Totally Tubular
Labor Day weekend cool time at lake
Labor Day Weekend at Success Lake was buzzing with activity Sunday as a few hundred people flocked to the lake on the last weekend of summer.
“Every campsite is full – all 104 sites,” said Tracy Atchinson, park host assistant. “Most people came in Friday but a few got a jump-start and arrived Thursday night. By tomorrow (Monday) afternoon, they will all be gone.”
The Cintora, Garcia and Hernandez families from the Bakersfield and Delano area were some of those who arrived Friday. And they came with a purpose — to celebrate the 69th birthday of their mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Soila Hernandez.
“She wanted to go to Vegas. That’s where we went last year but with the Delta virus we didn’t want to take a chance,” said Jessica Garcia. “We started thinking of what we could do and suddenly thought ‘camping.’ That’s what we did for many years when we were young.”
Her brother Robert Garcia agreed.
“This way we keep to ourselves and it’s just our group,” Robert Garcia said as he grilled grill. meat on a portable barbecue
The group had approximately 16 people but had an elaborate camp setup. Five tents were set up in a semi-circle. Directly in front of them, under a large blue awning tent were a couple of large tables filled with food, ice chests, beverages — and cake.
In the center of the campsite, children played on bicycles and scooters. An inflatable boat sat nearby, filled with water.
“We’re using it as a little swimming pool for the little ones. The lake is really low and you have to walk down through a lot of rocks to get down there. We plan on getting down to the lake tomorrow — we rented a (house) boat for tomorrow for her birthday,” Robert Garcia said. “We used to go camping a lot. These two first tents are some of our original ones from 1980. My mom also has a camp stove from way back then and an ice chest from 1984 with her name on it. She kept everything. We used to camp a lot.”
Down at the water’s edge, two other people were also celebrating their birthdays.
Juliane Wright of San Diego, and Kimber Heida of Colorado, were back in their childhood homes to celebrate their 30th birthday.
The two women, originally from Porterville, have been friends their entire life. They lived across the street from each other when they were born and get together whenever they can with friends and family in Porterville.
A few feet over, Romualto Ayala and Juanita Perez mounted a jet ski and took off on the water, leaving ridges of waves as they left.
“We’re here with the grandkids,” said Yolanda Mora. “We’re from the Woodlake area since May. Juanita is from the East Bay area. We are here with friends. We got here around 10 a.m. and plan on making a day out of it.”
Spending the day with family and friends at the lake, is the perfect way to end the summer, many of them said. And the best part is there were no serious incidents.
“It’s been running smooth,” Atchinson said. “There have been no issues.”