Your Invited :}^

Cruzer Get Together ;<>

Saturday Dec. 5th

Lake Casitas Hike and/or Picnic ~~ Ojai :*:
10 am hike ~~~~ 12ish picnic lunch

Ventura Marina Dinner ~~~~ Brophy Brothers :Yum:
5:30 pm ~~~~ ^(")^

RSVP ~~ Topa Topa ~~

^"^ ^"^ We'd Be Egg-cited If You Would Join Us ^"^ ^"^

Jann & Dave
Teacherlady Regan
Bette
Topa
Ojailala
Sandie & DD Wendy
Summer818
Zoey the Beagle Dog :P
Ojai JoAnn



~~~~~ Picnic Lunch ~~~~

Rolls & Sliced Cheeses & fixings to make mini sandwiches :chk:
Yummy Cherry Dream Trail Mix :chk:
Table Cloth :chk:
Pumpkin Raisin Cookies.:chk:
Kettle Chips :chk:
Broccoli Salad :chk:

[color=blue][b]Sneak Preview.. As always a wonderful time.. <3

The hikers and the trail..Jann&Dave and lala have all the photos. :clk:

They dusted me going over the damn but it was a good opportunity
to take of photo of where we were headed. Many more photos to come.

Wow, what a nice day I had with fellow Cruzers... and we're not finished.. gotta leave for dinner soon..


We had a leader !!!! Zoey !!!!


Regan sitting, Hiker and Zoey


Crossing Wadleigh Arm with vineyard to the right..


Group at end of trail...
JoAnn, Reagan, Hiker and Bette.. Dave in background.. Jann kept the camp warm...


Same group.. Hiker and Lala changed seats


Dave at the end of the trail....

We saw so much wildlife today... 6 deer at the end of the party... I saw them coming into the lake in the morning... we saw the Northern Harrier again, this time on the other side of the lake.. many red-tails, kites, herons, Merganzers and Western Grebes.. hundreds of them, dancing on the water...




Kestrel


Northern Harrier


Great Blue Heron


White Heron

A few more and then gotta to to Ventura early for a couple of exchanges.. before dinner...


Hiker showing Zoey her 'hostess gift' from Jann.. an eagle scotch tape dispenser


Only a portion of the Western Grebes


Zoey, letting Bette and JoAnn take the lead


Western Grebes.. look close...

Awesome pics...all of them! Zoey is so darn cute! Wonder how Zoey and Darwin would get along :lol: What a good doggie leader!

What a fun time Dave & I both had yesterday! No surprise though. We always have a good time when we get together with Cruzers! Some great friendships have been made....all because of a little bird.....although she's not so little any more! :lol:

Thank you, Cathy/Topa Topa, for pulling this all together at the last minute. :Hugs: It turned out to be a beautiful day in every way!

It was fun sharing our day with several Cruzers that couldn't make it for various reasons.....mostly being too far away. Wouldn't it be great if we could teleport instantly to anywhere in the world, like they do on Star Trek.....without having to pay an arm & a leg to do it! :D Probably not in our lifetime, but it may happen someday!


I will post the pictures from my phone that I sent and received from various Cruzers here when I get home, since I forgot to bring the adaptor for the memory card.

Our hostess with the mostess, Cathy aka Topa Topa Hikers, and her sweet companion, Zoey! It was great to finally meet Zoey. We became fast friends when she discovered that I couldn't resist sharing all kinds of goodies when she looked at me with those big beautiful beagle eyes! :wub:

A perfect day for a hike! :)^ Clear skies and not too hot or cold!


See the white dot the arrow is pointing to? That's our car as viewed from where they hiked.

Showing the lake's 'rainbow' rings that Lala shared with us the other day.


Seems like we always have to have one picture of a Cruzer taking a picture of a Cruzer taking a picture of a Cruzer taking a picture of......well, you get the picture (no pun intended!) Here's Topa/Cathy taking a picture of Dave, who is obviously taking a picture of him taking a picture of her. This could go on forever! :wacko:


One of the many turkey vultures we saw throughout the day. We had to stop for one eating roadkill in the middle of the road on the way to the lake. It didn't stick around for long, however, and we were on our way......and I'm sure it was back eating soon after we left.

Towards the end of the picnic, Lala noticed deer grazing on the hillside on the other side of the road. So everyone had to go photograph them....or at least look at them! :D


Deer grazing seemed totally oblivious to us.

While photographing them, Dave noticed two more to their right.

After a short rest and checking in with the forum, we headed out to Brophy Brothers for dinner. Most of the gang was there. Feels like ages since we've gotten together so there was lots of hugging going on!

Cathy & Regan are here! Let the party begin!

Standing & waving: Cathy/Topa & Regan/Teacherlady
Sitting L to R: Sandie, Sandie's DD Wendy, Chris, Iggle/Kathie

Sheila mantling Cathy/Topa

While the women hugged and chatted (so much to catch up on, you know!), Dave discovered the freshly baked sourdough bread.

Sitting L to R: Iggle/Kathie - Sheila - Linda/Lala/Ojailala - Summer/Vicki, Dave/MIB/Tiger (yes, I have his permission to post this picture)
Standing: Regan/Teacherlady

Seeing us all drooling over them, Regan was only too happy to show off her beautiful designer gloves......made out of sweater sleeves! Some people are just so clever!


After several minutes of chatting and hugging, our server is finally able to take our food requests.

