Touched down on the tarmac ten minutes early. We made it to California! While we were in the air, I had taken some pictures of the High Sierras and it looked to be quite a bit if snow. After exiting the terminal we were picked up by my aunt and my cousin to stay at their place. We had an awesome steak dinner and jammed out on guitars with my uncle, then setup “camp” in their office room and hit the hay.
The next morning we slept in a bit and after making breakfast, did some last minute shopping at REI and checked out a Bass Pro shop, which was enormous and had a ton of selections. Later the whole family headed to a local Thai restaurant for a fantastic dinner, where I met another of my cousins and her boyfriend.
Woke up early the second day and packed up to hit the road by 11, which we made perfectly. The drive down to San Diego area was beautiful and went by quickly; we were at the Taylor Guitar factory well before the 1 PM tour. Ken, Kevin, and I all joined the tour group to witness the births of Taylor Guitars.
If I could describe the tour in one word: amazing. I’ve always appreciated a well-made guitar but seeing the intensive process required to make one in an industrial setting, I can’t imagine what it took to make them by hand. The factory only turns out 200 guitars a day, which means that each one is very specifically made with care and precision. We watched the entire process, from raw lumber being milled into parts destined for headstocks and fretboards to the painting, finishing, and stringing of a guitar. After the tour, Kevin talked to the guide and learned she was retiring the next day and going to France to play guitar with her son; what an awesome thing to do with family!
After hitting the local In-n-Out for our last “civilized” meal, we drove to Lake Morena to camp for the ADZPCTKO 2011. Everyone at the kickoff is super-nice! It’s easy to strike up a conversation with just about anyone since we all have the common interest of hiking and the outdoors. We checked in at the registration desk and found our site, took some pictures and said goodbye to my aunt and uncle. They headed home and we setup our temporary homes at our campsite.
At 7 PM the first Kick-off activity, “Who wants to be a thru-hiker?” started off in the pavilion. It was a pretty funny show. The end of the night was highlighted by the documentary “Six Million Steps” shown on a Tyvek screen. It was an amazing look at the culture of the PCT, the minds of thru-hikers, and the realities of life on the trail. Bedtime followed soon after….
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