear that we could see stars!  The weekend was great; full of fun, food and friends.  That's what life is all about.  I brought my camera, but totally forgot to take any photos!  The HaHa Sisterhood kept me too busy!!!  The Chippino contest was fun even if our team didn't win and the highlight for me was when Pete brought Dave from Renwood Winery over to visit.  Wow, did we get an education that will help us along in our future wine tasting.  It was good to see Jeff Neff for awhile and Dianne (Otter) got to spend the night!  We sure missed you Margaret.  Hope you are feeling better.
 
We have Pops-Up-Anywhere semi popped-up in the garage awaiting a deep cleaning session this Saturday.  I can't believe how muddy that campground always is.  
 
Well, time for a shower and my jammies.  Sure was great to see everyone!

[Calstate361]

As usual, we were the last ones out of the campground.   It started raining on us and with Sal's legs bothering him so much, it took us a bit longer to get going.  We made it home about 5:00 p.m.  We had a very nice time, it was great seeing everyone again.  My granddaughter, Alexis, was so excited about telling her brothers about all she did when she got home, it was so cute.  Alexis' Mom told me that one of her brothers was watching out of the window for her to come home.

Joan

[Surfcal]

Boy, this is like the stealth rally. Normally, people would be clamoring to post their experiences, but I guess we've had enough rallies to know that fun is the absolute ingredient that keeps people coming back.
     
 For the most part, the rain kept away until Saturday night and then it rained and rained until we thought we were in Southern California. But alas, on Sunday morning, the rain stopped just long enough for many to pack up to dry out their campers and get it popped down in time before it poured again. The sun even peeked out for a short time.
     
 The NNC Cioppino Contest (TM) was a huge success. The competition was spirited (I use that in the context of alcohol), driven by desire to win and hunger for recognition. The Larry and Nick team sufferred a momentary setback. It seems like the night before, Larry got a bit inebriated and forgot where he had placed crucial ingredients and when it came time to use the materials, he ran around claiming that someone had stolen his ingredients. Dork. Well, it was sitting outside his trailer all along. Of course, he had to blame me :p for the misplacement.  What would an Olema Rally be without a Ray/Larry controversy?  :eyecrazy:
     
 In fact, I don't even remember who won or placed in the seven entries, only that there was much anticipation and fun surrounding the process. Another Nick-Neff-Cough event that is sure to go down in history and above all, the shared culinary experiences for all.
     
 Another cool event was the Geocaching/Scavenger hunt for the kids. Can you believe it? We raised nearly $80 as prize money to send the poor kids of NNC to Geocaching. And the result, dozens of kids participating in a campwide hunt and search for items such as meat thermometer, a code word that identifies someone as Neptune, sugar packets, etc., that sent them scampering and rooting through campers and demanding virtual strangers trying to aggregate an assemblage of the strangest collection of stuff. In the end, everyone again was a winner, where every child was rewarded $3 and for those on the winning team a whopping $4.
     
 A thanks to Bill, a newcomer for orchestrating the Geocache event along with Tania for helping orgainze the event and getting the list together. And to Carrie for being the funds collection lady.
     
 Above all, a thanks to Grandwagonmaster Nick for putting together the 3rd Annual headache called the Olema Rally, a Nick-Neff-Cough tradition by now. They say that when you do things more than twice, it's a tradition. So Nick, we all raise a glass to you in toast of a job well done and creating memories that we all cherish. But of course, that's been part of the problem, we toast all rally long!

[OC Campers]

We also made it home safe and sound.  I think next time I will pay attention to how we got there.  We followed the Calstates and didn't think to write down the street names.  It only took 2 wrong turns to get us on our way.:confused: .  Lets just say Randy wasn't very happy with me:swear: :banghead:   It isn't easy turning 20 some ft of vehicle around on a 2 lane road with lots of trees.  And to have to do it twice (you get the picture).  We finally made it to hwy 37 and had smooth sailing from there.

Fortunately, the rain held off till Sunday night so we were able to dry out the popup.  Now she just needs a real good cleaning.  I can't believe how muddy everything was.
 
