Cherokee Sage Woman

We survived! And in grand style, I might add. Our set up drew many comments; some complimentary.. some sheer jealousy I'm sure. Or just mean people. Anyway, it did look like the outdoor version of the Ritz-Carlton, or at least the Motel 6. The tent was a 3 room extravaganza. Complete with queen bed on one side (which is going back to Sam's Club because it deflated on a regular basis. Nothing like the whine of that inflation pump at 1:00 in the morning, to make camping friends.) At the middle of the tent was a 7'2" high dressing area. So nice to stand up in a tent! At the far end were the coolers (one for foodstuffs & the other a makeshift bar)
Under the easy up canopy were the sink (love this thing!) with all kinds of storage for meal prep, including hanging pots & pans, glasses, etc. Then the humongo 100,000 btu stove, which Dan could cook any & everything on. And did.. we ate our way through the adventure. Dan's personal favorite was his 10 cup coffemaker.. what a deal.
The tent had a screened porch, where I slept away an afternoon, free of bugs/squirrels/critters.
We brought 4 chairs, so 2 were kept by the firepit & 2 under the canopy. The only thing we didn't set up was the picnic table, since a larger one was provided.
We did add a red & white checkered cloth to give it some elegance.
Voila! We are camping!

While we were setting up, a couple of clean-cut guys walk up. (Yes, I looked for the skinny black ties & the Book of Mormon. But they weren't out prostelytizing.. they were being camper-friendly). They introduced themselves as Brandon & Steve. They were there with their fraternity brothers for a wk-end retreat. Making it sound for all the world that the Christian Fellowship was out for a prayerful time of introspection. 'And please, let us know if we speak too loudly'. Of course Brandon & Steve.. I'm sure your prayers could get a little frenetic, depending on how charasmatic you are. We assured them they'd be fine with us. Fast forward to 1-7 am.. 'F*** YOU!' 'No, dude, F*** YOU!' "YOU WANNA PIECE-A ME?!" 'Okay, let's do the fraternity yell AGAIN!'
Yes, all night long Brandon, Steve & 20 of their clones cursed, fought, ran, fell, drank & drank, got louder & louder. A few of the families around us screamed back at the fellows (using some of their same language, I might add). But we kept our peace. I had vivid dreams all night with the fraternity members taking prominent parts; then again, maybe it was just wishful thinking that I was in a sleepstate.
At daybreak the camping 'host' (where had he been all night?) came & asked the motley crue to leave our happy group. They did not go gently into that good night, what with slamming doors, thrown beer bottles, peeling of tire rubber, honking of group horns.. ahhhh-hhh the sounds of human nature.
But go, they did. And now the camp was safe for the 10,000 KIDS! who had shown us for Fall Fest at the park. Dear God, why did they not forewarn us of this travesty on the website?? Bring back the frat boys!
The kids 'trick-or-treated' each evening. Being unprepared the 1st nite, they each got a handful of potato chips. They didn't seem to care. The next day Dan got candy supplies while in town (buying more bug spray to prevent anymore disfigurement to my body from all the bugbites)
We put the potato chips in the tent for safe-keeping.. but that was a minor challenge for the 3 baby raccoon kits that entered the tent thru a 2" opening of the back door. It was a sight to behold watching Dan try to scoot the 3 scared critters out of that same 2" opening! I could scarcely hold the camera straight.
Next morning, we find the squirrells rifling thru the leftover halloween candy. But they didn't care much for Snickers & Tootsie Roll Pops.

Meanwhile Dan fished (& released) a 3# bass.. I finished & loved a book for the website review (I highly recommend Natalie Goldberg's newest book, "Great Failures")
We took a leisurely canoe ride up & down the river (much easier doing 'down') Tried not to disturb all the alligators sunning & swimming by us. Saw fantasic birds, snakes, & fauna. Canoeing adds a lot to camping, so we're going to get one someday.
All in all, a wonderful 3 days & 2 nites of adventure. Took us only an hr to tear down what had taken 3 hrs to put up.
Now we look forward to doing this once a month.. checking out all the state parks in our beautiful countryside. And for sure we'll be asking about frat parties & children's festivals!