Saturday–Sunday, 9–10 Sep 2000
Pics start here
Marc writes…
The 2000 camp-out started with a ride to Hollister for breakfast. Wow, what a large group – 10 people at the Cozy Cup. Alas, half of them were heading back to the bay area after breakfast with excuses such as “I hurt my knee” and “I just got back from a trip yesterday and am going to Hawaii, Wednesday”. Oh well, the five of us that continued on – Fred, Jessica, Rich, Jerry, and I – had a great ride. We met Derrick at the campground. He’d left Grass Valley Friday, spending Friday night in Yosemite.
A good time was had by all. The only “problem” was one of too much food. We had crackers, cheese, salsa, fresh fruit, fresh picked tomatoes, two kinds of beef stew, noodles, rice, stir fried vegies, etc. We did not have exploding chili, though. No one missed it. The only thing we didn’t have was a fire. There was no wood at the store! However, the night was warm so we BSed around the light from a few candles and a can of Sterno.
There were no indication of bears or shouts of “shoo” heard during the night. By 7:00 AM breakfast was cooking. Again, there was no shortage of food. We had espresso, eggs, cheese, english muffins, corned beef hash, bacon, sausage, and left over beef stew. After breakfast we broke camp and were on the road by 8:45.
We took CA 180 out of the canyon with our first gas stop in Fresno. Jerry suggested we find a shady spot somewhere down the road to pull over, get something to drink, and then finish up some of the food as a snack/lunch. He was thinking of the sandwiches he was carrying. I suggested we stop in Firebaugh and make up our minds, then.
There’s nothing in Firebaugh… at least no place to stop and enjoy some shade. I5 is only 18 miles from Firebaugh, and there is a rest stop a mile up I5. I lead the group into the rest stop. It has all the things Jerry was looking for: shade, vending machines for things to drink, clean bathrooms. The only thing missing was Jerry. Seems we lost him leaving the gas station in Fresno. I hadn’t noticed!
Since Jerry had the sandwiches we decided to go back to the original plan and head another 20 miles up the road to Santa Nella and get some pea soup. 15-20 minutes later we pull in to the parking lot at Andersons and park next to three bikes that were already there. The bikes looked very familiar – I pointed to them and said: Carl, John, and Mac. Yep… they were inside eating.
After lunch Derrick said good-bye as he was going to continue up I5 to his home in Grass Valley. We decided to gas up for the final leg home. Carl, John, and Mac joined us. I was cleaning my windshield when I heard a voice say “so this is the pea soup place”. Jerry found us.
As we left the gas station in Fresno he was cleaning his windshield. He then went inside to argue with the clerk for use of the facilities. Nope. By the time he came out we were out of sight. He then missed a turn that puts you onto the new portion of 180, and wound up passing us. Seems the new portion is longer. Thinking he was behind us he tried to catch up. By the time he got to Los Banos he gave up, came to Santa Nella, and had his little picnic by himself.
The ride back to the bay area was uneventful, with riders pealing off at their various exits.
Pics follow
