Our favorite park, again...February 2009
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While wrapping up our annual Cub Scout Family Pack Camp Out, I mentioned to 2 other families I had reservations for the next weekend and invited them to join us. One of the families are in our den and have camped with numerous times. The other are in another den, live around the corner, and are nice folks who camp, but haven't been with us before. We did some meal planning; Mexican Saturday and Italian for Sunday night ( 3 day weekend). Before leaving town, I stopped by the neighbors to pick up their son's bike. They already had a rack with coolers on the back of their jeep and couldn't carry anything more. My favorite sites were taken upon arrival and we got 2 other suitable sites. We would share the bigger one, using it as base camp and the last family to arrive would get the second site, across the drive. We brought several tables to use as a kitchen, 2 stoves, loads of coolers and bins of food. We could have stayed a week. The weather was terrific. We did some fishing, the kids all swam in their clothes ( it was NOT hot enough for swimming), we went to a ranger program, had a nice fire both nights, told stories, and even did a science experiment (Mentos in Diet coke). The kids were exploring and the ranger came over to chat with them and tell them about the area they were exploring. We walked over to see what they were up to and the ranger invited us to "Go see something special". He had rescued a fawn last spring and the young buck thinks the ranger is mommy. The ranger called for the deer and he came. The kids spent time, up close, with the deer. Once they lost interest, we sent them back to the camp. The adults began talking and walking with the ranger. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted someone following us to the parking lot. I walked over to him to let him know that parking lots are not safe places to hang out and that he should go back with his friends. When I was saying this to the deer, I was bent over, pointing my finger at him, staring into those big round eyes. His response shocked me, he gave me a kiss. Just like a dog, licked my face. Maybe he knew it was Valentine's Day. I just wanted to give him a hug but knew that was not going to help the deer fear people, so I asked someone to take a picture instead. Of course that picture is in someone else's camera. The neighbor's wife isn't an early riser. The kids were instructed (by the husband) to do the Indian wake up dance around her tent every five minutes until she came out. They did 2 rounds of the dance, and changed their strategy. The tent was a nice big one with 3 doors. How sneaky do you think 4 kids can be? The dance turned into jumping on the bed. Good thing she woke up, someone needed to wash breakfast dishes. Once the dished were done she asked when the next camp out would be. What a good sport. The fishing wasn't great but we did catch enough for dinner. Even the "girl" caught a fish, all by herself. She baited, cast, and landed her fish. When it was time to clean them, the neighbor asked her to help. Once it was done she said "That was nasty...but I liked it." What a quote. The weekend was fun for all.
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