Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Dune's and Do"s (Avocados that is) Hobo Uncle for Hire


Was it all a dream?  Was I in Heaven?
Or
was all just some stupid fun with some kick ass people?

"Hey Pat you want to spend a week at an avocado farm running sand dunes, we'll pick up your beer at the Stone Brewery and then pick you up along the way in our R.V."
Shacky/Vanessa

Some offers are just too good to pass up! 
Rations for the week?

All the way
This is gonna be a good trip.

Our Destination Was Oceano CA (near Pismo beach)  I knew Luis Escobar lived along the way so I gave him a call to see if he wanted to hang out.
Hey Dude.
This is what happens when you invite me over to your house
 The entertainment was great
Vanessa you sing like a drunken Angel!
(those are my favorite kind)
 The skirt guy even showed up to party
 Shacky was having fun.  Maybe it's time to go to bed
 Many famous runners have slept in this bed at the Escobar house.  
Now it is tainted.
Sorry :(
 The next morning we got we played a round of Frisbee Golf at Waller Park, A place I have won tournaments at in the past.  It just so happened that the NorCal SoCal annual event was happening the next day and I saw a bunch of old friends practicing out on the course.

My disc golf skills aren't what they once were but just for shits and giggles I decided to sprint the course to see how fast I could play all 27 holes, 20:47 Bogey free.
 This picture was taken by a famous photographer.  Can you guess who?  Clue: It's the dumbass jumping in the picture below
 Luis told me when you take a picture of someone jumping they are unable to hide who they really are.  In this case I guess this makes Luis a
 After Disc golf we out for a little wine tasting. as you can see Shacky and I fit right in.

The next morning we hit the dunes
Yahoo!
I could run here all day, every day for the rest of life
 Ginger likes them too
This is how Vanessa rolls
 Really bad decision here.  I thought maybe doing somersaults down the hill would be a good idea????  A minute later I was spitting blood and still have saore chest cavity to this day.
But that wasn't gonna stop me from having fun.
 Hurry up Dudes.
 Good times with good friends.
 The only stick we could find to toss for Ginger weighed about 5 lbs

But she didn't seem to mind
 Which ways the beach Shacky?
There it is.
 Over here guys
 Nature somehow decided to draw this formation in the sand.
 Where will your Luna Sandals take you?
Pismo beach at dawn
Caity and Nigel
(I really like this pic)
Thank you so much Caity for being such a warm loving person and treating us like part of your family.  In case you don't know who Caity is she is local radio broadcaster and hosts her own post cast on the web
Happy dog
Happy kid
Caity's son stuck to us like glue and was a fun little dude to hang out with.
Persimmons???  Who the hell likes mushy persimmons
This girl does.
(too Bad she can't reach any)
As I got chauffeured up the coast I played a game of "sweet and sour" with Caity's kids. Where you wave at the cars behind you if they wave back they are sweet  if they don't they are sour.
We stopped at some glass factory that Huell had stopped by before
R.I.P.
Blown Glass is cool
(especially when it has boobs)
I peed in Harmony for the first time?
Vanessa looks like a Raider fan with that beard
I vote for more shenanigans
(sorry to lazy to think of something clever )
We stopped at a nude beach.  
And then saw the famous sea otters at Moro Bay
(it was dark when we got there.)
The next morning after guilt tripping Vanessa and Shacky on Facebook  I convinced them to go on run for morning coffee.
we climbed some trees along the way
Scampered through some reeds
and finally made it to Mexico, 
Just in time for lunch
Is that Clam eating clam chowder? and why is that old lady grabbing some kids butt?
Time to Forage off of Shacky's Beard
Scorpions are vegan right?
Vanessa prefers worms.
one minute after taking that pic that flower bit Vanessa's right ear off.  The botanical army is on the verge of a  full fledge attack against the vegan communitycand we were trying to pretend to be allies in the fight.
Luna Monkey scoring free food
Home for the week
Living the life
"Ello Kitty"
Dunes Again
Happy folks
Look out for sand giants Ginger
In case you don't know what a sand giant is, Vanessa says they
live in an opposite world leaving reverse footprints that extend into ours.  Does that make any sense?


sure why not
Here's some proof
I decided to tag up up the beach In case some aliens might want to deliver me some space beer.
Thanks Caity
Lonely tree
Did you know strawberries grow on the beach.
Pismo (whale) dork and the Pismo Clam

C'mon ginger
Yippee
Has it really only been a few days? It looks like I've been here for years


Happy Tree maybe Shacky should start painting them
Or has he already
????????
Did Bob Ross really fake his own death to Travel the country with a secret Canadian lover?



