"The Great SLO Escape" Rally

Well, what can I say except that at the very last minute I decided to attend the Great SLO Escape Rally. I left San Francisco at around 9:00 pm on Thursday night and after a couple of wrong turns (due to bad directions around Arastradero & SLO) I ended up arriving at the campground at 3:00 am.

Needless to say, I arrived at a whole campground fast asleep, but it did wake the Millers and they told me I scared them. Scott and Georgeanne were both wondering why some lunatic (perhaps a dude from the nearby prison) would be driving around the campground at that hour and then leave.

I left their area to pay for my spot. And by the time I came back around, I saw two figures in the dark stealing away to the bathroom and who else could they have been, but no other than Scott and Georgeanne. Soon, Scott brought me a beer, a vintage Scott gesture that has become quite familiar since I tend to arrive in the middle of the night and he does that every time!

It was great to see a bunch of folks from the Southern area of the state. SLO was truly a great selection as the site. It took the folks from the LA area as much time as it took the NorCal folks to get there. So taking everything into consideration, it was equal opportunity.

As usual, Nick-Neff-Cough (and by the way, the Southern folks have gladly and honorably accepted to be called Nick-Neff-Cough members too) rallies have proven once again that although faces may change, campgrounds come & go, but the one thing you can count on is, tons of food, a lot of laughter, ceaseless neighborly conversations and above all, the bonds of friendship that become ever so stronger.

I was only there for a day and a half, but in the short time I was there, the rally had seen its share of heart cloggers being served by the Nikoleys, delicious DO cooking by oldmoose and blueberry by Naomi. I brought a package of Hostess cupcakes (the chocolate with the white squigly stripe on top) and the kids devoured it. Why they choose synthetic stuff over real cooking is beyond me.

Friday night, a group of us went to a local spot, the Bayside Cafe and had a ball. We even got another group at the next table Rabble Rousing. We are in the preliminary plans of organizing a rally in Italy with that group.

After that, upon arrival at El Chorro campgrounds, it seemed that by then, everyone had arrived or were in the final phases of setting up and getting things together. But as the night wore on, more beers and drinks were consumed and people were visiting each other from pop-up to pop-up, sort of like bar hopping, but Nick-Neff-Cough style.

All in all, a great time, but by the time I was leaving, there was a chill in the air and there seemed to be a storm approaching. We're just going to have to wait and see what they report.

So, for this rally, I Pulled a Sacto, then I Pulled a Reverse Sacto. I also Pulled a Surfcal, by leaving early again. I also took a spot the first night that wasn't mine (and really didn't mean it), and I arrived late and woke everyone up again. And I also did a peculiar thing, I didn't even bring my pop-up. I just crashed out in my truck. Wow, kinda went the minimalist route.

And, to all my newfound friends from SoCal, it was very nice to meet you. And Stimpy, glad to have another member for the northern section of Nick-Neff-Cough. To SimiRich, it was great you joined Nick-Neff-Cough for the very first time.

Man, those rallies are the best things going. It was again, a blast.

I'll see you all on the boards soon enough.

Surfcal

We is home. Our popup is on the street getting rained upon. If we can just have it stop raining for 45 consecutive minutes, we'll be able to get it put away dry. If not, we'll resort to Plan B which is to offer cookies to our Carport Nieghbors so we can use three spots to open, dry, and put away our camper.

Ray's reditition was always accurate as far as it goes, which is 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Here is "the rest of the story."

After Ray left, most of the families went off on various adventures. With wine tasting, elephant seals, nine mile hikes, beaches plus Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, there were lots of places for them to go. Georgeanne and I and a few others just hung around the campground waiting the potluck.

Unfortunately, the rain couldn't hold off any more. Would that deter the NNC-NEPH-COFF from having a jolly good time??? Of course not. Word to the wise: Invest in Dutch Oven stocks....after the feasts that Moose prepared, the stock has to go up. Lots of other excellent food also. Happy Birthday to Bonny and three types of dessert left us all stuffed.

The rain did dampen the spirits some and soon after 8:00 p.m., most the campers were tucked into their respective Lodges on Wheels. The thought for the night was, "Heck, rain is one of the reasons we have popups instead of tents." So bring on the rain.

