Posted by: Capt. Dr. Jesse Frydenlund Keller, GA, DoGA in General Musings
On Sunday, the 20th of May, in the year of our Lord 2011, our League set out for adventure in wilds of eastern San Diego county, seeking Smuggler’s Cave and the abandoned Elliot Amethyst mine.
After a long desert hike and a failed attempt at camping in Joshua Tree National Park (it turns out just showing up on Saturday afternoon is not a good way to secure a campsite), Laura and I made the long drive back home to Santa Monica. Fortunately, we realized we’d be passing near Rosemead, and could make a stop at Bahooka, a tiki bar and restaurant where tropical fish outnumber people.
Laura had some fruity concoction whose name escapes me, and I had a Zombie. They were both excellent, as far as fruity tiki drinks go; tangy, with plenty of rum, and tasting not at all like a Jolly Rancher. The couple next to us at the bar ordered something that arrived in a bowl, with two straws, and on fire.
My brother Kellen is on the precipice of falling from the not-nearly-as-noble-as-advertised bachelor ranks. As I was unable to attend his bachelor party weekend, I offered to join him on a bicycling jaunt around town. He graciously accepted and the result was a day of snowcapped mountains, giant fish, and naval combat, which you might have guessed from the title of this post.
As Kellen’s idea of a bachelor party puts a great deal of stress on the “gentleman” half of “gentlemen adventurer,” the end of his life as an independent, thinking person had a much different tone than similar celebrations in the League’s history. And by that, I mean the mountains we saw were actual mountains. We met downtown, hopped on our respective bikes and rode 10.8 miles (if Google is to be trusted) to Cabrillo National Monument.
Click on the photo for the Bicycle Jaunt in San Diego album.
On the way, we passed through the Navy’s Point Loma base. Talk about prime real estate! If the US government ever decided to abandon the defense of the Pacific coastline, they could make a pretty penny off of the sale of that land. Keep that in mind, politicians. That’s a plan that can’t possibly fail twice.
