========================================================================================   And now may we present the 2013 Wine Trip pics. Great weather, food, wines, laughs, company. Sadly, some of our pals couldn't make it, like Bert, Jim, Mac, Tony, PJ & Kelli (and other Cheyenners), Jena, Barb, & Elza. You were all missed, maybe we'll be able to  get together during a Fall 2013 trip. However, the route may be different. L.A.'s known  for it's traffic, and our normal 3-hour trip took 4 hrs. Construction timetable on the 405 has been extended one year, to June 2014.   

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Not sure if you can read that map, but it's the Thursday kick-off, with golf at Zaca Creek (lower right), then tastings along Hwy 246 at Melville, Babcock, Dierberg, and Foley (upper left), plus Figueroa Mtn, Brewery. The day ended back at the hotel's bar & pool room. No dinner though.
When we arrived at Babcock we found that André, whom we'd met on the last wine trip, had secured a full time gig in their tasting room. Good to see old friends. He showed us a pic of his newbie (next) and said he'd be getting married soon.
Awwwwwwwwww. Congrats to you André and your soon-to-be bride.
The Santa Maria part of the trip (Friday, Saturday). Excellent weather: cool evenings and warm days.

We started Friday at Brucher in Santa Maria, then onto the Garey Store to grab sandwiches to-go, then to Cottonwood Canyon & Red Carpet. Great tasting at all of them, considering we started at 10:00 and didn't finish til around 3:00. Nevermind that of 5 guys no one thought to bring out a camera or cell to take any pics. Next time we hire a team photog to come along. Later in the day we stopped by Costa de Oro for a visit (see next pic). The day ended with tune-up drinks at the Santa Maria Elks, followed by dinner at Shaw's Steakhouse.

While we didn't take our cameras out at Costa de Oro, we feel it appropos to grab a shot of winemaker Gary, and pourer Joanne (middle) from some earlier tasting function they'd attended. Gary makes some delicious wine and Joanne was the perfect hostess for us.
Saturday was going to be the trip's long day. Turned out to be the 2nd longest, as you'll see later.
First stop along the top of the Foxen Wine Trail was Rancho Sisquoc. Always a fun (secluded) place, however the guys thought they had the perfect bait-and-switch prank for The Venerable One, aka Pat, whereby a faux, sweet, peach drink (Mio) is poured into a glass and said to be Chard.
Only one problem, it had the color of a wino's urine sample that'd been sitting in the sun for several days. Prank double backfired when Dave said "I'll take some of that" just to make the gag look real, and what was poured into his glass glistened like real Chardonnay. Again, no one had the smarts to take a pic of the faux wine, aka the wino's pee sample, but then maybe you have a queasy stomach.......
Next stop was Foxen's "The Shack." Since we were their first customers, these lovely ladies had ample time to entertain and enlighten us on some wonderful wines. Well versed in their product, these folks know their wines.
This is just to let you know that the boys occasionally "mingle", especially when they think they can get away with it. Thanks again ladies for an entertaining morning.
Eventually we hit Koehler, and OMG what a greeting. Didn't see Hugh Hefner anywhere but any one of those gals could've been a Playmate of the Month. Once the girls sitting on laps got up, each guy had to wait a minute before standing.
Once the bevy of beauties got tired of us (can you say "nanoseconds") and determined that we had no money, the boys went inside for more tasting and sharing their leftovers from Shaw's Steakhouse with the pouring staff. It pays to treat the Tasting Room folks right.

After Koehler it was Fess Parker, then to Bedford in Los Alamos and a visit with winemaker Stephan and pourer Helen, then onto a new stop (Core) in Orcutt. Coming out of there our new friend Danny stepped off the curb and hurt his foot, pretty much affecting the rest of his trip. Hey, wine tasting isn't for the feeble. Then it was time for drinks at the Santa Maria Elks followed by the usual great dinner at Jocko's.

Sunday started with a Member's Tasting at Gainey, where we were entertained by the lovely Suzanne, a grandma who doesn't look old enough to be one. Great sense of humor and knows her product. Nice of her to take our picture - perhaps we could've taken hers? If you're wondering about that shot of Bob, yes, he broke a tooth earlier in the trip and had to endure this Bubba look the rest of the weekend.
Poster boy for Arkansas intra-relative dating.
After Gainey we did a quick trip to the Evan's Ranch tasting room in Los Olivos, then headed home, but not before the obligatory stop at Cold Spring Tavern for a Tri-Tip sammich. This shot is looking north toward the bridge.
This shot is looking south toward the Tavern.
From there is was home, but not before, as Paul Harvey would say, "The rest of the story." Danny opted to head home early Sunday to find out what had happened to his foot, as it was still hurting like hell. That meant Tom and all his gear (that rode up in Danny's van) would have to pile into our car. No problem - we made it fit. On the way home from Cold Spring, and while nearing Ventura, Tom gets a call from Danny that his x-rays show he'd broken his ankle and was in a cast. Could we come get him at his son-in-law's place in Santa Clarita (Magic Mountain area)? From there it was onto Mission Hospital (Mission Hills) to get his van, (see the map), whereupon Tom would then unload/load all his stuff and drive Danny home to West L.A., get his own car and drive home.
Normally the route is Hwy 101 through 1000 Oaks, the San Fernando Valley, and the South Bay. Not to worry, Danny'll be invited again (he's a great story teller) but we'll assign him a guide & dress him up like the Michelin Man. CHEERS!!

