Leaving off with Part I, Apple Pie Moonshine. Yep, that is where we left off :)
After we left the mechanics we headed to the campsite. About a mile from the campgrounds, the engine died while we were driving down the street! NOT AGAIN! Fortunately, The Doctor made a mild adjustment to the coil (paid attention to him that time!) and we were back in business!!!
Few minutes later, we arrived! 10 hours after leaving home, we made it!!!! Before anything was unpacked, we grabbed the moonshine and all took a couple of sips. It was so delicious after the day we had.
Next step, get the fire roaring!
The rest of the crew arrived shortly after we did. This is when the true fun began. It was quite entertaining watching three guys “try” to put a tent up. Attempt one resulted in this:
Think something is wrong with this picture
Once the tents were up, it was time to hit the trails for some night riding. Head lamps were mounted and ready to go. With this being the first time mountain biking for the other girl and the first time at these trails for the others, we stayed to the blue trail systems. Challenging enough to have fun in the dark but easy enough to where no one would break their necks.
When the riding was done, we showered up and got our beverages on! We stayed up late into the night laughing and having a blast. Didn’t even notice the drop in temperature. The next morning however, the low temperature and leftover effects of the night before were very obvious!
The Doctor and I were the first to rise. He is a good man and got the fire restarted.
Morning Fire
With the fire going breakfast was next on the agenda. The Doctor makes this amazing Cheesy Eggs with Potatoes, so at my request, he began making it! As he slaved away over the little stove, I laid down on the bench part of the picnic table. The crisp fall colors in the tree contrasted great against the blue sky. There was also a very cool low fog rolling though.
View from a bench
Low fog rolling through the campsite
Around this time, the other tent started coming to life, just in time for cheesy eggs!!
There are signs of life!
Cheesy Eggs with Potatoes
Finally once everyone was up and fed, it was time to hit the trails! We rode over to the little stunt area and rode around for a short time.
Put me in coach, Im ready!!
Look at those skills! First try!
When were were all warmed up, trail bound we went! One of the guys with us had to be back at the campsite in an hour so we made the first ride of the day in the same general area as we did Friday night. Give everyone a glimpse of what they were riding through during the dark.
It was a great ride. I was really looking forward to the afternoon ride. This is when we were going to hit the Vortex trails and check out the stunt area. Before then though, it was lunch time!
Sadly, my friend Samantha, the other girl on the trip, fell going over a section on the trails. As she was falling she tried to catch herself but ended up landing on her wrist and her hip landed on some rocks. Needless to say, she wouldn’t be able to join us on the afternoon trip :(
When it was time, the guys and I made the trek over to Vortex. This was the most packed I have seen it before. There were a new set of high jumps added to the whoops area. The guys that were doing these jumps were in full gear (shin guards, full face helmets). They were insane. We stood there for a while watching them do jumps.
We sat there watching and after a bit, decided it was time to go ride! We rode some trails over on the Vortex trail system then made our way back to camp. Sunset was coming soon and we didn’t want to get stuck out in the woods without our headlamps.
Made our way back, showered and then thoughts of dinner danced through our head. Last time we were up at Santos, there was this pizza place near by we discovered. They made Ranch Pizza! Instead of using actual pizza sauce, they substituted in Ranch dressing. Yes, it is as amazing as it sounds! I have been craving this pizza for the last 7 months. The moment had arrived, the moment I would be reunited with my Ranch Pizza.
I had their business card from the last trip so we dialed them up…”we’re sorry but the number you have dialed has been disconnect…”. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I got out my phone and did a Google search and came across their Facebook page (seriously, how did we figure things out before smart phones!!). On their page it sad they closed September 5th. I cried a little inside upon seeing that. So we ended up having Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut, while delicious isn’t the same as Ranch Pizza.
After dinner we just relaxed around the campfire and called it an early night. Early night to bed and early morning to rise. We all decided that we needed to get back home and take care of Sunday things before the week started. We packed up the jeeps and hit the road.
We made it home with The Jeep just dying on us once. Luckily it was as we were pulling into a gas station. Have to say at least we were fortunate enough to have The Jeep break down while we were in gas stations! With a quick adjustment, we were on the road. 30 minutes later we were in the drive way. Hello Home, good to see you again!
Time to start planning the next camping trip!
