Log in Subscribe

The best day of her life

Kathy Werner - Columnist
Posted 7/20/20

Last weekend one of my lifelong wishes came true. And you know what they say, don't you? Be careful what you wish for.

As some of my dear readers may be aware, my family and I love to travel, …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

The best day of her life

Posted

Last weekend one of my lifelong wishes came true. And you know what they say, don't you? Be careful what you wish for.

As some of my dear readers may be aware, my family and I love to travel, and quarantining for this pandemic has certainly put a crimp in our style. But after months of staying home, we needed a change of scene. A safe change of scene, that is.

So last Saturday my daughter Liz, son-in-law Peter, six-year-old granddaughter Adeline, my pups George and Gracie, and I piled into two heavily-laden cars and made our way up the mountain to the state campground at North-South Lake in Palenville.

The nice thing about traveling with the kids is that they take care of everything. Peter and Liz had gotten all the gear we needed, packed up the cars, and planned all our meals.

We found our site, #99 on Loop 4, and Peter began unpacking everything. He set up the tent and the shelter, and he and Liz set up the table, organized the food, and began serving sandwiches.

Once our campsite was good to go, we decided to take a walk down to the beach on North Lake. Adeline splashed in the water for a moment, but a roll of thunder cut short the swimming in the mountaintop lake. On our way back, raindrops began to fall, and by the time we got back to our site, it was raining in earnest.

Luckily, Liz had gotten us a canopy, so we huddled under it as the skies opened. Soon we were sitting in a shallow mud puddle, with rivers of raindrops showing us the lay of the land.

The storm was a beaut, and every time we thought we saw the sun peeking out, another rain cloud unleashed its soggy contents on us.

In spite of our canopy, we were all pretty soaked by the time the storm ended, but Peter successfully got a fire started for our evening meal.

We topped off our dinner of vegetarian burgers with some ‘smores, and soon it was time to crawl into the tent and into our sleeping bags. I made the rookie error of not sleeping in my sleeping bag, but of unzipping it and trying to lie on the air mattress and cover myself with the sleeping bag. This, it turns out, is a bad idea. It was cold up on the mountain, and the air mattress was cold. Luckily I had my dogs to keep me warm.

Of course when one is sleeping in a tent in the Catskills, one is encroaching in bear territory. Peter and Liz had put all the foodstuffs in the back of the car, but I couldn't help but wonder how much protection is offered by a tent wall in the high Catskills in summer.

I did sleep, albeit fitfully, startled by every noise in the forest. A hoot owl woke me at 3 a.m., but I did fall back to sleep.

In the morning, we made lots of coffee and cooked pancakes and eggs for breakfast. After breakfast, the kids went off on a hike while the pups and I went back into the tent (inside the sleeping bag) for a most satisfactory nap.

By the time I woke up, it was time for some lunch and then time to pack up. And pack up. And pack up. Which thankfully Peter and Liz did.

They went back to the beach at North Lake while my pups and I headed home, where the unpacking began.

Though I found camping a bit wetter and more exhausting than I had expected, Adeline proclaimed it the best day of her life. Who could argue with that?

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here