The kids had a great time.  Kendra had so much fun with Megan and Melissa.  Thank you Ray and Tania for letting her hang around with you guys.  Chris had a ton of fun with Nathan and Brendan too.  That kid was still smiling when we got home.  Matthew and Hunter were so hilarious.  Mike and Michelle, I think we need to chip in and buy a dog crate for the boys to play in.  At least I know where Matt will be.
 
Larry, BC and all the cioppino chefs, the food was awesome (as usual).  I swear, everytime I came over to the group site another food item was there to be sampled.  I think my favorite was the steamed clams and the pork loin.  The trip-tip was pretty incredible too.  I think I will have to start thinking of what to make for the next rally.
 
I am proud to be a NNC member.   Thank you everyone for making our first official NNC rally a success.
 
Jacqui

[pcmom]

Hello Everyone,

Since Steve only went to Fairfield with us, he had to go back to work in San Jose, we checked out Camping World and had lunch there.  We then got home at about 5:30 last night.  We weren't as lucky as some of you - we arrived home to pouring rain :yikes: .  The kids and I got the job of unloading the trailer in the lovely wet stuff!  Alas, everything was unpacked and put away and today there was enough break between storms that I was able to open the bunks up to dry out.
 
We had a good time and are thinking about going back to Olema during Spring Break.  It was nice seeing everyone again - it's been awhile.  So how many kids did we have there?  I know the boys outnumbered the girls - just ask Randy (OC Campers), I think he had at least 10 boys (6-10 year olds) at his site hanging out. :eyecrazy:
 
As usual there was good food and great company.  We didn't take very many photos but I've posted what we did take:
 
Olema Rally Pictures
 
Michelle

[SCCS]

I don't know what is was about this rally but I got a case of the lazzies.
I didn't get out to meet people, or to take a lot of pictures. All we did was to eat and drink. (what a shame)

  The potluck was great, with some awesome food to taste. I even had to go back for seconds for some baked beans.

  Even though we had rain all saturday night into sunday morning we had a great drive home with no rain, even had a few hours to popup and let things dry out.

 My sister and her husband had a wonderful time at the rally and could not believe that we had all met on the internet. Thanks Nick for putting this together.

[OC Campers]

. So how many kids did we have there? I know the boys outnumbered the girls - just ask Randy (OC Campers), I think he had at least 10 boys (6-10 year olds) at his site hanging out. :eyecrazy:
 

I think there were at least 10 little boys.  Even a couple not part of our group.  Would you believe I only came home with one pair of socks that didn't belong to us?  Usually we end up with quite and assortment.  Oh yeah, I also have a girls black track jacket that has white stripes on the arm.  Tania, does it belong to one of your girls?
 
Jacqui

[Dee4j]

Another cool event was the Geocaching/Scavenger hunt for the kids. Can you believe it? We raised nearly $80 as prize money to send the poor kids of NNC to Geocaching. And the result, dozens of kids participating in a campwide hunt and search for items such as meat thermometer, a code word that identifies someone as Neptune, sugar packets, etc., that sent them scampering and rooting through campers and demanding virtual strangers trying to aggregate an assemblage of the strangest collection of stuff. In the end, everyone again was a winner, where every child was rewarded $3 and for those on the winning team a whopping $4.
     
 A thanks to Bill, a newcomer for orchestrating the Geocache event along with Tania for helping orgainze the event and getting the list together. And to Carrie for being the funds collection lady.
     
 

That sounds like fun..hopefully we can do that in Pismo. I bought a GPS for the trip but so far all I have figured out is how to turn it on ,change the back light and get to the menu. getting very aggrivated with the whole thing :banghead:  but it will be cool if I figure it out.

Ray, I will have new karaoke music and Books of my songs for Pismo!!

Can't wait to get Bonnie & "G" singing again :p

[Dee4j]

I think there were at least 10 little boys.  Even a couple not part of our group.  Would you believe I only came home with one pair of socks that didn't belong to us?  Usually we end up with quite and assortment.  Oh yeah, I also have a girls black track jacket that has white stripes on the arm.  Tania, does it belong to one of your girls?
 
Jacqui

so that's what happened to all of Kevin's socks :yikes:  J/K  

Kevin is excited about June. Kara is going to be out numbered in Siskiyou.
her & Kendra will be the only girls :eyecrazy:

[OC Campers]

so that's what happened to all of Kevin's socks :yikes: J/K
 
Kevin is excited about June. Kara is going to be out numbered in Siskiyou.
her & Kendra will be the only girls :eyecrazy:

I don't think Kendra will mind and I have seen Kara in action, she will do whatever the boys are doin.  Nothing stops that little girl.
 
