It’s been a while since my last post, and with Mom getting ill and spending eleven days in the hospital, my mind obviously has been elsewhere. Mom is home, well, and recovering nicely though she gave us quite a scare. I must say I was touched by the many e-mails inquiring as to when the next post would be (Steph). I also enjoyed hearing how everybody looked forward to it so much they often would throw weekly blog parties where large quantities of tequila were served and everyone would gather around a table reading out loud the latest entry. I read several letters originating from the Pacific Northwest stating that whenever Jan’s name was read out loud the last person in the room with their thumb to their head had to drink a shot. Nice!
The week after Mom returned home, James, Diana, Jan and I spent a week at James’s cabin in Groveland and below vaguely chronicles what I remember of the incident.
Friday the 12th on the way to James’s cabin, we made a quick stop at the San Jose Jeep dealership to check out an unlimited just like mine with the exception of the Pro Comp lift and thirty-five inch tires. Cool!!!
When we got to the cabin, Jan and Diana helped pump up our air mattress.
James quickly got started transferring the 400 gigs of new music to his hard drive.
We then enjoyed drinking Wabaritos out on the deck in the warm evening air (memory loss).
Unfortunately some people woke to find the tequila had put hair in some curious places.
Sunday the 14th we went down to Pine Lake for some wine and beer.
This man brought a strange pet and later the park rangers came down and made him keep it on a leash.
The next morning Diana was a bit worse for wear.
Monday the 15th we showered and left the house at 10:30am. At breakfast, Jan and I both had the breakfast sandwich and James and Diana both had the chili omelet. Once gassed up (some more than others) we bought supplies and headed off on our first off-road trail by 1:00pm.
The back of my foot split open from keeping the pedal to the metal (that’s how I roll) so I fixed it with some bandages and duct tape.
When Jan and I got to the top of the mountain (near Pilot Peak and Harden Flat Road) we found James and Diana hiding in the bushes.
Diana and Jan cleaned up all the trash we found in the area and loaded it all in the Jeep hoping to sell it on eBay later.
For their reward a very large beer miraculously fell from the sky.
Just as we ended our two hour trek off the mountain and started to enter farmland, James made a left turn, his Jeep had an electrical short, and it died in the middle of the road.
I don’t know anything about engines but I felt obliged to look under the hood and give my opinion anyway.
After moving my Jeep in position, Diana read from the Jeep manual and relayed the correct way to use the jumper cables which, we learned, was the exact opposite of Jan’s way.
James’s Jeep was unresponsive to our mechanical expertise and, in the end, we had to use a rancher’s phone and have it towed to a Jeep dealership in Sonora.
We got home around 8:00pm and the girls quickly made some onion dip. Later we formed our first Rock Band group, “The Exceptional Misfits.”
On Wednesday the 17th we celebrated my birthday with morning festivities. I got an ultra-cool lens for my camera (thanks Paul)!
James’s Jeep problem ended up being a short in the battery so we kept our fingers crossed, ate breakfast then headed east on the 120 then off on another trail.
This trail dead-ended so we turned around and took another one that winded down a beautiful canyon and ended at the Tuolumne River.
After resting for a while we continued on the trail a little further but it was closed due to a washout so we headed home.
We stopped by Pine Mountain Lake on the way home and learned about wild animals lurking about. We split a beer, reflected on the day, and looked forward to naps.
James and I decided to play guitar for a while then the four of us got ready and headed into town for dinner at the Groveland Hotel.
At this point we realized the hour we had spent in the bar before we sat down really started to take its toll causing James to break out into some strange Mexican dance.
I realized my Hawaiian shirt matched the restaurant napkins (not necessarily a good thing!) and James refused to leave the table without his wine, but we did manage to get him in the Jeep though not necessarily without a fight and a few offensive gestures.
Thursday the 18th James and I made it back to the Groveland Hotel by 9:30am for the breakfast skillet. While the girls got ready, James had a 10:30am nap. Then we decided to head into Jamestown for lunch. Here is James’s hangover catching up to him on Main Street.
After sampling every dish on the menu at the local Mexican restaurant, the girls started hunting down the town’s candy store.
Once home and a few Waboritas later, James and I started taking some slow shutter pictures.
James bounced back, Jan played Rock Band, and Diana fell asleep on the couch though not necessarily untouched.
The next morning, after breakfast, we checked out an old cemetery near Jamestown.
We then headed through Sonora and toured the historic mining town of Columbia.
Here we all waited to see what Jan would bring out of the Columbia candy store.
We drove to the outskirts of Murphys to tour the “Moaning Caverns.” We descended 234 steps down a spiral metal staircase that contained no nuts and bolts. The passageway was tight, and once at the bottom, they shut off all the lights and made us experience total darkness.
Afterwards we all needed a drink so we ventured into Murphys and sampled the local vino.
The gang ended the trip at Groveland inside the oldest bar in the state of California, The Iron Door Saloon.
Thanks again, everybody, for another awesome trip and fantastic birthday. I can’t wait for the cruise in nine weeks so “Rock On”!!!
