So I spent the weekend (including Friday night) on a camp-out with my Boy Scout Troop. (I use the term "my" because it was the Troop of which I was a member over 30 years ago; and I was Scoutmaster of the Troop from mid-'95 till just this past December) Anyways, it was even more fun this time because one of the kids in the Scout uniforms was Tink's 11-yr-old brother; not even a week after graduating from Cub Scouts. Had a great time with the kids (especially the "new kid") camping and fishing and generally scaring the be jeezus out of the wildlife around Lake Cuyamaca. (Oh, and the San Diego native females of the human species thought the afternoon temperature was hot, so ) Anyway, the reason for this thread's title is thus: Once again, at my insistance we took the long route through the "Cleveland National Forest"; and even with several guys (armed with Ford engine ID photos) looking, we didn't see a single Cleveland anywhere! Just a couple of sad-looking GM four-bangers rusting away under a burnt-out pine tree Misled yet again.......
The GM 4 bangers were the carnage left over from the roving Clevelands out there. You have to sit really still and bait them out with Cheez Whiz and Slim Jims. They only come out at night under a blue moon. They are wicked scary.
Sounds like a good time. I'd like to head out west one of these years... You must not have been carrying a credit card or had large sums of cash on hand. That is the ONLY way to find a live Cleveland.
I dunno, Carlo; I had what has to be some of the most irresistible bait with me (actually pulling me around)........ that monstrous motor with the slightly-above-midget torque; a Ford 5.4 Cammer. I've heard that Clevelands will come out of the deepest recesses of the mountains to toy with and torture a "new 331".
And some of the designated "deserts" have areas with more trees than the "forests" . The transition from "Anza-Borrego Desert State Park" to "Cleveland National Forest" comes to mind; since I just drove through it Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately; I've seen a lot of now-barren "forests" that were loaded with trees not too many years ago.... victim of Calfornia's delusional "forest management" practices. No thinning, no attempt to clean up the underbrush and sucker growth; leaving a dense mass of tinder that dries up as the ground is "over-used" and can't hold enough watershed for the dense growth during drought years. That thought came to my mind this past weekend; along with the sad thought that my son Matt isn't going to see "our" Scout Camp the same way I first saw it 34 years ago as a kid and again for quite a few years as an adult, up until the North San Diego County fire four years ago. I see you live in Orange County; if you've ever done anything with Scouts up there, you've probably figured out that I'm talking about Lost Valley. And it's not all on California's shoulders, either. The cluster-coital mess that was the "Rodeo-Chedeski" fire in the White Mountains of Arizona a few years back was the result of the very same mis-management. "The Chedeski part" burnt across my Mom's south property line and almost burned down her cabin (Yay for fiberglass roof shingles ) on its way to burning down the old Overgaard township. People thinking they know how to "protect" forests can produce the most idiotic methods of burning one down. Jeeze, I sure got preachey there! Chalk it up to a native Desert Rat's appreciation of large stands of pine and oak. I get a little riled up when I watch idiots take some fantastic environment and turn it into a political pawn. Makes me wanna smack some sense into some people. Anyways, back to the topic -I can do that, since I just 'jacked my own thread- Have any of you SoCal types seen any Clevelands roaming the Cleveland National Forest? There was this one early 70's Bronco that had the familiar "not-a-Windsor-but-not-quite-a-big-block" sound to it as it crossed paths with us on S-1 halfway between Mt Laguna and the turn for Julian Other than that, the only "muscle machine" (except for the Harley's) that I saw was a C4 beating it's way down the hill from Mt Laguna.
I haven't done any scouting since I was a teenager. My boys are a few years away from that (2 and 4 years). It will be a while before any of my Clevelands are roaming much more than my garage. Two of them are out on stands and the one that actually in a car (my 72) is going to come out soon... Well, OK, I guess one of them will do some roaming in the back of my "company truck" (a 2005 Toyota Camry ) on its way to the machine shop! If my boss only knew!
Yeah but....... I'd have to drive through that whole LA and SF/Sacramento nasty stuff to get there Unless it's Tahoe... Tahoe is cool. If we ever become multi-bazillionaires; Mrs StDr and I might lease a condo in Tahoe......
My favorite is Avenue of the Giants---well worth the drive through LA and SFO and all points between and north to get there! "Wow" does not cover the experience. Tahoe/Auburn/Grass Valley don't suck either!
Guess that means I can stop orders on the In law house when I get married?!?!? SWEEEEEEETTT!!!! My parents are going to avoid turning into another half avid set of snowbirds... I like this plan. Trish
Yeah, sure; your Mom and I will divvy up our summer days between Tahoe, Colorado Springs and Prescott. The dogs and horses, on the other hand, will spend thier summers with Chance and Latigo's "Mommy"!
Well let me get moved to Bragg, Latigo will go be a permanent fixture up there with me,at least as far as I'm concerned, SVTcobra still wasn't too sure about the overexuberent furball just yet, but as I've said before my animals come with the package. Chance however, being the old fart that kinda likes carting Matt around will get to be a desert rat a bit longer til I get some good land to spoil him rotten. As for everyone else in the menagerie, once I have land I'll take my old show goat back, everyone else can be divided up between Jessie and Matt for the witner vacations.