Rained most the night, but stopped in the early morning. There was in fact a window of opportunity to dry a popup and get it down. Griffsmom and Griffsdad (and possibly Rick) seized the window and got away early. No one else was as fortunate. The rains came, came hard and didn't let up. Suddenly Bonny and Lute's motorhome looked pretty nice.

We got away at 10:00 a.m., had light traffic considering the rain, and were home about 1:00. Once again we had a small window of opporutnity to pack away dry, but once again missed it by about 20 minutes. I am afraid now that the front is HERE. We'll get it away one way or another. I'll be interested to hear how everyone accomplished it.

I am putting 154 pictures on my hard disk. G will grab some of them for WebShots. See you later,

Scott

Well we made it back too! Most assuredly there was indeed a SLOW Escape from this campground as the rain hindered us to no end!!!!! I've never been so wet in all my life with my clothes on! We did not take advantage of the "window of opportunity" as I was busy cooking bacon, eggs and blueberry pancakes for our brood! I'm not sure what Surfcal was on... but I never made blueberry pancakes that I fed anyone else... but I did make my first ever DO recipe (corn pudding) which everyone so bravely tasted. Seems as though they liked it well enough. The DO Guy as Surf so wryly referred to moose as, did indeed inspire us all! His peach cobbler makes me salivate just thinking about it... and at one point last night I offered to zombie after him to the end of his days as his cooking was so incredibly scrumptious! Despite the prevalence of his many groupies that night... he took it all in with grace!

Most everyone was trying to leave Dodge as quick as possible and Chez Way's Darling Husband saved the day as our camper was backwards and needed to be shoved into the street manually during the biggest deluge! This dear man ran out litterally singing in the rain with a smile on his face and in one fell swoop helped to push out camper in the street and onto our minivan's hitch! His lil one Sammy got along with Myla famously and all the children had a wonderful time with the Easter project set up by this super family's Mom! We met some really nice folks from the Southern contingencies who really made us wish we lived a little more south so we'd have the luxury of going north as well as south on our Pop Up Journeys.

In truth the rain abated about 25 minutes out and we had nothing but sunshine all the way home!

We had some great times since we came early... and got to see some of the local culture. Thank goodness for Scott and Lon being there when I arrived... as there was no way I'd have gotten set up by myself in anything less than 10 hours without my dear husband!

Scott and Otter saved our dog Cody... as he had rolled around in some nasty cocker burrs and looked as though he had been tarred and feathered! Stay tuned for the photos! His behavior got nippy and hyper and soon we realized he couldn't wait another day for a groomer to help him (besides that, all the local groomers were two weeks booked out). Hence, we had an emergency grooming session whereby they clipped about 3-4 inches off poor Cody. I do believe I saw g-whiz picking up hair as it went flying left and right! All in all it was a disaster that was tackled in the best way possible... with lots of friendly support... sort of like a barn rasiing... nasty work... but made better by all the help.

I soon learned that I may be needing another leash as my son gave us a nasty scare. He ran off from the campsite on his own and went a very, very far distance in a short time. Lon saved the day with his gut instincts as he intercepted a woman who's story didn't quite add up and then continued onward so as to protect and find my son! Needless to say I was pretty emotionally upset upon and after his return. The day he ran off was also the 2 year aniversary of my sister's traumatic death and I wasn't functioning as well as I would have liked too. My dear husband took us to the seafood festival whereby I quickly downed a single glass of white wine which took the sting out of the previous events and kept me coasting for the rest of the day! What can I say, I'm a light weight!

The potluck dinner was the rainiest picnic I had ever attended which was a blast! Nicks mom had some incredible cinnamon flavored meatballs and her spinach dip is definitely something I'm going to try to duplicate! As someone said... IT WAS ALL GOOD! Everyone had rain dripping on them and no one seemed to mind as there was food and comraderie out pacing the rain! There were some real men (Lon and Nick's dad Lute?) who stood in the rain like stoic reminders of yesterdays past chivilary. Hence, making more room for those of us darting under the canopies and drippy awnings!

