What If????--The First Night

Easy there, all you perverts.   This is about a class reunion so take a cold shower or what ever you do to calm down!!!!!!!


I am going to put this story into a few parts for ease of reading plus the fact that at this age you might fall asleep reading something to long!!!!! and that way I can write one story and fill up a lot of space, well maybe not a lot of space, but it sure makes these easier to post if you have back up!!!!!!!

So here I am which is where I should be since there is no other place that I can be and still be at the reunion????? Did I mention that this was the 50th?? That would make everybody a lot older than they were when we graduated from high school!!!

I remember having to walk three miles through the snow with all my rock tablets, hammer and chisels!!!!!!! I was sure glad when pencils and paper were invented and then along came the wheel and soon we had SCHOOL BUSES!!!!!!  Then I was dancing in the parking lot, most of the time by myself!!!!!!

Now that I have written about what happened a HALF CENTURY AGO!!!!!!!

So now I can proceed with the telling of the REST OF THE STORY. I left Florida heading in a westerly direction since where I live it impossible to go to much further east....... not really being sure what this reunion was going to be like.   I have been to all the class reunions, but the 50 seems like a mile stone.   One to look forward to???? or not???

Upon arrival in Grants Pass I contacted the contact person who was to be contacted when I arrived in Grants Pass since she was the contact person and that would be Patsy J.   I called and told her that I was in town and could get my paperwork whenever. Later that week or the next week she called and asked if I wanted to go to a reunion committee meeting to which I said yes.  

Little did I know how much going to that one meeting would alter my life in ways I could not have imagined!!!!!! But that is a story for another time........

Friday night at the fairgrounds and the party started at 6 and ended at 10:30 in the evening.   I suppose it was done that way so that we could all get the early bird special dinner and not be out so late that we would all forget how to get to where ever we were staying??????  Just imagine about 140 or so seniors and their significant others/or just themselves like me wandering around town trying to figure out where they are supposed to be at that hour of the night.   I guess we could all meet at Walmart???  Where are the tour buses and flag guys when you need them???

I arrived at the Arts and Crafts building about an hour early for 2 reasons and what were those reasons you ask and even if you don't ask I am going to tell you anyway!!!!

First reason was because I was not sure exactly where this place was and the second reason was because I was responsible for the music (which happened when I went to the reunion meeting and got VOLUNTEERED to do the music) and it is always good if the music is going at the start or just before the party starts.  

The party started promptly at 6 I think.   There were people there and there was food there and the bar was open.  

At this point I started taking pictures which is what I usually do.

Usually I know the people so I can identify them for the story, but since I HAD NO CLUE WHO THESE PEOPLE WERE!!  I have to assume they all belonged here since they were talking to each other, eating the food and drinking.   Actually at first I thought they were from another galaxy and had just taken over these bodies since no one matched the picture on their name tag (EXCEPT ME).  {;-)

The night ended and all said that the party was a great success and all had had (can I use the same word twice)? a good time.  

I have pictures to post and will post some, but only those who I know and if they read this and wish to have their picture removed feel free to contact me at my email address and I will certainly remove the picture.

And now on to the BEAR HOTEL for a sound check before Saturday nights festivities!! 

and goodnight CER-143!!!!!!!!
{;-) 

Here We Go Again!!!!!!!!

Here it is the 4th of July again!!! I wrote about this day last year and actually it was the same trip over the same mountain, but this year there were more people!!!!!


The 4th of July comes every year at the same time. I know, I know, you are thinking that this guy must be a ROCKET SCIENTIST?????? He is so smart he can figure out that the 4th of July happens at the same time every year, AHHHH, but wait it does not!!!!!! The 4th is always the 4th, but last year it was a Monday!!!!!! and next year it is a Thursday!!!!! I feel so much better now that I have gotten that cleared up!!!!!

Well, now that I have blathered on for a few paragraphs it is time for the telling of the tale.... Let me do the set up... Wednesday morning, 9 am, the 4th of July, bustling downtown Merlin, Ore. (if you want to know more about Merlin, just GOOGLE it) at the LITTLE PANTRY store which is sort of like a 7-11 on steroids!!!!!! anyway, there are gathered in the parking lot a bunch of OLD PEOPLE and OLD VOLKSWAGENS and other Volkswagens.

