RE: April Rally

[g-whiz]

 Chez Way

 

ORIGINAL:  Chez Way
 
 

See you at seven. Of course G-Whiz has the final call on whether the shot winds up in the scrapbook or in Webshots. She can be plied with marguaritas or good wine.

 Georgeann--
 How about a tasty Cadillac marguerita?  The bar will be open tomorrow evening.
 
 
 

 Yes, I could have.  Too bad it was more like hot toddy weather.  I ll catch you in Temecula!!!
 

 gsm x2
The Otters are home too.  We hit sunshine 20 miles north of SLO and had dry weather all the way to Santa Cruz.  The camper is in front of the house and the sun is still shining so I think I will  go popit up.  Lon drove all the way and is snoozing.  It must have stormed here sometime because we arrived to a fallen gate.  
 So G R E A T  to meet all the SoCal folks.  and to meet new NNC folks.  It was a great weekend.  We are one fortunate...lucky... blessed ...bunch of people folks!!!
  short clips:   dog grooming lessons; 3am arrivals, utilities on the wrong side, exploding fire lighters, Happy Birthday singing, pretty rocks to choose from, tatooes, a diet called the " skimpy butt "  diet,  baby monitors, Bailey s, beer,a nd rasberry wine in a dark chocolate cup, elephant seals, dogs food, food, food and so much more.
 Here s a hug to all to the lucky folks!!!

[otter]

 g-whiz
[][]and ticks [: (][: (]
 scratch  scratch

 gsm x2
Well we made it back too!  Most assuredly there was indeed a SLOW Escape from this campground as the rain hindered us to no end!!!!!   I ve never been so wet in all my life with my clothes on!  We did not take advantage of the " window of opportunity"  as I was busy cooking bacon, eggs and blueberry pancakes for our brood!  I m not sure what Surfcal was on... but I never made blueberry pancakes that I fed anyone else... but I did make my first ever DO recipe (corn pudding) which everyone so bravely tasted.  Seems as though they liked it well enough.  The DO Guy as Surf so wryly referred to moose as, did indeed inspire us all!  His peach cobbler makes me salivate just thinking about it... and at one point last night I offered to zombie after him to the end of his days as his cooking was so incredibly scrumptious!  Despite the prevalence of his many groupies that night... he took it all in with grace!  
 
 Most everyone was trying to leave Dodge as quick as possible and Chez Way s Darling Husband saved the day as our camper was backwards and needed to be shoved into the street manually during the biggest deluge!  This dear man ran out litterally singing in the rain with a smile on his face and in one fell swoop helped to push out camper in the street and onto our minivan s hitch!  His lil one Sammy got along with Myla famously and all the children had a wonderful time with the Easter project set up by this super family s Mom!  We met some really nice folks from the Southern contingencies who really made us wish we lived a little more south so we d have the luxury of going north as well as south on our Pop Up Journeys.  
 
  In truth the rain abated about 25 minutes out and we had nothing but sunshine all the way home!  
 
 We had some great times since we came early... and got to see some of the local culture. Thank goodness for Scott and Lon being there when I arrived... as there was no way I d have gotten set up by myself in anything less than 10 hours without my dear husband!  
 
 Scott and Otter saved our dog Cody... as he had rolled around in some nasty cocker burrs and looked as though he had been tarred and feathered!  Stay tuned for the photos!  His behavior got nippy and hyper and soon we realized he couldn t wait another day for a groomer to help him (besides that, all the local groomers were two weeks booked out).  Hence, we had an emergency grooming session whereby they clipped about 3-4 inches off poor Cody.  I do believe I saw g-whiz picking up hair as it went flying left and right!  All in all it was a disaster that was tackled in the best way possible... with lots of friendly support... sort of like a barn rasiing... nasty work... but made better by all the help.
 
 I soon learned that I may be needing another leash as my son gave us a nasty scare.  He ran off from the campsite on his own and went a very, very far distance in a short time.  Lon saved the day with his gut instincts as he intercepted a woman who s story didn t quite add up and then continued onward so as to protect and find my son!  Needless to say I was pretty emotionally upset upon and after his return.  The day he ran off was also the 2 year aniversary of my sister s traumatic death and I wasn t functioning as well as I would have liked too.  My dear husband took us to the seafood festival whereby I quickly downed a single glass of white wine which took the sting out of the previous events and kept me coasting for the rest of the day!  What can I say, I m a light weight!  
 
 The potluck dinner was the rainiest picnic I had ever attended which was a blast!  Nicks mom had some incredible cinnamon flavored meatballs and her spinach dip is definitely something I m going to try to duplicate!  As someone said... IT WAS ALL GOOD!  Everyone had rain dripping on them and no one seemed to mind as there was food and comraderie out pacing the rain!  There were some real men (Lon and Nick s dad Lute?) who stood in the rain like stoic reminders of yesterdays past chivilary.  Hence, making more room for those of us darting under the canopies and drippy awnings!  
 
