Labor day weekend was spent with our neighbors and "The Floatman". The ten of us converged upon the local tavern Saturday evening. Jim held the kitchen open for us and, literally, the last entree was ordered just before it closed at 10pm. What a relief it was to make it down in time to be able to eat before heading up to our spot on the mountain because there wasn't a back up plan (at least one that didn't involve eating junk food instead) for Saturday evening's meal. We ate, drank and got merry then headed to TC. After setting up camp, some of us grabbed fresh cold ones and everyone else found a spot to hang out and have their own fun. My poor daughter, suffering with the onset of a cough and cold, was forced to hang out by herself in the camper. I have to say, even with feeling like complete poo-poo, my daughter impresses me with her maturity and helpfulness. On her own, she prepared the inside of the Coleman pop-up and made it ready for our family to sleep within. Thank you Babe-ah, I love you more than you'll ever know! And I'm sorry you're feeling like 'el crappo!
My wife was extremely happy to be able to see the stars in their full glory. Saturday evening, we were blessed with little cloud cover and moderate temperatures, both are great for night sky watching. Once we completed camp construction and the positioning of our gear, Matt and I plopped ourselves down in chairs on the "lower level" while the rest hung out around the fire and on the deck under the ez-up screen tent. Besides the stars, comets and satellites, the coolest thing was the low level cloud that settled on the property for a few minutes. All of sudden, the stars turned off and the sky went from blue/black to a dark grey. I grabbed my LED flashlight and pointed it skyward. The beam shown solid white. The air was so thick with water droplets that the beam could penetrate only a dozen feet or so. I scrutinized the light saber as it appeared to be alive. What I found was that each minuscule droplet was moving around in a wind orchestrated dance. It was really cool and mesmerizing. The beam appeared like a bright wand of sand flowing back and forth and in layers like strudel. Before I knew it, the cloud had passed and the show was over!
As the night drew into morning, we collected around the fire pit and put a small dent in the wood pile. At times, the fire ring radiated heat so well that some of us repositioned ourselves further up the hill and actually off the pavers. I was happy that I had made the trip up earlier in the week and took care of the weeds and moved the brick piles. The added space came in handy when we gathered around the fire pit. The bench seating that I built was also a hit and put to good use.
Sunday morning brought in a few passing rain showers, some heavier than others. The worst of them hit just about dinner time though. But, early morning had a window of opportunity that allowed us all to load up and head into town on a breakfast run. I had promised and had my heart set on having us all go to a dinor (that's they way they spelled it there) that was within Tionesta's city limits, but the place was hopping with patrons because of the holiday weekend. The servers were noticeably frazzled and it caused them to show little interest in accommodating our large group in any seating configuration. I was disappointed. I really wanted the kids to enjoy the good flavor of their homemade perogies. As we waited for a couple tables to open, I watched a group of 6 walk in and sit down to be served which facilitated our group's exit. The decision to reroute to the Sky Jet was wise. This restaurant, only 10 minutes further up the road. had a much greater seating capacity and an efficient staff. The proprietor, who is always dressed to kill in her Sunday best, sat us in the backroom within minutes of our entry and within 5 minutes I was chugging my first cup of many coffees to come. We ate like kings and queens and rolled back to camp. No, we literally rolled back to camp as I was so full of good eats I could explode! LOL!
Back at camp, it had begun to warm up. Every now and then, there would be a small gust of cool wind, but they didn't last very long and didn't do much to stop the sweating. I set up a few protective moving blankets on the ground of the lower level and unloaded the arsenal from the truck. Matt, the kids and I made our way through the various calibers and just about everyone had a turn to display their markmanship. The neighbor's daughters, although having never fired a rifle, showed that with just a little bit of instruction they could compete with the best of them. The younger of the two was even brave enough to fire my .40cal Glock. I was very thorough with hand and body position and what to expect upon trigger pull. She listened intently on what to do and what NOT to do. I wish I could have captured the size of her grin on camera after the first squeeze and shot fired down range! I knew by the look of her face that she could feel the power of this impressive weapon and wanted more. I pointed out a few things that I felt could be improved upon and then let her empty the magazine. I think she enjoyed herself. I know she enjoyed firing that weapon. I was really impressed because most of the 13 rounds were finding their way through the paper target placed 30 feet away. Good going "Not a Toyota"!
Fast forward to dinner time. I said "just before dinner time" in reference to the rains before dinner because it couldn't have been time any more perfectly. The grill had just been turned off and all of the food was warmed and/or cooked to perfection and the rains began. Two tables, 8 chairs, 9 people fit like sardines under a 10 X 10 canopy (in case you wondered!). I, however, found a tree with broad leaves and used it like an big umbrella. My wife Jennifer outdid herself again. I suggested we do burritos as much of the ingredients can be prepared at home and warmed on the spot. If you could imagine a burrito night at the local buffet line restaurant, you must have been up at camp with us! The expanse of food at the chow line was crazy-out of this world. She literally could have fed an army. The fact that the food bags we brought up to camp filled a 100qt cooler should have been the clue on how elaborate this spread was going to be! All of us tried intently to eat as much as we could, but the mounds of food just laughed at our attempts and would not relent. We were forced to wrap up just about half of it all and store it for reheats the following day. We had Matt, Carol and family over again (this time at our home) Monday evening to finish the left overs and we still had food to pack back into the refrigerator! LOL!
While it rained steady during Sunday's Spanish Supper, as soon as we had finished eating like pigs...it stopped and allowed us to enjoy yet another evening around the fire. This time the festivities didn't last quite as long as the gravity of the consumption and the tiredness of all that we'd put ourselves through for 1.5 days had caught up to us. We "called it a night" early and shortly thereafter it began to rain non-stop and didn't quit until early morning. I thought for sure that we would find the Gricars in their tent somewhere floating down the mountainside, but the forest surrounding camp is forgiving (for the most part) and had sucked up the storm water like a sponge. We packed down and headed out.
I couldn't help but think how much easier camping is going to be once I complete the Thinker's Box and haul the Banner camper up. The convenience improvement is almost incomprehensible. I apologize for not video taping. I've got a few minutes of the children shooting targets, but I'm going to hold off posting it. I was having to much fun to be stuck behind the DV recorder instead of in front of it.
The next post will resume with the construction of the wall framing and roof of the storage shed. Coming soon!
Dj
