Camping (Sort of) Weekend

First and foremost, it is hard to call what we do these days camping (when sleeping inside a 28' camp trailer with full utilities...), but for now that's what we'll call it. This weekend was our Sunday School's group 'camp' trip and this round we headed to Stockton Lake. Jake took an ACT on Saturday morning so Deb and he stayed home Friday evening and met us mid-afternoon at Stockton Lake.

***WARNING - if you have a heart condition don't attempt to look directly into the picture of the sausage, eggs, or gravy as it may cause severe blockage resulting in medical bills for which this blogger is not responsible***

Friday afternoon f0recast was for continuing rains, clear Saturday, and more rain Sunday. I was hesitant to go as the last thing I want to do is haul the pop-up over, set it up, get rained on, dry out, then get rained on again before packing it up to go home to pop it up again to dry it out. I was still on the fence when my bro said we could dive in with his family as their rig sleeps 9 (not a typo, NINE) comfortably. Decision made and in I jumped with him after work. Ian rode over with a buddy so I met him there. It took all of 10min to set up and the rest was some fun and relaxation.

Friday evening saw my bro and Ian and a couple other youths playing a lot of catch and Ian and his friends exploring the trails and water front. Later on it was Smores around the fire and just sitting back and yucking it up with friends. I think the first night there were around 10-12 families.

Saturday morning was the infamous (Three Amigos reference of being sooo famous, it is in-famous) breakfast. Who knows how many eggs were scrambled, the pounds of bacon and sausage cooked, and liters of Greg's sausage gravy was actually cooked, but one thing for sure it was AWESOME. The amount of pure fat intake in that one meal is mind-boggling. After clean-up and a little down time the crew headed down to the water. Some took part in the 'smallest fish' competition and a few of us hit the kayaks (thanks TJ and RE for having those on hand). Tom and I took our boys out in the 2-person rigs (while GE went solo). The boys had a great time diving/cannonballing from the crafts. Below are some clips from our water excursion (notice the Bee Gee's voice in the last one).





After the water/beach time (around 3hrs) a group of us headed into Stockton for burgers at the Squeeze-In (ranked as 1 of the top 100 burger joints in the US). It is a small (I emphasize small) place with odd (won't ruin the actual displays) stuff to look at and read and the fries and burgers are worth the drive over to Stockton. There were around 15 of us and all had a good time. We returned and Deb and Jake showed up. Jake headed out on the boats with the other youths and a handful of us played a little 7up/7down (which is always fun) and then played some more catch with Ian.

During a lull in the early evening Ron and I snuck away for some great paddling on the lake. The winds had died and with little traffic the water was super smooth. We paddled for 1 1/2 hrs and had some good conversations and laughs. Got back just in time for the grilling to start and the downing of brats (white, not red) and the follow-up of Smores. We (more families than the night before showed up) all sat around the fire and chatted until one by one we headed off to bed.

Around 5am a big storm moved in and soaked everything (except for us in my bro's castle on wheels). We (Deb, Tom, Sarah, and Ron) had planned to paddle at 6am, but the constant threat of more weather kept us off the lake. Several of the families headed out early as did we.

Got home mid-morning and felt absolutely exhausted (as did everyone). I jumped on the couch for a little snooze (Deb took a huge snooze - lucky!) while Jake and Ian played some games and generally did nothing. Got off my butt and headed outside to work on the glass table ruins and found Deb had made a huge dent in the task the day before (nice). Weeded the garden, mowed the lawn, and did some general maintenance around the casa. Worked on Deb's car with some scratch removal stuff and am pleased with its results. Played a round of basketball and baseball with Ian. Jake disappeared with Scuba for most of the afternoon until they returned for a little video game action.

Deb and I called around to see who was up for an evening tandem ride and hooked Ron Evans and my bro. We rolled the northwest roads outside of Bolivar for 1:40hrs. It is always great spending time with Deb and spinning (two favorite things wrapped in one!). Jake and Ian just got home from visiting some friends and they shortly there after were off to bed. Deb and I watched 'The International' which was a disappointing flick.

The DL finished and I have a new respect for Evans as he did not go away quietly, but attacked repeatedly until the end. Valverde looked solid the whole event and from my perspective Alberto helped him out some, but not as much as they (the media) are yakking it up. It is interesting to hear Valverde own up to the potential of helping AC if Lance attacks him... I hope AC is wearing different colors next year.

Swiss Tour is underway and while it is pretty low key I have always enjoyed watching. Cav was being Cav this morning (2nd for Columbia in a row).

Fitness: Saturday - NOTHING AT ALL (SWEET) Sunday - 1:40 light spin on the tandem with Deb