Jacqui

[Ca-girl]

Well, obviously, we made it home without incident...and although I don't have a trailer to unpack, I do have a CARLOAD of stuff to lug back up the stairs!  I think I'll have to run my washer a few times without anything in it to get rid of all the DIRT from the kids' clothes I've been washing in there.  What a mess!  But....as always, we all had a blast.  The kids absolutely loved having camping buddies around, although they really did miss Ashling.  I'll be sure to email or call next time they're coming so that won't happen again.  

I enjoyed having MY camping buddies around too!  It was nice to see some of those friendly faces I haven't seen in so long.  It seems like it's been forever since I had a good HA-HA!  The Cioppino contest was a hoot.  I think even better than the actual Cioppino was all the cooks sneaking from campsite to campsite trying to check out the competition and maybe pick up on a few secret ingredients.  (If you want to know Ray & Dave's Cioppino secret, I believe they carry it at your local Safeway  :J )

All in all, I'd say it was another successful Rally.  Surprise visits from old friends (good to see you Jeff Neff), time spent with new friends, and the traditional train of kids running around with glowsticks and giggles late into the evening were some of the other highlights for me.

Ca-girl

P.S. Jacqui....yes....that is Melissa's jacket.  When I saw her without it, I suggested she go back and get it, but she ASSURED me that once it got cooler she'd remember and go get it...so much for trusting an eight year old's judgement  :eyecrazy: Now that you live so much closer, maybe we can work out a way for me to come get it.  I'm sure the girls would like to say "hi" to Kendra too....they really enjoyed hanging out with her.

[CHELSEE'S DAD]

CHELSEE'S DAD AKA JOHN BAKER

What  a great weekend I just signed up at pop up times so forgive me if I screw something up. I'm trying to post a few pictures of the weekend the address will be below I'm hoping anyone interested can get to the address.

Don't feel bad Randy getting lost, I went the same way you did but decided to keep on going,San Rafel is on 101 also. We meet new friends and had a great trip. looking forward to the next one.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jtbaker2406@sbcglobal.net/my_photos

P.S. Randy and Jacqui: Terri and I would like that recipe you used in your stove last weekend.

[OC Campers]

CHELSEE'S DAD AKA JOHN BAKER
 
What a great weekend I just signed up at pop up times so forgive me if I screw something up. I'm trying to post a few pictures of the weekend the address will be below I'm hoping anyone interested can get to the address.
 
Don't feel bad Randy getting lost, I went the same way you did but decided to keep on going,San Rafel is on 101 also. We meet new friends and had a great trip. looking forward to the next one.
 
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jtbaker2406@sbcglobal.net/my_photos
 
P.S. Randy and Jacqui: Terri and I would like that recipe you used in your stove last weekend.

John, it is good to see you post. Yup, you and Teri caught us going the wrong way. The funny part is you didn't lose much time. You past us on the 80 right after we got on. .
 
I enjoyed your pictures. My favorite one is Buddy and Killer. Buddy looks so funny with Killer on his back with that sad look on his face. How humiliating to have a chihuaua use a pitbull as a sofa. .
 
Jacqui
 
P.S.  I will e-mail the DO lasagna recipe to you.  I think I will post it on the
       recipe forum also.

[OC Campers]

P.S. Jacqui....yes....that is Melissa's jacket. When I saw her without it, I suggested she go back and get it, but she ASSURED me that once it got cooler she'd remember and go get it...so much for trusting an eight year old's judgement :eyecrazy: Now that you live so much closer, maybe we can work out a way for me to come get it. I'm sure the girls would like to say "hi" to Kendra too....they really enjoyed hanging out with her.

Sure that would be great.  I know Kendra would like to get together with the girls too.  Or if you need it back right away, I can drop it off at your place when I go bowling (Tuesday mornings)
 
Jacqui

[gsm x2]

Wow---lots of new people to meet and chat with.  Looking forward to Pismo.

I didn't take my normal 200 pictures, but did get a few.
 
Posted them here.
 
gsm x2