Enhanced image courtesy of PEP (many thanks!)

 

WHEN:

 

June 8, 9 & 10, 2001
(come earlier or stay later; you’re welcome!)

 

WHERE: The CABALLO GORDO RANCH
34380 Barn Owl Road, Raymond, CA. 93653
(559) 689 3590 FAX (559) 689 3297

Gary (Cowboy) and Sue (CinCHouse) McLaughlin, and Zeke the wonder dog!

gcafin@sierratel.com (Cowboy) 
suegca@sierratel.com (CinCHouse)
Zeke has no email address


Check the guest list.

New: Click here to order the official Bash VIDEO!

You can print out the actual video order form here and bring it to the Bash (or just fill one out at the Bash):  Order Form (142kb Adobe Acrobat file)

Click HERE for photos of the ranch.

Check out the viddles that were served (menu)

Hotel Info

FOR WHO: Submarine veterans and their families (dogs are welcome too, as long as they’re friendly, sociable and under control, verbal or leash; same goes for the young’uns!)

 

ENTERTAINMENT: None planned, amuse yourselves! There is a swimming pool, ping pong table, a horseshoe pit, and lots of places of interest close by for day trips. Maybe even a snorty horse or two to try and turn you into a lawn dart! We will, however, have a small contest for the best "no sh#(*^@" story told, with an appropriate commemorative trophy! And, lots of music by the Sons of the San Joaquin, LIVE, of course!

 

VITTLES: We’re providin most everything; if you have any special needs or requirements, BYO!

Beverages....we're gonna provide ice, soda pop, water, and beer! If you want to something to mix with the soda pop, that's also BYO! Of course, there'll be a pot of hot cowboy coffee on all day and night, for those of you who made it past E-6 and yer index finger has that permanent CPO curl to it!

See the menu!

 

WEATHER: In June the days can get up into the mid to high 90's, and the evenings generally cool down into the low 70's and high 60's, with a nice onshore marine air flow coming over from Monterey Bay. Don’t forget the hats and sunscreen!

 

COST:

You pay your own way here and back; there will be a bucket or two set up for anonymous and voluntary contributions if you’ve a mind to; otherwise, we’re picking up the cost! CinCHouse will hook up the horse trailer and head to COSTCO for some "tradin", likely clean the place out before y’all get here and line up for chuck!

 

FACILITIES:

We’ll have portable heads (no binjo ditches!), and one outdoor shower (we’re tryin to get a curtain fer it) with very limited hot water. There are two showers in the house (if you can’t make it through the weekend without one). Make believe you’re still on submarines (you DBF’ers) and don’t take a shower for a few days (you glow in the dark types will find out what a real submareener smells like! I kin even sprinkle a little diesel oil around to make it more authentic!)

CABALLO GORDO RANCH covers 40 acres in the foothills of Madera County, Ca., in the small town of Raymond. The ranch is on gently rolling ground, and is surrounded by cattle ranches on 3 sides, and open ground on the 4th side. There are no close neighbors, so howling at the moon is permissible! The ranch has an RV pad with a complete hookup, which we’ll probably leave empty in case any of the RV’s need to blow sanitaries or take on fresh water. We have a 2,500 s.f. barn with a half-bath, and a concrete floor. If you’re sleeping on a cot, etc. and want to be "indoors", that’ll be the place for you. For the outdoor tent and sleeping bag types, just find a place and set up! We’ll set the RV’s (Class A, C, pickup, or whatever) as they arrive, as well as the tent trailers. If you’re bringing an RV of any kind, and have room to share it with someone, please let us know about that as we may assign a roommate to you!

There are reasonably priced motels in Oakhurst, Mariposa, Madera and Chowchilla, all about 45 minutes by car from here, although the tourist season will have started, Most of the roads that get you there and back are two lane, lightly traveled, country roads.