My son inhaled a little too much of the smoke that was wafting our way as the rain made it sizzle and I ended up getting stuck in our pop top for the rest of the night, making sure that his breathing didn't sound any more bronchial than it already did. In a sense I missed what sounded like some of the best interactions but I still got a buzz off all the excitement in the air! As Surfcal mentioned... this group offers great food, an instant village, and an automatic tour package that takes you places you'd never go on your own. What a great way to experience California and some of the wonderful people who make up the Pop Up Times. We did find some strong trends in this group... one being a strong frequency of people who've expanded their families by adopting kids and another being how many of us have worked in mental hospitals! Okay... now maybe I shouldn't have put that in the same sentance... but there it is. I wonder about all the other trends and connections we have yet to discover as the story of this group unfolds. In the meantime! Happy trails to all and thanks to all the folks that made our family feel so welcomed once again!

Duanefamily mamma

We are home too, Chez Way is popped up and airing out, laundry is in process and dinner is in the oven. What a fantastic weekend. It was so much fun getting together with old friends and meeting new ones.
Our weekend started late and we were the last to pull in on Friday evening at 8:30 p.m. Thanks to Scott, we had a group of fellow rallyers right there to help us push in our camper so the power and water was in position. What a wonderful welcoming committee. Thanks again to Scott and Georgeann for being our wagonmasters! The campground was ideal for the rally. The kids park was a big hit.
The potlucks were incredible...breakfast--gingerbread banana pancakes, the fritatta, DO corn bread, tri-tip and sausages. dinner--DO stroganoff, chicken kabobs, potroast and noodles, potstickers, raviolis, DO peach cobbler!, etc., etc. For those of you that missed it, my friends Susan and Jim from Paso Robles brought some raspberry wine (Bonny Doon) and poured it into chocolate cups for our nightcap...YUM!

We want to say a special thank you to the Stimpy family (Penny and Craig) for helping up hitch up today. The sky had opened and it was time to flip the pop up around and hitch it to the truck on a down hill slope...a near mud-filled disaster was averted and thanks to Craig's assistance we were able to get hitched up in record time. Not only was the help appreciated but Penny and Craig both waited in the rain to help us out. You guys are great. Jim was glad that he could return the favor to the duane family when we rounded the bend and found them in the same situation. Did you find your sway bar?

We also want to say that the kids had a great time and really enjoyed making new friends. Samantha had a wonderful time with Myla and Jasper (duanefamily) and Gregory loved hanging out with Nick and Luke (SimiRich). It is so nice to be able to camp with such a close knit community where everyone feels comfortable upon arrival.

We also are thrilled that we got to meet the legendary SurfCal in person...have to say that his camping rig was the most original. Also putting faces to so many names from the northern clan was fun.

We are looking forward to Vail Lakes in 3 weeks....Old Moose, any advise for a beginner before our lesson? I guess I need to season my DO's (maybe I better buy them first!!!)

We were the next to last to depart as Nick was staying over. Paula talked me into a Domino game which delayed us, although the rain let up after we finished. We'll popup and dry out in Visalia Friday when we camp in our oldest son's driveway for Easter.

It was wonderful meeting the new friends from NorCal. It seems like we've known them for ever. And the food just never stopped. I thoroughly enjoyed the gingerbread and banana pancakes from Naomi. Yummy for the tummy. I did make some cornbread in a DO and that seemed to disappear. I was one of those who tried Naomi's corn pudding and I thought it tasted very good. I'd never had it before and this was her first attempt at using a DO. Well done.

With the wet weather the dinner almost slid off, but thanks to the canopy, we survived. I was so full with such great food and better company, it was hard to be bothered by the weather.

I hope a few more people don't get intimidated by using a DO. They're pretty reliable and serve up great meals, but not necessarily low calorie all the time.

Thanks again to Scott for being wagon master. Cheers. Looking forward to Vail Lake.

Oh brother! I wasn't able to stand next to Griff's dad, b/c Griff refused to get off his bike and there was no room for us over on that side of the group, but now that I see that he was PICKING HIS NOSE(

!!!) I'm glad we were far, far away!!!

Since most everyone has posted before me, I can only echo what they've already said--great people + great food = great times. We had a blast (except for when Griffin almost got hit by a car during breakfast Saturday morning!

