Great success! Despite a few minor setbacks, the first official OKDC camping trip was a blast. We got a later start than planned (not surprising to anyone, I’m sure) and had to set up the tents in the dark, but Chad managed to get a good fire going, and Alyssa had Christmas lights which we strung up across the camp, which helped with the lighting. When the ranger came by, we were told we had too many tents on the site, but GottiBoyTellEm managed to smooth things over, and we were good to go for the night. Once set up was complete, we enjoyed hotdogs and Chef Boyardee for dinner, and s’mores for dessert. Quiet time began at 11, and we did our best to keep our voices down, but after we decided to turn in for the night, we were invaded by raccoons. Chad and David did their best to chase them off, but they kept returning, chattering and whining, throughout the night. Chad had a little too much fun scaring them off, but it must have worked, because they didn’t give us any trouble the next night. Saturday morning we awoke and discovered a large bird walking around the campsite. He walked right over to GottiBoy’s tent, clearly ready for his walk. Later, we had brunch consisting of bananas, bacon and eggs, and more hotdogs. After we ate, we piled into the van and headed to the birdwalk. We didn’t see too many birds, but we definitely watched as GottiBoy birdwalked next to the birdwalk sign. From there we traveled to the nature trail and enjoyed the canopy walk across a bridge suspended 25 feet in the air, right through the tree tops. After crossing the bridge we climbed the tower and enjoyed a spectacular view of Myakka River Park from a dizzying height of 75 feet. It was a perspective we don’t often get to experience, and though the swaying of the tower in the wind was a bit unsettling, the view was well worth the venture. After completing the nature trail (and seeing a disappointingly little amount of “nature” along the way), we headed back to camp. I was still a little shaky from the tower, so I laid down for a nap, while the rest of the group explored the lake and concessions, then made a trip in to town for provisions. When they returned we started a fire, not as easy a task as it had been the previous night, and had an old-fashioned campfire cookout of hamburgers and (more) hotdogs. We considered attending the seminar on spiders at the main campfire, but ended up staying at our campsite. As quiet time approached, and the mosquitoes started biting, we turned in for the night. We awoke Sunday morning to rain beating down on the tents, and quickly began packing up. Fortunately, by the time we had the insides of the tents packed, the rain ceased, and we were able to break down the tents and pack up the campsite without getting too wet. Though it was an earlier departure than we had intended, I think we were all happy to get home and showered, and back to bed for some.