 My son inhaled a little too much of the smoke that was wafting our way as the rain made it sizzle and I ended up getting stuck in our pop top for the rest of the night, making sure that his breathing didn t sound any more bronchial than it already did.  In a sense I missed what sounded like some of the best interactions but I still got a buzz off all the excitement in the air!  As Surfcal mentioned... this group offers great food, an instant village, and an automatic tour package that takes you places you d never go on your own.  What a great way to experience California and some of the wonderful people who make up the Pop Up Times.  We did find some strong trends in this group... one being a strong frequency of people who ve expanded their families by adopting kids and another being how many of us have worked in mental hospitals!  Okay... now maybe I shouldn t have put that in the same sentance... but there it is.  I wonder about all the other trends and connections we have yet to discover as the story of this group unfolds.  In the meantime!  Happy trails to all and thanks to all the folks that made our family feel so welcomed once again!
 
 Duanefamily mamma []

[duanefamily]

 Guest
OOOps!  I was a guest too!  Otter... how bout pacific tree frogs, bluebirds, dog runs and lupines to add to your list!
 
 Indeed we are blessed!
 Duanefamily mamma

[Stimpy]

 Guest
Well we made it home in a little under four hours and got the trailer in the garage and the truck unloaded before a random shower came thru, which was nothing compared to the wonderful deluge most of us packed up in this morning.
 
 It was a wonderful trip, and we enjoyed finally meeting some of the people I ve been yapping with on the boards.  Us pop-up folks are a differnet breed, and we can have fun no matter what the weather!  
 
 I m going to go take a hot shower now...
 
 See you all in June!
 

[otter]

 Stimpy

See you all in June!

 Since we are neighbors, maybe we can see each other sooner than that.  When in Santa Cruz, look us up.
 
 

[Chez Way]

 g-whiz
We are home too, Chez Way is popped up and airing out, laundry is in process and dinner is in the oven.   What a fantastic weekend.  It was so much fun getting together with old friends and meeting new ones.  
 Our weekend started late and we were the last to pull in on Friday evening at 8:30 p.m.  Thanks to Scott, we had a group of fellow rallyers right there to help us push in our camper so the power and water was in position.  What a wonderful welcoming committee.  Thanks again to Scott and Georgeann for being our wagonmasters!  The campground was ideal for the rally.  The kids park was a big hit.
 The potlucks were incredible...breakfast--gingerbread banana pancakes, the fritatta, DO corn bread, tri-tip and sausages.  dinner--DO stroganoff, chicken kabobs, potroast and noodles, potstickers, raviolis, DO peach cobbler!, etc., etc.  For those of you that missed it, my friends Susan and Jim from Paso Robles brought some raspberry wine (Bonny Doon) and poured it into chocolate cups for our nightcap...YUM!
 
 We want to say a special thank you to the Stimpy family (Penny and Craig) for helping up hitch up today.  The sky had opened and it was time to flip the pop up around and hitch it to the truck on a down hill slope...a near mud-filled disaster was averted and thanks to Craig s assistance we were able to get hitched up in record time.  Not only was the help appreciated but Penny and Craig both waited in the rain to help us out.    You guys are great.  Jim was glad that he could return the favor to the duane family when we rounded the bend and found them in the same situation.  Did you find your sway bar?
 
 We also want to say that the kids had a great time and really enjoyed making new friends.  Samantha had a wonderful time with Myla and Jasper (duanefamily) and Gregory loved hanging out with Nick and Luke (SimiRich).  It is so nice to be able to camp with such a close knit community where everyone feels comfortable upon arrival.
 
 We also are thrilled that we got to meet the legendary SurfCal in person...have to say that his camping rig was the most original.  Also putting faces to so many names from the northern clan was fun.
 
 We are looking forward to Vail Lakes in 3 weeks....Old Moose, any advise for a beginner before our lesson?  I guess I need to season my DO s (maybe I better buy them first!!!)
 
 

[oldmoose]

 g-whiz
We were the next to last to depart as Nick was staying over. Paula talked me into a Domino game which delayed us, although the rain let up after we finished. We ll popup and dry out in Visalia Friday when we camp in our oldest son s driveway for Easter.
 
 It was wonderful meeting the new friends from NorCal. It seems like we ve known them for ever. And the food just never stopped. I thoroughly enjoyed the gingerbread and banana pancakes from Naomi. Yummy for the tummy. I did make some cornbread in a DO and that seemed to disappear. I was one of those who tried Naomi s corn pudding and I thought it tasted very good. I d never had it before and this was her first attempt at using a DO. Well done.
 
