Wonderfully wacky camping by a lake

Someone brought and built a real teepee. It was beautiful with the flaps using twigs to close, and the stick structure so elegant. I didn't meet the owner, but he later had a small fire going, and when Michelle stepped in, she said he seemed very much like a medicine man. Tesla was intrigued, and when inside, she bent over to yell out the bottom, "Fiiiiaaaa" so that Sofia would join her. Us four: Sofia, Michelle, moi, and Tesla. I took advantage and let Tesla enjoy the lake butt-naked. She loved it. Telsa, Sofia, and their new friend Alabama, all picking at the pineapple dessert. We had to hide it or there would have been none left for us adults!

*****

My goodness, we had a great weekend! First, it was perfect camping. We had our RV (1st outing of the summer) so it was fun getting back out in it, but the location was just 2.5 hours from SF and absolutely beautiful. I love ocean beaches, but gentle lakes are so calming and very summery in my mind. There were just 40 folks this weekend (others arrived later and will stay during the week), so it felt like an intimate homestead of sorts. Everyone had their camp spot, but there was a well-equipped kitchen, and we ended up doing a communal dinner and breakfast based on ingredients people had. Mark Powell was our head-chef, and it was a great learning experience for me in addition to being in a kitchen full of fun and laughter. We ate at a great circular table.

The best part for me was how kid-friendly it was. I felt this from our last trip with Chicken John, but this time there were 5 families all with young children, and since we weren't stuck in a bus all the time, the kids had a ball together. Our RV became quite popular too when the toddlers discovered they could sit in the driver's seat and pretend to drive. At one time, we had 4 toddlers roaming in the RV! Tesla loved it. She was on the younger side so spent a lot of time trying to follow along, but she did well. You could just see how delighted she was to be outdoors, free to wander, and surrounded by fun kids. She is so tired now, and taking a loooong nap today : )

As for the wacky part ... the theme of this camping trip was boats, as in homemade boats to enjoy floating around the lake. We went out as a family on the lake twice when everyone got onto something to do a group float, but each time, we forgot to bring the camera unfortunately. There were hilarious scenes I wish I could have captured. Dav has a few though, like this hot tub with a working stove! Yes, that's crazy. There was a floating bar (this shows the bar section before the rest of the boat was built). There were 2 giant floating clam shells (salvaged from a photo shoot) that could hold 4~5 people. One time, when we all gently floated down the lake, 3 women got on one of the clam shells and did a coordinated waving dance so it looked like we found mermaids or Lake Princesses. At these times, I felt like rubbing my eyes; is this for real? This was a lake, so once we turned the corner out of our little enclave, there were motorboats and jet skis. Can you imagine these vacationers coming across this group? ... A packed bar scene, 2 clam shells pulled by decked out canoes or those old-school paddling rides, and last but not least, a freaking hot tub? Those folks must have zoomed by thinking, "What the hell was that? Where'd they come from??"

The scary part for me was that everyone would pile onto whatever and float out without much planning. Granted they took water (and beer), but me and a few other mothers sensed that no one was very concerned about how to get back. Like with the first test drive of the bar, a group got on and went on their merry way. Later, a few folks came back in a canoe to say that the motor (which was weak so wasn't good against wind anyway) stopped working so the bar was drifting and couldn't get home. A bunch of folks had to paddle out and get them. They did the same thing at night again. We joined at the beginning, but I insisted we have our own boat, and after a while I asked Dav to take us home. Tesla had a life jacket, but still, we were out in the middle of the lake in the dark! The bar came home quite late after getting lost, apparently. Not a ride I'd like to be on with Tesla, heh. The bar group didn't seem to care and had faith that each time they'd somehow make it home...which they did. Crazy but it worked out well, and everyone was happy as can be. I'm just glad there weren't any accidents!

Cute bonus: Tesla and Sofia providing goodies for parents :)

Dav's complete set of pics is here.