Sunday evening's meteor shower was one of the best displays of shooting stars that I have ever witnessed. Rightfully so as the peak occurred this weekend by Earth carving a path through tons of debris left in the wake of comet Tempel-Tuttle. The extremely vivid streaks of light and glitter were made incredibly clear by the late rising of a waning moon. Very little light pollution made for the darkest of skies.
Jennifer, Carly and I (and later Nick) prepared our observation area of blankets, sleeping bags and pillows on the deck and enjoyed nature's fireworks display for several hours only to be ushered into our camper by the ever closing wales of the resident pack of coyotes. I have a feeling that soon something permanent will need to be done about these scavenger/predators. They are designated as "shoot on sight" /license and hunting season exempt which pretty much states how low on the totem pole their regarded. I find it amazing how just a couple weeks can turn the temperatures (both day and night) in the direction of comfort. I'll take low 80's/mid 50's versus July's heat any day!
Beyond the coyotes, other wildlife active in the area that I was able to catch a glimpse of during my early morning walk was deer, turkey, hawks, and osprey. We've got a blue heron and/or crane that visits the property as well on occasion. Reports of our roaming big bear were heard although no first hand accounts were witnessed by our family (thankfully).
The weather on Monday was awesome! The family and took a trip down to Cooksburg and along the Clarion River. I tried to do some fishing, but sadly the spot we chose was also used by the canoe livery. Passing novice canoers where a constant annoyance and hindered any smallmouth success.
The new foam sleeping pad was cut down to size and works wonderfully at providing enough room for four of us to sleep beside one another, but it also does a great job and blocking access and egress from the lavatory in the rear of the camper. So, it'll need to be stowed during the day. I found that sleeping in the converted dinette alone is a little nicer for me because I'm close to the fan, close to the door and it gives me some restless rolling room.
The next time we're up, which may not be to the holiday weekend, I'm going to have to run the mower. I had thought about taking care of it on Monday, but the grass wasn't quite long enough to justify the work. The area has been getting a good dose of periodic rain and the seed that hadn't sprouted before is really starting to fill in the bare spots on the lower level. It won't be long until that area is nice and green. I can't wait until we have a little less bright clay-tan to look at!
The only real work that I completed was rearranging some of the hooks in the new shower area and installing a couple shelves within the corner. Now we have ample area to stow our shampoo, soaps, razors, etc... And, although it appears I went a little crazy on the hooks, they all seem to get used when changing before and after showering. I'm happy with the setup.
The final detail to finish up is the actual delivery of water and I've figured out how I'm planning on accomplishing it. A combination of many of the setups in last week's post will be used and I'll hold off on all the details and just let you see the finished product when I post the video of our next visit up to camp.
During our return home, we discovered a public pool with diving boards and a huge slide that is open to non-residents for about the same cost as our local aquatic center at home. Come July, this 25 minute drive would be the perfect reprieve from the daytime heat and humidity. Jennifer and I are considering a membership for the family next year. Since we are beginning to spend so much time up there, this is one more piece in the puzzle of enjoyable activities that we can experience together as a family.
Well, that's all for now!
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