Fool Day on the Lake

I was up just after 7am eager to get on with our first full day on the lake. We were careful to secure our campsite from critters before retiring. It was a good thing too. We were awaken by raccoons rummaging through our belongings in the middle of the night. Despite our comfy queen size air mattress & home style bedding, I really didn’t sleep that well. I woke with a creek in my neck & a slight headache. But, I took a couple of Advil and began feeling much better almost immediately. Right out of bed I brushed my teeth in the morning air and began wrestling up some coffee. Our coffee was brewed in a stove top percolator and the taste was so much richer than that of a drip maker. After some campside guitar and coffee I prepared for a morning run. The sky wasn’t what you’d call brilliantly blue but it was improving and moving that direction. I ran pretty much the entire campground and was gone about 30 minutes. It’s a lovely run that winds by the lake, beach, and several cul-de-sacs. After the run, I returned to begin making a hearty breakfast. Like at home, we made maple bacon and scrambled eggs. After our breakfast we took a walk around the cove and through the woods – many areas I had not walked ever before. When we got back we began preparing camp for a day out on the lake. The alternator belt was squealing when we pulled into the cove the evening before so while Mindy retrieved ice from the camp office and put together a boat cooler, I went to the boat to tighten the belt. By 11:30am we were shoving off from shore – no earlier than we would’ve had we simply left from home, but it was much more relaxing. One notable difference were the few number of boats scattered about the lake. It was Thursday and most of the boats out were fishing boats clinging closely to the shore. After a romp around the lake, we headed to the swim cove north of Cheshire Rd. We pulled into the cove, sharing it with only one other boat. It was already swelteringly warm and very humid. No sooner did we get anchored and comfortable did we begin hearing what could have been rumbles of thunder off in the distance, but still overhead the sky was mostly clear. I thought the rumbles were trucks or something else. However, storms were predicted for the afternoon, some heavy. Soon the tell tale signs of an approaching storm became much more obvious. The sky/clouds thickened overhead and the wind picked up. We gave serious consideration to vacating the cove and heading back to camp. The ride would be about ten or fifteen minutes and to the west we could see clearing skies, so we altered our thinking and instead waited it out. The move turned out to be a good one. Five minutes later the sky was mostly clear and calm. We never heard another rumble of thunder or fretted at a threatening sky. We hung out in the cove all afternoon. We enjoyed a new we purchased from target that was designed as a recliner that took very little air to inflate and fit inside about a 16” mesh circular case when collapsed. It was very comfortable for casual floating & drifting. We may just buy another. I had Mindy pack me about a liter of Raspberry Vodka in a Dassani Water bottle. I sipped it all afternoon until I had a fantastic little buzz going. Mindy drank some Mike’s Hard Coolers. We stayed in the cove until sometime around 3:30 or 4:00pm when we decided to lift anchor and cruise the lake before returning to camp for dinner. As we parked the boat, we promised ourselves that we’d take a late night boat ride, and we got the ideal parking spot for the boat – directly behind our site and about a stone’s throw away. After some casual activity, Mindy went for a shower. I prepped the grill for cooking and our camp for an enjoyable evening. The front that passed through earlier left in its wake a noticeable change in the weather. Gone was the overly humid air and the stifling temperatures, yet it was still summery. We cooked our meal – hamburgers and green beans on the new little charcoal grill. Again, after our dinner Mindy roasted some marshmallows. For lack of necessity, we once again failed to burn a campfire. Come about 10pm we headed for the boat with a couple of our favorite beverages and a flashlight in tow. As we pushed off from shore and started the boat, it abruptly stalled, which isn’t all that rare. Problem was, however, it wouldn’t restart despite countless tries. We were drifting aimlessly and blindly in the cove. Once Mindy shined the flashlight it attracted what appeared to be a million tiny insects hovering over the still waters of the cove. We were literally breathing those little critters in. After a few more attempts we bagged the boat ride idea and paddled back to our tie off point. Mindy was confident that we’d start just fine tomorrow, but nonetheless, I was very disappointed. I was concerned that we may not be able to start the boat at all and consequently end up stuck paddling back to the camp dock about a mile away. We took a walk around the campground once we returned our light boating load. I was still angry but did all I could to repress the frustration. Once we returned to our site for good, we had another beer and once again decided to hit the hay earlier than usual. We were snuggling in bed before 11pm.