Parade of Lights

Father's Day Weekend at El Mirage

More than 50 landyachts participated in the June 15th and 16th Annual Father's day event. It was quite a showing and the weather could not have been better. We had a bit of a boost courtesy of Mike Blanchard from the Edwards AFB, Outdoor Recreation unit. ODR sponsored two batches of "newbies" with their fleet and they proved to be an amiable bunch.

Other newcomers included Ron, Lisa, and Gabriel from Littlerock, and their guest... the AAA tow truck driver. Apparently Ron's Little White Jeep took offense at the desert dust and refused to start. The tow truck driver was a real trooper and located Ron on the lakebed like a bee to a flower. We hope to see them all again, but without AAA.

Wayne Maulden put in another appearance, this time with his sister, Lilly, and her husband, Ed Swanson. The Swansons are long-time personal friends, whom we have not seen for quite some time. Unfortunately they left before Wayne realized we had arrived. Oh well. When Wayne did find me on Sunday morning I was a bit pre-occupied with an ash problem. More on that later.

The Saturday sailing started with light air, and gave many of the newcomers an opportunity to gain some confidence. As the day progressed the wind filled in nicely and they were soon handling the boats with ease. The motorized traffic was light, so there was little interference on the lake. As the sun dropped into the western sky the barbecues came out and dinners were started. In Camp Anthonio that means Dutch Oven time. Harvey mixed up a carrot cake in one oven and some sort of apple spice cake in the other. After lining the pots with foil they were placed into an old wash tub. In the bottom of the tub were 8 briquettes. On to top of each Dutch Oven were 16 more. The two Dutch Ovens were stacked on top of one another. If you have never seen this kind of cooking, it is pretty impressive.

Mike Blanchard donned his chef's hat and spent some time slaving over his propane-fired burner. Wielding tools that any Food Network star would envy, Mike produced a mouth-watering version of barbecued chicken that put smiles on all the faces at Camp Anthonio. Mike has obviously been doing the outdoor cooking thing for some time.

The festivities for the Parade of Lights got underway and the wind was sufficient to actually sail until well after dark. Leo's Christmas tree was probably the Best of Show, with Harvey's Skeletor taking Most Original use of materials. Looking like something out of an abstract animation film, the Skeletor brought much laughter and many gasps of surprise. Lots of fun was had and another successful Parade of Lights was brought to an end as the last of the wind died out.

With Harvey's cakes consumed, and Lisa trundled off to Apple Korn slumber. My "neighbors" for the evening were some of the EAFB newbies, Adam and Hanna, and Robbie and Vanessa. I spent a bit of time getting to know them, and learning about their work, and what brought them to our little part of the world. Sammie, Hannah's beagle, even enjoyed the fun. Finally it was time to turn in and I climbed into my RV for some welcome rest. There is something incredibly restorative about a night in the desert air... as long as you are not sleeping on the hard ground.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... As most of our members know, we lost a dear friend this year. Steve Brown suffered a fatal heart attack while standing in line at the WaMu bank in Hawthorne. Unfortunately none of his friends or family were aware of this and Steve nearly ended up in the County's Pauper's field. Thanks to Bill Robertson, his family was notified just in time for them to claim the body and avoid burial as an unknown. Due to wet weather conditions in December, and scheduling conflicts with Steve's Mom, we had to spread his ashes at the 2nd best spot we could find. While this made things work for the moment, it just didn't set right for everyone else. So...

A few days after the spreading ceremony I visited the site. Steve was still there, spread in a semi-circle of "ash". I just couldn't help myself. Knowing that Steve would really have wanted to be closer to "home", I swept him up and placed him in a plastic baggie. After a dry-run sometime Saturday night, courtesy of Sammy the Wonder Beagle, Steve was gathered up, once again, and this time Harvey did the official honors. Steve is now where he should be, close at hand, amongst his friends.

I awoke to the usual sounds of morning at El Mirage... gyrocopters, motorcyles, and ultralight aircraft. A generous breakfast was prepared by Robbie and shared with his EAFB buddies and yours truly. As the breeze started up Mike Blanchard gave his safety briefing to the next batch of EAFB newbies and another day of sailing got off to a good start.

Thanks to all who came out, and we hope you come back soon.


Michael
US 777