Alas, it looks like another rainy day AND night AND next day. We think it makes the most sense to go with Plan B tonight, especially since Plan B sounds really fun too!

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 PLAN B: Faux Camping in the Wildwood Auditorium- 5:30-9:00pm

 5:30pm Open auditorium and set-up
5:45pm Everyone enter our "camping area"
6:00pm Pizza will be delivered
6:45ish Organized games
7:30pm S'mores distributed
7:30ish Mock bonfire and campfire songs
9:00pm Clean-up crew starts
9:30pm Auditorium must be all clean and everyone out

 If you have any ideas or things to bring to enhance the fake camping experience, please let us know! We have a couple people bringing small pop-up tents for fun. Still need some ideas on how to create a fake campfire, but we have some guitar players to help with campfire songs.

 What to Bring: plates, cups, forks, bag to carry dirty dishes home, drinks for your family, optional side dish/salad, musical instruments, about $10 for food/rental contribution.

 Jobs: Obviously, most jobs from the sign-up sheet aren't relevant, but you S'mores people are on. I will bring the supplies and help. Maybe the Firewood people could think about a fake campfire idea and the Grill tenders could monitor the stage and make sure no one tears down the curtains or falls off. Carol asked us to be careful if using the stage.

 RSVP: Please email or call Colleen with number of people who will be eating pizza.

Campers,
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The Bad News:

While it is not raining this moment and it makes me feel hopeful, it is supposed to start again this afternoon and rain all night.  Sadly, I think it probably makes the most sense to cancel tonight.  We will stick to the plan and hope Saturday camping still works.  I will send an email and put it on my voicemail by noon if Saturday is on.  You can see earlier emails with more details at:  http://wildwood.posterous.com/

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The Good News:

To soothe disappointed kids (and parents!), lets meet at the Grand Lake Theater tonight to watch Earth at 7:15pm.  The theater encouraged us to meet in the lobby area at 6:45pm so we can get good seats together.  They don't sell tickets online, but you can pick them up earlier in the day if you cannot get there at 6:45.  I was told it shouldn't sell out.

IF, we have to cancel Saturday camping, we can have to Wildwood Auditorium from 5:30-9:00!  We can order pizza, maybe watch a short movie, put up small pop-tents, eat uncooked s'mores, and sing camping songs.  Anyone thoughts on this would be welcomed.  It can still be a fun "fake camping" night.

Colleen Stormer 834-3660
Andrea Ruiz-Esquide 601-0424

p.s. If you want to be off this group email list, please let me know.  Otherwise you can watch for another email about Saturday's camping.

We are using these websites to see what's happening.

The weather service:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Oakland&state=CA&si...

Hourly predictions:

http://www.accuweather.com/us/ca/san-leandro/94577/forecast.asp?partner=accuw...

I apologize to those of you who are receiving these emails and not planning to camp.  My rsvp list is not complete and I don't want to miss anyone.

Last Minute Details
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There are a couple last details:  1) Everyone staying overnight needs a parking pass- find Colleen to get one before you park your car;  2) Alcohol should not be visible, so bring cups to drink from;  3) The locked gate, about a mile up the road from the campsite, must stay locked.  After you drive through make sure to put the key back under the red bucket.  We are slightly breaking the rules by leaving the key here instead of stationing someone at the gate and could lose some of our security deposit if we aren't careful.  Thanks everyone!

The Weather
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The weather reports don't look hopeful but we're still trying to keep the faith.  That said, if it is pouring rain on Friday afternoon and looks like it will not let up, we will may cancel Friday night.  We'll make the call at 3 p.m. I'll send out an email to let you know and leave a message on our home machine with the decision (Home number: 834-9660).  If it is not raining, I will put the bucket out with the key by 4pm.  If for some reason you want to set up earlier, contact me and I can give you the bucket and the key.

As for Saturday, we'll plan on making the call a little earlier-- at noon.  Same drill as above, we'll send out an email and put a message on our home phone.

I did speak to a Parks representative earlier today and he said the large covered structure on our site (with space for the bonfire) is a good place to hang out if there is passing rain.  He also said that of all the campsites the Hawk Ridge Campsite is probably the best for drainage and the least likely to get muddy. Also, we will be able to get our reservation money back if it rains and we cancel.

Feel free to email or call with any suggestions or questions regarding the rain and the plan.  If the weather gets really bad, we're thinking of creative ways for us to get together on Saturday--- inside.  We'll keep you posted.

Hoping to eat s'mores, even in the drizzle!

Colleen (& Andrea)