L to R: Cathy/Topa - our server - Chris

This one's for you, Pat & Roy. I forgot to pop up the flash, so the picture is a bit blurry, but Regan wanted to make sure to share her maple leaf beanie for you & Roy. It was our Canadian representative. :)^


Meanwhile, a few of the other beanies were getting thirsty and drinking out of anyone & everyone's drinks!

Thank you, Regan, for that darling little tennis ball beanie, Palmer! I love it! It's cute little tuft on top of it's head reminds me of Harriet from the NEC in Minnesota! :D

In true beanie fashion, they had to check out all the goodies!


Palmer was interested in my clam chowder!


Our Canadian maple-leaf beanie was more interested in the shrimp in Regan's shrimp salad! Look at the size of those shrimp! :v8v:


Beanie Cruz had to check out Cathy/Topa's soup.


Regan's beanie fox and beanie raven stand guard over her shrimp salad....or are they hoping to get some too? :lol:

I wish this picture was clearer. It is such a cute picturre of Lala/Linda & Summer/Vicki. I thought it was me at first....until I saw a head in the corner that the camera seemed to be focusing on. I wish I had noticed so I could have made adjustments. We'll just have to do this again soon!


Iggle/Kathie & Sheila joined us for dinner too!


We finally talked our camera-shy server to pose for us with Beanie Cruz. We then had to explain what the beanies were all about and how we'd all come to meet.

We sang happy birthday to Mina and I recorded it on our camcorder. Now to figurre out how to get it off of there and into a format I can post! :lol:


ADKLaurie sent a text message to say hi to everyone, but it was so noisy in the restaurant, I didn't hear my phone. I will post the picture she sent when I get home too.

Hi Cruzer's, Let's do it again soon! :lol: :}^

Jann ... thanks for the special photo of Regan and 'Maple' Beanie. Looking good! :)^

Glad you all had a really super day together.

Jann...your pics are so great and I really wish I could have been there! Hopefully next time! Looks like y'all had such a wonderful time! Love the Canadian Maple Leaf beanie! Sooo cute!

Lucky Cruzers who got to hike and eat and party at Lake Casitas. The wildlife :clk::clk: were wonderful as were the get together photos of that bunch of happy people. Yay for Dave representing the men and to Regan for bringing the Maple Foot Beanie for the Canadians who couldn't be there and the Raven Beanie for Kris and to Topa for bringing along Zoey :)^

So happy the weather co-operated to make for a great day :><: :><: :><:

Jann and everyone else who posted pictures of your Cruzer get together, thanks so much for sharing and making those of us who are too far away to attend feel a part of things! It looks like it was a beautiful day for the hike and picnic at the lake and everyone looks like they were having a great time at dinner. That shrimp salad looks delish!

I enjoyed very much hiking and eating with the Cruzers. You are all so very special.

MIB

While looking at this picture I took of the lake while the rest of them were hiking, Dave & I discovered that this is where they were hiking.....so it's possible I was taking a picture of Dave taking a picture of me! rofl I just took the picture cuz I thought it looked so pretty with the sun shining on it so brightly!



I sent this picture to a few Cruzers and got this picture back from Paula Eaglet Momster:

Regan/Teacherlady, saw some mistletoe fall from one of the trees and picked it up. We decided it was too dangerous to hold it over any of us, so the beanies decided to try it out. Original Beanie is really giving Beanie Cruz the eye here:


I sent this picture via cell phones to a few Cruzers and got this back from JeanneC:

Here's a picture of us waving hi to Cruzers via cell phones. We talked to ADKLaurie just a few minutes after sending this:

In case you're wondering where MIB/Dave is, he was off to the side eating after that 2-hour hike.

And here's the picture ADKLaurie sent last night waving hi to all of us:

Last, but not least.....here's a picture for Roy. What would a stay at Eagle Central be without a picture of their famous biscuits and gravy! Here's Palmer eagle waiting for me to look away so he can grab my biscuits and gravy this morning:

He is just too cute for words! Thanks again, Regan!

I have a couple videos also, but the sound isn't coming out on this computer, so I'll have to try it on the other computer. Wish me luck.....good or bad, depending on whether you want to see them or not. rofl

Beautiful Lake Casitas Shoreline

:D

Here's everything I've got.. :clk:

Wow, Cathy! Those pictures of the shoreline are awesome! Isn't nature amazing!

Yes, It is more than one can even imagine.

It was truly an amazing day for me. Getting to see Cruzers I have missed, playing with Beanies, enjoying the beauty of Nature. I am so grateful to all of you who were there, and to all of you who were there in Spirit. And I am especially happy because that day felt like I was getting part of my Life back, and remembering who Iam (besides a patient in a doctor's office or lying on a surgical table)! What an amazing day!!!! <3 :**: That Cruzer Mojo at work! :<<>>:

A great Cruzer event, loved all the pictures and comments. :Hugs: :Hugs:

For Jann and Lala