Day 137

Beautiful morning, calm and clear. I’m going to walk a lot today and enjoy every step. But first, a slick up of the house in preparation for tea and stories. I’ve been planning for the writing class on Saturday and feeling anxious about the size of the group. Eleven is too many for intimacy and safety for sharing. Have to make ground rules about keeping confidences. Karen’s massage plus museum duty and walking plus CBD/THC and I go off to dreamland. Another good day.

Our camping trip took place in Grizzly Creek State Park on Highway 36 east and south of Fortuna. There were four couples, eleven kids, and five dogs on this outing. Each of the couple was responsible for the ingredients for one meal plus tons of snacks for the kids. We arrived on Friday afternoon and carried all the necessary equipment across the creek with only one fatality, a watermelon that slipped away from my son. It took a lot of trips with that many people. The food in coolers, tents, sleeping bags, and all the extra baggage for a crowd. When assembled, we sat and took deep breaths of the warm forest air, listened to the creek and drank beer. Our first meal was prepared by Fred who was the chef at the Elks club at the time. He made salmon, coal cooked potatoes, and vegetables on the grill over the campfire. It was delicious and had been preceded by martinis served in stemmed glasses. First class all the way. In fact, the adult drinking was one the features of this trip. The kids hung out together and made their own fun and games. We stayed up late telling stories and drinking. Finally when all the kids and dogs were asleep, we adults joined them for a peaceful night. Breakfast was on everyone. But lunch was prepared by George and was mostly sandwiches and condiments. Kids loved it. Later that evening, we had a formal dinner party on the sandy beach. We had all brought fancy tops, jewelry, and whatever we thought looked elegant. The guys had suit jackets, white shirts and ties. And all the lower dress was swim suit bottoms. We ate from china plates and drank from crystal glasses as the wine flowed.  The food was roast beef with the usual potatoes and vegetables. We made long gloves and boas from toilet paper  Oh my, the way to dine on a camping trip. That night one of  the dogs stole the left over roast and promptly threw up on one the Kids’ sleeping bags. Dave and I made breakfast on Sunday morning. The menu was Bloody Marys followed by bacon and eggs. The sputtering bacon over the campfire made the whole place smell good. There was a leisurely morning  of conversation while the kids had one more splash around in the creek and around noon the packing up started for the trip home. There was a delicious feeling of laughing and sharing with good friends. On the way home, my kids told me all the things that the adults didn’t see. No harm done. No injuries. Only one dog fight and a ton of humor.