I woke on time but a tad later than perhaps I would’ve preferred. I had a busy but exciting day ahead and I was eager to get going. Some exercise, a walk with Ykraps, and a couple rounds of coffee, I was well into the day.
The weather was again predicted to sunny and close to 95 degrees. I would have planned to drive the BM’er but in order to stay on task and be at our campsite around 6pm, I didn’t. I would instead drive the Trooper, which was packed with most of our camping gear, and stop to pick-up the boat on my way home from work.
While I would be working today, Mindy would be enjoying a busy day herself. She would be meeting a friend for breakfast, visiting her kids before they leave on their own camp trip, and shopping for & packing our camping food. The idea was that I would arrive home between 4-5pm with the boat, load the coolers, personal belongings and firewood and then head to the lake.
Work went pretty well but we were very busy. I left for my run around 12noon in order to make a 2pm meeting. It was hot but nothing too ridiculous. After my run I had plenty of time to enjoy my lunch while working through a few miscellaneous issues. As it turned out, I was in meetings from 2pm until the end of my day. My plan to leave work at 4pm was dashed, however. I didn’t leave my last meeting until 4:45pm and I still had many loose ends to tie up. I left the office at 4:57pm destined for home and a four day mini-vacation – the second of three I have scheduled this summer.
In talking with Mindy, I learned that she was just wrapping up the packing so my leaving work any sooner would’ve netted little forward progress anyhow. Furthermore, she encouraged me to relax and take my time. I did. My path to the boat storage took me down old Dublin rd. Traffic was favorable since I was a few minutes ahead of the typical rush. I attached the boat and was home by 5:30pm. Mindy was already walking Ykraps when I arrived. After unloading my daily gear, I went into pack mode almost immediately. Forty minutes later we were pulling away in route to Alum Creek. Before jumping on 270, we stopped for boat gas at Thorntons. The boat took only 3.5 gallons. I wanted it topped off, though.
We hit the freeway by 6:30pm – avoiding the after work rush hour almost entirely. We arrived at Alum Creek Camp Ground just before 7:00PM and made our way to G-29 – our pre arranged campsite. The site looked ideal. It was heavily shaded and backed right up to the lake where we planned to anchor the boat through the entire trip.
We set-up our tent and screen house with no trouble at all. Mindy’s patience makes a big, big difference. By 8:30PM, we had our entire set camp ready and were ready to go dip the boat. I remember looking to the west at a very lovely setting orange sun. I felt somewhat hurried, however, because I didn’t want to be finding our way to our anchoring cove in the dark. There was no wait at the dock – just as we expected. We put the boat, detached the trailer, and left the vehicle (we’d walk back and get the vehicle later). We boated directly to the cove as the sun was sinking fast. I was in a bigger hurry than I really needed to be.
We tied off in the cove at a spot convenient, but not as close to our site as possible. As it turned out, someone else had already taken the perfect spot directly behind our campsite. No biggie, though. After vacating the boat, we walked back to get the Trooper at the camp dock. Because of a newer hiking trail, it’s a much shorter walk, and very pristine too. Mindy was a little frustrated with the speed in which I was walking, but I just wanted to be done, back, and relaxed.
We made it back to our site with the Trooper – leaving the boat trailer at the camp dock – before the sun went down entirely. I cracked a beer and Mindy cracked a Mike’s Hard Berry. We fired up our new mini-Weber grill and roasted some hotdogs and chili sauce. We spent the next hour enjoying the unforgettable taste of camp food. Incidentally, we just love our new little $9.92 grill. Mindy roasted a couple of marshmallows after the dogs were done. We enjoyed another beverage and then took a short walk to the boat just to check on its security. We were both beat after a long exhaustive day. It was still rather warm and muggy. We didn’t bother lighting a campfire, but did give some firewood to our neighbors who were without any camping luxuries at all. After returning from our walk we decided to hit the hay to live and play another day.
