Perpetual Ruminations

Saturday

Made it through Saturday, and the end of the week. Of course, I still have to work tomorrow, but at least it's a short day.

I set a goal on Monday before heading out the door, and it's gone pretty well. I had to run around town for a while to find a few things for our camping trip, and was a bit discouraged while looking for some lawn chairs. There wasn't much for selection, since most stores had removed most of the summer items already, but I did eventually find a couple of nice chairs. They were the last two in this style, a folding rocker. That's right, folding lawn chairs that rock. They are also extra wide, and very comfortable.

We headed out camping right after Rhonda got out of work, set up and had a great night. It was late, however, by the time we had the tent set up, the mattress aired up, and the camp arranged. We got a fire going but didn't have time to cook the steaks, as I had planned for the night, a surprise for Rhonda. Instead, we heated up some baked beans and cooked hotdogs over the fire.

It was a beautiful full moon, and it was even more beautiful watching it rise up out of the lake through the trees. We enjoyed the fire and the peace and quiet until quite late. Again, it started out a bit frustrating as we set out to cook our supper, but it ended up a very wonderful night.

The frustration came from some other campers that were a couple of sites over from us. They continued to argue and fight for quite some time. But, when I accidentally hit the locator button on the key remote it started the van honking and flashing it's lights, and for a long time after I shut it down, it was quiet. Eventually they started up again, but now they were just talking and not fighting. They were still plenty loud, but that didn't bother us like the arguing and fighting had. Also, they turned in for bed quite early, and after that it was nice and quiet.

Tuesday morning we woke around nine, and it was quite chilly out. We had stayed nice and snug in the tent, tucked into our sleeping bags. We have matching bags, and they zip together to form one double sized sleeping bag we can both fit into, so we snuggled up and stayed nice and cozy. Upon waking, we realized that a heavy fog and mist had moved in during the night, and everything was a bit damp. But, it had stopped misting and we were able to make a pot of coffee and enjoy the morning.

Soon, however, the wind picked up some, and it added a deeper chill to the air. We had brought warm clothing along, and it was sure needed on Tuesday. We took our coffee and went back into the tent to sit on the couch and enjoy it while we listened to the radio. The "couch" is our bed as well, and a very nice set up we had stumbled on last year, but had not gotten a chance to use yet. It's an air bed, but it also has the ability to fold into an inflated couch.

We sat snuggled listening to the radio, and the forecast was much the same, cloudy with afternoon showers likely, then colder into the night and Wednesday. Since it was likely to rain, we decided to have the steaks for dinner instead of later, and set about cooking them. They turned out great, and we enjoyed a nice dinner by the lake, looking out at the fog rolling in. After, we cleaned up our dishes and put things away, then discussed some hiking. Again, we took some coffee inside the tent and enjoyed it while we listened to the radio, and an updated forecast.

It was now predicting rain all afternoon, night, and all day Wednesday. The rain would stop by Wednesday evening, but the temperature would fall near freezing  by nightfall, and there were now frost warnings out. Shortly after, the rain started, so we cancelled the hiking and snuggled up in the tent for a short afternoon nap.

The rain continued all afternoon, and the wind also picked up, making it difficult to do much of anything. It was hitting near gale force and the tent was taking a beating, so we dropped it down and moved it over by some trees and brush for more shelter. We both got pretty wet setting back up, but we had it out of the worst of the wind, and with a couple supporting guidelines attached, we had it sturdy and secure.

But, the wind shifted later in the afternoon, and once again the tent was swaying under the pressure. We had also gotten another updated forecast, and the rain was now mixed with thunderstorms and powerful wind gusts. We discussed our options, and decided that we would not be able to do much of anything with the weather, including cooking supper. Since we only had one more night reserved, we decided to pack up and head home. We had just enough time to get most of the items stowed in the van before it got dark, and with the headlights illuminating our campsite we took the tent down and packed it up.

A couple hours later we were home. We left most of the damp stuff in the van overnight, and took care of cleaning and drying everything Wednesday. Thursday it was back to work and back to the task I set for my goal, of logging into WDC daily, writing in my journal, and just spending more time in here. I did pretty good, but ended up missing yesterday. It was just one of them days, but I'm back in today, and still on track.