South Lake Tahoe Hash

For those of you unfamiliar with the Hash House Harriers - check out the wikipedia description. This blog is written in the typical style of the Hash Trash, which describes the events of the hash and refers to hashers by their nicknames, which are bestowed upon them irreverently. Unnamed hashers are referred to as "Just" before their "nerd names." Bill's hash name is eXceSs and Debby's is Lycktonite.

Once again the call of the wild brought eXceSs out of retirement to lay another “last” trail for the TiTi Hash (our traveling Trailer Trash hash). Since this was going to be in the Land of SLuTs (the South Lake Tahoe Hash), and cHeeK & dOnG and Doggie Style were setting a pub crawl on Friday, we officially declared this a SLuTy TiTi hash.

This story begins many months ago, in May, when Lycktonite, Doggy Style, and eXceSs took their canoes down the Upper Truckee River when it was a-ragin’. In spite of capsizing, losing things, finding things, freezing, warming back up, and doing it again, Lycktonite got it in her head to set a trail here that included rafting down the river. We picked a date in July that seemed to make sense and started planning. I must confess, I was a doubter, because the river dries out during the summer, and gets pretty shallow by mid-July, I didn't think rafting was going to work. Fortunately, a few days before the hash, we had a major storm and the river started flowing a little deeper and faster, and Lycktonite’s vision was affirmed.

We scouted trail once, finding a path from the campground to the river and ignoring several “No Trespassing” signs to see if we could get to the drop-in on the south side of the airport. It soon became apparent that we’d need a different drop-in spot because the river was running so slowly, we’d be out until midnight if we went with the original concept. So we figured out a way to shorten the trail and started working on logistics.

Step one in our logistics problem was where to get the rafts, so we made that easy and told people to bring their own and bought a couple of cheapies for those without. Step two was getting the rafts to the drop-in spot. And along came Just Joe, Suzanne’s new beau with a big-ass pickup truck. Step three was inflating the rafts, since we couldn't fit 30-something inflated rafts in the truck. So we bought a new battery-operated air pump, which gave us three, and the game was on.

The pubcrawl hared by the SLuT GM’s, cHeeK-n-dOnG and Doggie Style, started at Turn 3. The TiTi hashers set out on bikes and were eventually joined by wankers from Yuba City, San Francisco and San Jose, who walked the trail. We were warned that our bikes would be a detriment on the shiggalicious trail and so they were, but we prevailed through pitchers of beer, false trails, beer, over fences, a beer check at the river, crossing Hwy 50 on a Friday night in July, up and around and back again to Steamers for more beers and some grub, and ending up for late night pizza and of course, more beers. All within walking distance of the campground, which kept us all safe, if not sane.

Hares cHeeK-n-dOnG & Doggie Style

Beer check at the Truckee River, under the bridge

We were blessed with a great turnout, with folks coming from the South Bay, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, Marysville, Kansas, and on and on. The trail was a typically beautiful Tahoe trail with vistas of the mountains, Truckee River, and the airport. It had lots of checks, falses, back checks, twists and turns, and even a few hills. Everyone made it safely to the drop-in, where we had a snack of tortillas stuffed with penis butter, banana, and chocolate—a suggestion from Poopatrooper that worked out perfectly. We handed out six packs of beer to be carried to the river. The rafts were mostly inflated by the time the pack arrived and the rafting was underway in short order.  

eXceSs doing his "Chalk Talk" (explaining the marks that people may find on the trail)

 And they're off!

The trip down the river was totally fun. We had a couple of bags of wine to augment the beer, which were tossed from raft to raft, until Fairy Plunger got one and didn't want to let go. Fortunately, Missed Her Sister wasn't present, so we didn't have to worry about water cannons. There were a few spots where we had to disembark and carry the rafts, but the timing worked out well and soon enough we were on our way back to the campground for circle and a keg of Sierra Nevada.

I can’t remember much about Circle, except that we were blessed by a surprise visit from Missy Pissy, the TiTi H3 Religious Advisor. Unfortunately, she ended having a little too much fun on trail so Panty Free stepped in and did a great job, as usual.

On Sunday, those that survived the night and didn't have to leave early, wandered down to the river again to chill out, bag a few rays, hit on the newbies, and name one of our Virgins. Missy Pissy and Rock Cock had invited a Virgin, Just  Jane, who brought Just Alix to the hash who had a bit of a mishap with the chocolate, penis butter, and banana snack, and was aptly named, “Chocolate Squirter,” pretty much assuring she’ll never cum back.

