Great story and great pix, Cotty. Thanks.
-Brendan --- Cotty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > After reading the excellent reports published > already, there's not much > to add really. So here's a few random thoughts, in > chronological order... > > I really don't like bad turbulence - on a flight. I > think I'd rather > have bad turbulence of the 'I've eaten too much' > kind any day. > Fortunately everything went to plan and my trip was > otherwise good. Nice > to be back in the USA where nobody gives a shit ;-) > > I learned to drive when I was 15 in California at > High School, so I'm > not shy of left-hookers. However, piloting a 25 foot > camper in the > evening rush hour on the Beltway between the 66 and > the 270 near DC was > akin to having bamboo inserted up the fingernails. > Luckily I got that > hang of it and was soon cutting up all the mo-fos > that had cut me up. > The maxim 'give way to larger vehicle' does actually > work. > > I drove to Germantown and met up with Christian. > Great to see you again > mate. We popped out for dinner to the Dogfish > Brewery where loud waiters > proclaimed their undying love for our occupancy of > their table, > repeatedly offered deals and sweeteners, swung by > constantly in case > there was anything we needed. "Hi. I'm Carl and I'll > be guiding you on > your journey..." I'm British. I'm used to being > ignored in restaurants. > > We had beer. Well, it was between 9 and 18 percent > and was served in > brandy glasses, but they said it was beer. I found a > 3.5% called > Lawnmower Light and struggled not to ask what was in > it. At least I > could chug it down to combat temps in the 80s F and > high humidity. > Cesar, Stehen Moore, and long-time ex-lister Tom Van > Veen (tv) joined us > and so we sat and laughed at Christian's haircut all > evening. I had a > good time, thanks guys. > > Christian and his wife Kerry were perfect hosts for > my pre-GFM sojourn, > and despite my protests gave up their bed for me. > This was above and > beyond the call, but I relented and slept like a > baby: I kept waking up > and was sick everywhere. > > Christian was amused when I poured sugar on my > Weetabix the next > morning. Dude - California in the 70s, I keep > telling ya! Cesar joined > us for coffee and we sat on Christian's back porch > where birds of every > kind flew in for a nibble, Christian's Darkside > 500/4 at the ready. That > guy has a good eye for the birds. > > Cesar thoughtfully brought some ballast for the RV: > 12 bags of gear. Why > strain with indecision when there's all that room, > right mate? After > saying ta ta to Christian, we hit the morning rush > hour traffic on the > Beltway again. I don't think my driving had that bad > an effect on Cesar. > He was very quiet for the first few minutes, until I > realised I was > supposed to keep *between* the dashed white lines. > > 9 hours and several stops later we reached GFM about > 6.30pm and met up > with the occupants of PDML West (Cory's camper). > Thanks for all the help > setting up things like shore-lines etc (these > campers are so big they > have to be moored). Non-lister Bruce Metcalf waltzed > over from his RV > and insisted I borrow some levelling chocks for the > rental RV. This > theme of helping out set the tone for the whole > weekend and people would > simply come up to you and give you things. Being a > Brit, I would just go > up to people and apologise. > > This was Thusday, and so folk were slowly making > their way up to the > mountain. Great to see old friends once again (Cory, > Annsan, Nico, > Graywolf, Tom Reese, Doug, Mark, Bob, Don, Scott, > Charles, Bill and > Phyllis - the list is endless), and some new ones > (Scott, Dave Brooks, > Dave Savage, Mat, Mark Cassino, Ken Waller, and more > - the names swarm > in my mind). Please forgive me if I have left you > out, it must have been > the Lawnmower Light. > > Weather was cool and rainy, with dry spots in > between. (Perhaps I should > go on 'Mastermind' - specialised subject: Stating > the Bleeding Obvious). > The scenery is simply breath-taking and nobody who > goes there can fail > to be overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. Think > then of my > anticipation as I awaited the arrival of a very dear > friend who I knew > at school back in CA in the 1970s. Brian Kavanagh > lives near Cincinnati > and upon hearing of my trip, had decided to drive > down to meet me. He > duly turned up in his bright blue VW bug (too long a > trip really for his > Triumph 900 monster although it would have only been > 6 hours instead of > 8...) and we hadn't met in 28 years. It was quite a > moment, and we soon > discovered that we basically were carrying on where > we had left off all > those years ago. To be doing this at GFM was simply > the icing on the > cake. Great to see you guy, and now we'll keep the > interim down to > years, not decades! > > Saturday saw us hiking up GFM, huffing and puffing > in Mark's dust as he > rocketed up the mountain with a respectable crowd in > tow. Kudos to Cory > for keeping up with the Mountain Goat On Crack. Cory > later kissed the > car park tarmac on his return. You laugh, but he > likes a Frenchy I > gather. Rick and Mat made MacRae before Brian, > Scotty and me, and that > was far enough. It's quite a climb, and the sight of > Scotty taking a > break between sweaty inclines with a cigarette in > his gob was too much! > It was a great way of getting to know people. We > helped each other out - > especially Brian's vertigo which gave me some great > shots. Thanks guy ;-) > > Alas, there actually was a photo competition on, and > I figured I might > squeeze in the winner after the mountain hike. I > went into the > undergrowth later with my 5:1 macro lens and > ringlight. The bloody thing > acts like an air pump (variable extension tube type) > and sadly I must > have pulled in a ton of shit when I was trying to > get a flower bud in > the frame - up on the Mac, all I could see was dust! > I had little time > left, and it would have taken hours to sort it out > so I bailed. In fact > I just spent several hours spotting pics in PS for > the gallery, so it's > okay now, but there ya go. The hike was the > highlight for me. > > Others have reported on the auditorium > presentations, and just like to > echo those that hailed Mark Cassino's show. Great > pics, and very > informative. Mark, you inspired Brian - he's going > to seek out a decent > camera/lens to do some close-up work on the > wildflowers in his pasture > at home. That's a nice touch. > > Brian and I cut a few of the talks, late Saturday > night and Sunday > morning, in favour of more civilised activities like > wine and cheese in > the RV, and bacon and eggs with coffee, > respectively. The evening wasn't > too late, as Don had made it plain that apparently > some people strangely > like to sleep. I kinda missed Mark yodelling. > > Brian had a long trip back, so left about 11am while > everyone was > picking up travelling tips from a guest speaker. He > told me to say ta ta > to all those present and convey what a great time he > had. I think he was > pleasantly surprised what a good bunch you guys > were. Yeah, well you > *can* be ;-) > > Sunday's presentations were great fun - you read > about the 'Doug and > Mark' show and it's justified. Those guys put in a > lot of work, and it > shows. What a hoot - thanks Mark and Doug. I said my > good-byes and at > the last, I was chatting to Helen Hopper for a > while. She is the GFM > official photographer, and boy was I hooked. She's > lovely. > > Which about wraps it up - except to say a special > thanks to Don Nelson > for making me feel so welcome. I am astonished that > he has strength to > drive there, do all that, after a year of Hell on > chemo. I have to take > my hat off to the guy. Don, thank you from the heart > of my bottom. > > And finally to Cesar. My travelling companion for > this trip, I think I > would have gone nuts without someone to talk to, > well - let me re-phrase > that: someone to listen to ;-) Cesar can talk for > the USA. What a star - > thanks mate. You made a good trip great. I owe you > big time. Come over > again and see us when you can. > > And so it's back to work and thinking maybe popping > back again in a few > years. GFM kinda does that to you. My son wants to > come along, and that > would be fine, as he's 13, and so am I :-) > > Sorry! Pictures! > > <http://homepage.mac.com/cottycam/PhotoAlbum6.html> > > -- > > > Cheers, > Cotty > > > ___/\__ > || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche > ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com > _____________________________ > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
