Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 17:29:57 -0700
Reply-To: PSavage <psavage@SABER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: PSavage <psavage@SABER.NET>
Subject: Redwood Campout - Phaedra's Report
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Arriving first, even ahead of yours truly--who was still dragging
a Webber BBQ & 55 gallon tub of charcoal across the orchard--
Robert & Karen Zezoff of Folsom, with their well mannered, tow headed son, & sleek dog, Hero, were first to arrive Hendy Woods
State Park. Their ruby red Westy proved very photogenic!
Robert threatened to bring a couple of inmates from Folsom Prison,
but apparantly didn't have room with all the dog chews aboard.
Phil Baird from Bakersfield arrived soon after, with the biggest & best
looking CB antenna installation seen yet on a Westy! Phil camped one
nite with us, then continued north on his mini-vacation loop which (sigh)
eventually took him south down beautiful, cool coast Hy 1.
Mike Miller of Sacramento, "Still Perfect After All These Years"
(according to his t-shirt), pulled in shortly & *never missed a beat--
he's incorrigible! Mike claims to have streaked his hair with silver dye
for a distinguished look--& I admit, with his impressive gold neckchain, "Still Perfect" t-shirt, & silver temples, he does look
very--incorrigible.
Mike managed to have a (borrowed) blond at his elbow every time I aimed a camera his direction.
Big thanks, Mike, for battling the on-line state park reservation system
& collecting "the gate." Both thankless jobs & much appreciated!
(You should have brought your clarinet & played a Dixiland duet with Joel.)
Mike made camp in bachelor quarters, along with Paul Henderson
of the Bay Area, enroute to Orcas Island & Victoria, BC. I met
Paul last October at the Bay Area Tailgate Party--so it was a reunion,
of sorts--more so, since Paul, an erudite world traveler, lurks, but seldom posts to the list. (Unlike Miller.) Let's hear from
you, Paul!
Tho I'd yet to meet Donna Stewart of Tracy in person, we've become
email friends in the year I've been on the list, so I was overjoyed when
I saw her pretty blue Vanagon pull in, with handsome boyfriend Dave,
in radical chic camo, riding shotgun.
Donna & Dave left Saturday, planning a slow crawl thru local brew pubs on way back to the Central Valley.
Donna's Dad, a Vanagon afficianado, owns a vintage orange bus with
original orange plaid (!) upholstery. Now that Donna's Vangon knows the way to Mendocino, I hope to see her more often, for we have
much in common, including a love of Navajo & Zuni jewelery & SW desert camping & exploration.
Susan Ames & dog Bogie arrived in a good looking burgundy Westy with Delaware plates. Susan's moved recently to Sonoma county &
seems happy to be out of Delaware. She scored a cute cottage up a winding, wooded country road, where she tends a small vege garden
& shares a wading pool with Bogie on hot afternoons.
Susan camped with us one nite, then left reluctantly for Oregon, where
a family medical cricis awaits her. Good luck Susan!
By the time Paul Rogers, & fun loving girlfriend Chris, arrived in their
good looking '85 brown Wolfsburg Westy (identical to mine)--I knew this campout was On The Level!
Paul, a tanned & handsome building contractor from the Bay Area, immediately jacked up his van & got out his level! These volks,
now famous for their Beer Butt Chicken, had *all* the good stuff! Really
look forward to seeing these volks again soon.
Walter & Naomi Balm of Berkeley, with newborn son & three other
storybook kids, set up camp beside their Vanagon & had a hammock swinging in shorter time than it took for most of us to pop our
tops.
I always enjoy an opportunity to see these volks, whom I also met at
the Bay Area Tailgate party. Walter has a big smile & never looses his
cool or his patience.
Naomi is a wonder, successfully combining motherhood & pursuit of a doctoral at UC Berkely in (?) nuclear physics. Walter & family
stayed on at Hendy Woods Sunday nite & will leave today for Berkeley.
Al Knoll, AKA Pensioner, arrived from Sacramento on his BMW motorcycle, the blue brick. Al's a little like Mr Wizzard meets the
encyclopedia Brittanica.
He's also a hell of nice guy, with the smallest bird binoculars I've yet seen. And who but Al carries sour dough starter in his kit
bag!
Al even brought me a spare oil plug as a gift for Basecamp.
