Lake Casitas - 6th Annual Lake Casitas Rally

[Bobbie Mayer]

I've been dealing with a bronchical problem that's not going away in the next few days. I just called Ventura City Offices regarding smoke. The lady told me that she doesn't have a bronchical problem and the smoke is bothering her. She also said that looking out to the ocean it is usually very clear but with the smoke around it's terribly hazy. Oh, she also said she'd heard there's a fire up near Santa Barbara not sure where but maybe some of the smoke is coming from it.

Thats an issue for me, too, because I have asthma, but I'm going to wait a bit and see. If the wind changes and starts to come from the west it will clear up quickly.

Bobbie

[Joy A]

I've been feeling so crummy that I'm really not ready for this trip. One day it feels like a cold coming on then the next sort like a flu. Very tired and energy level is low.


My reservation is for B52 Thursday through Sunday, out on Monday.

I plan to call at 8:30am tomorrow to cancel.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Would some or all who are going to arrive Thursday let us have their phone numbers so we can call and check out the smoke situation? It looks much more promising now with the wind changing but things could change fast again.

Bobbie

[Bobbie Mayer]

Never mind, found the phone number on the info, and the conditions are looking good. See you all there tomorrow!

Bobbie

[Gina D.]

Bobbie, I am doing much better today than I was yesterday, and I am right smack dab in the middle of where all the smoke is laying in.

The weather is cooling down, and when I was walking the pups this morning, I swear I felt a tad bit of moisture.. you should be OK.

[MarieN]

I live near Lake Casitas (Ventura, about 15 miles way) and we have not been affected by the fires other than smoke and ashes (which are pretty light today; barely noticible). I have a friend who lives about 4 miles from Lake Casitas and this morning she said it is not as smoky in Ojai (very near to Lake Casitas) as it is here, so it should be fine by this weekend. Also, the fires around this area have been 100% contained so won't be moving anywhere now (there was a big fire visible from Lake Casitas Sept. 2006 so I think that brush has all been burned away, and that would be some ground the Piru fire would have had to traverse to get anywhere near the lake).

I have been looking for a Fiberglass RV since May or so, but haven't found the perfect one yet (16' Scamp or Bigfoot 17 with a side bathroom/shower combination and the bunk option). Still, would it be OK if I came out with my 4 year old to admire your campers and say hello on Saturday?

[Bobbie Mayer]

Come on out, Marie. I PM'd you with some info. And thanks for the smoke update.

Bobbie

[Laurie T]

Greetings Carol and RV fiberglass members,

On Wednesday my partner Tish underwent emergency heart surgery to save her life. I am so relieved to report that the operation was a success and she was released yesterday with strict orders from her doctor to rest, heal and recover for a week which unfortunately necessitates us missing the rally.

I wanted to let you know because we had reserved site 22 just in case someone needs it. I did email lake casitas this morning to tell them we needed to cancel but I'm not sure I had the correct email address. So if someone needs the site just pass this info along to reservations. The reservation is under Tish's legal name, Mary Litchfield.

I really regret not being able to explore all the tiny campers or being able to kayak the lake with Tish at night while the stars are blazing or being able to connect with the many friendly folks we met at the last rally.

Please hold Tish and I in your prayers while she recovers.

I do hope there will be another rally soon, so keep us posted so we may plan on attending.

Until then...celebrate life!

Warmly,

Laurie

[Lizbeth]

Laurie,

I'm so sorry to hear of Tish's emergency surgery. Eric and I send our best wishes for a smooth recovery! We were looking forward to seeing you again. We are getting ready to leave right now and will let Carol know why you aren't able to make it.

Take care!

Liz

[Gina D.]

Oh My!

Yes, you take care and I hope all goes well!

[Gina D.]

I think they all got arrested for partying too hard..

No one has internet there to share the festivities as they happen?

[Chris B]

Well, most of us just got up a little while ago...it was one giant party .... People bouncing off the walls of these little trailers...doing the banana man dance ...we really tied one on!

You believe that?

It was a nice rally. I think we had a little over 25 trailers. Friday night was the weenie roast and introductions. Saturday included trailer open house in the morning, a scrapbooking lesson by Lisa M, wine tasting with appetizers, guessing how many pieces of halloween candy in a jar, desserts (and they were good!), and hanging around the campfire catching up with old friends and getting acquainted with new ones. This morning (Sunday) there was an optional two hour lake tour on a pontoon boat which we had done in the past, but couldn't stay for today.

As always, Carol and Jim were great hosts. Maggi and Wes hosted the evening festivities at their campsite with Wes, aka Chief Firebug, keeping the fire going and telling his infamous bad jokes that always make you laugh, Maggi and Bonnie officiating over the wine tasting (it was legit this time), Anita providing the "guess the number of candy corn in the jar" game of which Chuck's first guess hit it right on the money, but he changed it, so Maggi was closer and won! Lots of laughs and fun. And, on a more serious side, Carol collected money from those who wanted to contribute for the thousands of fire victims here in California. This one seems to have come way too close or affected some family or friends of all of us. But, our beautiful state will recover....it always does!

