Forty Waffles A Day?!!-- Part 1

The title of this post --"Forty Waffles A Day?!!"-- is an allusion to a poem we read years ago about a girl who ate too much. The punch line of the poem was this: "Forty waffles a day? What would you say? HOW WAFFLE!" In some ways that describes our weekend-- How waffle!

We planned our trip to the lake carefully to coincide with the week after Labor Day, to avoid the crowds. So far, so good. Then we checked the weather forecast: sunny, highs in the 80s. Check. Perfect for hanging out near the water.

It took us a little longer to get packed up than we planned, but at last we were off, our trailer loaded with two dirt bikes, six inflatable tubes, sleeping bags, tents, and enough food for more than two days.

First setback: We arrived well after dark. Trying to pick a campsite and set up tents in the dark is...an adventure. At least we had remembered to pack the lantern and a flashlight. (notice I said, a flashlight....)

Second setback: The wind had picked up mightily, and felt like a howling hurricane in the dark.

Third setback: The temperature had dropped like a safe in a cartoon and we were all shivering.

However, we set our shoulders to the wheel, literally, and unloaded the bikes out of the trailer so Hubby and I could set up our bed in there. It works great, and we love our little camping cabin, once the bikes are out of it. The boys set up their tents in the shelter of the trailer and a large cedar tree, and LovelyDaughter threw her lot in with us in the trailer.

The night's sleep was reasonable; however, MuscularBoy2 (aka, DrummerDude) had a racking cough in the morning. His sleeping bag was not quite warm enough for the unexpected gale.

Breakfast was great. We made pancakes over the campfire, and fried up pre-baked potatoes and bacon. (By the way, the potato thing was a new idea for us, and may I say it worked deliciously.)

After the cleanup we had to face the fact that the day was very windy and cold, and the sky was overcast with wads and wads of grey quilt batting. None of us had really come prepared for cool weather. After all, for the last two months we have been sweating and panting in 90-100 degree weather (with heat index of 107-110). I had a light zip sweatshirt which I had brought for evenings by the campfire. LovelyDaughter had a sweatshirt and stocking cap-- good for her! Hubby had one sweatshirt; DrummerDude had one long-sleeved shirt; MuscularBoy1(aka, GuitarGeek) had a sweatshirt and a fleece vest; MuscularBoy3 had a t-shirt. In print, it looks like we were pretty well set, but please believe me: we were not. We were all freezing! Hubby and MB3 took turns with Hubby's sweatshirt, and we all just tried to keep moving.

Eventually, late afternoon, the wind died down to a pretty good breeze, the air warmed up just a tad, and we had a pretty good time hiking around the lake and clambering on the sandy cliffs, and riding dirt bike. The boys moved their tents to the edge of the drop off to have a great view of the lake when they woke up.

For supper we each made our own foil dinners and ate by lantern light. We headed off to bed with high hopes for the next day. We figured the cold front had come through and tomorrow would be sunny and nice.

Then, just as we were dropping off to sleep we heard a strange popcorn sound on the roof of the trailer, which escalated into an all night downpour.

Tune in tomorrow for part 2.