Camping Eklutna

Another camping weekend has come and gone. It was a nice one! The weather wasn't as good - cloudy with sporadic showers - but the company was good, and it was nice to be away from the normal day-to-day life. We went out to Eklutna Lake (about an hour from the house) on Thursday night. Set up the tent and had a fire. Greg went home instead of staying the night with Todd, Anita, & I. We would've had to leave the campsite around 5am so he could be ready for work on time - 6:15am was early enough!!

Somehow I always seem to sleep better (and need less sleep) when we're camping. I can stay up until the wee hours enjoying the campfire, then get only 5 or 6 hours of sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Doesn't happen like that at home. I did have strange dreams Thursday night, but I think that was because we had noisy neighbors so I didn't sleep as well as I could have. It was still nice.

Friday after work, we hooked up with Kathryn, loaded up the rest of the camp gear and headed out. James was already there, on the site next to us - we were late enough getting there that he'd given up and was going to bed when we pulled in. Campfire time!! =) (After we put air in the mattresses and get the sleeping bags ready so we can just crawl in when we're tired...) This is the first campout we've used our tent heater. Had it for a year now, but it's either been warm enough that we don't need it, or (last year) we weren't camping that much. It works *good*!!

Saturday morning was pretty leisurely... got up when we felt like it, had a nice breakfast of bacon & eggs, chilled for a while... I was just thinking of heating water to do the dishes, when we decided it'd be easier for me to bring them (the dishes) in to town and do them. Seems like a long trip just to wash some pots & pans, right? Well, I actually had a whole list of errands to do, #1 being Pick Sheri Up At The Airport. YAY!!

So while my compadres were wandering around the forest on bikes, I scooped up Sheri (she's here for work, but that means that while she's not working we get to play!!), and ran the errands on the list: stopped by the house (to wash dishes, drop Sheri's gear, and pick up a few things that we forgot); stopped by several stores to stock up on supplies; and stopped at the Moose's Tooth to feed Sheri before dragging her off to the campsite.

Note to self: When people are coming up for work, it's not necessarily a good idea to surprise them with a camp trip. Greg spilled the beans, not knowing I was going to surprise her. Good thing he did - as she needed to get with some of the work people here over the weekend to plan the schedule for the week. If she hadn't known we were going to be camping, she may have made other plans that would have seriously derailed my weekend. Fortunately, everything worked out just fine...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... the bikers were busy! Todd, Anita, & James did a 7-mile ride, then came back to camp to play games and prepare dinner (beef stew - without V8, since that's the one thing I forgot to bring - yumm!!). When I returned with all my goodies, we sat around the campfire (under the awnings, since it'd started to drizzle) visiting until Greg & Kathryn returned. They'd gone 21 miles total, placed a cache, and Kathryn bit the dust. She has a bruise the size of a small dinner plate on her hip - ouch!! - and hobbled for the rest of the evening. But she said it was definitely worth it, and she rode a bike over to the lake Sunday morning. Way to go, Kathryn!!

All too soon, the weekend was almost over. Greg took Sheri kayaking Sunday morning, but they didn't stay out long as the wind made the water pretty choppy. Greg wanted to hide a cache somewhere around the lake, but didn't as they were already soaked and cold (pretty much as soon as they got on the water, they were wet). Had a fire to warm the bones when they returned, then broke camp to start heading back home.

Since it was on the way, we decided to stop in Eagle River for some good Mexican food at Jalapenos. Good thing they don't mind smelly campers for patrons! =) And (of course) there was a cache (two, actually) close by, so we stopped for those. At one of the sites, there was a building that looks like it has a face. Reminds me of the kids book where the little house gets surrounded by city streets & buildings, and eventually gets moved to the country. Anyone remember that one? The illustrations of the house give it a face too. Anyhow. This one's not as picturesque as the one in the book, but it's still interesting. =)

All in all, it was yet another wonderful weekend. I'm so excited that Sheri's here to visit for three weeks!! I'm hoping we'll get some fun things in around the necessary evil of the work-week. And I'm hoping that the weather cooperates and is relatively nice while she's here. We'll see how that goes. Summer is passing by way too quickly for my tastes, but I'm making an effort to enjoy it as much as possible while it's here. I can always clean house in the winter, right?!? =)