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Time for some OTL. Smaller group than usual as many of the guys had prior obligations, but Dave, Mac & Pat (his 35th straight) made sure we were represented. And with apologies to Dave & Mac, apparently Pat was the only one who brought a camera, and you guys used it to take pictures of him and not yourselves. His only claim to fame was wearing the original Shithead hat worn in the 1980's when that was the team name, and included Bert & John Provost (deceased). The hat got as many requests for photos as the Dickhead hat does.
As is our wont, start with 18 holes of golf (this time it was at Mission Bay) and remind ourselves how crappy we are. Mac had the best idea: "Let's play best ball." With us, those last two words are mutually exclusive, but it worked. Gotta follow golf with drinks and check out our server (next)
Yep, coulda stayed all afternoon but had to get checked in at the Bahia. Wait til around 4PM for a room so the pool saw us lounging, maybe a drink or twelve, and a couple of sunburns.
No sooner on the Island Saturday morning and hot chicks wanted to have their pictures taken with us. What up wit dat.
The old fart decided to unmothball his 1st OTL shirt, from 1979, and his Shithead hat from the 80's. No one could figure out why gals wanted to have their picture taken with that, unless Shithead is what they call their boyfriends....
....not that the ancient one minded, especially when one of them decides to get frisky. Hey, it's the only action he's gonna get.
Definition of a Dumbshit: recline by the Bahia pool for 4 hours, facing west, and don't bother with sunscreen. Scawy.
The announcer's stand had us all facing southeast and looking for a drone flyover that'd been arranged thru some Air Force friends for OTL's 60th BDay. Sure enough, some damn thing was in the air, but what?
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a WTF is it? Turned out to be a remote controlled blow-up doll with wings. OTL got us again by saying that the Sequestration cancelled the drone. The announcer then made a woooshing sound and told us all they could afford was a sound effect of the drone wizzing by. Good job guys.
Here'e a better closeup. Note that OMBAC's plan was to land this thing at Court 1 using the remote control. Well, technically it did land, and it did land at Court 1, however, it landed head-first and when it did the dummy's head flew off . :) Gotta love OTL.
Didn't realize that OMBAC had it own fire truck. What the hell would be on fire on Fiesta Island? Sure wouldn't be our bats. And speaking of that, this was the 3rd straight year we didn't play. We vowed to get back into it next year.
OTL had a sort of memorabilia tent near the entrance this year, including a tribute to our favorite court monitor and tormentor, Rudy, who passed away earlier in the year.
Rest In Peace dear friend. Being hassled at Court 17 won't be the same without you. Then again, without you we probably won't be hassled anymore either. :)

This guy is from one of the sponsor areas right next to the cherry-picker Rudy used to perch atop. He told us the story about Rudy's ashes. It's in video, and this site can't do videos, so we'll do it as text in the next frame.

Rudy wasn't allowed in their sponsor area as it was considered a Rudy-Free-Zone. Even had a sign saying so. During opening weekend Rudy's wife showed up with his ashes in a container of some sort (a Starbucks cup?) and without warning spread (tossed?) them all over the cherry-picker area,  including the sponsor's pen. From that moment on there was no more Rudy-Free-Zone,  anywhere.                     We're still debating as to whether God has designated any R-F-Z's in heaven.

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Now it's time for some CFD 2013. Shorter stint than usual, 6 days, but we had plenty of fun as usual. The Kansas City Young Bucks (as named by Jim) joined us for the final Friday & Saturday and are a glimpse as to what we may have looked like eons ago. Just wait til their livers become encrusted like ours.

