G29 ... A Camping We Will Go

I must’ve awoken near 7am. Because of the busy day ahead, I was a little stressed. Just couldn’t help myself. After exercise and a walk with Ykraps I began to calm. After all, our 10am departure deadline was entirely self-imposed. While out walking Ykraps I happened upon my dad driving by. Said he’d just been by the house. I invited him in for morning coffee. He accepted. I alerted mindy that my dad was over while delivering her morning coffee. After some brief conversation with Dad and Mindy I left for my run. Must’ve been around 8:00am. At the time the skies were clear & blue with few if any clouds mixed in, although I didn’t expect that to last. The temperature hovered near 60 degrees. The days high was expected to reach only into the upper 70’s once again. Part of me wanted to cut my run down to three miles in an effort to conserve time, but ended up doing the full four miles. Mindy was up and about soon after I returned home. And while she baked and served a fresh strada for breakfast, we planned to take the lion’s share of it along on our camping trip to serve as breakfast. That, we figured, would simplify our mornings. While Mindy started organizing the coolers, I showered up. I ate my strada soon after, and then began loading the Honda. While not optimal, I loaded the Honda in such a way that the coolers would go in last. That way, we could easily ice-up just before getting on the freeway. Turned out, we weren’t ready to depart until 11am. We pulled out of the subdivision destined for Thornton’s just up the road to get ice. I realized just as we pulled into Thornton’s that I would need to return home to fetch the camping reservation paperwork. Crap! We spotted Mindy already icing the coolers, or so it appeared. However, on closer observation she was picking up scattered pop cans that fell from the pop cooler. Geesh! Also in that cooler was the breakfast strada, and in a glass baking dish. Needless to say, it shattered rendering the strada inconsumable. I felt bad since I placed the coolers in the Honda. Mindy consolidated everything into the remaining three coolers. After addressing the minor mishap we both returned home, me to grab the camping reservation form, and Mindy to fetch some back-up breakfast eats (bacon and eggs). Neither of us said anything; the tension was high. After regaining our composure, we were soon back on the road. It was 11:30am. The drive up was simple. Somehow we beat Mindy & Bella to Alum Creek. We later learned that they stopped at Tim Horton’s. It was 12noon. Our camp site was still occupied, but then again, they didn’t need to vacate until 1pm. We decided to put the boat in first just like our original plan called for. We would simply boat the afternoon away and then return to set-up camp later in the afternoon. Thankfully, putting in the boat went well. Soon we were boating around the lake. No one wanted to tube so after a short ride we made our way to the boat swim area. We, or more accurately the kids, spent a couple of hours swimming. Aside from us, there was only one other boat in the swim cove. Gotta love week day boating. We pulled anchor and made our way to camp before 3pm. I dropped Mindy at the camp dock so she could drive the Honda to the site (G29). Jacob & Bella stayed in the boat with me. We cruised over to the cove just behind our campsite to tie-up. As expected, Mindy was already there. She met us and helped carry our boat cooler, towels, and food to the site. While she and t he kids unpacked the coolers, I walked back to the camp dock to fetch the Trooper, which held the tents as well as most of the other camp gear. It didn’t take long. I was back in less than 10 minutes. I detached and left the boat trailer at the dock area. We started setting up camp right away, three tents and the dining shelter. Mindy & I would share a tent, as would Jacob & Bella. Our third tent, a small dome, would serve as storage for our coolers. Camp was set-up by 5pm or slightly after. Mindy & Bella went to the restroom to shower. After they showered up, Mindy made dinner, chili dogs. After dinner, we took a family hike/walk on the nature trail. Always fun. Just prior to our walk we got a brief rain shower, and out over the lake was a partial rainbow. Just another to add to our 2009 collection. Our hike took us to the camp pond where we encountered a number of folks fishing, all of which looked quasi-homeless. Yikes! Not to be judgmental, but quite a few of the folks camping looked a little scary. Mindy & I quietly compared notes. When we got back to camp, the kids & I prepared the fire, but didn’t light it. We wanted to wait until dusk. They could hardly wait. They were very much looking forward to making/eating some smores. Meanwhile, off in the distance, thunder rumbled and the sky darkened. Not wanting to take any chances, I went to cover the boat. The last time we camped the boat filled with more than 6 inches of water. I quipped that it wouldn’t rain if we covered it. It didn’t, but just to our immediate southeast the sky looked ominous. We later learned that Worthington took a pounding. The sky cleared overhead and we got a real nice fire going. The kids eventually made their smores and went to bed around 10pm happy campers. :) After the kids were asleep, Mindy & I chatted around the fire. We witnessed a couple raccoons helping themselves to our trash. We caught one poking his head out the top of the bag while another chewed a hole in the bottom and ran off. Funny! A group of 20-something campers were next site over. They were extra noisy, up until 1am or so. They woke our kids a number times.