Redemption

A few weeks ago, Phil and I went to see Ronnie Kovach.  He was giving a little seminar about fishing, where to go, what to use...that sort of thing.  It was supposed to start at 7pm sharp, on a Thursday evening.  So, Phil had to rush home, pick me up, head over to the place and eat something before it started.  Well, we made it on time.  Us and a few other fishinmagicians made it on time.  

You know who didn't make it on time?  Or should I say at all?!  Ronnie himself.  He was a complete no show.  No phone call telling the venue he wasn't coming.  Nothing.  And due to lack of status-telling phone call, we all just sat around thinking he was stuck in some horrendous LA traffic.  We waited and waited...but he never came.   The venue apologized on his behalf and took our names down, telling us that we would be compensated for our trouble somehow.   Even though totally bummed, Phil was hopeful we would get something.  I, on the other hand, was PISSED.  Those of you who know me aren't surprised by that. :)

Low and behold, as we walked into our house in the middle of the night, super tired from our long drive from Mammoth, there was a package.  Phil ripped it open like it was Christmas morning.  What did we get?  A couple of autographed Ronnie Kovach's books, 2 DVDs and 2 tickets to a twilight fishing trip.   Thank you, Ronnie!!  You have redeemed yourself indeed.  

Bug Love Friday...oh wait, he's not here

That's right.  Our little Buggie is with Auntie Clara and Uncle Stevie.  We miss him so much.  Every chipmunk we saw, every fish we caught and every meal we ate made us think, "Bug would be all over that!"  But he'll be back home tomorrow.  I hope he didn't forget us.  

For our almost last fishing venture, we hit up our favorite Mammoth lake, Lake George.  That's Jorge for all you Spanish speaking folk.  We had the same cold, cloudy conditions, but whatevs.  The fish don't care, so why should we, right?

Okay, so I cared a little.  Look how cold I am!  But I layered and I caught fish, so no complaints here.  This little area we were in had a lot of trout because the lake empties into a little river right behind me.  The only problem was I kept getting my line tangled or my worms hooked onto stupid logs in the water.  Stupid, stupid logs!!  I ALMOST gave up.  I almost pulled a "I'll be in the car" bit.  But Phil was very patient and kept me going.  And I caught a couple of fish!!

I even caught one with a net!!  

We took these 5 home to me mum and dad.  

Remember how I said Lake George was our "almost" last fishing venture.  Well, that's because we impulsively decided to drive to Owens River on the way home.  It's so crazy because from the 395, all you see is flat grassland and then the mountain range. Nothing else.  And in this flatness, are these amazing lakes and rivers that you can't see from the main road!  You know all those little dirt side roads that you pass by, going 80mph, thinking "I wonder where that leads?"  Well, it leads to places like Owens River.  Totally worth the detour.

Need I say more?

Do I Smell A Skunk?

Today was a busy day.  We went to Mono Lake, but not to fish.  I know, say what?!   They have tufas!  Calcium carbonate formations.  You know us and formations.  Gotta see it!  

This is how the day started...blue skies and sunlight.

Mono Lake doesn't have any fish.  Just some brine shrimp.  It's twice as salty as the ocean.

The clouds rolled in and started leaking water on us.  

We took the June Lake Scenic Loop and stopped off at Silver Lake to do some fishing.  In no time, the weather went from bad to really bad.  Not only were the clouds endless, the winds were tireless.  After a couple of hours of freezing our tails off, we gave up, got skunked and moved on.

 

Maybe I spoke too soon.  Phil was adamant.  Lake Mamie was merciful.  And I was still cold.  But being the wife of a fisherman,  I know how important it is to not get skunked.  

Besides, look who came to visit us again.

Today's tally: Phil = 3,  Sandra = 0*

*I have to say that I did hook a fish, and then proceeded to yank the crap out of it until the hook came out of the fish's mouth.  Yes, I am a professional.

Shall we swim or fly?

Here we are in Mammoth Lakes!  One of our favorite places to go when we want to get away from ...everything.  

Our trip had a harry start, to say the least.  We pulled over in Lancaster (like we always do for food and gas) and basically spent the next 5 hours there.  The car wouldn't start after we filled it with gas.  It just died!  Thank goodness we have AAA.  And doubly thank goodness a Honda dealer was less than a mile away.  What was the problem, you ask?  Debris.  Freakin debris!!!  Apparently, the filters in my car were so dirty, that they could no longer filter out crap.  And this crap, this unforgiving crap, messed with the throttle = dead car.  New filters = working car. :)

We finally made our departure from Lancaster around 5pm.  Oh wait, I almost forgot.  The dealer tells us that we have a nail in one of our tires and they they don't repair tires.   So, we get that fixed at a local tire shop...and THEN we leave Lancaster.  

Are we bitter that our trip was delayed and that we lost an entire day of fishing?  No.  Not at all.  And I'll you why.  It could've been much worse.  I won't even go into the many different scenarios that wandered through my mind during that afternoon.  I have a very vivid imagination.  That, and I watch a lot of Law and Order and CSI.  Not good.

The Westin Monache is gorgeous.  Slept in their heavenly beds and woke up the next morning, ready to fish.  

 

We fished Lake Mary.  There were a few others, but sadly, Mammoth has not been the busiest of cities.  The weather was nice, though a little chilly.  And by the end of the afternoon, it was a lot chilly.  But the most amazing part of the day was when Phil spotted the bald eagle!!!  So regal and awesome...I strained my neck staring at it.  I wish we had brought our zoom lens!!!  Instead, what you see is the zoom of our little point-and-shoot.   According to the dock guy, this eagle has lived here for many years.  I feel very blessed to have finally seen him.  I offered him the one fish we kept, but he didn't take it. 

Today's tally:  Phil = 6 fish,  Sandra = 2

One, two, three strikes...I'm out.

For Phil's 33rd birthday, we went to Dodger Stadium for Game 2 of the freeway series against the Angels.  Normally, we watch these two teams battle it out at Angel's Stadium, but we live here now.  Plus, Dodgers have an all-you-can-eat section.  You can devour all the Dodger dogs, popcorn, nachos, soda and water you want.  

We took the bus from Clara and Stevie's.  Cheap and great for the glutes.  It was uphill most of the way, but there was a nice cool breeze, so no complaints.

See! I wasn't lying.  Gluttons unite!

I had 2 Dodger dogs, nachos and one water.  I know, a little disappointing.  I forgot to wear my stretchy pants.

Phil got to see his name in lights!! "Happy Birthday, Fishamagician Phil!"  

Angels lost 5-4 in the bottom of the 10th.  It was awful.  The Dodger fans chanted "Angels Suck!" rather than cheer their Dodgers on.  Says something, doesn't it?  It doesn't matter, we took the series, winning 2 of 3 games.  Take that!!

Bug Friday

Next to catching bugs and chasing lizards, Bug's favorite activity is sleeping.  

The flash woke him up.  Sorry little guy.

This is my favorite.  

Albino trout...

Last month, a few of us went to LNL...got a great spot this time.  We got heckled by a goose but other than that...it was all good.  It wasn't the most successful day for fishing...but who cares when you catch an albino trout!  Bug joined us.  He got a nice tan.

Okay, it's not called albino trout ... its proper name is "lightening trout."  FYI, this isn't the color of an natural trout you'd find in the wild.  It's been genetically altered...but what evs.  It looks cool.

Good times.

More earrings...