This weekend my adventure started in San Diego, California. I did not get any sleep that night do to packing and excitement for the days to come. The Jeep was loaded and I was on the road at 2 am. I stopped in Pacific Beach(PB) to pick up Amy, to my surprise she was ready to rock and roll. Back on the we headed north stopping just south of Las Angeles, where I picked up Irvin. While waiting for him to arrive my Jeep just shut off. Luckily it started right back up, but I knew that wasn’t the end of it.
About 30 minutes away from Ventura, our destination, I heard a “not so good” sound from the engine. I still kept on trucking, I was to close to vacation to worry about it. Upon arriving to the dock I popped the hood, expecting the worse. After a quick inspection I was relieved that it was only the water pump that had gone bad, it was shot. I knew that i would be able to replace it, in a parking lot, at Auto Zone when I returned. I then shut the hood and placed it in the back of my mind for Sunday. NEVER doubt the Jeep Liberty, at 313,000 miles Tony never disappoints. Now lets get on the boat.
All 12 of us successfully load up on the ferry. Some passed out ass soon as their asses hit the seat, others like myself are to excited to worry about how exhausted we really are from waking so early.
Just 10 minutes into the ride the boat suddenly changes course, everyone runs to the bow in surprise as the captain is directing our in, over the intercom, in the direction of a few migrating Whales. No matter how many times you’ve seen them they never fail to amuse. On the three hour voyage we spotted a few more whales along with other marine life. We couldn’t take our eyes off of the cliff and the beaches of Catalina and Santa Cruz Island as we pass them. They are definitely a site to see, we are fortunate to live in such close proximity to these Islands also known as the Channel Islands. Finally our destination, Santa Rosa Island, was so close we wanted to jump out and swim. If only it was not a Great White feeding grounds.
Now we are all ready to get off the boat, hike to the camp ground and head off on out first adventure to the top of Blacks Mountain. BUUUUUUTTTTTT FIRST we had to form a human conveyor belt to unload all the gear. The Capt. asked for a couple Strapping, Handsome young men to stay on the boat to assist the on load from the lower deck. So of course I stayed on along with Vincent, A.K.A Air Force. After all the gear is on the dock we rally the troops, throw on our packs, adjust the straps and set off for out 1.5 mile hike to the camp ground.
It didn’t take to long for me to realize that 70 lbs of gear was a mistake. Noted, pack less useless shit next time. There’s approximately only 30 campers, we have the whole island to ourselves all weekend. First things first we arrive to the camp site, my pack immediately comes off and hits the ground. Only half relieved I dig through my pack, locate my Charmin and wet wipes then hit the head. I’ll spare you those details. All cleaned up we begin to set up camp, having the largest tent you would think it would have taken me the longest. After pressing down the last stake I look over and see that he’s still struggling with his tent. So of course I, being the man that I am, stood up and shouted “HEY, AIR FORCE WHAT’S TAKIN’ YOU SO DAMN LONG”. Air Force finally finished with his tent, we ate lunch, filled up our day packs with water and a snack (well some of us). Then we set off for our first adventure of the weekend.
I was trailing behind, making sure that we had everyone, Air Force was leading the group. We catch up, within “loud” talking rang: “Hey Air Force, do you know where you’re headed?”, “Of course I do”. I trusted him being it was a pretty cut-n-dry trail. Shortly after my trust faded so I asked Nate to take a look at the map. We were headed the wrong way. “Hey, Air Force don’t worry sit back and let the Navy(me) lead the way.”
I am now In the front as we start our journey to the top. Coming over one of the first hills we are hit in the face with strong winds, upward of 20 MPH. Leaning forward and pushing on we pass another group of hikes that are heading back down the mountain. Among that group was cutie, I pass her and we smile at each other. I look back over my shoulder for one last glimpse and she instantly looses traction and falls hard on her booty. She jumps back to her feet as if it didn’t happen or that it didn’t hurt, without a doubt as hard as she fell it left a mark. I tell myself that she fell from turning back after I passed so she too could take one last look at what was working with. So onward and upward we arrive at the last “hill” to climb before we get to the summit. Air Force no where to be found, he was lagging. I look over at Nate and say “this is going to be a bitch”. So what does Nate say in return? “lets run it, we’ll get up there quicker”. My response being “Dammit Nate, alright lets go”. We haul boogy to the top where it’s insanely windy with a heavy mist bowing in. When we first got there we could see the shore line quite well but it only took a few minutes for the mist to cover the island hiding the beauty of it all. It didn’t take long for the rest of the gang to catch up to Nate and I, of course with Air Force being the last one there. We took a few pictures and group photos then headed back to the camp site.
Back at the camp site, we all start to wind down a bit after tho EXTRA long day we had. One by one we took hobo baths in the restroom and Air Force had so NASA approved no wash shampoo. Only in the Air Force. Zach was in charge of dinner Friday night and boy was I excited, we were having Lasagna. Until I looked at it, it was vegan lasagna. Vegan Lasagna, like NO MEAT. It was blasphemy. Reminded me of one of my worst and first tinder dates in California, she made a vegetarian lasagna. That didn’t last long. of course we get into tinder dating stories and what not.
The temperature started dropping increasingly fast, i knew it was time to break out my special surprise for everyone. I went to my tent to change into something warmer and popped out in my American Flag Onsie. Coolest thing ever, they loved it and so did the rest of the camp ground. People were saluting me as they walked by and others just laughed and complimented the outfit. It wasn’t shortly after that that the sun had dropped over the horizon and every one trickled off to there tents and called it a night.
