June 29-30, 2007

California members of Sasquatch Research Initiative, Alliance of Independent Bigfoot Researchers, BigFoot Researchers Organization, BigFootForums, BigFootDiscussions, and Search For Bigfoot recently had a harmonious get together in the central California redwoods just outside Santa Cruz. The festivities took place Saturday, June 30, with a barbeque and open house at the bigfoot museum in the cozy little town of Felton.

The open house would be followed by an evening presentation to a packed house in Santa Cruz by Dr. Jeff Meldrum, esteemed college professor and bigfoot advocate. Things were in high gear by noon Saturday but the partying and schmoozing all started the night before. I knew the festivities would officially start Saturday but Jake and I would be arriving Friday afternoon so I was hoping we might find some friends to hang with Friday evening.

Our weekend of fun started on Friday when Jake placed a phone call to Tom Y. who told us that everyone associated with the event would be meeting at the bigfoot museum Friday afternoon to hang out, have a few cold ones and finalize the event. Jake and I stopped at our campsite (overpriced at $57.00 a night) to pay up and clean up a bit before we hit the museum. I’ve never paid such a high price for a shoehorn of land before, but it was summertime and it was the California redwoods, the nightly price truly being a good example of the laws of supply and demand. We arrived at the museum at about 4:30 p.m. and met some old friends and exchanged hugs and handshakes. The Friday night crew was made up of museum members and I was told that there was a special “members only” dinner that night with Dr. Meldrum, but I might be able to wangle an invitation even though I wasn’t a member of the museum. Dr. Meldrum was already at the museum when Jake and I arrived so all present got VIP behind the scenes time with him.

I was having a beer with the museum crew and catching up on all the latest bigfoot gossip when Bart remembered that he owed me some cash for a campsite I paid for him at a BFRO expedition that I had been an invited guest at a few years ago (no, I didn’t have to pay for the expedition!). Bart suggested that he could buy me a membership at the museum and I could be part of the night’s festivities with my son. I thanked him for his honesty and keen memory and gladly accepted the offer. After a little more conversation we headed up to Mike Rugg’s house for dinner with Dr. Meldrum and the museum staff.

Mike’s house is a cozy little abode on stilts built right next to the river. The lower part of the house does double duty as carport and covered patio. When we arrived, there were already appetizers and cold drinks for all. Two important AIBR members who had not planned to arrive until Saturday surprised everyone by showing up at Mike’s for dinner. The eating was buffet style and I circulated from group to group listening and talking as I saw appropriate. Jake spent time talking to his favorite mentors on this trip, Bob, Ralph and Bart. I was pretty hungry by the time the kebabs were ready and ate four or six that I can recall. I laid back on the recreational liquids due to the fact I was in an unfamiliar area and still had to drive back and park my rig at the shoehorn campsite. I met a nice lady at Mike’s named Mello who worked at the museum. In our conversation, she informed me she was a Wiccan and gave me some information on how to get to the Brookdale Lodge which is considered one of the most haunted places in the U.S., but more about that later. Mike started a nice, warm campfire in his fire pit and we talked and told more stories after dinner. It was nice to feel involved in the scene and Jake and I stayed until nine that night. We said our goodbyes to all and headed back to the campsite to get some sleep for what we knew would be a busy day of socializing and backslapping at the bigfoot museum.