We bought our boat in 2004 and since then, we opted to spend the Labor Day holiday weekend on a lake wakeboarding.  It has been 2 years since we have attended the Dolphin Diver’s Labor Day event.  We decided it was time to go back this year and I’m really glad we did.  It was nice to spend a weekend doing absolutely nothing but hanging out with friends and soaking up the ocean breezes.  This event is held in Ocean Cove which is on the coast of Northern California about an hour above Bodega Bay.  The sun didn’t show up once, but that’s ok, it was a nice change from the Sacramento heat.  The temperature never rose above the mid 60’s during the day and never got below mid 50’s at night.  It was perfect.  We had a camp fire every night.

We arrived Thursday evening and set up camp. We walked around to say hello to others who also had arrived early for the weekend.  After that, we turned in for an early night’s sleep.  On Friday, we spent the day lounging and napping while watching other campers arrive for the weekend.  On Saturday morning, my mom and Jimmy arrived to spend the weekend with us.  We hung out for a while and then the weekend festivities began.  This year’s theme was the 60’s.  First up on the agenda was the Men’s cooking contest were the women get to judge.  Prior to actually tasting the food we walked around to each cook’s “kitchen” to ask about their meals.  This is the time when the men have the opportunity to “bribe” us women for our votes.  They bribed us with tasty alcoholic beverages and appetizers.  A couple of the cooks decorated their “kitchen” in 60’s style.  One with tie dye and incense the other with his college memorabilia.  The bribes went as planned and we all got a bit tipsey .  Later, we tasted the food.  The men did a great job and the food was GREAT!!!  Later in the evening it was the women’s turn.  We had a dessert contest.  I made “Smore’s Treats” which is made the same way Rice Crispy Treats are with the exception of I used Golden Graham’s cereal instead of Rice Crispy’s and then I melted Hershey’s chocolate on top of it.  People really liked my dessert and I tied for 2^nd place next to an apple cobbler.  Sunday was the spear fishing contest, pot luck dinner, raffle and bonfire.  I came away with a bunch of prizes from the raffle.  

In between the events was mostly a bunch of napping, lounging and visiting with friends.  We brought Winston with us on this trip and I could tell he really enjoyed being out and socializing with other dogs and people.  He was finally able to relax outside and simply enjoy being outdoors.  There were times when we left the immediate area and didn’t take him with us so we put him in the RV to stay warm and to rest.  Unfortunately, he didn’t rest at all, instead he found a way to keep an eye on us.  He discovered the rather LARGE dash on the RV behind the curtain and climbed up in the window to watch the festivities.  We got a picture of him just as he was finding his way to the window.  Sneaky little sucker!

As of now, we are looking forward to next year’s trip.  The theme is Pirates of the Caribbean and Tate is looking to participate in the Men’s Cooking contest.  We have a full year to plan for the decorations and bribes.  I can’t wait! 

To see pictures of the weekend, click on this link: Yahoo! Photos – Labor Day 2006 Slideshow

I hope you all had a good holiday weekend!  Love Ya!

Renee & Tate