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This last weekend was the dive club annual Labor Day camping trip to Ocean Cove, which is about an hour north of Bodega Bay on Hwy 1.  My mom joined me this year and we had a nice time.  It was a long 4 hour drive up and down windy roads with high ocean cliffs on one side.  Luckily, it was dark so I couldn’t see the cliffs and was able to concentrate on the road in front of me.  We arrived Thursday night, found a cozy spot away from the road, ate a late dinner and headed to bed.  We spent Friday lounging around camp and watching other come in and set up camp.

Saturday was when the fun really began.  The Men’s cooking contest judged by the WOMEN was Saturday afternoon.  After floating from contestant to contestant and allowing them to bribe us with their tasty appetizers and alcoholic beverages, us women were feeling pretty toasty.  Their meals were fabulous.  Voting for the best was a tough choice.  Apparently everyone else felt the same because there was a three way tie!  After the Men’s cooking contest was the Women’s dessert contest, judged by the men.  I entered with my Smore’s treats which is similar to a rice crispy treat but instead of rice crispies, I used Golden Grahams cereal and then smothered it with milk chocolate frosting.  While everyone really liked my dessert, I didn’t win :(.  That’s ok, mom and I got to eat the left overs :).

Sunday was the spearfishing contest.  Not that I particpated in that, but the men caught a lot of fish and they contributed most of it to the potluck fish fry.  Man, we eat well at these events.  We had over 50 lbs of fish donated and at least 10 abalone for dinner, all fried to perfection.  Thanks to the fisherman and ab divers for the fresh catch!

Aside from all of that, a member of the club had previously given me some of his previously caught abalone.  I brought it on the trip and tried my hand a cooking it for the first time.  I think I did pretty good if I do say so myself.  I just need to get the right oil temperature and cooking time down so it is perfect every time.  In addition to frying up some ab, I created a new hot abalone artichoke dip.  It was YUMMY!  I’ll share the recipe if anyone wants it.

So that was my labor day weekend in a nut shell.  There was some minor drama here and  there, but nothing that I wasn’t able to handle. 

Coming up….. this coming weekend, Roxie has another hunt test.  She will be testing for Senior Hunter which is the next test in line for a title.  If you recall, she tested in the spring and failed miserably.  We have continued training all summer and she seems to be ready.  She has been so steady in training, I just hope and pray it transfers over to the test.  I have been working on some focus training prior to each training session so I hope it helps calm and focus her before her test.  Keep your fingers crossed and think of us Saturday and Sunday mornings!