Al whipped up a batch of lick smacking BBQ sauce, marinated a ton
of chicken, & turned out round after round of high-brown thighs,
while the rest of us swilled vodka tonics & wolfed shrimp & salsa.
Al shared some jealously guarded favorite camping spots & stealth camping techniques--even demonstrating his well-honed (&
convincing) geezer's approach to *no fee camping.
Thanks, Al--you went above & beyond the call of duty!
Dan Schnmitz, whose newest Westy's retropfit is underway in his Bay View driveway, made a dashing entrance Saturday evening--behind
the wheel of a *gorgeous blue Porche convertible.
A lover of Shakespeare & technical writer for Genentec, Dan graces
the list with many worthy technical posts. I enjoyed details of his most recent trip to France.
Dan's borrowed tent went up quickly in shared co-ed quarters--with yours truly, & Carol Sheerin & Joel of San Rafael, & Al Knoll.
When I spotted Carol Sheerin's smart '87 white Westy pull in, I quickly
(if reluctantly) abandoned my vodka tonic to greet them, only to discover she & clarinet-playing partner, Joel, would be our first
list *recruits!
Not three minutes into our conversation, Carol begged me to sniff
her rear heater! Next thing I knew, we were sharing a camp site.
She soon had a crash course in Vanagon maintenance & eventually
Al took her Westy for a test drive & pronounced it A-OK.
No doubt Carol will sign on shortly & introduce herself to the list--
after she's loaded up on Mann filters & gaffer's duct tape, that is.
Welcome Carol & Joel!
Our handsome, dedicated surfer Chris Radcliffe, & his pristine blue
Westy, finally showed from Redwood City Saturday evening--despite Chris having only *just flown home from a Phoenix business trip
hours before. What a trooper.
I met Chris last October at the Tailgate Party, & would have been
*sorely disappointed had he not made the campout.
I'll send my few digi pics to Chris to combine with his. My camera battery died too quickly, leaving me with an incomplete record.
Perhaps a disguised blessing.
Steve Schwenk finally arrived Saturday with his 7 yr old twins, Sam
& Emily, in tow. (No doubt Steve found it wrenching to tear himself
away from his email...)
Steve was last seen palming a wriggling, bloody-stumped lizzard's tail
in one hand & a bottle of super glue in the other.
The plushly appointed interior of Steve's white syncro brings to mind
a tasteful Taos hotel room, complete with Navajo rugs & mood lighting.
The anchient redwood groves, meandering paths thru shafts
of mellow sunlight on moss & fern, are always thrilling--even to
yours truly, who lives in the redwoods!
I wandered for what must have been hours in company with Paul Hendersen & Al Knoll. When we reached the river's rocky shore,
imagine our delight to discover hundreds of dime size gray toads,
hopping here & there between stones underfoot.
*Thirteen List member's turned up, out of *sixteen confirmed.
John Wessels & family didn't appear & since no email--I hope all's
well & you volks didn't break down enroute.
Steve Blackham & wife, from Utah, cancelled last minute due to
family medical emergency.
Les from Arcata, ditto, due to symphony orchestra rehersal conflict.
So that's the report from La Capitana. Let's do it again real soon!
Cheers,
Phaedra
Some emails to below campers were returned as undeliverable.
If you didn't receive your camper's email list, here 'tis below.
****************************************************
> Hope everyone enjoyed a safe the trip home--
> Here's the requested list of your fellow campers.
> Great good fun to see you all in the redwoods!
> Cheers,
> Phaedra
>
> Susan Ames
> heathers@udel.edu
>
> Chris Radcliffe
> chris_radcliffe@mindspring.com
>
> Dan Schmitz
> djs@gene.COM
>
> Donna Stewart
> DStewart@chrm.com
>
> Paul Rogers
> WOGNACIOUS@aol.com
>
> Walter Balm
> wbalm@yahoo.com
>
> Robert Zezoff
> shilohz@jps.net
>
> Mike Miller
> mwmiller@cwnet.com
>
> Pensioner/Al Knoll
> al_knoll@pacbell.net
>
> Steve Schwenk
> steve@syncro.org
>
> Paul Henderson
> paulh@microweb.com
>
> Carol Sheerin
> ladycarols@aol.com
>
> Phil Baird
> mypactor@pacbell.net
>
> Phaedra Savage
> psavage@saber.net
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