The whole gathering looks like a mass escape from a Volkswagen assisted living facility!!!!!!! We are gathered here waiting for the one who will lead us on this trek across the mountain to the far reaches of Gold Beach!!!!!! where at a time to be announced we will fill the sky with much fire and noise!!!!! (Now ain't that some fancy writing???)

So at the appointed hour plus 30 minutes our leader arrives. At this point in time I must mention that even though it is the 4th of July I am wearing a SWEATSHIRT, a HOODED SWEATSHIRT AND A PAIR OF GLOVES to ward off the last remnants of winter!!!!! Of course every one else is in t shirts or at the very most a light jacket since going over Bear Mountain and going high up in the woods where the temperature drops to what I consider BELOW FREEZING is no big deal for the locals!!!!

Leader Larry spins his finger which means to start em up and get ready. Again there is something at this point that requires your attention. Leader Larry denotes exactly that. He is first out. I am the TAILGATOR!!!!! which means I bring up the drag or tail end. We both have C B radios so that if anybody breaks down, I mean their car, not them personally then I contact the leader and tell him so we all stop and wait as the rule is NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND!!!! Did you see the play on words with TAILGATOR. A little home town humor!!!!

So it is old people driving old Volkswagens in a line as we all leave Merlin, well not all were old as I was there too!!!!!!! heading down the Merlin-Galice Rd. we go and then make a sudden left turn and begin the climb up the mountain. When I wrote about this last year or at least I think I did??? as we got higher up the mountain we hit snow!!!!!! This year it was a better drive with no snow, but still cold, but not uncomfortable as you will see in the pictures.

Upon arriving at the rest area somewhere out in the woods we all took a break (I am trying to be polite here) and just sort of CHILLED OUT. I took some pictures (see attached). After a suitable time Leader Larry spun his finger a with a double blow of my OOGA HORN and the C B radio screaming it's usual static noise we went screaming down the other side of the mountain!!!!!!!

and with that I will conclude this chapter and start up again with the continuing story of the 4th of July!!!!!! But I leave you with this thought.

Just imagine if you will 8 cars full of old people driving down a tight 2 lane mountain road!!!!

{:-)

UH OH, Here They Come!!!!!!

Imagine if you will a bunch of old people coming screaming down a mountain road in old Volkswagens?? Well, you can imagine that all you want cause it never happened, but it would have been fun....... That is what happened last year. This year every body was a little older and I guess we had to go a little slower??????? plus the fact that some had never been over the road.........


So it was that the OLD VOLKS & FOLKS headed toward Gold Beach from Bear Mountain Overlook. Whereas I said before the plan was to try and keep a bunch of senior citizens up after dark and fill the sky with lots of fireworks.

Gold Beach is on the Oregon coast and as usual the wind was blowing. Not quite at hurricane force, but definitely strong enough to make some birds fly backwards!!!!!!! I can't complain, well I could, but it would do no good so I will just say that I was wearing a hooded sweat shirt and gloves when we rolled in to town........ But the sun was shining so it was not all bad...

Arrival time was about 3:30 in the afternoon so there was time to do a little sight seeing, but since there is not a whole lot to see except the Rogue River and the Pacific Ocean and I have seen both!!!!!!! So I decided that a bottle of wine and a view were the thing for me to do..... I did go out for a few minutes so that some pictures could be taken, but then a nice comfortable seat and a glass of wine solved all the worlds problems for me!!!!

Along about 5:30 it was time to start the barbecue!!! Did I mention that it was a potluck with chips, dips, salads and DRUM ROLL please!!!!!!! STEAKS!!!!!!!

After a fine meal and a few glasses of wine it was time to head for the beach. It seems that if you want a fire on the beach {which is legal} then firewood must be gathered and so the gatherers gathered to gather wood....... {say that fast 3 times} and just after dark the fire was lit or maybe we were lit??? All I know is that there was a fire and shortly after that the fire works began!!!!! Unfortunately I did not take my camera so the pictures were sent to me from another participant......

