 |
| Morning Fog |
 |
| Sunrise Lake Murray |
 |
| Sunset Lake Murray |
A good weekend! It is always nice to get away from the normal routine of life and do something different. Camping with my wife, two big dogs, my niece, her husband and their three kids is definitely different! The camping Gracie and I do requires a very small amount of gear [stuff] whereas two families require one big pickup truck load of stuff, a small pickup truck load of stuff and a SUV packed full of stuff. Two big tents and a huge woppin' big tent! Two canopies stringed with lights and two picnic tables; one to cook on and one to eat on. Half a truck load of fire wood and three wienie/marshmallow roasting telescoping store bought cushioned handled things, which replace thin knife sharpen poke your eye out roastin' sticks!! Two Coleman- two burner cooking stoves, a big Coleman one burner cooking stove, an electric skillet, an electric coffee pot, and an assortment of pots and pans with which to cook One charcoal grill- portable -which grilled chicken, hotdogs, hamburgers, and even steaks! Even saw a toaster! And, yes, we ate very well thank you! Nothing like the freeze dried foods I would normally eat. Coolers of all sizes and colors full of good grub, milk, pop and sweet tea. Three excellent cooks and seven satisfied tummies and two beggin' dawgs!
One motor boat, one paddle! One canoe, two paddles! Motor boat used for fishin' and stressin', canoe used for meditation and relaxin'. Motor boat would not start, floatin' in middle of lake--paddle with one paddle, blow whistle, wave hat, two kind men towed us to boat ramp! Canoe paddled nice and smooth-listen to birds, have easy conversation and gently float back to shore and campsite. Day two, Gracie and I went out in canoe. Day three, great- nephew and I went out in canoe. Makes me his GREATEST uncle! Day four, niece and I went out in canoe. Beautiful weather all weekend for being on the lake. Motor boat not my thing!
Dogs! We have a Rottweiler, his name is Rocki. He has been neutered, therefore his name is Rocki instead of Rocky! Now you know!! He is not my outdoors companion, he likes to lay in the soft comfortable chair and watch TV. Not a big sports fan--his name is Rocki. He is into Oprah and Judge Judy, those type shows. He, Gracie and I rode together to the State Park in my little truck. The seat is too small for all three of us. I drove, Gracie laid where she normally does and Rocki sat on top of her. When we arrived at the park Rocki threw up in my cup holder-. not pretty! That symbolized his feelings, not a happy camper!
 |
| ROCKI |
Gracie threw up in the tent that first night as we were readying for bed, she just ate too many table scraps. Nasty! As you can imagine she loved camping, something she is very experienced at doing. Every morning I would put the dogs in the truck and drive to an empty spot on the shore to let the dogs run and do dog stuff. Gracie loves water and would walk right in, Rocki always hesitated but would step in and drink before we returned to the camp site. One morning they played like puppies and yapped and ran in circles.
 |
| Rocki and Gracie |
|
|
In the evenings we would sit around the campfire and talk and share secrets of life. NOT!!!! Everyone had some kind of electronic device, instead of the glow of the fire reflecting off our faces we had the muted glare of cell phones, nooks, and game gizmos reflecting off our glasses and glassy eyes, I even watched a football game on a cell phone one night. What is this world coming to! The nights of staring dumbly and numbly into the campfire are over! Checking the time-five minutes later then it was last time you checked. Do I need to put more wood on the fire or let it burn out? Should we go to bed now or wait? lets see it's 7:30, we should wait. All of us had a battery charger of some kind and we plugged everything in at night. Now that I think about it,it really is kinda funny. Family camping-it is a good thing to do!
At night we looked at the stars and hunted for the big and little dippers. We saw the sky covered with the thousands of stars which surround us. Loons on the lake and a big ole stork roosting on a tree, fish jumped from the water and turtles swam- heads held high waking the water. Red sun rises and golden sun sets.Cold wind and warm breezes. Calm lake and wind blown waters. Morning coffee with french toast, grilled steaks with home made fries and cold Dr. Pepper.
 |
| Crane/Stork |
 |
| Loons |
On the lake or on the land,
Turtle
