'ello!
I've got a litle time B4 I have to turn to monday morning chores (and business). It's a chilly 49 going up to 69... I too was thinking of sendiung gloves in for my kids. ..... < silent grinnin' > .... OK.... I'm just being naughty. SOrry.
I know what cold is all about... cuz Alicia (my spouse) grew up in a one signal light town in PA.... and when it got into the 50s after a winter the kids would start running around in shorts and T-shirts... or so she sez.
Now on the other hand ... us whimpy ... spoiled Southern Californians consider 49ish to be pretty chilly. There was this kind of frost on some of my car windows and the kids were complaining "Hey Dad!? Where's the heat?" while we were driving to school today. I had to re-explain how the engine has to heat up and our interior has a thermostadt - so when the engine heats up the thermostadt automatically starts the fan to blow warm then later hot air into the car. Etc... etc... etc...
So - on another note ... a few days ago I booked camping reservations for going to EL Capitan state park! When I was a kid we never went anywhere for vacation - as my family had a small business which we ran 365 days a year. Other kids used to talk about travel and camping (especially) which I used to muse was "Gee... they're soooo lucky toi go camping"...
As such we're able to make reservations several months in advance - and they sell out quick for the summer weekends. For the dates we wanted - the camp ground sold out in a little over an hour! I was amazed.
Alicia and I went camping for one nite last summer with friends ... it was sort of "fun" in a very spartan way. At that moment - in retrospect - I think I would have preferred a nice Ritz Carlton or something like a 4 diamond bed and breakfast for that rustic flavor... < snicker > .... however the kids were having a blast. I was mildly amazed. SO we spoke last summer about making plans for a PRIME camp site as opposed to what I must confess was a less than premium car camping spot. We decided on trying beach camping.
Frankly ... in these unusal times when our economy is in some kind of transition - the prospect of staying on the beach for a weekend for all of $12.50 + food (Camp sites are $25 a nite - for up to 8 people) ... the cost is kind of rediculously inexpensive. Motel 6 lodging for the dtaes we're in Santa Barbara start at $105 a nite... and minimally nice and "normal" places run $200-300 a nite with NO beach proximity. For nice beach local hotels (walking distance) you can go to the Becarra where it starts at $600 a nite.
So, we have 3 camp sites for a grand total of $57.50 per site including the $7.50 booking fee... for a simple 2 nite stay. We're thinking of going nuts on the meals since a Costco is only 11 minutes away - IE - King Creab legs, BBQ ribs, rotessiree (misspelled) chickens - and whatever else they have. Plus we hope to do the usual things - roast marshmellos, make hot coco, set up an LCD projector for kids' movies and so on. What a bargain... eh?
Anyways.... it shall be a first time experience for me... more or less. And definately it'll be a 1st time experience for all of the kids.
OK... gotta finish chomping my breakfast = then I have to turn to other tasks before me...
Oooo... and K... I'd say Bruce has a wealth of connections in our trade .... and should have no difficulty with finding a firm who will pay handsomely for his knowledge. After you've been around for a while - you get to know a LOT of useful people. So... trust in the future being OK....