I'm back, did you miss me?

Hello world. I’m coming to life slowly, trying to shake the post-camping slumber I’ve been in since Sunday evening. The trip was great, and I had a total blast.

We arrived shortly after 2pm on Thursday and decided to proceed with our setup right away, just in case the rains that paid a visit to Jen, Chris, David and Amanda on Wednesday decided to return. It was also their night to cook [they had started camping a day or two earlier than us so we figured it’d be easier if they cooked on Thursday night while we set up camp] so we had a chance to set up and basically just bum around until dinner. Our site was also deemed the party site [because the other sites had kids therefore not allowing for campfire and loud chatter after the kid’s bedtimes] so we got the fire going and everyone sat around it chatting into the late evening.

On Friday we got up, made breakfast and decided to go geocaching, we managed to find the cache without anyone getting hurt [including Kevin] so that was a bit of a relief. I think the best part of finding the cache was reading the logbook contained in it that told of earlier geocachers, who they were and the dates and times in which they’d found the cache. Once at the site I was already thinking about scrapping for this trip so I took the Gary and Mary Adventurers Card and left behind a little leather/cloth satchel bag that can be hung around the neck, while Bruce left a Scotia Bank hockey puck and took an eraser before we headed back to camp. We were a little more than sweaty by the time we got back so we had a quick lunch and headed down to the beach, the water was fantastic [i.e. not too cold and not too deep] so I think I spent about 2-3 hours wading around in it and then another half hour or so picking up rocks from below the surface and then trying to throw them as far as I can.

Friday was also our night to cook so Ken fired up the BBQ for the porkchops while Liv and I worked on the veggies, we did a combination of grilled and sautéed veggies and they turned out pretty well. After dinner we made smores and sat around the campfire chatting, then around 11pm or so Kev and I decided to head down to the beach to watch the stars, we brought a towel and laid it on the grass so we could lie on it and look up without hurting our necks - we found that a few other people were there as well doing the same thing, it was pretty neat, people were around but everyone was so quiet, talking on whispers and enjoying the night sky. We saw the milky way, the big dipper and countless shooting stars and satellites before heading back to camp.

On Saturday after breakfast [we made egg McMuffins], Ken wasn’t feeling well, and it looked like we weren’t going to do any geocaching that day so I took Xavier for a walk and Chris joined me with Daniel. It was neat being out with the kids, they stop and look at everything, they’re curious about everything [including washroom areas and other people’s campsites ;) ] so they made Chris & I stop and appreciate our surroundings. Xavier kept stepping in the mini potholes in the road, and if he happened to notice a bit late that he’d missed one, he’d stop turn around and go back to step in it. :)

It started raining on Saturday shortly after lunch, I didn’t mind the downpour [Kev and I were actually talking of playing in the rain if the downpour continued] so while everyone scurried for their tents or the cars, I decided to continue doing the dishes [in the rain!] – Kev stayed outside with me and started digging a trench to drain the water from our site. His system worked pretty well and within an hour or so the site was above water again.

Then on Saturday night Rene, Steph and Bruce made dinner and I surprised Kevin with a birthday cake after dinner, Ken still wasn’t better so he missed dinner and the cake and we never did get a real poker game going on this trip but altogether we had a blast.

Packing up and heading home on Sunday was a nightmare, we left the site shortly before 2pm but didn’t’ get home until 7:30pm or somewhere thereabouts. On our way home we’d decided to take a detour through the backroads after traffic came to a halt on the 400, but it ended up taking way longer than we expected. I think next year we’ll leave on a Monday instead, that way we can avoid all the folks heading down from the cottage on a Sunday. Our saving grace was our annual tradition of going to Liv’s parents place for dinner after camping, they made pasta for us and as usual it was incredibly yummy and very much appreciated. Since then I’ve been in this slumber… with today being my first day back at work. I think I’m going to need coffee to get me through it as my sleeping schedule is all messed up. :)