Traditional Naming Ceremony Followed by Baptism with Flour

South Lake Tahoe, part deux....July

Hmmm.....July was a tough month and it's taken me how long, uh 3 months, to even think about tackling the blog. My daughter has been fighting various drug addictions since she was a teen and in July things really fell apart. Unfortunately it happened in the middle of a work day at the campground and the day we were to leave for the High Sierra Music Festival over the 4th of July weekend. I spent most of that weekend on the phone dealing with many issues that finally culminated in  her requesting to go to rehab. But what one may not realize is that one cannot simply say they want to go to rehab and you just find a place to go - oh no, you must first find "a bed" at a facility, and finding a bed somewhere that you can actually afford is a whole other issue. I spent an entire day frantically calling one rehab after another with the same answer - in 4-6 weeks a spot may be available. By the end of the day I had come up empty and was quite depressed when my ex let me know that his sister had spoken to a good friend the night before who told her about an awesome long-term rehab facility where she had gotten clean many years before, and where she volunteered on a significant basis. My ex gave me her name and the name of the facility - I immediately called and was given the same "4-6 week mantra." I got the friend's contact info and gave her a call, but not before checking out the website and seeing the cost of the place was a whopping $7500/month. WHOA....there was no possible way we could afford that. I spoke to this woman and she told me to hang on for a few hours and she said she would see what she could do and asked what we could afford to pay. Long story short my daughter got into this fabulous facility and we momentarily breathed a sigh of relief. She was still facing some legal issues, though, and the month was filled with angst.

Fun at High Sierra...

Poi and Hula Hoop Workshop

Flying the Colors

In the meantime...we continued having a most awesome time hanging out with our friend's Daniel and Jen - 

we headed out one night for sunset at the Tahoe Keys pier

Bill had fun at one of the Thursday night free concerts with Daniel, Jen, Joe and Suzanne - Live at Lakeview after their weekly bike ride to pick up our CSA veggie & fruit boxes.

We spent many weekend afternoons listening to the bands at the Beacon at Camp Rich, where we'd always run into friends. Like the time our friend, Michelle, crashed our table with 5-10 of her best friends - oh, that was also the day we ordered veggie burgers with very specific ingredients, which they came with an added topping of BACON - yes, veggie burgers with bacon, a very common order, I'm sure!

And more days on the Truckee in our canoe with Daniel, Jen and Socs...

Here we are at one of our favorite activities - we started scouting for the hash we were going to hare at the end of the month.

The days spent at the New Nu Dity beach were legendary!

Daniel and Jen

Socrates chillin' on my raft

Our friend, masseuse and fellow hasher, Becca came up for the weekend to help relieve my stress and Bill treated her to a massage including an elbow to the derriere!

Another fabulous reason about being "home" is having my nails done by my friend and manicurist extraordinaire, Lillian - who also knows how to create a wonderful outdoor space

Our friend, Levi (next to Bill), who was "thru-hiking" the PCT caught up with us in Tahoe with his friend Rub-a-Dub

I figured out how to retouch the pink in my hair that my daughter had done for me.

And who appeared on our patio and totally surprised us a couple of days before the hash - yes, Maria, Brian and "our dogs," Ernie and Buddha!! 

Hank Plank & the 2x4's - Portland, OR

from Bill...

Debby and I had been to Portland, once before, for a wedding. We stayed at a hotel in the city and got to do a little exploring on public transportation. We liked what we found there and were looking forward to going back in the RV. Debby also needed to fly to LA to visit her daughter, and Portland was the best place for her to fly from. We packed up Bebe and headed north to Vancouver, Washington, where we had found an RV park called 99 RV Park conveniently located on Route 99 near the Portland Airport.

Fortunately, we were travelling on a Sunday, so the drive through Portland on the interstate wasn't too awful. I really dislike driving through cities because of the traffic, unfamiliar roads, aggressive drivers, and the fact that the lane I’m in almost always gets scraped off and I have to merge my big ass over. Thankfully, Portland isn't a big city so getting through it was easy.

99 RV Park was a nicely maintained park with a few long-term residents and we got a pull-through site at the end of the row, so getting in was a piece of cake. We were considering staying an extra day so we inquired about the availability of our site for that day when we checked in. Unfortunately, someone had our site booked for a week beginning the day we wanted it so the manager told us she could get us into a spot, but we’d have to move. We put off that decision until the next day on the way to the airport when we decided to go ahead and do it.

Our friends Maria and Brian showed up, after hours, on the day Debby left and got a spot in the park. It’s always fun to see them on the road and to see “our” dogs, Buddha and Ernie. I went with them the next morning to check them in and extend our stay, little realizing how difficult that would be. It reminded me of working at Tahoe Valley Campground in July when the place was packed. 

