Back from the dead (where Dead==Camping)
Jul. 31st, 2006 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebitterguyVery far behind in LJ reading. Very unlikely to catch up. I hope everyone is well, had good weekends, and if there was anything celebrated, mazel tov.
The camping went well (hey, I'm still here, ain' t I?). Had an unpleasant turn of events with my mattress (we stopped trying to patch the holes after #7), and the thunder box was, well, an outhouse lacking a house. These two events really put a damper on the weekend's activities. If I were to go again, the thunder box would be the same, but hopefully I'd have a better sleep.
Our campsite was reachable only by canoe, the dock being a half kilometre down a path from the parking lot. Thankfully we didn't have to take the canoe down to the lake, but getting all the gear for the campsite down to the docks and out to the campsite (and back) required two trips each way (footpath & canoe).
The days were nice, aside from the thunderbox. We took in a hike up the cliffs, and the nights were spent skywatching. Was anything happening this weekend, or are there normally that many shooting stars? We thought we saw the ISS because of the sheer size of the light and that it seemed at one point to be two distinct items, but that may have been the beer talking.
There's little I can say about the camping that wouldn't sound horribly cliche, but that's never stopped me before. The sheer silence is over-whelming. You can hear anything around you (and sound travels so strangely over water; I could hear Uday and Qusay kibitzing from quite a distance when they went out for a paddle). You become so aware of your environment. The rustling of wilderness visitors is just a mind-fuck. A squirrel scurrying through the forest sounds like a rabid wolverine headed right for you. And the sound a million mosquitoes swarming through the forest is really something else.
You can never have enough Deet, that's all I'm going to say. In the interim between landfall at our campsite and my first application of Off Skintastic, I devloped a neck twitch caused by snapping my head to the side at the approach of a horsefly.
We also were fortunate enough to have a five lined skink decide to take residence in our canoe overnight; they're the only lizards that live in Ontario.
The isolation lets you do a lot of reading, too. I managed to make my way entirely through Blasphemies in such an efficient manner that I wish I'd brought the core Forsaken rulebook so I could have gotten that read.
Anyway, after two days of malnourishment (oh, we had food. I just didn't want to do anything that would require another trip to the Thunderbox) and bad sleep (the Canadian Shield was my mattress. I prefer a pillow top) I got home in time to scrub myself off and take in a show. I'd won a set of tickets to Anita Baker's concert at the Molson Amphitheatre in a box. Good seats, and, hey, we had a waitress.
The concert was a good event. I must plead ignorance about her music, but the band was very good, and the stage was interesting (although there seemed to be giant pylons on the side) as the bandstand was raised about five feet, and had a an electronic screen in the front. Seriously, though, I should have brought earplugs. It was so very, very loud. I thought Rush was loud. These seats were better, though, in spite of Baker's lack of laundry machines and automats.
The camping went well (hey, I'm still here, ain' t I?). Had an unpleasant turn of events with my mattress (we stopped trying to patch the holes after #7), and the thunder box was, well, an outhouse lacking a house. These two events really put a damper on the weekend's activities. If I were to go again, the thunder box would be the same, but hopefully I'd have a better sleep.
Our campsite was reachable only by canoe, the dock being a half kilometre down a path from the parking lot. Thankfully we didn't have to take the canoe down to the lake, but getting all the gear for the campsite down to the docks and out to the campsite (and back) required two trips each way (footpath & canoe).
The days were nice, aside from the thunderbox. We took in a hike up the cliffs, and the nights were spent skywatching. Was anything happening this weekend, or are there normally that many shooting stars? We thought we saw the ISS because of the sheer size of the light and that it seemed at one point to be two distinct items, but that may have been the beer talking.
There's little I can say about the camping that wouldn't sound horribly cliche, but that's never stopped me before. The sheer silence is over-whelming. You can hear anything around you (and sound travels so strangely over water; I could hear Uday and Qusay kibitzing from quite a distance when they went out for a paddle). You become so aware of your environment. The rustling of wilderness visitors is just a mind-fuck. A squirrel scurrying through the forest sounds like a rabid wolverine headed right for you. And the sound a million mosquitoes swarming through the forest is really something else.
You can never have enough Deet, that's all I'm going to say. In the interim between landfall at our campsite and my first application of Off Skintastic, I devloped a neck twitch caused by snapping my head to the side at the approach of a horsefly.
We also were fortunate enough to have a five lined skink decide to take residence in our canoe overnight; they're the only lizards that live in Ontario.
The isolation lets you do a lot of reading, too. I managed to make my way entirely through Blasphemies in such an efficient manner that I wish I'd brought the core Forsaken rulebook so I could have gotten that read.
Anyway, after two days of malnourishment (oh, we had food. I just didn't want to do anything that would require another trip to the Thunderbox) and bad sleep (the Canadian Shield was my mattress. I prefer a pillow top) I got home in time to scrub myself off and take in a show. I'd won a set of tickets to Anita Baker's concert at the Molson Amphitheatre in a box. Good seats, and, hey, we had a waitress.
The concert was a good event. I must plead ignorance about her music, but the band was very good, and the stage was interesting (although there seemed to be giant pylons on the side) as the bandstand was raised about five feet, and had a an electronic screen in the front. Seriously, though, I should have brought earplugs. It was so very, very loud. I thought Rush was loud. These seats were better, though, in spite of Baker's lack of laundry machines and automats.
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Date: 2006-07-31 11:29 pm (UTC)Hey! Bitter Guy! Here's hoping you can make it to VIKCON I, next Sunday. Here's a link (http://viktor-haag.livejournal.com/13661.html) to the latest reminder post in my LJ. Note that Doctor Mystery is hoping to attend. Hope to see Senor e Senora Bitter also!
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Date: 2006-08-01 01:31 am (UTC)I also found that my wife is on @#$#$ing call too, but as I pointed out, I wouldn't have been around anyways.
Stay tuned!
::B::
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Date: 2006-08-01 05:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-01 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-01 01:34 am (UTC)::B::
P.S. I'll also grudingly consider a weekend stay at a summer cottage complete with air-conditioner and running water. No "honey-huts" or "thunder-boxes" for me!
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Date: 2006-08-01 05:45 pm (UTC)Oh, it was so good to be back to AC & WCs.
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Date: 2006-08-01 12:04 pm (UTC)Been ages since I've been camping. :(
This weekend seems unlikely. :(
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Date: 2006-08-01 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-01 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-01 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-01 10:13 pm (UTC)How can that be unfortunate?
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Date: 2006-08-01 10:59 pm (UTC)Very unpleasent.
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Date: 2006-08-01 04:01 pm (UTC)Awww Skink! ^_^
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Date: 2006-08-02 01:21 am (UTC)And there it was, right in front of us.
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Date: 2006-08-02 12:26 am (UTC)The Canadian Shield really does lack "plushness" doesn't it? It's played that game before... I finally invested in a ThermaRest. It's no pillow top, but it keeps the pointy pits out of your back.
I've got a trip planned for the end of August. 3 2km portages.... What am I thinking.... oh ya, I'm not... this one was planned while I was still here.... Good times... :)
Glad you enjoyed yourself. No matter the hardships, you will go back, you know you will!!
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Date: 2006-08-02 01:15 am (UTC)Chacun son Gout, I guess.
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Date: 2006-08-02 04:07 am (UTC)So true. :)
I so had nooooo idea what this meant.... The power of the internet!! :) But I like it!