The fire was big and spectacular and the fireworks were better than a lot of commercial shows!!!!!! The finale was something called a battleship which consisted of 78 mortars which all you had to do was light one end and it was time delayed and really lit up the sky!!!! {see picture}

Thursday morning I took a walk on the beach and found where we had been. The leftovers from the fire.......(see pictures) It was a cool and damp morning, but no wind so it was a good walk....{see pictures}

Then it was time to check out, saddle up, turn em on and head south to California and the way home!!!!! By the time we were ready to go about 11 am the weather was about 65 degrees and sunshine, but I had been this way before and what the weather is in one spot is not what it is further down the road!!!! So I decided to put on my pull over sweat shirt and then my hooded sweat shirt and my gloves, again dressed an NANOOK of the NORTH which turned out to be a good idea since 10 miles down the road the temperature dropped to 42 degrees which is like ZERO when you are riding in a vehicle with no doors and no top!!!!!!! {see picture}

As luck would have it or not have it depending on your idea of cold weather and your comfort zone it stayed about that temperature until east of Gasquet, Ca. With only 3 cars of the original caravan it was decided to take a break at a rest area on 199. So upon arrival the temp was up around 80 degrees and thus required that I slip into something a little more comfortable like a pair of shorts and a t shirt!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of the trip back to the Chateau to Go was uneventful, but a great time was had by all and like I said the fire works were GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am in the process of building a PALLET BUILDING {never done that before???}. So who knows, that may be the next story or maybe my class reunion????? or whatever else happens to come along????? So many choices??????
{;-)

The Rooster Crowed

and they had a parade!!!!!!!

And I suppose you are wondering what the H@LL kind of title is that????? Well, allow me to answer that question for you? As I am sure if I don't and just leave the story right here nobody will know the answer......

So here is the way it goes.......

Back in 1953 the town/city (I am not sure where the cut off is between town & city) so I will use both and you all can sort it out????? of Rogue River wanted to have some thing to draw people there to show case the town and since there was already a Memorial Day boat race in Grants Pass, a frog jumping contest in northern California, a timber carnival in Prospect, Ore. which by the way I am going to be in that parade also!!! But again I stray from the story/tale not sure which is right so I will use both.......

So Rogue River decided that on the last weekend in June of each year {which is why it is called an annual contest????} to have a Rooster crowing contest.

I know that this is another of those (WHY DO THEY DO THESE THINGS?) questions, but they did and they do and they have a parade on Saturday morning and then I am not sure when they have the contest, but they really do have a rooster crowing contest......

Unfortunately I was only there for the parade so I have no knowledge of nor do I have any pictures of the contestants or the winner/winners???? and since most roosters only crow in the early morning I am not exactly sure how they do the contest or how many show up????? I suppose if you want to get that information then I saved you the trouble and I attached the link so you can get all the information you ever wanted to know about!!!!!

rogueriverchamber.com/rooster_crow/

You should be able to copy and paste the above???

So somewhere back in this epistle (is that a word??), must be as word check OK'd it....... anyway I was there for the parade so I did not have time to wander around and see the sights. I have heard there is a large rooster model some where in town which I will have to go back and see?????? and I will post pictures of if I find it????

Any way on to the parade. The parade started at 10 am so the club that I run around with had to be at the staging area by 9:15 am so the we could get staged. I know that sentence is wrong, but I ain't going to change it!!!!!!

So the OLD VOLKS and FOLKS got staged and then they came and told us we were getting restaged????? so we moved again. That is why there are not that many pictures of the parade.

While I was waiting I met some ladies called the Rogue Valley "CHICKS" which were obviously over 50!!!! But what a hoot they were so their picture is included. One of them actually has a sister living in Florida..........

10 o'clock came and the parade started and we had slip number 45 in the parade and we were in the middle!!!! I did not think the parade was that long??? well our number came up and so off to the parade route we went. I had just pulled on to the parade road and a photographer pointed at me and held up his hand for me to stop, so I did and he took my picture and then came up and did a short interview and wanna guess what the first question was??? Go ahead, guess???? Not sure for what paper or organization and then it was off to the parade. Got to wave at all the people and blow my horn and throw candy {the president poured a bunch of candy on the shotgun seat and said throw it to the kids which I did and had a good time doing all that.

After the parade it was off to Chinook Park for a cookout. A good time was had by all or at least I had a good time with plenty of food, talk and OLD PEOPLE!!!! See the last picture.

So the next thing I will probably write about is the run over BEAR MOUNTAIN, staying at Gold Beach and shooting off fireworks over the 4th of July??????

Until the next time, "GOODNIGHT MRS. CALABASH, WHERE EVER YOU ARE?????
{;-)