Kite flying makes me thirsty
Life is good
It took all of about 5 minutes to scavenge these off the ground
I even got to make dinner for everyone one night.
Hmm what should I put on this Pizza
Morning stroll through a Eucalyptus Forrest
Did you know the word Vanessa means:
Butt!
I mean 
Butterfly 
Luna Sandals the official sandal of the monarch butterfly


La Mariposa y Avocate

Can I get an Amen
Hallelujah 
My  Favorite kind of oranges
almost brings a tear to my eye.
Screw a truffle sniffing pig, I find an avocado sniffing dog much more valuable
Final run on the dunes
It seems some kids changed my art work
I was flattered
Maybe I should change my logo?
:)
Are stay in Pismo had come to an end tie to head back south

 What the hell is that?
Take a guess.
They had telescopes pointing at the tree
Were you right?
If so tell the person next to you they owe you $5.  
It turns out there was a big butterfly festival the very next day.
But
We had promised to go Back to Luis Escobar's neck of the woods to help him mark the Penny Lane Ultra marathon course
 Orcutt CA
This place is really beautiful this time of year
 Pavement ?
C'mon dude I thought this was trail Race.  (Luis will pissed at this comment)  I think 90% of the pavement on the course is in this picture
 Next year he say there is gonna be mud wrestling in this pond
My money's oh her to win
 "Hey Ginger you want to go run some trails/"

 Woohoo I'm in 4th place
 And I thought he was just a photographer?
:)
 Where the hell did Shacky get that Olympic torch
 It really was a beautiful course
Until we got to the haunted section.
Demon Dog found a pumpkin
 Look out for
"SWWEEEENNEEEYY"
 See that little path off to the right I had to sprint of the hill to get this sunset pic
Quote Shacky
"That's ridiculous! How the hell is that cow gonna ride that little bike."
 Back at Casa Escobar's making some music
 Luis is really nice guy and dig his hospitality.  I wonder what we would have to do wear out our welcome?
 WTF
How could we resist the big paycheck from Jon Deere and the Californian Avocado Commission.


Time to hit the road
 Along the way we stopped at the Firestone BarellWorks
 I think all the beers we had weer over 12% abv (although they were about 1/2 a sip each
Drunk after two sips of ale what a rookie
 Nostrovia

Next stop Point Magu to go help out at the Ray miller 50 miler
Home for the night.
The next morning we woke up to big commotion? It turns out the starting line for the race was exactly 40 feet in front of the R.V.


After setting up one of the aid stations I went off for a 18 mile run to double;e check some course markings but stupid me forgot my camera and I'm too crunched for time and too lazy to tell what transpired with out pictures.
 I'm back,
Hey do you think Shacky is wearing underwear under his new nightie?
Scroll down to find out
Nope he just has really thick set of pubes he keeps trimmed real short.  Who'd of guessed?

At the aid station we were joined by Jorge Pacheco and his beautiful wife Mari.  We shared some of our avocado's with him and yes he knew where they had been. lol.
At around 3:30 the final runner came through the aid station at mile 34 and it was up to Vanessa and I to sweep the course.

 Vanessa points
Along the way we gave each other nick names let me introduce you to"
"Captain Awesome"

 And
"The Cleaning Lady"
 We finished sweeping long after dark and it was time to head back home


It was a special trip, the more time I spend with Shacky and Vanessa the more I grow to like them and for that matter the same sediment of gratitude and love goes out to to Luis and Caity.  I take my friends for granted all the time but I am very thankful to have them and they mean the world to me.  There's a ton of other people that I encountered on this trip that also put a smile on my face but I'm in a hurry to write this blog post and  will be on a plane to Nicaragua in less than 8 hours.  So thanks to you as well :)

Next stop

then a short bus,train a donkey ride later

Each of the last two years was a trip of lifetime and I expect this one to be even better
2012 Race Report
2011 Race report

Good bye United States I'll be back March 6th and Can't wait to run across you come April
:)