Rat Beach, a BBQ and a great time.

Last Saturday (April 5 th.) was two days in one. The first part was to kite at Rat Beach with Klaus Schultz and the second was to go to our son Dan's place for a BBQ. Both were a lot of fun.

In the morning I packed up the Honda with plenty of stuff for the trip to go all the way to Torrence. I had kite gear for three of us, Dan, his cousin Jason and me. There was also three folding tables, four beach chairs, two jackets and tons of cooking stuff. Plus a cooler of food for the party.

As you can see the Honda is starting to look a little full. Oh, I forgot the drinks, two tot bags with our clothes for Sunday, and let's see???? Did I forget anything???? I hope not we're not coming back.

Once Ruth and I got to Dan's apartment I met up with Klaus. Then he and I we went to Rat Beach to kite. When we arrived at the beach which was only a couple of blocks away, we were stoked. There were only 5 kiter's out and the two right in front of us were having a ball. We couldn't wait.

After we got our gear on it was time to walk down the hill to the beach. We were not quite ready for the long walk to the rigging site, and then there was another three blocks of walking to the place you can go out. I launched Klaus's kite and he walked to the launch area as I continued rigging. By the time he got there the wind died and he walked all the way back and dropped his kite. The wind was over. What a bummer.

We changed our clothes and headed back to Dan's. It was time to party. Oh man are we spoiled at Belmont, but you could say that about almost any kite spot that is close. Long walks are not fun!!!!

Once at Dan's we could see how much work he did in order to transform the parking lot of the apartment into a party site. Also what was fun was the BBQ was an old fashion pot luck dinner. Everyone brought their favorite dish. Some brought steaks, some brought desert, some brought drinks, and others brought their good looks. I brought my appetite.

Lena Kim was first to got the grill going by cooking some steak strips she brought. They primed the pump.

Then Dan and Juliano started the second grill. Oh man, lookout for those guys with the lighter fluid. I think they were in a hurry to get the fire going. I didn't want wait around to see the explosion.

Up in the kitchen was Ruth and Juliana who were prepping the food in aluminum pans and getting them ready for the warming trays. What a team. Aren't they cute??????

Then the posing started. Yep, everyone was having a great time. That's what parties are all about.

As the sun sets and being this close to the beach it starts getting a little cool. So out came the heater. Everyone moved their chairs around the fire to keep warm.

More posing and more pictures. L-R My brother Michael, his wife Wendy, my youngest daughter Sara and her boy friend Brian. Everyone was having a great time.

Then more hugging and keeping warm. Juliano, Juliana, me Rijk and Maureen.

We were all having a great time including Dan's kite partner Jason and his fiance Liz. I think they were trying to stay warm too. Aren't they cute???

The next day was back to his apartment to clean up the mess. Well I think it was actually wake up, have a lot of coffee and then clean up the mess. Naturally it took a few beers to get through it and then it was back to Belmont to get skunked. Boo hool