[F] [Meet Report] Quincy Sleepover meet

[Nathan Fenenga Yospe]

Having spent the night crashed out on hobbes' floor, and the morning around
the Berkeley campus (and no, you won't be getting any of the juicy details)
Velora and I set out for Quincy. Well, actually, we set out for an REI shop
a little ways out of Berkeley, and spent a few hours looking at hiking gear
and trying on boots that didn't fit right, but that wasn't meet stuff, so I
think we'll fast forward several hours of me gawping at the California farm
stretches, a few missed turns, Velora actually passing someone (a tractor),
and a dead tree squirrel on the road. It was early evening (and still sunny
out, which struck me as terribly strange, being from a place where daylight
savings generally refers to a tan) when we reached the tiny town. Quincy is
one of those places that doesn't seem to have more than a handful of shops,
some homes, and strangely enough, a huge courthouse. We pulled into a handy
gas station, and I called the number Gillian had given me. I'd been a touch
disappointed that Zaruga wasn't going to be able to make it... but at least
Gillie was there, and Velora.

Gillian answered the phone, a pleasant, warm voice, and I knew the weekend,
whatever came, would be a good one. The she said that Tony was asleep. That
got a small shout of joy from me... we were all accounted for! It seemed we
had a few more miles to go, and then we would be there. We were to look for
a wagon wheel and a political campaign sign. There were a lot of signs. The
entire state of California, it seems, is rabidly political. We arrived, and
met Gillian's dad. Her house is a beautiful wooden structure, a few stories
tall, set next to a lovely little garden, among trees of some variety I did
not recognize. After four hours on the road, I wanted to stretch. I imagine
Velora felt it far more; she was driving, and had driven up from SB Friday.

Gillie led us up to our rooms for the weekend. On the way up, we met Zaruga
coming down. Z is one of those people that always looks a little coiled and
relaxed at the same time. In person, I liked him instantly. We headed up to
Gillie's room, where an #afp connection was already open. I broke out those
goodies I had brought from Hawai'i... kona coffee chocolates, dried mangoes
with li hing powder, and the bag of Molokai'i coffee, macadamia nuts and an
assortment of oddities that Gillie's sister surprised me by recognizing and
liking. Velora had her tape collection, including Life of Brian (but we did
not make any gratuitous references to it), Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are
Dead, which I had only just heard of the day before from a young friend who
I had met in person for the first time on the Berkeley campus, and classics
in the same vein. I asked to watch Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern first, as I
had seen the others. Gillie was engrossing herself by this point in my copy
of The Last Continent, and Tony and I had been taking turns harassing those
few denizens of #afp who were _not_ attending a meet somewhere at the time.

The evening progressed in this manner, with a break for some dinner (Tacos,
and a well layed out selection of toppings), and no sleep before some point
well into the morning. There were Pratchett books to read, Ridcully to make
fun of, and chocolate (and fudge, wonderful fudge, that Velora had brought)
to consume. Ah, life can be wonderful... Rid called on the phone, and Z and
I teased him again.

In the morning, we decided to lounge around for a while. We kicked back, we
read, we discussed the denizens of AFP and #afp... we laughed, and even, at
one point, dressed in outrageous costumes. Actually, the costumes were kind
of neat...

Eventually, we were ready to do something. I had never encountered snow, at
least, not from closer than a few miles, and the others were kind enough to
agree to a trip up the mountains where the snow was still thick. We climbed
up from the parking lot, until we reached a nice steep snow covered bank, a
fortification Z had to climb. Velora and I followed, and we proceeded to go
back down at high velocity on our butts. We got cold, wet pants for our bit
of fun, but it was well worth it. We ended up hiking well into the mountain
trail, to a lake that was covered in half frozen snow. Velora and I heard a
duck, but Z insists it was a frog. Z was probably right. We threw things at
the lake, broke up a few bits of it, and then headed back. The spot where a
few of our efforts at rock tossing had impacted across a gorge will be more
than a little battered for a while. We avoided one patch of yellow snow, at
least one massive hairball, and Velora lost her camera's battery in a minor
scuffle involving several snowballs and a little bit of running. At the end
of the trek, we all had cold wet feet, and wanted to get back to that warm,
dry house of Gillie's. Tony had to catch his bus home at 12:50 am, so sleep
as a plan of action was plain out... We went back to reading and #afp.

The trip to the bus station was long and windy, late, and I didn't pay much
attention to the road. We saw Z off... and I definately plan to see more of
that guy in the future... and returned to Gillie's place to sleep. We had a
long trip home in the morning. Which became early afternoon. We made the SF
airport at the last minute... I ran up to the gate just as the line slipped
in... so it was a hasty goodbye to Velora, and a lot of running. But I have
to say, those last few minutes of the meet were worth the run. I wish there
had been more of them...

So... when are these guys coming to Hawai'i? And the rest of you, that can?
Maui hiking meet is open for planning. Anyone? *grin*
--

Nathan F. Yospe - Aimed High, Crashed Hard, In the Hanger, Back Flying Soon
Jr Software Engineer, Textron Systems Division (On loan to Rocketdyne Tech)
(Temporarily on Hold) Student, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Physics Dept.
yospe#hawaii.edu nyospe#premier.mhpcc.af.mil http://www2.hawaii.edu/~yospe/