I woke on time but a tad later than perhaps I would’ve preferred. I had a busy but exciting day ahead and I was eager to get going. Some exercise, a walk with Ykraps, and a couple rounds of coffee, I was well into the day.
The weather was again predicted to sunny and close to 95 degrees. I would have planned to drive the BM’er but in order to stay on task and be at our campsite around 6pm, I didn’t. I would instead drive the Trooper, which was packed with most of our camping gear, and stop to pick-up the boat on my way home from work.
While I would be working today, Mindy would be enjoying a busy day herself. She would be meeting a friend for breakfast, visiting her kids before they leave on their own camp trip, and shopping for & packing our camping food. The idea was that I would arrive home between 4-5pm with the boat, load the coolers, personal belongings and firewood and then head to the lake.
Work went pretty well but we were very busy. I left for my run around 12noon in order to make a 2pm meeting. It was hot but nothing too ridiculous. After my run I had plenty of time to enjoy my lunch while working through a few miscellaneous issues. As it turned out, I was in meetings from 2pm until the end of my day. My plan to leave work at 4pm was dashed, however. I didn’t leave my last meeting until 4:45pm and I still had many loose ends to tie up. I left the office at 4:57pm destined for home and a four day mini-vacation – the second of three I have scheduled this summer.
In talking with Mindy, I learned that she was just wrapping up the packing so my leaving work any sooner would’ve netted little forward progress anyhow. Furthermore, she encouraged me to relax and take my time. I did. My path to the boat storage took me down old Dublin rd. Traffic was favorable since I was a few minutes ahead of the typical rush. I attached the boat and was home by 5:30pm. Mindy was already walking Ykraps when I arrived. After unloading my daily gear, I went into pack mode almost immediately. Forty minutes later we were pulling away in route to Alum Creek. Before jumping on 270, we stopped for boat gas at Thorntons. The boat took only 3.5 gallons. I wanted it topped off, though.
We hit the freeway by 6:30pm – avoiding the after work rush hour almost entirely. We arrived at Alum Creek Camp Ground just before 7:00PM and made our way to G-29 – our pre arranged campsite. The site looked ideal. It was heavily shaded and backed right up to the lake where we planned to anchor the boat through the entire trip.
We set-up our tent and screen house with no trouble at all. Mindy’s patience makes a big, big difference. By 8:30PM, we had our entire set camp ready and were ready to go dip the boat. I remember looking to the west at a very lovely setting orange sun. I felt somewhat hurried, however, because I didn’t want to be finding our way to our anchoring cove in the dark. There was no wait at the dock – just as we expected. We put the boat, detached the trailer, and left the vehicle (we’d walk back and get the vehicle later). We boated directly to the cove as the sun was sinking fast. I was in a bigger hurry than I really needed to be.
We tied off in the cove at a spot convenient, but not as close to our site as possible. As it turned out, someone else had already taken the perfect spot directly behind our campsite. No biggie, though. After vacating the boat, we walked back to get the Trooper at the camp dock. Because of a newer hiking trail, it’s a much shorter walk, and very pristine too. Mindy was a little frustrated with the speed in which I was walking, but I just wanted to be done, back, and relaxed.
We made it back to our site with the Trooper – leaving the boat trailer at the camp dock – before the sun went down entirely. I cracked a beer and Mindy cracked a Mike’s Hard Berry. We fired up our new mini-Weber grill and roasted some hotdogs and chili sauce. We spent the next hour enjoying the unforgettable taste of camp food. Incidentally, we just love our new little $9.92 grill. Mindy roasted a couple of marshmallows after the dogs were done. We enjoyed another beverage and then took a short walk to the boat just to check on its security. We were both beat after a long exhaustive day. It was still rather warm and muggy. We didn’t bother lighting a campfire, but did give some firewood to our neighbors who were without any camping luxuries at all. After returning from our walk we decided to hit the hay to live and play another day.
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