Day 11

Here's a fun-filled day. Our camp had no hot water for our morning showers, but we still had to pay. To top it all off, Rhonda's neighbor in the shower was just like the mom on Jon and Kate Plus 8. She yelled and was basically pretty mean to the 2 kids she had in the tiny shower room with her (which wasn't a good idea to begin with). All around, it wasn't a great way to begin the day.

Today was laundry day for the two of us. Brett had run out of shorts to wear, and Rhonda's favorite shorts were dirty, too. So, the GPS took us to the nearest laundromat, down the shore in Arena Point, or so it said. When we arrived at the GPS 'destination', it turned out to be a deli, and they had no idea about there ever being a laundromat at that location. They pointed us further down the shoreline to Anchor Point, where they knew there was a laundromat. To top it all off, the GPS had no idea where the new laundromat, or even Anchor Point was.

We arrived in Anchor Point, quickly located the laundromat using the Mark 1 eyeball, and threw our laundry in. We even got to use the new laundry do-it-all sheets Rhonda found in Washington! As soon as we had started our loads, everybody else showed up to do their laundry. Once again, we are the jerks who get the last available ones! Haha!

As our laundry was washing, we headed over to a mexican restaurant across the road for some lunch. While Rhonda looked over the menu, Brett went to use the 'washroom'. The whole building was nice and clean, but the bathrooms were located around the side of the building. They were not even labelled as washrooms. Brett finally figure out what one was the washroom. He enetered a darkened room, and tried furiously to find the light switch. It was nowhere to be found. As his eyes adjusted to the blackened conditions, he noticed that the flourescent light fixture was flickering very, very dimly. He sucked it up and did his business, more by feel than anything else. He finished and went to wash his hands with the unavailable soap, paper towels, and non-functioning hand dryer. Fantastic. If you remember the 'worst toilet in Scotland' from the movie Trainspotting, Brett thinks he's found the worst toilet in California.

We didn't find WiFi, but we found a really cool grocery store, and bought some cool snack packs with cheese and meat. And we got supplies for a gourmet supper. We headed off back down the road again. At the next town we found a coffee shop with WiFi and updated the blog.

We went to Botega Bay and asked if they had any sites left. They had many and sent us off to choose 3 that we liked. This was a very unusual situation for us, as we are used to being the jerks who take the last spot. We drove around and chose 4 spots (we are overachievers after all) and paid for our site and got ready to set up. Little did we know that we certainly were in for more than we paid for! Then we headed into Botega Bay and tried to get the phone working. But alas, the phone still sucks. We got firewood and stocked up on some necessary supplies.

We went back to the campsite and set up. Once that was accomplished it was time for dinner:
Pan seared smoked pork chops
California mix salad with cherry tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Grilled french bread slices with a balsamic vinegar dip
$34.95 per plate
How's that for camp cooking?!

After dinner, we brewed up some hot chocolate and took a walk down to the beach. It turned out to be more like a death march, than a leisurely stroll. The beach was much further away than either of us anticipated. We soldiered on and, after about a half hour walk, we were at the beach. At the sandy, windswept beach, we sat down and relaxed for a while, just observing everything around us. Some of the things we saw included a father with his two daughters. Dad was digging an enormous hole in the sand. Why? We're still not sure. But we got pictures!

Today ended up being a real wildlife day for us. We saw our first California Condor, some deer, a cute little bunny, sandpipers on the beach, and a whole lot of earwigs in our camp food locker. We saved the best for last.

We were sitting by the campfire having an intellectual conversation (ok that part might be fiction, but I swear the rest really happened!). Rhonda heard a noise in the bushes by the tent. She casually looked over and saw a "cat". Well, it took about half a second to realize that this cat had very distinct markings. She jumped out of her chair, alerted Brett, "Skunk!!!!". Then she ran to the truck. Well everyone knows that Brett has "rock and roll ears" and he said, "What?". Rhonda is fairly generous and caring, but in situations like this one, she only gives one warning. Brett looked over at what Rhonda was looking at, and then he jumped out of his chair. By this time Rhonda was in the truck (thank goodness it was unlocked!!!). Brett jumped in too. Oh crap, the keys are on the picnic table by the skunk. Spare set! Yay. We start the truck and pull out. Then we realize we have no idea what to do. So we pull in with the headlight illuminating the site and watch the skunk. The people across from the site are watching with great interest (and probably amusement), all the goings on. They soon realize what the commmotion is all about. Dad comes over and says that there are some very friendly skunks and foxes in the site. They are very used to people, and in fact he had to chase away both last night. Funny, our check-in ranger didn't warn us about any skunks or foxes. Our new 'friend' made several appearances over the course of the evening, even startling Brett on a midnight stroll to the bathroom. However, we all got along just fine, and nobody smells any worse, except for maybe our new camp buddy. Rhonda is still laughing at the event at this moment, especially about being on skunk patrol all evening ("Hey Brett, is that you moving? Oh Crap! Skunk!") and the fact that we now know who is going to survive any attack, Rhonda who has better hearing of course!

We drove about 100 kms today, but it was a twisty road that took a long time. Everyone is still in the truck, and our little buddy has been left behind for the next campers.