The weekend has been one of the most memorable moments in my life, and all the happenings conspired to make it truly unforgettable. My relatives and I have been planning a camping trip for the past few weeks. With the summer about to end, we finally came through with the plan last Saturday til yesterday afternoon. We were originally planning on going to Lake Cachuma, one of the more known camping sites here. Riding in 4 separate cars, we convoyed to the place, hoping we don't lose each other on the freeway as we darted to the road at 5 in the morning. It was a good 90 miles away. Riding in the Toyota Tacoma, Kuya Alee, Ate Lala, Patti and Monjit suddenly changed routes, so we all exited and stopped by a gas station to wait for them. For some reason, Tito Mon and Tita Boots detoured and went another direction. I realized we weren't going to Lake Cachuma then. When we reached Oxnard City, there were a whole bunch of camping sites by the beaches, but most of them were already full. I guess everyone else had the same idea. So, stopping by one of the campsites, we went down and had lunch. Surprisingly, this campsite was not full yet. My cousins and I loved the water so much that we decided to take a swim. Changing into our swimsuits, we went to the water. One word. Freezing. It was freezing like heck!!! The sun was hot and the breeze was just right but the water was freezing!! Oh and one significant thing happened when I stepped into the water. I was wearing my red slippers because there were a lot of stones by the shore. Then, a great big whoosh came and got my other red slipper! Ack! Now I only have one. :( Oh well, I guess I'd just have to buy new ones. Hehe. I hated the water for literally savoring my slippers, but maybe it had that fetish anyway. :) I placed my towel by the beach and lay down on my stomach for a while. I wanted to get as dark as possible. Hehe. Don't ask me why, I just do. After a few minutes, my mom was waking me up and telling me that it was time to eat lunch. I was asleep for so long that I was already drooling! Joke lang. :) My vision was so blurry too. So I stood up and rinsed myself with the shower, put a towel over my now sunburnt back and sat on the mat to eat. We had shrimp and kilawin for lunch! Yum!!

While we were eating, Kuya Alee went back to McGrath, a camping site we checked but was already full. Luckily, I have no idea how, he got us a spot in the camp. I think they were a bit grumpy that we didn't get in, so he really went there and waited for a spot. McGrath was in Ventura City, a good 25 minutes from Oxnard. We were so happy that we got a spot because the camping site was really authentic. The trees were low and cut exactly for tents to be placed under them. Just imagine mangroves, but higher, with enough space at the bottom for tents. That was how it looked like. I think they had about a hundred spots, too, each equipped with its charcoal-this-is-where-you-cook thingies. Heck, what are they called anyway? Hehe. When we got there, three tents were already set, and the only ones left were ours and the Obieta's. The first tent was occupied by the Lees, which included Tito Mon, Tita Boots, Patti and Monjit. The second tent was Kuya Alee and Ate Lala's (they're married). The third tent was Tita Susan's (no one wanted to share a tent with her). The fourth one was ours (Mommy, Kuya and Me), and the last one was the Obieta's (Tito Philip, Tita Jeannie, Gi, KatKat, Ading Puding and BapBap). Geez we have a BIG family, and that's just 1/9 of the children of my Lola. My mom, Tita Boots and Tito Philip are all siblings.

After setting up the tents, and the Obieta's were SO big too, like a bowling alley. All of us could've fit in there. We went to find the beach afterwards, because we didn't get much beach time when we ate lunch. Not understanding the maps and trusting our very poor instincts, we crossed some murky water, even sort of tight-roped upon this pole which leads to the other side of the road where supposed nature trail was. It was supposed to lead us to the beach, as our instincts told us, but we instead ended up getting to some more murky river water and just a few meters away was the freeway. The sound of the cars passing by was so audible that we figured out that the beach could NOT be towards that direction. Going back our little nature trip, crossing the fetid and probably oil and seaweed-infected water, and feeling it actually go into my sneakers, we decided to head another direction and just ask someone else who's actually been to the beach. Finally getting the directions, we found the "No Dogs Allowed" sign. They said that over that were the sand dunes, and then the beach. Little did I know that there was sooooo much sand.

It takes forever to get to the beach because of the sand that kind of weighs you down and slows down your pace. Finally, after getting there, we saw the marvelous waters. Oh, and don't forget freezing.

My cousin Gi and I went into the water and realized how the water was still shallow even though you were a few feet from the sand already. However, the current was strong, and lifeguards were standing by. My cousin Monjit and my brother were building "Monjit Fort" and my three little kiddie cousins were building their own sandcastles. It was fascinating. After getting an ample amount of sand in some parts of the body we couldn't really "touch" outside the water (does it have to do with being Filipino?), we finally went to get dressed and walked back to the campsite. Upon arriving and feeling the sunburn all over my body, we went to the bathroom to rinse off and take a bath.

