we got off to an adventurous start with an 3am arrival to the outside gates being locked. it was clearly too late to find someone to let us in, so adam had the camping spirit and recommended we grab the basics (tent, mattress and sleeping bag for us) and hike it in. after too many hours in the van (it was raining, so the trip was slow going) the hike did us all good, but especially gibson and his new friend bandit. they'd run ahead, run behind, run to the sides. they put our sluggish pace to shame with the amount of ground they covered. just as well, because by the time we got to camp and set up our basics, gibson was ready to join us for bed. we got up bright and early to meet up with al, when he informed us that the powers that be came up with a new concern: liability. for that reason, the gates had to be locked at all times and only scouters and campers were allowed on the grounds. bless his generous heart, he stayed up till 12:30 waiting for us to arrive. of course we would have made more of an effort to arrive, had we known, but that information was never relayed to us. we brought in the cars and eventually arranged for the key to the lock to be left available for us to come and go and future guests to let themselves in without issue. friday was spent settling in, adam and i did some fishing (despite protests from gibson), and awaiting the next round of guests.
saturday adam went fishing with nancy and i dragged everyone else out for a hike. i suppose drag isnt' a fair word: everyone came willingly and seemed to have an enjoyable time at it. we hiked the red trail around to owasippe's grave and when half of us turned back, the other half completed the circuit to paradise valley, big blue lake and through a bit of camp blackhawk. it was a fun time, though a lot longer than i recall. i impressed everyone with my hiking-while-pregnant fortitude, but i was straight up pooped when we got back. ironically, so was gibson. saturday's dinner turned into a marathon of eating, with dishes from all sides, including some asian bass, courtesy of nancy's culinary skills and adam and her fishing skills. we eventually finished up with some apple cobbler, a camping staple.
sunday was pretty chill, but ended up being a frustrating day. earlier in the day, i volunteered gibson and i to go down to the north dock and get another rowboat. i pulled it down, got it in the water, and gibson went in and out once. i climbed in, got gibson in and shoved off. then all of a sudden, gibson decided he wanted to be back on the dock, but ended up in the water instead. i had to coach gibson around the pier to get out of the water and ended up needing to exit the boat to do so. not thinking, i left the rowboat alongside the dock, but it quickly floated away out of reach. so we got to walk back to camp, i had to leave gibson behind, i flagged down eric to canoe on over to the dock and fetch me the runaway rowboat. later that day, i decided to walk down to the south dock and try some fishing with gibson along. i thought it would be a good opportunity to fish around gibson and see how he took to the casting. no sooner did we arrive, then gibson made a mad dash for the water in a frantic splash. again, i had to coach him around to get to land where he could get out. it was sunny, i had my brand-new ray bans on, but opted to put them in my pocket for safe keeping. with gibson back on land i grabbed my fishing stuff again and headed to the opposite end of the dock to eat lunch and fish. i reached for my sunglasses and they were gone. i looked around on land, in the water, nothing! i ate, looked, fished looked, fished and caught a tree, looked and called it quits. when i got back to camp, adam was back and insisted on looking for my sunglasses on the spot. after a solid 90 minutes (at least) the dock and surrounding area was covered in decomposed branches and leaves, adam was wet to his waist and i was pretty filthy too. but no sunglasses. we came back to look over the next 2 days to no avail. but dinner (adam's famous shish kebab and pilaf dinner) and dessert (an new combination of blueberry and cake) were delish.
we awoke monday to an overcast morning, which soon turned into a rainy day. adam went off with brian and adam for a fishing adventure and i hung back to hang out. we took a nap once adam got back to try to wait out the storm, while brian and adam chickened out and went back home. the rain eventually gave up after sundown, when we relied on the campfire to dry our chairs. at one point, i decided to flip my chair back from the fire to enjoy the toastiness, when gibson had the same idea and plopped himself down before i could do anything about it. i tried sharing the chair with him, but it wasn't quite the same. gibson also had some exposure to raccoons that night, and by exposure i mean we were at the fire bowl, the raccoons were at the kybo, and gibson got all the way out to the edge of the light to bark at the raccoons. he'd accompany me to the kybo when i went, but didn't really venture over on his own. that's enough for me.
tuesday was for packing out. adam and kyle went fishing and i hung back to get things started. oddly enough, i enjoy the packing up process, when i can take my time and follow my own rules; it's kind of relaxing in a weird way. gibson supervised from atop a picnic table covered in his blanket and it was good. adam and kyle returned, we brought back the remaining boats to the dock and we hit the road. thank goodness adam's a determined driver because he had little to no company: both gibson and i slept the majority of the trip back. a few select things were brought in and then it was showers all around (gibson too). all in all, it was a great camping trip that was just what i needed.
unfortunately, pregnancy has made me no less accident prone. beyond the sunglasses snafu, i managed to blindly walk into a stack of tent pallets (getting a nice, deep bruise on my shin), i obtained a nice bug bite (probably spider) on my thigh that swole up to a diameter of about 2 inches, then upon returning i attempted to cook dinner with hot grapeseed oil that leapt from the pan onto my forearm. if i keep this pace up, i'll be wheelchair bound before the child arrives!!
friday was my sister-in-law's birthday, but i was too distracted to realize it. instead, i focused on the intimidating fact that the baby's scheduled arrival is a mere TWO MONTHS AWAY! oh my goodness. sure, i've been counting up the weeks, with 40 as the goal and my belly has been growing steadily and showing the occasional movement of the alien parasite within, but 2 months? that's so close and easily contemplated. no, the baby's room is in no way ready. i've barely mentioned the phrase "FMLA" at work. there's a lot to be done and every weekend between now and 11/12 are booked with random activities. this will be a challenge, to be certain.
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