So, there you have it in a nutshell, Gina. We missed you! Our skies are looking much better and I hope that are are on your way home soon, if you aren't already.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I think they all got arrested for partying too hard..

No one has internet there to share the festivities as they happen?

Gina, there was a free one-hour trial of internet. I signed on on Friday night and it started off saying I had 30 minutes! During that 30 minutes I managed to get email downloaded and hit about 3 web pages. It was that slow. Luckily the 30 minutes started over again each day, so I was able to keep an eye on email, but it wasn't conducive to any kind of web browsing or much posting. Worst I've seen since 1200 baud dial-up (and I'm not sure it wasn't worse.) This morning it was faster but I had no time!

Anyway, it was a great time, I had to leave at noon just as Joe arrived to check out my Campster. I was meeting my friend in Valencia to do the turtle trade we missed when I left the Mountain Ranch Rally early. Pound for pound, I won that trade- I now have two Central American ornate wood turtles that are about 4 inches long each, and she has a quarter-sized spotted turtle!

We had a really good time. I had a great site, slept well both nights, had good food, and met lots of nice people. Merlin and Jack made lots of friends, too. (My sweet, well-behaved Jack has been barking non-stop since he got home- I guess he knows he can't bark at parks but saved it all up.) It was fun to see all the different trailers, too. Saturday was cloudy and sprinkled off and on but never really rained, and Friday and Sunday were both Sunday. The boat ride this morning was an added perk. If my pictures turned out I'll post some of them later.

Bobbie

[Bobbie Mayer]

Okay, just a few pictures as I did not take very many. Here is a shot of my campsite (above the red tent) taken from the boat.





I made these pics a bit too big so will resize before posting the rest.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Here's my trailer from the shore side.





I didn't take many other trailer pictures, but here are two of the ones that were NOT big Casitas, lol.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Here's some of the group on the boat.





A common egret (I still cannot imagine these lovely birds being called "common"- I grew up surrounded by Great Blue Herons but never saw an egret until I moved to California.)

[Joseph Domingos]

Hey All,
Though I didn't get to camp at this trip (Work and school consume all my time!) I was able to drop by on Sun afternoon and eyeball a few rigs. I was really impressed by how many fiberglass rigs were still there, it was SOOO great seeing a campground FULL of FBRVs! hehe It DID seem that the majority of rigs were Casitas, or was that just my observation?
It was really great to meet Bobby, a fellow Compact-sibling owner! Great rig Bobby!
I also got to peak in the ONLY 13' Casita I saw in the whole campground, nice rig guys!
Also great meeting Lizbeth and getting the tour of your Boler, old sure isn't a bad thing huh?
And many thanks to Robert and Frederick for the tour of your Fiber Stream, a very nice rig! I'm already dreaming of my own 16-17' rig down the road...hehe And has anybody else seen Fred's checklists? VERY thorough! hehe
Now Im curious to see how some of our wider siblings are inside, like the Burro Widebodies, Bigfoots, etc, to see WHICH 16-17' rig I want to dream of! hehe
So many thanks to all the folks I met, and hopefully next time there's a local trip I'll actually get to CAMP! YAY! hehe
Joe

[Bobbie Mayer]

Now Im curious to see how some of our wider siblings are inside, like the Burro Widebodies, Bigfoots, etc, to see WHICH 16-17' rig I want to dream of! hehe

Yeah, you got there just after the Bigfoot next to the 13' Casita left. I got to see two of the three Bigfoots, and really liked them, though I'm not sure I'd like not having more view behind my vehicle. Maybe with a camera on the back. I also forgot to mention the really nice Scamp. It had the nicest wood floor (or laminate?) that I've seen.

Bobbie

[Lisa M.]

Thank you to everyone who worked together to make the rally so much fun! It was great to meet all of you and gather answers to my questions. I had the best neighbors around!

Yes, Casitas outnumbered everything else about 5 to 1! The Scamp was the most adorable thing I've ever seen--what a nice interior! ALMOST enough to make me give up my bathroom for a cute little L-shaped kitchen!

On the way through Bakersfield I stopped to dump at Camping World and met a man with an adorable red and white trailer who was on his way back from a vintage trailer meet. I mentioned where I'd been and he told me there was a fiberglass trailer at their meet that's he'd never seen before--a Fiber Stream! I told him, "Oh yes, I know someone that has one, they're really neat, aren't they?" and sounding like I knew what I was talking about!

Thanks again everyone for a great weekend! And Jobi says "Woof!"

[Gina D.]

These are for Jobi... from Sticky.

(He is mad we didn't come)