Whatdapakingshiyet. No hot water. Ang galing talaga ng mga kano eh noh. 25 cents for 2 minutes of hot water!!! Argh. I put in a dollar I think. Kakagaling ko na nga sa malamig tapos malamig na naman. Peperahan pa ko. After taking a bath and having to wear my rubbershoes (I dried my feet, okay), we went back to the campsite and ate dinner. We had some mangga, itlog na maalat, kamatis and sibuyas, with adobo and the rest of the kilawin, with pickled jalapenos and carrots. I mean, was that a great dinner or what!?! After eating, my cousins and I went to the townhouse (aka the big tent) and played Guesstures. Guesstures is an evolved game of Charades. There are 4 cards with two words on it. The green cards have words you can act that have 1 or 3 points each. A total of four cards, especially getting the more difficult ones, will make the team win. You know the "ready-action" thing that camera men use? That's where the cards are put, and if the team members don't guess it right away, the cards will fall. Those wouldn't count as points. You have to pull them out quickly (uy!) in order to collect the cards and have higher points. Another set of cards have words which score 2 or 4 points. This is done during the second round. At the end, the team with the most points win. Stealing answers are not credited. We started off by pairing off and dividing into two teams. We had the winners' team which included Ate Lala, BapBap, Gi, Monjit and myself. The losers' team consisted of Kuya Alee, Kuya, Patti, KatKat and AdingPuding. The words we needed to act were so amusing. There were words like gangster, balance, pry, lift, huge, and my two favorites were the tie-breakers: clumsy and lizard. In the end, the loser's team won. That just really sucked!!

We had some hotdogs after that, and some spicy beef jerky. Come 11:30, we called it a night. My cousins just brushed their teeth using the faucet nearby, but my cousin and I needed to use the comfort room. We were walking in the still of the night, shining the flashlight on little rabbits and squirrels wandering about. After going to the bathroom, there was a hand slowly creeping from the back of the wall that leads to the bathroom, visible to anyone who would go out the bathroom. It was so freaky that I screamed !#$@#%!!! Yung kapatid ko talaga BUSET!!!!! They were laughing like crazy 'cause they knew how much of a scaredycat I am. Going back to the site, I was talking to Ate Lala, when suddenly, someone jumped out of the bushes!! Kuya Alee was trying to scare me. Syempre gumana na naman ang maganda nilang planong takutin ako. Kakainis. After all that, we finally got to bed. Man, underneath the tent, it was so hard! Blech.

I had set my phone on alarm at 4 in the morning because I promised Roi that I was going to call the choir Sunday night in Pi. It so sucked 'cause me phone had only 1 bar left, and so did my mom's. I didn't know where the phonecard was, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get up. Finally, upon hearing the alarm n number of times, I got up, freshened up, and went to the car. It took me so long to get connected because the signal was so bad! The conversation would be cut off either when my choir members' cellphones have no batt too, or that the connection was bad. I experienced a combination of both and that totally got on my nerves. I got to spend a good $7 too. It was worth it, though. I got to talk to (let me remember if I have in the right order), Roi, Kuya Cook, Ate Malou, Bam, Anna, Me-an, Ruby, JP, Jonar, Alex, Roi. (I feel like I'm missing out someone.) Okay that was probably not the right order but that was somewhat how it went. It was so nice talking to them again. It turned out that it was Ate Malou's birthday, too. I felt so at home hearing their laughter, hearing the usual hirits, telling them they missed me. *sigh* That was just the perfect way to start the day.

I had some coffee afterwards, and the others soon came to join me for breakfast. We ate scrambled eggs, corned beef, adobo and smokeys. Mmm yum! After breakfast, we all headed on to the beach. I told them that I wanted to get some pictures even though I only had 3 shots to sparhe e, so instead, I used the digicam. Here are the pics:

One significant thing that happened on our last day was this: Tito Mon was frolicking in the waters with Kuya Alee and the kids. The water being too cold, he decided to rest. All of a sudden, he tells Tita Boots that he couldn't breathe. They called the lifeguard and and they came at once riding their SUV. The two lifeguards contacted the paramedics, and were deciding if they should give him CPR. They didn't because he was still breathing. He was shaking really strong, though. It was so scary. They took his blood pressure, and phoned some other supposed significant people. We stood there and watched while even the lifeguard panicked upon administering first aid. They assured as that he'd by fine. I was silently praying.

After Tito Mon was taken to the hospital, we all went back to our camping site and took a bath. It felt the wrong time to take pictures too even though I was dying to take pictures. There was much silence and tension in the atmosphere. We packed our things and disassembled our tents. After loading them in the car, we were ready to leave and get to the hospital. When we got there, we waited patiently until he came out ... okay. He was okay. He came to hug and greet each of us. We went to McDonalds too and decided to eat lunch there and "celebrate". It was funny how we recalled the whole thing. We recalled how Tita Boots was crying, and how Gi came to cry because Tita Boots was crying. We recalled how the lifeguard panicked upon deciding to give him CPR and putting on the oxygen mask. We remembered how in a matter of a few minutes, the paramedics were there. We remembered Tito Mon's shaking and how he was so red. He remembered being asked, "Sir, could you please open your eyes." And in in his mind he said, "Paano ko to bubuksan eh ang lakas ng araw!!" We were also laughing at the thought that the lifeguard put the sphygmomanometer incorrectly since he was pancking too! We recalled how it terrifying, but we were all glad and relieved that he's fine. As we left McGrath, I look at the picture that will always remind me of his hypothermea:

After all that thrill and terror, I decided to take some pictures from inside the car:

Here are pictures of the family:

The weekend was both fun, and painful. Exciting, and a learning lesson. It was literally surviving McGrath.