7/18/16: California loop-de-loops

Whoa. Another big week with: great friends, family, mountains, water, streams, fishing, Mattie, beer, wandering, mosquitoes, the Mobil Station, Disneyland, tent-life, driving, hot tubs, bald eagles (+ tequila), and general adventuring all over the place.

We left last week and headed to SLO, where we stayed at Mom & Dad's for a night for a fun BBQ with Scott & Co. Greg made smokey ribs, we ate corn and cake pops, and it's always nice sleeping in my old bedroom.

The next morning (Saturday), we drove down to the cabin - God, I love the cabin - where we quickly got ourselves ready for Chris and Kelly Veres' wedding in Carpinteria. It was a beautiful celebration at a really cool park, where we saw many old college friends, and I poured an entire mason jar of bourbon on Greg's pants. He's a good sport. Congratulations Chris and Kelly!

Yeti, Dad, Scott, Laura and the kids drove down to Santa Monica on Saturday, but we took an extra day to sit at the cabin under the oak trees and watch the birds at the feeders. It was so awesome. We drove into town in the middle of the day to watch the Euro finals (boo), then got my favorite Vietnamese food dish, before heading back up for a Paradise Road evening.

One of the greatest thing about the cabin is the silence. It's so rare that you can be outside without any man-made noise. Early in the morning, you can sit on the porch with coffee and hear nothing but the birds, bugs and oak leaves rattling. It can be almost overwhelming, and I fall in love with our little home every damn time.

OK. So then we left the peaceful oak forest and drove to Santa Monica, where we visited with Grandpa Dave and Roz for dinner, then stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's for a few nights so we could go to DISNEYLAND!

Dinner with Grandpa Dave & Roz.

Disneyland was a raging success. We went on 25 rides (miracle of miracles) in the 16 awesome hours we were there (8am to 12 midnight, and everyone charged it). That included: Indiana Jones, Space Mountain twice, Splash Mountain (everybody's got a laughin' place, and I got soaked!) three times, Pirates twice, Thunder Mountain twice, Matterhorn (Dad's favorite) twice, and a bunch of other fun stuff, mediocre food, heat rash, and only one short-lived lost-kid scare. We had a great time, and in about 5 years I'll be ready to go back again.

Waiting for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (one of my favorites).

Aidan, Laura, Scott, Sid, Emme and Anni with Excalibur.

This is my favorite picture from the trip.

Greg loves kids, and Disneyland,

and clearly the combination of kids and Disneyland most of all.

The next day we slept in, got a ton of grapefruits from the yard, ate grilled cheese sandwiches and got back on the road. 

I really hate the 405. 

Things improved quickly once we got through Mojave, and soon we were happily back on the 395 north through Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine, Bishop, Tom's Place, Crowley, past Mammoth and June and back to Lee Vining Creek where we found the majestic BOBBY ESCOBAR (who we'd sent on a Treasure Hunt to find our camping spot). 

Want to know what's better than getting back to the secret home? Getting there and finding a Bobby. And then getting food at the Mobil, and some beers, then going back to camp and drinking some whiskey and laughing and talking about dumb stuff. Then falling asleep to the sound of the raging creek under a bright half moon next to a totally content puppy.

A lot of my favorite things, all in one place:

Lee Vining Creek.

Mattie in the tent.

Greg getting ready to go catch a fish.

Tall Jeffery Pines that smell like cupcakes.

Good beers.

An empty bottle of whiskey (it was already mostly gone, you guys...).

Hearing Bobby's laugh in this picture.  

UGH, JESUS CHRIST IT'S TOO MUCH.

 

The next morning we got coffee and Monorritos from the Mono Market, then drove south back to Convict Lake, where we met for Friendsventure Weekend 2016. We stayed in the same sweet cabin, but this year also added a glorious half-day adventure on a pontoon boat. Fish were caught, we saw three bald eagles, we jumped in (and quickly hauled ourselves out) of cold clear water. Bobby caught a fish that wasn't gonna make it, so we decided to kill and eat it. But it accidentally fell back in the water after he quickly mercy killed it (by hulk-smashing it on the boat, which is actually way more humane than leaving a fish to slowly suffocate on a stringer), so like a total champ he put his snorkel on and dove down to get his dead fish. No wasting dead fish for us. It was delicious. 

The rest of the time, we ate like kings, drank like poor college kids, watched some Family Feud and American Ninja Warrior, caught pretty browns in Convict Creek, made Friend Stew in the hot tub, laughed and laughed and laughed, and generally just hung out like idiots at a perfect mountain lake resort. 

Thanks to Rick for the next three pictures.

Pontoon boat hang out.

They gave our original boat away,

so we got a free voucher for a half-day pontoon boat adventure next year.

Yesssssss.

Sam and Adam,

a love story on Convict Creek.

I love happy people.

Rick, two thumbs up and a telling smile on Convict Lake.

On Sunday, friends headed south (I cried because Bobby is moving to Arizona to pursue his med-school dreams, and things won't be the same in Santa Barbara without him, but DON'T WORRY BOBBY WE'RE GONNA SEE YOU A LOT), and we headed north. Just a little.

Our mini-adventure pack (me, Mattie and Greg) spent a day doing the following: eating more Monorritos for lunch, fishing and wandering along Green Creek, driving back over Conway Summit to set up the "house" at Lee Vining Creek, and having a wonderful dinner and visit with John and Mary (our Sierra Foster Parents!) at the Mobil. We were even lucky to see our favorite Mobil Station worker singing "La Bamba with the Sunday afternoon band. It was great catching up with you, Ljungs, and we're looking forward to getting back down there again soon to see you! We always love hanging out with you guys.

Here are some pictures from the day (I totally forgot to get our family portrait with John and Mary. Next time.):

Greg and Mattie spacing out along Green Creek.

While fishing, we take turns watching Mattie.

Except sometimes when it's Greg's turn to watch her,

she suddenly comes sprinting down the bank into the river for a quick swim.

Mattie and I enjoyed our time together in the water. 

In other news, we are taking applications for a new Mattie babysitter.

 Mattie, happy and right at home in her tent.

We headed north this afternoon, stopped in Washoe Valley for a quick visit with Greg's parents (hi Nancy and Bob), and arrived back to the perfect ranch.

Now I'm watching a little mouse run wildly around the place (don't worry, we have a live trap) and relaxing in front of the air conditioner. The landlords stopped by to point out some mountain lion poop that's right out the front door. Don't worry, I told Butch Weirdhorse to be careful out there.

We're taking it easy this week before more mountain adventures, so expect some fishing pictures. Also, the blackberries should be ripe soon. Eeeeee PIES ALL DAY.

With love from a couch (luxurious living),
Allie and Mattie the Swimming Dog