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Page Five
In the wee hours of Monday morning, a windstorm hit with a vengeance. Dad woke me up around 2:45 A.M., and we secured our camper's awning against possible further assault. Richard's big tarp (which we used for shelter to create a "front porch" on his camper) was trashed, and he'd awoken to the tarp being beaten against the side of his camper. After bemoaning the weather and rolling up our awning, we went back to bed.
After a late breakfast, Richard cut up some more lumber for his stand. It's a project that will never end! Now he's wanting x-braces on three sides because it wobbles ever so slightly when he shifts his weight, and he's afraid the deer will see that movement. He's insane, but there's nothing we can do about that other than humoring him. Dad is with him now as he installs these braces and I write this account in the air-conditioned comfort of my camper.
I have some shotgun patterning that's about four months overdue and a .22 magnum rifle that needs to be zeroed, and then I think my serious range time here will be complete. With four-and-a-half days left, I think I can squeeze that into my schedule somehow!
After lunch on Monday, I headed down to the range to zero the .22 mag and take care of that long-overdue shotgun patterning, during which my Remington 11-87 kept messing up. After getting it back to the camp and stripping and cleaning the action, the malfunctions ceased. I guess mine is a finicky one that needs to stay super-clean... I will have to keep a close eye on it.
We managed to get Dad out on the lake that afternoon, though the fishing wasn't much with the water that low. We did have a good time, anyhow.
Tuesday, the rain came, mostly slow and fairly steady. Richard and I headed to town on our last grocery run. After installing a new mirror in the camp bathroom and hanging a light in the storage room, the rain broke for a while, so Richard and I headed for the lake, hoping that the rain had left us. Dad refused to come along, saying the rain wasn't done yet, and I guess it's a good thing he did, since it started raining almost immediately after we anchored -- but we were catching fish, so we stuck with it for a good while.
I got something in my left eye that just wouldn't let me be, and finally the pain and the lack of biting fish sent us back to camp. When Richard took off his long-sleeved shirt, he found that a bug bite he'd gotten Monday had caused his arm to swell up quite a bit. He's allergic to a multitude of bugs, but had no Benadryl along. Dad headed for the store to get him some antihistamines while I cussed my eye and Richard cussed his arm. What a fine pair we made -- good thing Dad was there to go for help, I wouldn't want to try to drive anywhere in that condition.
When Dad returned, he called home, only to learn that the air conditioner in his house had broken down during a record-setting heat wave! Ain't life just full of surprises? Now he'll have to deal with that when he returns.
Wednesday is kind of a blur now -- I'm writing this two weeks after the fact. What I remember for sure is that, after we all cleaned our guns that afternoon, Richard and I headed out on the lake to fish, Richard's ancient Chrysler outboard motor almost wouldn't start -- and when it did run, it was making the worst racket I've ever heard from a motor. We fished close to home and caught a few, and decided to head home a day early. After all, we were done shooting and building, and without a healthy boat, what was the use? We could play cards at my place just as easily as we could there.
After we'd called our respective brides and told them the news, we drove up the hill to camp. Dad had cooked up a mess of fish and was just finishing up the hush puppies! It was a wonderful surprise and a great feed, to say the least.
Thursday, we spent the day squaring things away around camp, getting the boat out of the water and packing the biggest part of our gear. That afternoon, we helped a neighbor, Sidney, put a couple of jet-ski lifts into the water by his dock. We did this ruefully, because everyone we've ever seen on those personal watercraft on that lake have been going way too fast, throwing wakes without consideration of fishermen like ourselves, anchored and fishing near the bank. But, when a friend asks for help we always do what we can.
After that, we took a break to cool down in the A/C and then went down to the lake to drown the rest of our worms and crickets, fishing along the shore. It was hot and the fish weren't doing much, so that didn't last long. We headed back up the hill to shower and eat supper. After visiting with Derrell and Jim for a bit, we had supper and hit the sack.
Friday, we packed up what was left of our gear and hit the road. The trip home was uneventful, and the only thing that really tainted our vacation was the phone call that came that evening at my home where we were all staying out back in the bunkhouse. The call brought the news that Granny Hedgepeth had died that afternoon (my Mom's mother). Dad headed straight home to be with Mom, I went on inside my house, and the trip was officially over for us, our spirits mightily dampened. Richard rose early the next morning, and was gone by the time I awoke.
So there you have it folks, that's what I did on my Spring 2002 vacation. It was a good time and we got a lot done, and the memories are great even if it did end on a sour note. But that's life -- we just have to take whatever it hands us and make the best of it.
- Russ Chastain
