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This is going to be another short diary because I spent the weekend camping at the lake with my two daughters, four grandchildren, and my wife. It was our youngest daughters birthday and all she wanted was to go out and camp at the lake like she did when she was growing up. So my wife, her older sister, and I agreed to gather up all the camping gear we would need which would be a bunch.
There would be at least my youngest daughter, her husband, and their two kids, her older sister and her two boys, and my wife and I. That's three tents, and nine sleeping bags, plus air mattresses and/or cots. It would also require at least two coolers and a "grub box," and of course gathering up enough wood to cook and keep a campfire going. And all that fell to me. Which to be honest was alright with me as long as my wife and daughter were willing to gather up all the food, clothes, other stuff we would need.
Surprisingly, however, gathering up all the camping gear we would need was not the biggest challenge we encountered. That challenge turned out to be where we would put it which sure surprised me. Its been many years since we camped at the lake but when the kids were growing up it was easy. We could drive nearly anywhere along the shore line, find a nice sandy beach with trees for shade and just throw a camp together. But since then the rules for camping have gotten a lot stricter and especially if you are going to have a campfire it has to be in approved campground with a "fire ring." And its not just that the rules have gotten a lot stricter they also now have park rangers to enforce them and hefty fines to match for breaking them. We started looking for a camping spot on the north side of the lake and by the time we finally found one it was three hours later and we were on the south side of the lake. But at least we found one.
And looking back I'm kind of surprised we managed to get that spot because another thing that seems to have changed is the number of people using the lake and state park seems to have grown dramatically. Back when the kids were growing up it often seemed like we had the lake to ourselves but now people seem to be everywhere. So managing to find a rather secluded officially approved camping spot with a picnic table and restrooms at least fairly close might have been more luck than anything.
I wasn't taking any chances though and made sure I was out there bright and early Friday morning to claim the spot and set up camp. And that was a good move for two reasons. One being I had only been there a few minutes before the first campers showed up at the camping spot but since I was already there they had to just keep on looking and I wished them luck on that. And also because it took me just about all day to get the three tents set up and get the camping basics laid out. But camp was set up by the time the rest of the family showed up late that afternoon.
And even though it was a lot of work it sure turned out to be worth it. First, because our youngest daughter really doesn't ask for much so fulfilling a special birthday wish for her was really rewarding. We also had just a great time. Grandma all but bought out the store when it came to inflatable water toys and the weather was warm and beautiful so everyone, including the adults and children, had a great time playing on the beach and in the water. We had plenty to eat and drink and of course cooked hamburgers and hotdogs over the open fire. And we even had to survive some pretty violent wind and rain the last night but even that was sort of fun because almost everyone ended up crowded into one tent while we rode out the storm which really impressed the grandchildren.
Maybe the best thing though was our daughter got her wish and we also passed the tradition on down to her kids and our other grandsons who now are also building their favorite memories of camping at the lake. So that makes the exhaustion I'm feeling this morning worth it. Even if the best I could do is throw this diary together at the last second this morning.
Fair warning though there might not even be that next Wednesday morning. And that is because when our youngest daughter and her husband headed home yesterday they left our six year-old granddaughter and three year-old grandson with us for a week's visit. And I don't think I've seen exhaustion yet after trying to keep up with those two for a week.
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