The place was beautiful. We got a site overlooking the lake, which was just gorgeous. In the early morning, the fog was pretty thick. Reggie and I had to find our way to the loo at about 3 a.m. Long walk through a nearly silent campground (visions of Jason Vorhees dancing through my head). At 5 a.m., we were awakened by the sound of something chewing just outside the tent. I unzipped the window flap and peered out. A large, beautiful skunk was finishing up Reggie's kibble. (forgot to put that away). Yikes! At any rate, we couldn't go back to sleep after that, so we got up and had a lovely campers breakfast and got the day underway. We hiked (fighting) and explored (arguing). She went out alone and I took much joy in gathering up my camera, binoculars, book and doggie - and watching the lake and birds and critters (California Ground Squirrels look just like Prairie Dogs. We shared a campsite with a family of them). At last, I dozed. Until I was awakened by gale-force winds coming off the lake. Seriously. This was the kind of wind that causes one to question the nature of their existence... So, we set off for the darling Danish village of Solvang (bitching). We killed a few hours there, looking in stores and partaking of Danish sweets. We figured the wind would have died down, so we returned to camp. We were wrong. Dead wrong........

After struggling to get a fire going in the hurricane, we stuck some hot dogs on straightened hangers and cooked them, while trying not to choke on the swirling smoke. Half way through the weiners, the kid said "I want to go home to my tv and my computer - where I can take a shower and stop this stinking!"

Ten minutes later, we were driving through the exit gate...

Except for the wind, and the craptastic attitude from the kid, I had a marvelous time. I'd like to return to the lake in the future. But I'll probably leave her at home.

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Hey, Ronald Reagan died. I hear the news people talk about how he was a wonderful President who did great things for this country. Funny. I remember the Reagan years. I remember criminals in power, and mental patients being tossed out of institutions, and homeless families who "chose" that for themselves, and stupid-ass "trickle down" economics, and unemployment and an AIDS crisis just beginning, to which he turned a blind eye, and so many young men died...

June 07, 2004