Pooped Out
Jul. 20th, 2009 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snousleBack from French Meadows! Another lovely campout. I was very pleased to be back in the old campsite, not the one we were at last year - the traditional site is shady, green, dust-free, and cool even in the heat of the day.
On Sunday, I visited the site for the upcoming Golden Gate Guards run, where I'm doing the cooking again this year. I'd seen photos of the kitchen already, but I'm glad I went in person, I found tons of equipment that wasn't in the photos that I would have had to schlep up there myself. The kitchen is much smaller than the one at Camp Mendocino, but that may turn out to be a blessing - the increased distance objects need to be moved in a larger kitchen sucks up a surprising amount of energy.
It's going to be a little nuts. Five days of cooking there, then three days of cooking for the early Badger arrivals and setup crew, then the Badger Flat run itself where I am compelled to work even harder so as to not look like a complete slacker. I don't know what going back-to-back with Badger is going to do for the GGG run, but personally I wouldn't mind if it wasn't too huge an event.
There was NO way I was going to cross the central valley in the heat, so I crashed at a friend's place near Sacramento. The drivers on I-80 are horrendous - a perfect storm of idiots and assholes. Near Auburn, when the light letting cars onto the longish onramp turned green just as a huge clutch of trucks came down the freeway, I knew right away there was going to be trouble. It was obvious a good sixty seconds in advance, but did anyone notice? Of course not. Sure enough, about eight cars, all tailgating each other as they screamed down the ramp, tried to merge into the middle of four semis... so the lead car STOPPED. By this point I was already holding back an eighth of a mile, and had pulled close to the shoulder, but naturally the asshole behind me scooted around the whole mess at full speed, and cut off the line of merging cars behind the last truck. No accidents, but it was one of the stupidest freeway clusterfucks I've ever seen. "One of" because quite honestly I see something like this nearly every time I go through our illustrious state capital.
I was pretty bushed after a couple of late nights cavorting in the woods, but not too bushed to enjoy my first fursuit experience. Very interesting, different from what I expected. I felt a bit self conscious at this first encounter, and found the necessary suspension of disbelief somewhat elusive, but there is much potential for exploration.
Hit the road at about 6:30 AM. Only a hundred and fifty miles home, but I took the scenic route through the Capay Valley so it took about four hours. Though I was home before some people even get out of bed, the ride pretty much laid to waste the rest of the day.
Got a surprise booking for dinner for seven on Wednesday - exactly the kind of event I want to serve, for exactly the kind of client I want to cultivate. And on a weeknight, no less. In other words: EEEEK! I'm both excited and nervous, and feeling desperate to make a good impression. If I could make a list of the ten most desirable clients in the county, he'd surely be on it. Must get working on the menu...
On Sunday, I visited the site for the upcoming Golden Gate Guards run, where I'm doing the cooking again this year. I'd seen photos of the kitchen already, but I'm glad I went in person, I found tons of equipment that wasn't in the photos that I would have had to schlep up there myself. The kitchen is much smaller than the one at Camp Mendocino, but that may turn out to be a blessing - the increased distance objects need to be moved in a larger kitchen sucks up a surprising amount of energy.
It's going to be a little nuts. Five days of cooking there, then three days of cooking for the early Badger arrivals and setup crew, then the Badger Flat run itself where I am compelled to work even harder so as to not look like a complete slacker. I don't know what going back-to-back with Badger is going to do for the GGG run, but personally I wouldn't mind if it wasn't too huge an event.
There was NO way I was going to cross the central valley in the heat, so I crashed at a friend's place near Sacramento. The drivers on I-80 are horrendous - a perfect storm of idiots and assholes. Near Auburn, when the light letting cars onto the longish onramp turned green just as a huge clutch of trucks came down the freeway, I knew right away there was going to be trouble. It was obvious a good sixty seconds in advance, but did anyone notice? Of course not. Sure enough, about eight cars, all tailgating each other as they screamed down the ramp, tried to merge into the middle of four semis... so the lead car STOPPED. By this point I was already holding back an eighth of a mile, and had pulled close to the shoulder, but naturally the asshole behind me scooted around the whole mess at full speed, and cut off the line of merging cars behind the last truck. No accidents, but it was one of the stupidest freeway clusterfucks I've ever seen. "One of" because quite honestly I see something like this nearly every time I go through our illustrious state capital.
I was pretty bushed after a couple of late nights cavorting in the woods, but not too bushed to enjoy my first fursuit experience. Very interesting, different from what I expected. I felt a bit self conscious at this first encounter, and found the necessary suspension of disbelief somewhat elusive, but there is much potential for exploration.
Hit the road at about 6:30 AM. Only a hundred and fifty miles home, but I took the scenic route through the Capay Valley so it took about four hours. Though I was home before some people even get out of bed, the ride pretty much laid to waste the rest of the day.
Got a surprise booking for dinner for seven on Wednesday - exactly the kind of event I want to serve, for exactly the kind of client I want to cultivate. And on a weeknight, no less. In other words: EEEEK! I'm both excited and nervous, and feeling desperate to make a good impression. If I could make a list of the ten most desirable clients in the county, he'd surely be on it. Must get working on the menu...
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 03:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 05:06 am (UTC)On the other hand, maybe it's a wash - there's plenty of Satyrs doing the shopping and packing up the trucks to haul all the gear up the mountain. Hm.
This reminds me - I need to make note to obtain Ginkgo and start taking it a week before Badger. It really seemed to help with the altitude last year.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 06:34 am (UTC)Is it just me?
I've yet to see any pix from Tim's Mud.
VKMC posted 3 pix from French Meadows; I thanked everybody but nobody responded.
And I won't get into Lenny's response while I was in the hospital, but I can assure you, I haven't died yet.
FM
Date: 2009-07-21 03:35 pm (UTC)Pooped, that's right. I slept on and off from 6 PM to 6 AM
but next day I felt like newborn.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 04:54 pm (UTC)Lotta VK members like the new site because we don't have to setup the canopy. Die canopy die. The new site does not have the dramatic landscape, and the beautiful granite shelf, though.
Happy cooking!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-21 05:47 pm (UTC)