The Eaglebend Lane crew has just returned from a weekend of “camping.” Understand that what this means is that we rented a cabin in the woods. In this cabin are beds, sheets, a shower, a fireplace, a refrigerator, a microwave, a stove and oven, a sink, etc.
We also dragged along 3 iPods and a set of speakers for them, a Sirius satellite radio and jam box, 2 GPS units, at least one Palm Pilot. I didn’t see a laptop computer, but there might have been one. We all had cell phones but no service. I like it that way 🙂 Music is important, phones are not.
But, it’s a tremendous amount of fun. We went to Beaver’s Bend State Park in SE Oklahoma. We reserved our cabin about 5 months ago so there has been a bit of build-up. It did not disappoint. We all had Good Friday off, so we left after work on Thursday and got there about midnight. We got up at a reasonable hour on Friday, had a fantastic breakfast (I love the smells of coffee and bacon out in the woods) and set off to hike. We probably walked about 5 miles in total and spent most of the day outside. The dogs had a great time roaming around and playing with Bobby & Ian’s dogs. More details of our trip are at James’ blog.
This was the first time Colby and Bosley got to meet and play with Skylar. Bosley doesn’t really like not being the baby and center of attention, but Colby seemed to have a really great time with his cousins. They even ran around and played inside the cabin. Bosley tried to ignore them all and snipped a bit. He has to learn to share.
The hike was really great – I grew up spending a lot of time in the woods and I miss that. The park is very hilly and is set in a nice, dense forest with a river and several creeks flowing through it. We hopped across the creek several times and saw lots of little waterfalls and such. At Bobby and Ian’s suggestion, we packed lunch and took it with us and ate out on the trails. That was quite a nice moment. The dogs were crashing through the creek while we ate – and sometimes they got a little too deep. Our dogs don’t like to go in deeper than to wade. Bosley nearly killed himself trying to leap all the way from bank to bank but instead did a pratfall right into the side of the bank on the other side. But he just kept on going! If it hurt, he didn’t let on.
I enjoy grilling and cooking with open flame. When we got back to the cabin, Ian and I took off to grab 2 quick geocaches and then returned to start dinner by gathering firewood. Ian made drinks and James and Danny returned from a quick run to the local Wal-Mart while I started our fire in the fire ring outside. The fire ring had not been well maintained and was on a slope. The rocks were scattered too far and there was too much dirt/ash so I tried to dig it out a bit so air could get under. Eventually we had a nice fire that lasted until our late bed time. When we camp, we cook baked potatoes in the fire. I mean, in the fire. You double wrap those bad boys in foil and put them in the coals for about an hour and a half. A better baked potato, I promise you have not had.
While the potatoes were getting going, I started a fire in the grill to cook the shish-ka-bobs that the others were preparing in the kitchen while listening to an iPod. I stayed outside and listened to Sirius while tending the fires and sipping a beverage. That meal was damn good and it was a great way to cap off our day. Then we made s’mores – yum!
Saturday it rained. No problems, we were prepared. We listened to music and the rain, chatted with each other and played games, including Simpson’s Clue and Guillotine. We never got to Munchkin – which means we were enjoying ourselves sufficiently. We did take a few strolls in the rain with our rain gear and look around and keep the dogs semi-content. I think they were hoping for a repeat of Friday.
It stopped raining long enough to grill cheeseburgers for dinner. Too wet for a campfire, but James came to the rescue and made s’mores in the oven. Yay! This morning was another delicious breakfast and then we loaded up and came home.
Bobby and Ian are special people and special friends, so each trip with them is special. One of the very special parts of this trip was that our friend Danny, who has just completed a marathon of treatment for Leukemia, was also able to join us.
Current mood: tired but satisfied
Current music: Hotel Illness – The Black Crowes