There's always something crazy that happens on hot springs trips. Here's a breakdown of how it went down last weekend. It's about 1pm on Friday and Sam and I have put quite a few hours into getting the van ready between her redoing ALL the water plumbing and cleaning and me redoing the stereo and twin auxiliary battery system. Sam sends me a txt "I think I have to work this weekend" Well crap, I've already committed to showing up and there are people meeting us at the hot springs who are already there and out of cell phone range. Sam ends up having to work.
Not wanting to disappoint, I hurried and packed up early and headed out of LA, after picking up Tyler, my twin, and off we went to Santa Barbara. The first letdown happened when we lost radio reception - no problem, hook up the iPhone to the nifty USB interface on the new stereo! We found out it doesn't work that way, this stereo only reads files off of flashdrives, not your iPhone! Good thing we were 3 exits from a Best Buy and were able to stop in a pick up a male to male auxiliary cable to make it work...still disappointing though.
We arrived in Montecito to pick up Callie and her sister Sam (I know, right?). After saying our hellos and goodbyes to her mom, we were packed up and off! We began climbing Gibraltar Road in thick fog with the windshield wipers helping us out. The headlights on the van need some serious help...they suck. The fog was so thick that we could only see about 5ft in front of us. Using the lowbeams helped, but the lights are so weak that it was hard to see anything! We crept up the hill at 5mph in first gear for 30 minutes. Out of nowhere, we get headlights behind us from a panel van. This guy is MOVING in the blinding fog. We pull over, let him pass and then think "He obviously knows where he's going!" so we high tail it behind this guy and save probably another 30 minutes of SLOW climbing.
We bust through the fog about 80% of the way to the top of the mountain. Cheering ensued and we cruised along the top of the road in the pitch black led by the moon and my crappy headlights. We arrived at the dirt road. I think it's been a while since that van has seen some dirt, although when I cleaning it out I found two maps of Baja circa 1987 in the glove compartment...adventure? Yes please!
After cruising down the dirt road at a reasonable pace (sane) I realized that most of the noise coming from the van was not the van falling apart, but rather all the supplies that gravity and inertia was having its way with. We arrived in camp, popped the top and set up camp and a fire. We enjoyed a few cold beers to celebrate our arrival and went to bed after burning an entire bundle of wood.
-Saturday-
I awoke in the van and was still alive. Man, this is pretty nice! I'm literally INSIDE while camping on a bed. Pretty sweet. We got moving and had some breakfast. We started playing some frisbee and met Vic who was a retired gentleman from ExpeditionPortal.com.
He's a real nice guy so if you ever spot an Isuzu delivery truck with a camper on the back, just wave hello! We hung out for a while and I made some steak fajitas for lunch.
This was followed by a cold romp in the stream near the campsite. At this point, we heard the music of a dirtbike's exhaust note. CONNOR. We began calling out, but he couldn't hear us over the exhaust.
FINALLY, he turned off the bike as I was jumping through the bushes. I could see confused looks on his and his girlfriend's faces as I appeared out of nowhere, shirtless, with my ridiculous adventure hat. Awesome. Coincidentally, there was a Honda Accord driving away. ANDY! I shouted out and he stopped and I began waving like a lunatic. It was hard enough to meet people up here, but harder when you have never met them and only know what vehicles to look for!
Andy brought his friend Rachel and they are both Navy. I could tell they were stand up people and felt good about having them join the fun camp! Vic returned from a trip to the springs and we all got our introductions and hung out playing bean bags, frisbee and enjoying a few drinks.
So the plan had been to have Callie's mom come up Saturday afternoon with dinner of burgers, beans and corn. The time kept passing and we became worried. Had the fog become impassable? Nope, a man stopped at our camp, gets out of his truck and looks at a business card, "Are you guys....Callie, Sam, Garrett and Tyler?" OH CRAP...what happened? "Well, I ran into Callie's mom at the top of the hill and she was just freaked out by the fog, then she was super low on fuel and THEN a black widow appeared in her truck on the driver's windshield. She's freaked out and heading home."
Oh man, that really sucks. "BUT, she gave me all your food." WOOOOOHOOOOOOO! We were extremely disappointed that Carol couldn't make it, but she promises to come up with us next time since she's also never been there and lives in Montecito. So we got the food, put it in the fridge and headed up to the hot springs!
I usually refrain from taking pictures at the springs since people are in their bathing suits.....or not.
We returned to camp and pumped up a good fire and got a nice base of coals. I put together the tripod grill, mashed together some burgers and heated the beans. Andy cooked some hot dogs and Connor cooked some brats. Everyone had a cheeseburger and shared all the food. I love community dinners!
The night continued, but I began feeling not so well with pounding headache and nausea. Everyone else felt good, so I called it a night around 10:30pm and went to bed. I know Tyler, Andy and Rachel cruised up to the hot springs again after I went to bed which made me happy to know Tyler was showing them the ropes.
- Sunday -
I woke up cold in the van. I'm sleeping in the upper bed which has canvas walls which naturally are 24 years old. Perhaps a new canvas would help hold in more heat. I love canvas. Tyler was snoring below. I wanted to power up my laptop and get some homework done, but I didn't want to wake Tyler and I sure as heck didn't want to sit outside to do it at 7am in the cold. I went back to sleep after putting on a sweatshirt. I think a Mr. Heater Buddy will be in order for any future fall/winter trips.
We all woke and had a great breakfast. We packed our camp leisurely and said our goodbyes.
Callie and Sam had to get back to Montecito for their mom's book signing!
We arrived at the house and were greeted by the two large golden retreivers and some of Callie's family. We showered and all headed to Padaro Beach Grill in Carpenteria where I proceeded to sample each type of pizza that was provided. It was a great time and I am so thrilled for Carol. Check her book out here - It's for the family of a struggling addict/alcoholic and how they can help. Carol is an amazing person so be sure to check it out!
We arrived home in the late afternoon and were able to relax before hitting the hay. See you November 12-15 for the Mojave Road!!!
-The Adventure Brigade
Pictures to link (smaller res)
Looks like you guys had a blast!! I wish I could have made it! Can't wait for Mohave road!! :). --Sam
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