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Here at the Elks, Bob (left) and Tom (right), as now-official members of the hallowed (or is that hollowed) CFD Social Club, sporting their membership card and polo shirt. That and $2.75 gets them a drink at the Elks. This was Bob's 1st CFD, Tom's 2nd, Dave's 20th(?), Pat's 23rd, Bert's 30+, and Jim's 50th.
The boys get a taste of the Red Wood Saloon, the first of many visits to one of our favorite places.
Wednesday we got a dandy hail storm. Forced us to stay in the Green Door. Too bad we can't upload movies on this site.
Rather than mess with rookie Bob and make him ride the Hell's Half Acre first time out, we opted for two rides with Louise (hmm, that didn't sound right).
On Thursday all the real men wear The Pink in order to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Tom told Bob it'd also look good if they stood by the Tom Horn Float's noose so that people might think they're hung. Didn't work, did it?
Here they are and their taste of the wonderful crowds that line the streets and wave for no reason. The boys are joined by the lovely Toni.
The Kansas City guys decided it'd be fun to mess with the old timers and thus devised a CFD Bingo card. Can't quite remember what we won if we got Bingo but at least Dave managed to do the square at N1, and also B2 in the next shot. N5 was pretty easy at CFD (see it comin' up) and N4 was a slam dunk for 6 of us. Great job guys, hope your livers hold for another few decades.
There's an old Hill Billy sayin' that goes like this: "You know it's a gonna rain when a hog's gotta root in it mouf." Just sayin'...........
A sure thing for N5.
And speaking of the KC boyz, here 2/3rds of 'em enjoying Friday's Limo Bar-to-Bar Run.
And here's 2/3rds of the CA boyz (others are in there too). This is the best way to drink-n-drive. We drink, she drives.
While at the airport golf course bar, Bert mentioned that he'd like to get a nice manscaping by any willing gal. We're thinkin' this one wasn't really up on that terminology. Either that or she was & Bert had some excessive undergrowth, and not a soul wanted to ask. Still don't.
Can't place the face (make that back of the head) but we're going to suggest JJ, owner of the 4 Winds. "Hello boys." Note the background skies. Yep, batten down the hatches.
Meanwhile, High Horses founder and oldest member, Bill Wilber, found a new "stand" for his sheet music. Holy crap Bill, no wonder you slurred the words to that song.
And Bill's son PJ managed to make all the Red Wood gals swoon with his manliness and great voice.
Saturday we saluted the 25th anniversary of the Tom Horn Float, and so did the Wyoming Tribute Eagle on the previous Saturday. Thanks to Reed Eckhardt, Exec Publisher (and Tom Horn portrayer in '01), and his reporter Seneca Flowers for running this great tribute article (continues on next pic).
If the font is too small you might try using Ctrl+ to increase the size.
Before the final Saturday's parade, it's our custom to do some strollin' to gander at the other floats and especially the bagpipers. Gotta hear "Amazing Grace" just one more time to stir our common Scottish blood. That cute little twerp in front is Shaw, who'll turn a ripe old 5 in October.
One more shot of the twerp and his Dad. We think that's his Dad ,but thank God he looks like Mom. Here they're heading towards a group of Bagpipers doing their warm-ups. This is darn near a Norman Rockwell shot.
Louise & Felix, always the gracious and generous host and hostess for/to those fortunate to ride the float. Wow kids, big congrats on lasting 25 years. Props to Louise, for making the dresses, finding float hotties, making & bringing food. And to Felix, for putting up with Louise.
It's Miller time at the Red Wood on a hot CFD afternoon. Okay, it's a Coors cup but there might be Miller in it.

Pat: "So I says to the guy."                                     Toni: "What color are my eyes?"                                      Pat: "Flesh."

The final Saturday and we've 25 years worth of awards, ribbons and plaques, but not today. Yo Committee, not even a Good Job ribbon? Sheesh, 23 riders and 25 years should count for something.
After the Parade it's a custom to drop in on our friends at the Elks for an adult beverage. Not sure if whatever Bert's doing to Dave is on the Bingo card but we're sure as hell not going to ask.
Ah yes, the now-annual Redneck Pule Party, staged on the outside apron of the Green Door. Another first for Bob, and perhaps in the months to come it'll be the most memorable part of his trip.
Bob, Tom and a lovely GD dancer shown discussing world events and the price of gas.
So Bob, how do you like Cheyenne so far? Can't quite tell from this picture what that gal has between her legs (we think that's a gal), nor what the one in pink is doing, but Bob seems mesmerized by the scenario.
Hmmmm, still not sure what that "person" has between his/her legs, or whether that white object is a condom, but again, Bob sure is enjoying his 1st CFD.
And now a huge thank you to Sandy for a few of the pics you've seen, and to PJ for providing most of the rest. It wasn't that many years ago that the main dudes would each bring their little disposable Brownies to CFD. Then one guy started bringing a digital camera. Then laziness set in. In thanks, here's a few shots of the Wilber family:
PJ & Kelli. One of 'em's luckier than the other. We're just sayin'......
Shaw & Kelli. Hey, nice bush. Oops, that's a tree. Sorry.
Everybody has to start their horse ridin' this way, except that in this case it's a friggin Dalmation! Yep, two hands fer beginners, kid.
Not sure which parent put this innocent almost-5-year-old up to this shot, but good job.
Not sure where this is but it's gotta be Wyoming. Thanks for including it PJ.
There was some serious talk about a slightly expanded trip next year, which could include Estes Park, Bit-O-Wyo, Guernsey (North Platte tubing), and eventually CFD.