anyways…

So we went camping today (just the boys - Caleb, Harrison, me). We got a slow start because Caleb’s fever was over 101 last night and we wanted to see what it would do this morning. We let him sleep and last night, I stopped packing because I didn’t want to pack fer nuthin’ - so we packed too. We ended up going, though…Caleb’s fever was nonexistent when waking. It seemed like we kept stopping places - too many places if you ask me - the pharmacy, pick up the canoe, go back to the pharmacy, grocery store, gas station, Wal Mart (cause we forgot something). Once we got on the road, it was great! We ended up at Mt. Blue State Park. What a wonderful place! I’ve never been, but it’s very large, has flushable toilets and showers. There’s a play ground, a lake, canoes, kayaks, row boats, paddle boats, trails, a nature center with exhibits, an interpretive children’s program with a ranger explaining things in the day and at night (like calling in owls at night) and over a hundred camp sites…the whole nine yards. It hardly felt like camping, but it was a nice in-between. We hardly ever go camping nowadays, so maybe completely roughin’ it would be too much of a shock. We don’t even have enough camping gear to call ourselves campers - our sleeping bags are barely workable, so we had blankets just in case. Our cooking equipment came from the kitchen. Nothing is small and light.

Anyways, once camp got set up, we went to the water on Webb Lake to get some swimming in. Brrrrr…the water was pretty cold! We were eyeing the kayaks, so we asked. They’re $3/hr. Caleb got a single, and I got a double for Harrison and I. WHAT FUN! It was worth every penny! It was my first time on a kayak and I am hooked. Absolutely phenomenal.

Caleb in his own kayak!

Harrison was just so happy to be along for the ride!

We saw 4 loons dive under the water in the distance, then to my surprise, they surfaced feet from port side. It was almost like I could reach out and touch ‘em! Their little rust orange eyes saw us…their cackles seemed to say, "hi and we how you enjoyed the show"…then they were under again and resurfaced far away. The four or them did that repeatedly until they were out of sight.

Ask Caleb what part of the trip he liked the most and he’ll say, "Taking the kayaks out and watching the osprey!" That’s right, we saw an osprey soaring overhead, then he dove straight into the water - SPLASH! and the crazy bird came up with a fish in his talons! We watched this not once, but he did it three times! I have never seen a bird do this sort of thing in my whole entire life, and the boys got to see it when they were 10 and 6 years old! Caleb has this thing about birds of prey, so he was very excited (as was I). After the bird caught his dinner, it would fly up, then he would shiver his whole body, paused in flight, so as to get the water off. It was a sight I won’t easily forget.

Caleb took some time to get used to the kayak, but eventually he was fast. He even raced me and gave me a run for my money!

All the meals were planned by Caleb. We had chicken cooked over the open fire, macaroni salad and green beans. S’more’s were desert…yummm! After dinner, we went to get cleaned up and wash dishes. While doing this, we heard a family playing old time and Appalachian trail music. We sat and listened. There were 2 guitars, 2 mandolins, a dulcimer, and a violin. One of the players was a boy Caleb’s age on the fiddle. He was amazing! It was night time by then and the music was a welcome diversion and unexpected delight.

Sleep was welcomed by the boys…Harrison had been asking for it since 7pm…so he went to sleep fast. He woke up at 12:30 to pee and it woke up Caleb and I. We had a hard time going back to sleep and Harrison was sawing logs again…what to talk about?