How about all those years Dad would swim out to the rock and try to get all of us to join him. Or fishing for hours at the shore for little fish with our homemade little nets. Don't forget boating down to the other end of the lake just for fun (and to jump off that dreaded gigantic rock). I remember one year hiking up to one of the upper lakes and trying to catch frogs. We ended up stripping down to our undies to retrieve lily pads from the lake. I don't think Mom and Teeke were there. What about shaving your legs or washing your hair at the log jam only to feel guilty ten minutes later that you just might have killed a fish down the stream.
I can remember riding the bike along the trail that leads to the log jam and seeing my life flash before my eyes everytime I rode over that strip of trail that was only 4 inches wide (I can still see it in my mind) and on one side is a big hill and the other is a cliff that leads straight to the water. Scarry!
Making trips to the flushies with Ray. Melissa with the gas and hanging her bum out the window of the camper. Changing your clothes like three times a day to adjust to the weather. Holding your breath to go into the outhouse. Mom's homemade doughnuts. Oh, the food could be a whole separate post. Doughnuts, treats and snacks we would never get during any other time of the year, fish fry, dutch oven cakes, dutch oven roasted chicken, potatoes and carrots. Hot chocolate. Tang. Mmmm. What else?
One time, Erin and I got into some kind of rock splashing figh down by the fish trapt. I think I lost. Can anyone recall the details?
I remember one year staying at a campground that I don't think we've stayed at ever again (I obviously don't remember what it's called) but we had our own little 5 by 5 beach that we could hike down to and mom made candles out of melted crayons and our own hand or footprints in the sand.
I remember one year Aubrey brought her guitar and I felt like I could spend hours singing girls camp and Oakcrest camp and church hymns around the fire.
What about all those trips to Stanley for the much needed ice? During the later years, Dad would always ride his bike and you could see him bum coming up from a mile away. Don't forget scalding yourself, or worse, seeing a naked man at the hot tubs.
Who could forget the fish hatchery and the multiple trips we would make there during our stay. There was just something simply amazing about seeing fish that big. Don't forget the milking and spawning and of course the near pass-out!
Very often it would seem like it would rain on the day we left thus speeding up the onset of the blues at having to leave. One last stop at the lodge for ice cream and the thought of a shower would quickly make the thought of home more appealing though, at least for me.
Before I make and end to my post, I must visit everyone's favorite time of the day at Redfish: campfire time. Roasting marshmallows, everyone taking their turn at being the pyromaniac, and games around the fly-attracting latern. Starlight, star...BRIGHT, first star I see toNIGHT. I wish. I may. I wish. I might. Not have to hear any more "starlight's" tonight. Or, "Let's everyone go around and say what they like most about campfires." And, who could forget the every popular, yet nearly extinct Oompa Lumpa (well, I could since I haven't heard it in years)? I hope it will be resurrected when we go on camping trips with grandkids.
Oh Redfish, what wonderful family times. Nothing compares!
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2 comments:
Yeah, I remember your encounter with Erin at the fish trap quite vividly. After splashing each other for a few minutes, she eventually got ticked
off and went over and grabbed you and literally threw you in the creek. We were all pretty shocked, but nobody more than you. You weren't used to
tangling with girls that had feisty brothers like Erin Wall.
Oh ya! All I could remember was the throwing of rocks to splash each other.
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