 With the wet weather the dinner almost slid off, but thanks to the canopy, we survived. I was so full with such great food and better company, it was hard to be bothered by the weather.
 
 I hope a few more people don t get intimidated by using a DO. They re pretty reliable and serve up great meals, but not necessarily low calorie all the time.
 
 Thanks again to Scott for being wagon master. Cheers. Looking forward to Vail Lake.

[gsm x2]

 g-whiz
For you who were there, and especially for those who were not, here s the crazy group that made " The Great SLO Escape"  this weekend.
 
 

[image]http://www.avenuecable.com/~gsmx2/sloescape/groupshotreduced.jpg[/image]

 gsm x2

[duanefamily]

 Chez Way

Did you find your sway bar?

 As a matter of fact, I made a point of stopping near the entrance and finding it.  Good thing too... as I had a sway or two even with it!!!!  I m glad we saw you going to change your clothes... cause I was so caught up in getting out of the rain, it hadn t occured to me to take off my wet duds before I drove home!  Thank goodness you jogged my fogged brain!  
 
 Dianne and Lon, wanted to let you know that on the way home Jasper said he really missed you and that he really liked you a lot.  Coming out of the blue, I thought it was really special compliment.  
 
 Great picture gsm X2!!!!  I was so happy I forgot to make a face!
 
 Duanefamily mamma
 
 

[Surfcal]

 g-whiz
Hey folks,
 
 I didn t shoot pictures at the campgrounds this time.  GSM and the rest were already busy doing that, so I shot some scenics of the surrounding areas.  It ll give you the flavor of what it was like down there this weekend at the Central California region.
 
 Here they are if you re interested:
 
 http://community.webshots.com/album/69542719kSFQrH
 
 Surfcal

[otter]

 g-whiz
Great pictures Ray.  We went to Montana de Oro on Saturday.  Lovely place.  and the views of the coast were outstanding.  I have friend who says it is her favorite place to camp; but the camp gorunds left much to be desired.  I am now spoiled to popups and hookups.
 We had talked about going home on 1, but the weather gods changed our minds.  Another time, another trip.
 Glad you came!!!

[griffsmom]

 gsm x2

 

ORIGINAL:  gsm x2
 
 For you who were there, and especially for those who were not, here s the crazy group that made " The Great SLO Escape"  this weekend.
 
 {image omitted due to bandwidth considerations}
 
 gsm x2
 

 Oh brother!  I wasn t able to stand next to Griff s dad, b/c Griff refused to get off his bike and there was no room for us over on that side of the group, but now that I see that he was PICKING HIS NOSE([: (]!!!) I m glad we were far, far away!!!  []
 
 Since most everyone has posted before me, I can only echo what they ve already said--great people + great food = great times.  We had a blast (except for when Griffin almost got hit by a car during breakfast Saturday morning![]) and on the way home, Dave (who was the one everyone worked over in Malibu to come to SLO) kept talking about what a great time he had camping and meeting everyone from NNC.  I m with you Naomi--when the comment comes unbidden, it has that much more significance. []  Oh yeah, one other thing, I think that your statement about there being a strong frequency of people in NNC who ve expanded their families by adopting kids and who have worked in mental hospitals definitely belong in the same sentence!!! [8D] [] []  I m glad that Jasper s little adventure ended well!!
 
 We were the first to leave, because we had such a long drive ahead of us, and we hit rain pretty much all the way from SLO to the San Fernando valley, when it cleared and the air was spectacularly crisp and buzzing from being so clean.  We left SLO around 9:00-ish and arrived at our front doorstep at about 2:30.  The sun was shining gloriously and so we changed into shorts (it was hot out!) and were able to pop up, clean up, restock, and dry out before we returned the camper to storage.  In fact, our neighbors came over and sat there drinking wine with us while we took care of the camper!  They must have been NNC members in another life!  []
 
 A very from-the-bottom-of-our-hearts thank you to everyone who made the weekend such a great time, from the moment we first pulled in to when we had to escape the rain so quickly this morning.  And a special thanks to Scott and Georgeanne for wgaonmastering such a wonderful rally!  Cheers to you!! [][8D]
 
 PS you know how to tell when a rally is successful?  When Dave Maze says he d come to another one![8D][][]  But sorry, Neff.  It won t be Gold Rush.[]

[g-whiz]

 g-whiz
Some of the pictures taken over the weekend are now up on my Webshots page.  I did not post any pix with children unless it was with a group where they were not identified or I already knew it was okay to post them.  Please let me know if you feel any should be deleted.  Also, I have some family shots that include children and will post them if you send me an e-mail saying it is okay.  Maybe I should add this onto the information sheet so I don t have to keep asking!  [8D]
 
 http://community.webshots.com/album/69544437AmyICW