Spring break 1995. I paid a visit to my friend Everett in LA.

What do you do when you visit a friend in LA? Go camping, what else?

He took me to Leo Carillo beach in North LA.  We spent three days there. It was March and we went body boarding. Everyone had wetsuits, everyone except me. We spend about an hour in the water. I got so cold that I shivered for five hours. I stayed cold and miserable  for two days. I’ve never been so downright cold in my entire life.

My depression fully blossomed when I ran out of coins to use in the payphone (remember those?) to call Sam. We were engaged at the time. I missed her terribly.

I was cold, lonesome and blue, until…..

I was lounging in the tent playing uno when Darth Vader passed by the mesh window. I furrowed my brow and grabbed my camera.

I’ve been camping a lot in my life. I’ve seen a lot of interesting people and things but camping in LA was beyond what I expected. It wasn’t until later that I noticed that Darth Vader’s sister was wearing roller skates and a helmet.