The best thing to do when you’ve spent a week in a different time zone and you’re still adjusting to that giant Time Hangover where you never want to go to bed at night but you’re dragging around exhausted in the morning is to pack up again and go camping.
Well, no; that is absolutely NOT the best thing to do, but Otto apparently doesn’t realize that. Heh. Kidding! I kid. I totally wanted to go camping. Kind of. Right after I take a nap.
Anyway, we decided to drag Mario’s family to one of our favorite campgrounds, and the way it worked out was that Mario got dropped at our place and came up with us, yesterday after lunch, and his parents were going to come about an hour later, after his dad got done with work. We drove up here in a cacophony of smallish boys one-upping each other with various monster scenarios (“And then that one went BBBBZTBRRRRP and ripped the other one’s head off!”), and after about an hour I dug some Excedrin out of my purse and mild-mannered Otto finally said, quite sternly, “NO MORE SOUND EFFECTS.” (Monkey snorted, but Mario meekly responded, “Yes, sir.”)
And then we got here and Mario’s parents were MIA for hours. We figured that would be a good scam for getting rid of your kid, but eventually they showed up, and they brought lasagna (made with rice pasta for me!), and a jolly start to our camping adventure was had by all.
Here I should probably mention that we’ve camped with other folks before, but this is the first time we’ve camped with folks who also brought a dog.
Licorice loves camping, in general. There are many new smells and also tons of squirrels. It also appears that Kaiser (miniature schnauzer and just a little bit bigger than Licorice) loves camping, though in his case I think it’s because there are so very many things to pee on. The REAL joy here, though, with both of them on the same campsite, they’ll both be sitting around, and then one of them will see something and let out a tiny huff. That will alert the other dog, who will answer with a slightly larger huff. Then the first dog will kind of half-bark, and then the second dog will actually bark, and before you know it, both dogs are going ballistic, yammering and howling, while all of the collective humans yell, “KAISER! LICORICE! NO!!”
It doesn’t help that the folks at the next campsite have a pair of Pekinese (Pekineses? Pekinii?) dogs who are quite yappy, either.
(I also noted yesterday that we have a knack for camping next to traditional Mennonites, which is always entertaining because it’s 90-something degrees out and I’m wearing shorts and a tank top. Meanwhile, our neighbors have women wearing long-sleeve, full-length dresses. I’m sure they think I’m practically out here dancing naked, but whatev, man. It’s HOT out here.)
We ate dinner and then decided that the advantage to the campsites right on the lake is that you can just throw on your suit and go for a dip to cool off after you’re done eating. So we did.
Monkey and Mario were first in, of course. The rest of us were still clearing dishes and such, but we caught up eventually. Just in time to discover that the boys had taken Kaiser surfing. No, really.
“Uhhhh… boys? Kaiser doesn’t look happy,” I said.
“HE LOVES IT!” declared Mario. If by “loves it” he means “wishes every human here was dead and gone,” then maybe. Nonetheless, we had to agree it was pretty entertaining. (We did not try it with Licorice, for fear she would murder us in our sleep. As it was, we took her to the lake’s edge for a dunking and even though I wrapped her up in a towel afterward, I think I heard her muttering something about stabbing me as soon as I put her down.)
Eventually the sun set and we came out and dried off. We moms walked the dogs while the menfolk did… something… (who knows, really)… and then we all sat around talking until the boys went to bed. And then we talked some more and then the rest of us went to bed.
Then this morning Kaiser huffed a little in their tent and Licorice huffed back and then they both started barking and that’s how we knew it was time to get up. Now the men are down by the lake with enough fishing tackle to outfit a dozen starving people and the dogs are napping and the smart and double-X chromosome-d are holding down the camp with a big stack of trashy magazines.
Come to think of it, this isn’t such a bad cure for jetlag, after all.
Sounds like fun, except for the whole camping part. Have you ever tried Lake Jocasee? We love it there because the water, if we aren’t in a drought like last summer, is really, really clear. Technically it’s Devil’s Fork State park, which is a horrible name for a park!
Oh yeah. From the looks of that picture, y’all are dead for sure. Happy camping!
Fun fun! I am excited to get into camping with the girls in a couple years. :) COurse I really only camp to have smores. Do you have a graham cracker equivalent? Guess you could just eat the chocolate.
Or you could make a banana boat… (cue the song) – banana with a slice down the middle filled with marshmallow & chocolate… covered in foil and heated. Yum.
Fun, followed by more fun??? It’s like I don’t know you any more! Glad you are having a good time.
As much as I love the idea of Pekinii, I think Pekinese is one of those words which is the same singular and plural.
The last time I went camping (at age 12 or 13), our tent collapsed during a thunderstorm at about 2 AM. I have never had the slightest urge to go camping since then, but you are making me remember the fun parts. Maybe we’ll try it the civilized way (with a camper) sometime, just so my kids can experience it, too.
hehe! My favorite comment includes the words “…except for the whole camping part.” Cracked me up! I am allergic to the entire outdoors so I do my camping inside.
That picture of Kaiser on the boogie board made me snort in an undignified way here at my desk. Yes, he sure looks like he’s having a good time. Hide the knives.
Dogs on surfboards! Brilliant!
Pekinii sounds like a new shape of pasta.
Let the good times roll!
Although I think Pekingese is the same singular and plural, how much fun would it be to say Pekingese-es…es? Pekingeseses! Fun, I tell you!
Glad you’re still enjoying yourself and hope your internal clock gets back to where it’s supposed to be.
You make very pretty stories with funny words and I thank you. I also love the photo of the dog that makes readers snort.
That picture is awesome! Priceless. Poor scared dog. I’m sure he’s scheming as he sleeps!
The dog is all UH WTF PEOPLE GET ME OUT. NOW. hee hee hee
FUN!! No, really, I mean it! I actually enjoy camping with friends sometimes! And this is so good for Monkey!!
Have a relaxing time! I hope there’s a bottle of wine (or ten) involved in your fun, too!!
Enjoy! Sounds like fun, even with the yappy dogs.
I was hoping for a photo of the two dogs in cahoots!
Sounds wonderful to me!… and I love the photos added to this post!… poor dog though. If ever there were a murderous look…
Beautiful pictures!
Aw, I’ll miss you after the dog deadifies you!
I really love that the Mario family thought of you when they made the lasagna, thems good peoples.
Am I the only one who thinks it’s not a good idea to piss off a dog named Kaiser?
I love camping minus the whole no air conditioning. :) But if we ever go again, I might have to find a no dog campground. I get my fill of yapping and barking dogs in our neighborhood.
ROFL to above comment by Aimee. I am not one for camping so I admire you!! It does look fun though and I love the pics!