Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 15:26:10 -0800
Reply-To: Ron Lussier <coyote@ZUNI.LIKEMINDS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From: Ron Lussier <coyote@ZUNI.LIKEMINDS.COM>
Subject: Big Sur Country
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Howdy,
The Big Sur trip ended up being an Invuik Reunion.
I arrived first, on Friday night around 9pm. Without much trouble, I was
able to snag two riverside sites. Then I fell asleep.
On Saturday I took a long hike up to 'Buzzards Roost'. Up being the key
word here, as the hills around Big Sur are amazingly high. The hike to
Buzzard's Roost went up, up, and up and I trudged on and on. It didn't
suck, though, as the entire hike was shaded by redwood, oak, and madrone.
The view from Buzzard's Roost was great, really showing the topology of
the Big Sur area from a, well, buzzard's point of view. From the campsite
I hadn't realized how far inland Pfeiffer-Big Sur lays, but from the air
it looked to be about 5 miles. On one side of the peak was a deep valley
where my van (and parrot!) waited, and on the other side the hill
gradually dropped down towards the ocean. I had hoped to hike to the
beach, but lots of signs said "Private Land! No Ocean Access!" :-(
Anyhow, it was a 5 mile hike, and a beautiful one at that.
Around 5pm or so, Tobin, Christa, and a very happy Russell rolled up in
their new pea-green bus. We hugged, greeted, and then just sat around
talking and holding babies. Not knowing when others would arrive, we
figured we'd start cooking at 5:30 or so, and keep the food warm. Heck,
we were hungry.
I started the rice and Christa made a caesar salad. Amazingly, we all
agreed that anchovies were good things. I cooked up some green curry with
basil, okra, yellow squash, and onions, and it was good. And they just as
the rice was finished, both the Kane's and the Buhlman's pulled in,
independantly.
Food and beer were shared, and there was happy talk and much baby holding.
In honor of the Inuvik connection, I started a fire Jorge-style. This
involved pouring lots of white-gas over the piled wood, telling everyone
to stand back, and then flicking a match onto the fire from a distance of
10 feet. Whoosh, boom, and the fire was started.
Alan decided that Dan made a mighty-fine climbing gym, and spent half the
night bouncing up and down on Dan's leg. (Alan spent the other half
eating marshmallows.)
By ten, everyone was ready for bed, and we all retired to our campers.
The next morning Dan made egg sandwiches and cheesey omelets for all
comers, and Glenn & Caron provided caffeine to needy souls. Alan got
lost, and then found again. He then insisted that we all take pictures
with a butterfly that he'd fished out of the river and which was amazingly
still alive and kicking. I wanted to take a picture of the Inuvik
survivors (everyone except Dan) looking like a rock band, and everyone
stood in the river and sulked. The picture was taken (look for it soon!)
Finally we all packed up and pulled up, heading north. We had two
pea-green busses and two vanagons. At one point, we were following
another pea-green bus, and we got lots of waves and happy smiles. If you
ever get a chance to join a bus caravan, go for it. It makes people
happy.
I'm planning a repeat performance of my curry at Oregon Cave. See you
there?
Coyote
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Ron 'Coyote' Lussier ( ) \ _/__ LikeMinds
(415) 284-6972 \ / \X / "Tools that Help People Decide"
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