) and on the way home, Dave (who was the one everyone worked over in Malibu to come to SLO) kept talking about what a great time he had camping and meeting everyone from NNC. I'm with you Naomi--when the comment comes unbidden, it has that much more significance.

Oh yeah, one other thing, I think that your statement about there being a strong frequency of people in NNC who've expanded their families by adopting kids and who have worked in mental hospitals definitely belong in the same sentence!!!

I'm glad that Jasper's little adventure ended well!!

We were the first to leave, because we had such a long drive ahead of us, and we hit rain pretty much all the way from SLO to the San Fernando valley, when it cleared and the air was spectacularly crisp and buzzing from being so clean. We left SLO around 9:00-ish and arrived at our front doorstep at about 2:30. The sun was shining gloriously and so we changed into shorts (it was hot out!) and were able to pop up, clean up, restock, and dry out before we returned the camper to storage. In fact, our neighbors came over and sat there drinking wine with us while we took care of the camper! They must have been NNC members in another life!

A very from-the-bottom-of-our-hearts thank you to everyone who made the weekend such a great time, from the moment we first pulled in to when we had to escape the rain so quickly this morning. And a special thanks to Scott and Georgeanne for wgaonmastering such a wonderful rally! Cheers to you!!

PS you know how to tell when a rally is successful? When Dave Maze says he'd come to another one!

But sorry, Neff. It won't be Gold Rush.

Hi all, we got home around 2pm, but after washing/unpacking, I still had to go to work and then get to 5:15pm mass (normally skip it on camping weekends, but today is Palm Sunday), then caught up on news, so couldn't get to the board right away.

I like long, descriptive rally summaries, so hope you don't mind this lengthy one. If not, here's your warning to skip ahead!

Otter's post on the HaHa thread sums it up perfectly: "I feel like the mail-lady: niether rain, nor miles, nor hours, nor kids, not dogs, nor ticks will deter us from having fun. Thanks! It was fun!!!"

The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain

The @#$%!^&*!@!!! rain started around 6pm on Saturday, right when everyone was cooking and setting up for the big pot luck. Wagonmaster TOS was walking around in his red poncho looking looking like The Jolly Red Giant, and I asked him "What kind of fools camp in the rain???" and he said "We do!" Had I known it was going to rain, I wouldn't have wasted our final two dry hours by taking a nap. Missed out on socializing during my snooze time, during/after the Pot Luck, and on Sunday morning, thanks to The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain.

Backwards Sites

A few of the sites had the hookups on the wrong side. If you didn't spin around to face the other way, you'd step out your door into the sewer hook-up. Somehow, it fits NNC insanity!

Names

This rally has made liars out of all of you. What's this about every other guy being named either Scott or Larry? "TOS" now stands for "The Only Scott". He was the only Scott there (yet his name is Gregory or something). There are others? And not a Larry in sight, either, unless I'm mistaken. Now, as for the name "Mike," sheesh, there were three that I knew of, and probably others that I didn't! It was funny, because I was chatting with Huntersmom, who said "I'm Mike's wife," and just then my hubby (Mike) reached across for more dinner in front of us, and I said "So am I!" Yet Mike is really Nick, or vice versa, which leads me to...

The Nikoley brothers

They all kinda look alike, and one of the wives with her son/nephew were trying to sort them out for me during dinner. Made more complicated by the fact that Nick is really Mike, or vice versa, which leads me to...

I mentioned to Nick (Mike) how funny it was that everyone was so nice to each other face to face, yet we tear each other up on the boards. He said it wouldn't be NNC if it were any other way! True, true.

BTW, he's got the cutest baby!

And his wife made one of the best-est cakes I've ever tasted. Nick, please e-mail over the recipe when you can. She mentioned whipped cream with vanilla pudding, and yellow cake mix with mandarin oranges, but I forget the details. (PLEASE include measurements. Don't pull another vague "here's the recipe" on me, LOL!)

The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain

On Saturday night the heavier drops falling from overhanging trees sounded like popcorn blasting off our roof. Now we know what it feels like to be a Jiffy Pop.

