PVT. CHICKENHAWK'S PISMO BEACH EXCURSION JUNE '97

On Friday afternoon June 18, Buzzard Bait, Viva, Lobo, Cisco, Panchito and I (Footloose), left Lancaster for Pismo Beach. We had an enjoyable and scenic ride over the mountains to the coast. We came out at Santa Maria and only had a few miles from there to Pismo. When we got to the sand (about 8:00 PM) we reached Iceman on the CB and he informed me to unload the Cruiser, unhook the trailer from the truck and let the Cruiser tow it in. There was high tide and I had to ride closer to the soft sand and with everything hooked up it would be tough. Pvt. Chickenhawk met us about 10 minutes later and helped me unload. Iceman followed with Jolene and TJ. Chickenhawk had already told me that his dad had buried the truck and camper BIG TIME. I teased Iceman about it and all he said was " I thought I could go anyplace with front and rear lock-ers". Sandman and I later told him that all the lockers and power in the world don't do much good with 65 PSI of air in the tires. Iceman said that it was going to take Sandman's tank and the Cruiser (mini tank) to get him out. I told him that I thought he was driving up in Fidget's jeep. Iceman was not a happy camper. Any-way, we got to the 8 mile marker and Iceman showed me where to go. I tried following him but before I got to the level, hard pack sand, I started to bog down. I immediately stopped so as not to bury the truck as other people had done. It seemed that the brace across the underside of the truck was doing a good job as a plow. Iceman told me to leave the truck there and call that camp. Buzzard Bait then informed me that camp-ing there was not agreeable to her. So I told Chicken-hawk to park the trailer and come back with the Cruiser. I got my shovel, cleared some sand and hook-ed up the tow strap. Gary drove the truck and I the Cruiser. We said go, and I poured the horsepower on. The cruiser was barely moving so I upped the HP to 4500 RPM, and we started to move more. I continued until I made the turn around and watched Gary almost take a sand dune fence out with the truck as he was making the turn. Buzzard Bait commented later that she had never had that much fun with a white boy. We settled down, had dinner and turned in for the night. About 2:00 AM I heard Sandman and Fidget on the CB and told Buzzard Bait to tell him where we had camped. We also told him about Iceman's predicament and he laughed.

In the morning we went over to where Iceman was plowed and attempted to pull him out. Sandman tried three times and each time he kept bogging down. I told Sandman to hook the Cruiser up to his truck, there was no use abusing the equipment. He agreed and this time we got him down to the hard pack sand. The Cruiser came through again, with a little help from Sandman. We had breakfast and then went out to play. We had a blast. Chickenhawk must have grown some big huevos in boot camp. He would go up a dune turn around and just as the Jeep was heading down, he would turn sideways and crab it across and down. It scared the crap out of me and all I was doing was watching, hell, even Polar Bare would have closed his eyes. Iceman and I did some conservative crabbing but nothing like the kid. The Chickenhawk insisted that he take the Cruiser for a ride. Hell, who am I to argue with a 220 lb, all muscle 18 year old that's got bigger huevos than mine or Iceman's gut. He had a ball with the Cruiser and did things with it that it will never see again, well not until he comes back on leave again. We continued on and did the hills, bowls and everything else. It seemed that Sandman had a smile from ear to ear. I did hear Fidget and Jolene do their famous call of the wild. We then went back for lunch, took a nap and went out again on the dunes for more fun. I hate to rub it in, but the day was beautiful and the dunning was just absolutely wonderful. The amount of vehicles was low, and at times we had some areas to ourselves. It was one of the best time that I've had at Pismo. We went back, had dinner and started a fire. About an hour later the group went on a night run but because of no tail lights (thanks Knuck-lehead) I had to stay behind. Buzzard Bait and I enjoy-ed the evening with the full moon. Did I say moon, sorry Sundance wasn't there.

The next morning as we were pulling out, a 40 ft. motorhome tried to make a U-turn in front of us. We watched this idiot bury his vehicle where the tide was breaking. As you guess, the tide was coming up. Sandman and I contemplated for a quick second and to-gether we said "NAW". We left the beach and loaded up at the parking lot, bid farewell to all and came home. This was a awesome unofficial run with 78 degree weather.

Footloose