The manager was out and a workamper in her late 70’s was working at the counter. I could tell right away, she wasn’t comfortable with computers or the campground’s reservation system. Watching her trying to make the reservation was like watching my Mom wrestle with her new iPhone; it was a bit frustrating for everyone. I told her which site the manager had told us we could move to, but she was having a very difficult time booking the reservation, even though the computer said the site was open for us; eventually the manager returned and took over.

When she started to book the site she said, “Oh, that’s John’s site, one of our long-term residents. He’s probably going to come in later today and extend his stay.” Rather than wait for him to come in, she called him and sure enough he wanted another week, so we had a dilemma. After about half an hour of waiting patiently, though, the manager decided to put the people that were coming into our site somewhere else, and we got to stay the extra day without moving—well worth the wait. But, I did picture our TVC managers, Joel, Jamaica, and Billy, working magic on our reservation system to fit everyone in when it seemed impossible.

One of the things we've been doing since going on the road is visiting my long-lost friends and family. In Portland, I may have made my most obscure reconnection. On a dark and stormy night back around 1998, I stopped by Hollywood Alley in Mesa, Arizona, to listen to some live music on my way home from a Phoenix Hash House Harriers mismanagement meeting; Hank Plank and the 2X4s were playing. They were wearing huge foam cowboy hats and jump suits and playing some fun music that was a blend between rock, bluegrass, and a little bit of country. After they finished their gig, they asked if anyone could put them up for the night so they wouldn't have to drive to Las Vegas. I invited them to my place, which was just down the road, and they packed up their stuff and came over. We stayed up listening to Pink Floyd and watching the Wizard of Oz and having a great time. They departed early the next morning and left me a CD and a T-shirt. At the time, the members of the band were all from Portland, OR. When I realized we’d be going to Portland, I started searching the internet to see if they were playing. The band had split up, but somehow I managed to contact Matt Plank, the band’s founder, who fondly remembered the night at my house and we arranged to meet at a local bar where a bluegrass band was playing. Brian joined me and we met Matt at the bar. He was wearing a Hank Plank t-shirt so he was easy to spot. We had a fun time listening to the music and catching up on the last 15 years. Later he invited us to his place where we met his wife and continued the party. Debby took a cab in from the airport and got to meet Matt and his wife and then drive Brian and I home at midnight. I’m wondering if Matt Plank and I might be bad for each other’s health. At least we only get together every 15 years or so.

On Wednesday we went for a walk with Maria and Brian and the dogs. The walk was pretty standard fare for hashers—a few false trails, ignoring the “No Dogs” sign in a park, a little shiggy, and the discovery of a natural foods market just down the street from our park. After the walk, Debby went to the market to stock up for the next leg of our adventure, which would take us to the Oregon coast.

Thai Dinner with M&B in Vancouver, WA

Eugene

Last fall we spent a few weeks in the eastern part of Oregon, so this year I wanted to see more of the west side. We left stormy Crater Lake and slithered into 90 degree temps in Eugene - it didn't exactly feel like 90 but the warmth sure was welcome! Our hash friend, Batt, who was living in super cool Ashland last fall has now moved to, and fell in love with, Eugene. It's always fun to visit a city where you know someone - you get more of a local's view.

I spent our first day doing laundry at a very sub-par laundromat and Bill washed Bebe, who was very, very dirty. Our first brewery stop was Ninkasi, where they host a different food truck every day - we got lucky with Wednesday night being Sammitch night - with lots of vegan choices!

Bill got totally photo bombed by a bald spot!

My new knit hat from the Farmer's Market and I finally found a raincoat at REI, on sale and got to use my dividend too!!

Brewing Process

Thursday, September 19th was the full moon and Batt planned a moonlit hike up Mt. Pisgah with a couple of growlers from Falling Sky Brewing. A couple of others joined us along with Ramsey (Batt's dog). Batt supplied us with colorful lighting for our short, but steep climb up to a beautiful view of the city.

Definitely not the best pics I've ever taken!!

Friday night we met Batt after work with a bunch of hashers at Claim 52. A great little brewery in a warehouse with the requisite corn-hole game and really good beer. One of my favorite breweries as there were so many beers I liked and I love the little hole in the wall breweries where brewing takes precedence.

I think the highlight of our visit was the Saturday Farmer's Market - wow, the most amazing vegetables I have ever seen; each stand seemed as if it was more fabulous than the one before. Everything there is locally grown and produced, from the food to the clothing and crafts. There was a children's concert of xylophones - all different keys and it was fabulous! Here is a little taste...