Camping At Lake Ouachita

Ok, it was a blast 98% of the time.  The weather didn’t agree with us all the time!  Darn it!  I can’t say I remember much, but if you were there, remind me!

 

Our family got there Thursday afternoon.  We set up and swam for a bit.  Molly (Mike’s Mom) came out, as did Flip and Em.  Around 6:30-7ish, the Crew showed up.  Two cars, 8 people, 100 million things to carry!  ACK!   But it worked out and the cars were unloaded quickly.  It got dark quickly, and they guys ended up setting up the 3 room tent pretty much in the dark, not to mention the air mattresses, etc.  We grilled some burgers (and hot dogs?).  Around 2 am the wind picked up, to the point that my kids were up and screaming because they were scared.  All the grown ups were out, making sure nothing got blown away.  Mike had a beer at 3 am.

Let me back up and tell you what we had.  On the point, there were four campsites, 51, 52, 53 and 54.  We had 52 for four nights, and 53 for the first two nights.  Park rules state that only 2 tents per site allowed.  Hello, we have 17 people!  The first night we only had 3 tents (our double dome, the house tent, and the girl’s tent).  In 51 there were two teen age looking couples, and 54 was empty.  51 left on friday am, no one showed up til the evening, and they said their sister had the campsite but was unable to come, so they were just having a picnic.  It wasn’t until Saturday late night that someone came into 53.  So pretty much, we had the place to ourselves all weekend!

Ok, friday am, we woke, drank beer, ate cold breakfast and went for a swim.  Sometime around the afternoon it rained (can I be any more vague?) then we went on the boat.  We went down by the spillway, where the water was nice and smooth!  We wore our life jackets as diapers, held our beers and floated!  Flip, Beth, and Jarrod took turns wakeboarding, and they all rocked!  That night we made ribs (OMG YUM, my hubbie is awesome on the grill!) and drank beer (seeing a theme here?).  I think we broke open the wine bottle too.  Oh and the captain, and the vodka, and more beer.

 

Saturday, more of the same, eating, drinking, smoking, swimming.  Unfortunately, it rained for about 4 hours.  NON stop.  UGH.  My kids drove me nuts in the tent.  Everyone’s child did.  We drank beer to compensate.  Finally around 8pm, it stopped!  Mike grilled some awesome pork chops and steaks.  We were right across the cove from where they were setting off the fireworks.  They were so sweet.  It was beautiful across the lake, and the view was spectacular.  About this time, we opened two more bottles of wine.  And drank.

Sunday, we were exhausted.  After eating, drinking, and swimming, we all decided to pack up and not stay another night (wimps huh).

I would guess that we went through about 50 bags of ice, 3 large bottles of wine, at least 2 cartons of cigs, a gallon of captain’s, and maybe 10 30 packs of beer?  if not more?!?  I’ll have to ask Mike for an official count.

Funny thing my hubby said, which completes the story of the weekend, “I ain’t quit drinkin since I started!”

Yeah buddy!  Other memories:

lol, oh and the DAYLIGHT game was pretty funny too!

Beer me!

Timmy called everyone a Poopyhead, and then laughed his head off.  Too cute!

 

ETA:  Check out the pics HERE  ETA:  Check out the pics HERE  ETA:  Check out the pics HERE 

ETA:  Check out the pics HERE  ETA:  Check out the pics HERE  ETA:  Check out the pics HERE 

ETA:  I didn’t have my camera (freaking thing is broken), so I didn’t get as many pics as I would’ve liked!  But I ganked (my new word)  many of these from  Joey!  Keepin’ it f’real!

ETA:  I will have more pics from Dan Dan the Weatherman, AKA DJ Dan, AKA American Beauty Dan, the picture takin’ fool!

 

Camping 2008: Planning

 

Ahhh, nature, fresh air, outdoors, not shaving your armpits for a week.  Camping.  So relaxing.  Yeah, right!  Getting the freaking tents up, unloading the vehicles, not letting your kid burn, drown, get eating by the world’s largest mosquitoes, or eat raw food is NOT relaxing.  But it’s fun, and memorable.

This year, we are going to the same place, LAKE OUACHITA  about a 30 minue drive from home (yeah REAL far huh??) but you’d never it know it.  It’s a 40,000 acre lake, the biggest in the state (more room for your kid to get lost). 

We rough it.  Tents.  No running water, shower or toilet (ok, NONE within a 6.79 minute walking distance) and no electricity.  We love it!  Last year some dumbass redneck had a huge old generator running at the site ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  Fucktard.

So last year it was our family, with some drop in friend (Flip and Em, Crystal and Ashley).  We’ll be there for 5 days, 4 nights.  This year the crew has expanded.  P and M and their son from Louisiana (hubbie’s friend from childhood), J and J and her son from TexASS (dh’s friend from college), D (dh’s friend from work), oh and J’s boss, girlyfriend and kids.  WOW!  So I *think* we’ll be ending up with SIX tents!  AcK!

Here’s my packing/grocery list:

tent, hammer, mallet, rope, tarp, grill, charcoal, lighter fluid, air mattress (?), coolers, chairs, table (?)

blankets, pillows, towels, clothes/swimwear, shoes, personal crap (sunblock, diapers, wipes etc)

outdoor play (noodles, kickboards, shovels, pails, motor boats, wagon, bikes, etc)

foil, ziplocks, plates, plasticwear, cups, papertowels, cooking utensils, frying pan, trash bags, cutting board, dish soap, washclothes, broom, clorox wipes

beer (lots), cokes, capri sun, water, HB buns, dawg buns, bread, HB, dawgs, PB, jelly, ham, mustard, ketchup, mayo, relish, cheese (sliced, shredded, block), potatoes, onions, peppers, smore’s shit, ribs, steak, poptarts, seasoning (cajun, garlic, s&p) butter, chips, sunflower seeds, salsa, tomato, salad, carrot stix, celery stix, veggie dip, dressing, eggs, apples, oranges, bacon

I figure we’ll need 2 beer coolers (one for campsites and one for boat), one coke/water/capri sun cooler, one for just ice, and 4 for food (if not more).

I know there is more that I need, but am now brain fried.

Oh, and I take my RN boards when I come back.  BLECH