Our "Official" host motel is the brand new HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS, 2290 Marketplace, Madera, CA. (just off highway 99 at Avenue 16, north end of Madera)! We have arranged a special room rate of $59.00; just identify yourself as being with the "Ranch Bash" to get the rate. You can call the hotel in Madera direct at (559) 661 7400, or FAX them at (559) 673 4800, or you can call the central HI reservation number at (800) 465 4329. The registration deadline will be May 1, 2001 if you want to use the "Host" motel; otherwise we can provide a listing of other area motels and phone numbers for you. 

5/22/2001 Update on Motels:

The new hotel/motel is:

Chowchilla Travelodge
205 Carlyle Way
 (just east of US 99 at Robertson Blvd., behind the Taco Bell)
Chowchilla, CA. 93610
(559) 665 8700

Room rates are $55.00 plus tax for single, and $59.00 plus tax for double.

No Bash Bus service from there, but driving time and distance is a little less than from the HI Express, about 22 miles/35 minutes.

 

LIFE’S NECESSITIES: This is the country, so bring your allergy medicines and remedies if you suffer from such things! If you’re thinking about reserving floor space in the barn, keep in mind that there’s 25 tons of alfalfa hay stored in there as well! We’ll move the horse trailer and tractor out to make room for you.

Your cell phone will most likely work from here, although you may have to climb a knob to get to higher ground for a stronger signal. If Mabel, the town telephone operator is awake and sober, then we’ll have some landline telephone service too!

You should bring your own towels for the pool and shower (if you’re such a wimp you HAVE to take a shower), as well as your own soap, etc. Flashlights would be good, as the landing lights go off about midnight. Bug spray, your elephant gun and camo paint are other things you might want to consider hauling along! I’ve got the bee sting kits, and the whiskey, tubing and epinephrine for treating snakebite here! In a real emergency, we can get an ambulance here in something under an hour.

 

WHAT AND WHERE IS RAYMOND: Early in 1886 spring rains flooded the roads between Madera and the Sierra Nevada foothills. In order to maintain tourist travel into Yosemite Valley, the railroad built a spur line starting at Berenda, near Madera, and ending at the Hog Ranch. This name was later changed to Raymond. In 1903 President Teddy Roosevelt visited Raymond on his way to Yosemite bringing with him John Muir and the then California Governor Pardie.. The residents of Raymond had a grand old time, and in Roosevelt’s honor hired a band AND an orchestra, built a dance floor, had races and games and listened to some old fashioned speechifying! In the 1930's the railroad took back their spur line, but lots of folks around Raymond still WEAR spurs!

Nothing much has happened in Raymond since then; the BASH AT THE RANCH is likely to be the biggest deal around these parts since ol’ Bullmoose hisself was here! Unless you count when the town’s crazy lady set fire to her house, then opened up the drains on the town water supply, sat down with a cigarette and a can of beer and watched the house burn down. She’ll be back from the "home" soon, we’re told!

Raymond is centrally located in California, 3 hours by car from San Francisco, Sacramento, and the Monterey Peninsula, five hours to Reno, NV., and five or six hours to Los Angeles. You can also fly into Fresno/Yosemite International Airport, which is about an hour away. If you’re driving, the Ranch is about 45 minutes east of Highway 99, one of the two major North/South Freeways in California. Map’s will be sent out to all who register.

Close by is the Sierra National Forest and the Ansel Adams Wilderness, and Bass Lake. We are near Highway 49, at the "bottom" of the Gold Country, made famous during the gold discoveries of 1849. Mariposa, a very historic community, is less than an hour away, and has many quaint shops and excellent antiquing! This is the country of Joaquin Murietta and Black Bart! Yosemite National Park is about two hours by car from here, and SHOULD NOT be missed if you’ve never seen it! Sacramento is the State Capitol, and has an excellent RailRoad Museum, San Francisco is, well.....San Francisco, but it is home to the Pampanito. The Monterey Peninsula is also among California’s most beautiful places, and boasts the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the world’s foremost aquariums.

 



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