Family Camping Trip: Day Two

We all woke up at a decent hour, around 8:30 or so. As far as I know everyone had a comfortable sleep and we awoke warm and dry, which is always a good thing. The morning was overcast and there was a fair bit of wind but we were optimistic that the weather was going to improve.

We started off the day with a nice pot of coffee. Since this was our first year with electrical service we had to figure out what to do with it. We decided to bring the coffee maker. What a wise choice that was! Usually when we camp we subject ourselves to shitty instant coffee. I don't know what the deal is with that stuff!! It's definitely instant, I'll give it that much, but I don't see how it's coffee. Sure it looks like coffee, if you ignore the weird foam at the top, but I've never had real coffee that tasted like that! Anyway that's enough about instant coffee. We had nice French Vanilla coffee from a coffee maker and we loved it!

The kids ate the traditional tiny cereal boxes that are a vital part of every camping trip for breakfast, after which they sat around with a stunned/bored expressions on their faces. I decided that we needed to do something. "Anybody want to go for a walk?"

"Angel or Devil" was the only taker, the other two responded with grunts. So we headed off down the road to see what we could see. After a short while we came across an arch that said "Nature Trail" which framed a path leading into the woods. I asked "Angel or Devil" if she was up for some exploration. She was. So off we went into the great unknown.

The path led us through the woods and at the halfway mark it came out on the other side at the shore of Little Kenosee Lake (which was really just another slough, they're not fooling me!). There was also a dock leading off the path that took you out over the waters of the slough. The water at the shore line was covered in a disgusting foam (it is my understanding that this is caused by dead mermaids). Once you got past the foam you could see all of the brown weedy crap floating in the water. It actually looked more like matted hair than weeds, either way it was pretty sick. Also once you were out on the dock you could really enjoy the stink! Truly the highlight of the walk.

After the "lake" we continued along the path until we once again emerged from the woods back at the campground. Here we found another hidden treasure. The top half of a dead rabbit laying on the path.

When we got back to the site "Angel or Devil" tried to get one of her sisters to check out the "lake", however they all declined. Even when she mentioned the dead rabbit!

Later that morning we were sitting around the campfire when a gopher emerged from the bushes and started sniffing around. We named him Supper and he instantly became the official mascot for our site. He popped up every now and then to see if the kids had dropped anything worth eating and then he'd scamper back into the bushes for a while.

By lunch time the clouds were starting to thin out and we got to experience the odd bit of sunshine every now and then, which was nice. Most of the afternoon was spent just relaxing around the site. The kids wandered over to the playground a few time and stuff like that but for the most part we were just chillin'.

For dinner we had chicken breasts, corn on the cob, roasted potatoes and beans. Delicious!

After dinner the kids went back to the park and I started to clean up the dishes and stuff. At about this time one of the girls I work with (Broad) and her boyfriend (The Teach) walked by our site. I flagged them down and we made plans for them to come by later for a few beers around the fire. The kids had been waiting for them to arrive all day because they knew that they were bringing their dogs with them and my kids are certifiable dog-fiends.

The kids came back from the park and shortly after that Broad and The Teach arrived with their dogs. This was followed by a period of mayhem while the kids mauled the dogs and such. They had a pug and a jack russell terrier, both good sized dogs for these kids. Broad and The Teach told the kids that they could take the dogs for a walk, which was the greatest thing ever for them. The only problem was there were three kids and only two dogs. The perfect recipe for one crying kid. We managed to get things straightened out and made arrangements for sharing the dog walking chore and once everyone had gotten themselves together and all the tears were dried up they headed out. They felt like real big shots walking around with dogs, I can tell you that. We never saw them again for a good hour after that. When the kids finally did return the dogs were beat. They spent most of the rest of the night sleeping on a lawn chair.

At one point "Angel and Devil" went to the bathroom with Broad. On the way back Broad wanted to stop at their campsite and pickup some snacks. "Angel or Devil" asked her if she would introduce her to everybody as "My friend "Angel or Devil"". She was a little disappointed when she was told that there was nobody there to be introduced to. "You mean you don't have any kids?"

"Nope."

"Not even any cousins?"

"Afraid not."

Damn! Here she thought she was going to be introduced to a crowd of people as some kind of big deal!

When they returned to our site Broad decided that she and "Angel or Devil" would sneak up and scare us by coming through the bush. They couldn't have been any louder if they were wearing suits of armour! When they emerged from the bush we were all just staring at them. It was clear that the beer was having it's affect on Broad. It was good for a laugh though.

The kids were almost as tired as the dogs were and soon after the failed bush surprise they all hit the tent. This left the grown ups to sit around and enjoy some drinks and some adult time until around 1:00am.

That about wraps up our second day.