Three and a half hours in the car was a little much for Garrison who'd never spent more than 45 minutes previously. It was amusing to look in the back seat and see him staring at the floor in boredom. He was a good sport the whole way to Lakeside, where we'd rented a cabin for the weekend.
Lucy helped Manda drive. Lucy feels it necessary to help with tasks such as this. It helps her feel needed. She's attempted cooking and wrapping presents as well, but driving is her most successful assist thus far.
Within a few minutes of arriving we had our fire going... Both pyros to our core, the fire was THE most important part of the trip. The crackling and popping are imperative for roasting marshmallows. And boy did we roast marshmallows.
Manda is always educating me on things. She's a never ending source of new knowledge. Imagine my delight when she taught me that while eating a freshly roasted marshmallow, it can get stuck to the roof of your mouth. Her eyes bulging, I had to remind her that her body comes equipped with a backup breathing device. Breath through your nose! We laughed so hard we cried. This went on for hours. I think this single night alone was the funniest one I've had all year.
Our cabin was roughly 250 square feet. It doesn't take much of a fire to warm that small of a space up... It was 32 degrees outside and we were walking around our cabin, in our underwear, with the windows open, because it was too hot to wear clothing. (No pictures of this, sorry.) Guess we built the fire a little too big. Which if you ask Manda, is impossible. There is no such thing as "a fire too big". (hence, how we got ourselves into that situation)
Friday night we fell asleep with the fire roaring and the windows open. It was PERFECT... for us. Manda woke around 3am, the fire was out and the cabin was frigid. Poor Garrison was laying on his bed shivering. Turns out it got down to 26 that night. We snuggled him under the covers with us and he slept the rest of the night like a champ. Of course he hogged the bed and kicked in his sleep, but as long as he was warm that's all that matters.
We spend Saturday morning hiking around the lake near our cabin. The dogs were in heaven. Manda and I were frozen. It was damn cold near the lake. We thought about fishing, but decided against it when we considered 1. Who would bait the hooks 2. Who would remove the fish from the hook if we actually caught anything. Neither of us were willing to volunteer for either task, so we spend the rest of the afternoon napping and watching football.
Okay, so I napped and she watched football. All that matters is Alabama beat LSU. Roll Tide!
We roasted turkey-dogs over the fire Saturday night. I hadn't done that since I was a kid. Fortunately, the turkey-dog did not get stuck to the roof of Manda's mouth. Apparently, that delight is isolated soley to marshmallows only.
The trip was a blast and a needed break. We'll definitely be going back again!
Peace Out.
:o)