Campsite

Lassen 2009

Jack wants to go camping again real soon...so do I!  There's just nothing else like waking up to the sound of water lapping against stones and birds calling over head!  We have it down to a science, just about. Including putting a little honeyed tea in a dish to attract the bees away from us.

Last time we were a little crazy and kept the "bee fountain" on the picnic table, so they were much nearer than I'd have liked them. Funny thing, we didn't get stung by any of them.

Mosquitoes were another matter entirely.  We both got huge welts on our foreheads that first day.  We got the mosquito candles out and that seemed to help.

Some people wonder why we rough it so much.  Dirt roads, no showers, more often than not no running water or even bathroom.  Gee, if we wanted to stay in a hotel, we would have.  There's just something extra special, a cleansing if  you will, of mind and spirit as you put your hands to the tasks of building a fire, putting the coffee on to peculate, getting the breakfast going while listening to the crows and other birds.

The sound of branches crunching underfoot, the smell of a campfire, the balmy air rustling through leafy tree limbs...cooling and soothing soul and senses.  And of course, the magnificent sky at night....littered with stars. More stars than can ever be seen in the city!  It's like being in a planetarium, only it's real.

We love making a campfire at night and sitting around it making music, talking or just watching the embers glow.  Our very first camping trip was truly roughing it.  We didn't even have a tent, but we did have Beulah, Jack's 1963 Buick Wild Cat....dented every where but my door; we loved that car!

I remember helping Jack fix the springs on that thing. They were gwishy as hell, felt like we were riding around in soggy shoes, so Jack decided to fix the springs.  We hammered sections of director's chair frame into the springs to act as spacers, and damned if it didn't work!  For a short while I wondered if the chair pieces might fall out or get launched by an over zealous spring one day, but it never happened.  Beulah went by way of all old cars when there's nothing left to 'em but the memories. And camping was just one of them.

We'd tear up and down the dirt roads, a little more cautious since the day we punctured the gas tank, that's for sure.

Our present vehicle, the 1979 Cadillac Seville should be an interesting ride on the dirt road.  I'm a little concerned about some of those hairpin turns, after all let's face it, the car's a boat. But I' think it'll be alright.
Jack usually knows what he's doing behind the wheel. We're trying to get the car to pass smog inspection, it's a little tricky because this year was actually made in 1978 and doesn't have some of the smog devices that later models were required to have.  So it may be tricky getting it to pass the inspection.

Once that's all straightened out and we take care of a few more mechanical things, we're going to hit the road! First time out will be just a camping trip...can't wait for that!

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Campsite....it's calling and we're coming soon as we can!