a diamond in the rough

Under normal circumstances, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are my favorite days of the week.  But during our summer camping trip, the weekends would fill us with dread... unless, we had campsites reserved for those days, in advance. We learned time and again, usually on a Friday night at around 7:00 PM, that people from far and wide would go camping on the weekends, and take up every campsite.  

While we had a general idea of where we'd be going and when we might be there, we very seldom booked sites in advance because we appreciated having flexibility and .... campsites were booked months ahead by people who are much more disciplined planners than we.

On this particular Friday night, our destination was Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.  By the time our new tires had been installed and we hit the road with 1,000 pounds of Costco supplies, it was late afternoon.  Up, up, up the mountains we drove - the trees slowly changing from deciduous to evergreen.   Cellular range was going in and out, as I tried to pull up campsite options in the area to ascertain what, if any options, were available.   Even though we knew the odds were low, it didn't stop us from looking. 

Nothing. 

Nothing. 

Nothing. 

After driving back and forth on roads along the base of the lake, we found a campsite that looked promising.  There was a dump station, electricity hookups, and nice flat spots to park.  

Alas, there was no vacancy. Surprise! 

So we drove around and around, and finally found a deserted area down a long, dark road.  We pulled in to what we realized was a round-about at the base of a trailhead, hopped out, and was swarmed by mosquitoes. But by 11:00 PM at night, it would do just perfectly.  

We set up camp, spent what would be our first true night of boon docking, and reveled in the fact it cost us zero dollars to stay, because you can camp free of charge on certain areas within National Forest land.  The next morning, we loaded up the camper - drove 10 minutes down the road to Diamond Lake - where vacated campsites would be open on a first come first serve basis, beginning at noon.   

So we set up camp in the parking lot, made everyone lunch, and by the time we'd finished eating and put everything away ... we hopped in line, and scored a campsite where we had the option to stay for the next several days.  It was one of those great locations that boasted a convenience store with various supplies and penny candy.   Henry took some of his allowance money and bought a few things. Including root beer and new sunglasses.  

Diamond Lake was beautiful.  There was an 11-mile trail around the perimeter, which was perfect for hiking, bike riding, running.  The lake was pristine, and stocked full of fish.  Best of all, Diamond Lake was just down the road from Crater Lake which we'd hoped to visit later that day. 

But all that setting up camp, breaking down camp, setting up camp was depleting.  So while the kids went fishing, Charlie and I took off for a bike ride around the lake.  By the time we came back, they had chopped wood, started a fire, filleted a fish, and had prepared us a lovely dinner.   

Just kidding.  They were standing around, reading books, and waiting for us. 

It's a nice dream, though.   

Charlie cracked out the guitar, cracked open a bottle of wine, and we planted ourselves right there.

  

These nights of just hanging out with the kids around a campfire; cooking freshly caught fish, soaking up all the beauty of the area would eradicate any stress in our bodies.  

And so it is, whatever trouble we experienced getting there, suddenly didn't seem like any trouble at all, and was rather, just one of the labors that one must go through - to reap the blissful reward.