Food

OMG, I've never seen so much food... and that was just Saturday breakfast! Big round of applause to Naomi and everyone else who cooked that feast! (Psst, next time you see Lori/Griffsmom, please be sure to let her know that her bundt cake needed a bit more baking powder.

) Dinner was fantastic. But what meatballs... I never saw any. Were they gone before I reached the table??? I like meatballs... waaaahhhhh....

Like Wet Rats

That's how we were huddled under the awning and canopy during dinner. Some of us thought they were lucky to be seated under the canopy... until water fell off it and splashed onto them. Poor Paula/Young Moosette was baptized mid-meal.

The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain

Good food, our appetites, and comaraderie prevailed over The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain.

Dogs 'n' Kids

I think the dogs 'n' kids outnumbered the ticks. Off the top of my head, only 3 out of 13 campsites had neither. Many had both!

Elephant Seals

BEAUTIFUL, long drive out to who-knows-where. Our 2yo was looking forward to seeing the "elephants", LOL! Wouldn't you know it, but typical us, we drove for what seemed like endless (30?) miles, not sure of where we were going to. Finally turned off into one of the many scenic spots, had fun on the rocks, etc. Drove back about 8 miles, found a ranger to ask where the elephant seals were, and discovered that they were at literally the NEXT scenic spot down the road from where we were! Drove back 9 miles (duh!), and had a blast watching the funny, long, fat, round, bendy critters who used each other as pillows and constantly bickered amongst themselves. They were a little pungent too.

Making Merry (Despite The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain)

We managed to squeeze in a little socializing between the raindrops.
Friday Night: While SurfCal hosted his gathering at his site, some of us (Lon and Dianne, Moose, Lori/Griffsmom, the GSMs, all three Mikes, our 9yo and I... hope I didn't leave anyone out) were over at the Otters' enjoying cinnamon cake (?) with whipped cream, and some sort of delicious chocolate sticks.
Saturday night: After dinner the GSMs graciously opened their door to six of us bedraggled Coughers (the Otters, the Stimpys, and us C'wooders), and we listened to Abba while talking 'n' laughing till they kicked us out. It was like our Wednesday chat!

Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call

If you weren't awake by 9am, yours truly made sure you were. Rather, our new truck did. (TOS, could you tell that was the first time I tried to unlock the da** thing?) Tried to start loading bags into it, but ended up switching the alarm ON instead of OFF before opening the door. Poor ChezWay and Stimpy got the worst of the blasts, which put Baghdad's air raid sirens to shame. TruckWay kept it company, chiming in with its own 2 cents.

SurfCal

Portuguese and Guamanese/Guamanian (what is it???), yet he could pass for being my brother. (Sorry Surf, but I already have three of those.) Dontcha love what gene pool comes up with?

Otter

Just like the wicked witch tempting Hansel and Gretel with her candy house, Otter was luring unsuspecting girls to her oven with irrisistible beach pebbles that change color in water. She is now e-grandma to our daughters, a handy person to have when one grandmother is on the East Coast and the other is in the Far East. Lon, bummer that Rebec never got to go bird watching with you. The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain beat us to it.

Duanefamily

Naomi, where did you find Jasper? (How "far" was the distance? Lon came across a woman who was lying about Jasper's whereabouts?????

) We had literally just gotten back from elephant seals when you were looking for him. Thank you for hosting the meals around your site, and all the cooking you did. Sorry that Rebec never got to play with Myla or anyone else. Just when she was warming up to the other kids, The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain let loose. BTW, how did your new mat do with hosing down and being folded away? We need to get a big mat like that.

The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain

No huggy goodbyes on Sunday morning, no last-minute photos, no nuthin' but quick getaways. It rained, from varying degrees between light and heavy, the entire morning when everyone was packing up 'n' popping down. (And pretty much our entire trip back home.)

The !#^&!*@%^!! Rain

Did I mention that it rained?

Conclusion
I don't like the rain when we're out camping. (Mike didn't mind at all.) I HATE everything getting wet like that. But the rally was so much fun, the food was so incredible, and everyone was so nice to chat with, that we'd do it again in a jiffy(pop).