Thanks to the generosity and hospitality of the Hector family we got to enjoy a fun two days in beautiful surroundings with wonderful people. First off I’d like to thank the Hector family who had their water pump give up under the demand for water from all the invaders to their property, who had their septic tank over-run, who had their screen knocked out of their screen door, who had kids and toys, and cars and trailers and tents all over their property. Thanks to the Hector’s we all had a wonderful time.

The Hectors live up in what I would call the higher end of the Sierra foot hills. So for this flat-lander it’s always an adventure getting there. In previous years we slept in tents, this year we took the pop-up trailer we bought last Fall. I was a little nervous about pulling the trailer up to their property. The roads are narrow, the entry to their property is fairly steep and paved with gravel, and my trailer is close to the max towing weight for our mini-van. However, it turned out that all my worries were for nothing; the old Sienna pulled the trailer up the driveway just fine. I now know I can to that trailer *anywhere*.

Pop-Up row

The highlight of the camp-out is usually one of Dave’s famous bonfires. However, this has been a dry year so the fire captain in Dave (who incidentally REALLY IS a fire captain) decided not to have the bonfire. So instead he lit two smaller fires for the kids to cook their hot dogs and smores over. I elected to grill two buffalo burgers on my RVQ instead. We sang around the campfire for an hour or two and then sat and talked around the campfire until late into the evening. The older kids went down into the meadow and played capture the flag until late in the evening. It’s kind of a tradition.

Actually we did have one exciting event earlier in the day. Checkers went swimming. The picture says it all. The good news is that Checkers is very clean now.

My family retired to our PUP (camper) and fired up our portable heater. The kids and I were toasty warm all night but my wife said she still felt cold. I learned two things; one, the heater will have to be closer to my wife and two, I need to get the adapter that will let me run that heater off the propane bottle on the trailer. I went through two of the small propane bottles. However, all that aside my wife still loved sleeping in the PUP over the tent. She liked being able to change her clothes and prepare food in comfort.

The next day some folks went on hikes but I was content to hang around the house and talk with the other folks. I also got to play ball with Ginger, the most tireless yellow Lab in the foothills. Soon it was time to go so I folded up the PUP and we headed down the mountain. Thank you again to the Hectors for a wonderful two days!

Breakfast courtesy of the Hector family

The “Indian Head”

Who says you can’t pick your neighbors? Checkers and the sheep in the barn next door don’t snore too loudly.

Trail down to the meadow.

To see more photos of the Hector camp-out please see my online album: Hector Camp-Out 2008