The good thing, or not, about having to be dressed, or not, and not pee in the middle of camp is that you teach yourself to hold the urge longer than you’ve ever needed in the morning (unless you have siblings, one bathroom, and no woods or fenced backyard). Rachel and I also use this time to pack up our bedding, but that wasn’t the plan this morning. I didn’t want to get up in the dark.

I waited half an hour, usually only done in class or on the road (in traffic), before I left the tent. I return with the intent to sleep more but I’ve already taught myself to get dressed and get moving. Caleb is already in the car to be out of the wind, so we drive to my blogging spot to warm the car up and wait for the sun to rise. We will have breakfast there and return to camp to watch the animals frolic in the morning rays.

We walk the trail before the day-use crowds arrive, have a snack, and collect parts of the tree left at another site in case our guests from the Netherlands want a fire later. Gert “Lieutenant Sparkles” and his wife, Anouska, who has achieved the National Pentathlon Cross at least ten times, want to spend some time with his trail family before a vacation in Los Angeles and a return flight home.

We are delighted just for their company, and their quick quips that prove their English proficiency, and grateful for the stroopwafles (straight from the source), even if we can’t pronounce them correctly. We take them on the Trail of 100 Giants and they are like kids with their energy and curiosity. It’s enjoyable to be around such a fun and smart couple, a type we seem to be surrounding ourselves with more these days.

I talked with a grandma on the trail because I noticed so many people in the same shirt, and she let me know that 22 family members made the trip, minus one grandson. Perhaps when our nieces and nephews are older we can do some awesome nerdy family activities that we didn’t have the money for growing up. Back to camp to set up tents, have soup, dinner, tea or coffee, and more stroopwafles!

We sun ourselves on the warm rocks and listen to the witch’s cackle from the picnic area and have a laugh ourselves. The guys will go to collect more water and when I see two people destroy a mouse’s home, I offer the firewood we have and let them know site 11 has more. There’s so much wood here, if only they knew better which to collect, as people have already damaged the environment so much for these animals just trying to keep up. 

Darin comes by to thank us for being great camp guests and asks if we need anything before he takes his weekend off. We thank him for the hiking recommendations and kindness. Back at the table, I learn that Anouska is the fourth sister and that all their names end with A. She will happily go to bed first, excited to be camping in America, as we stay up another hour learning more about mountaineering from Gert.