It's Not All About the Food

As the weekend of April 11 approached, we were very excited as this would be our first camping trip of 2013 with Joe and Judy.  For over a month we had looked forward to returning to the Georgia Veterans State Park in Cordele, Ga, and sharing the return with them.  Read last year's blog entry for details of the trip and description of the park.  At bedtime the night before we were supposed to make an early start the next morning, we received a phone call from Joe stating that they would probably not join us until Friday due to their pastor's wife undergoing serious surgery on Thursday.  Joe felt that someone from the church should be with the pastor in Birmingham so he decided to go. We agreed to head on to the park hoping to save them a place next to us (hopefully on the water) until they arrived.

When we arrived at the park around noon, there were only four places left on the water and only two of those were next to each other and easy to back into.  We chose those two and quickly marked Joe's spot so that no one else would try to claim it. 

Soon we learned that Joe was back from Birmingham and they were on their way to us.  We spent the afternoon taking it easy and resting knowing that once they arrived there would be plenty to do.  Joe and Judy arrived around 4:00 and once they were situated, they came over to our trailer and we all enjoyed a meal of smoked ham, potato salad, baked beans, and yeast rolls.  Then we returned to their new trailer for dessert of pound cake and/or strawberry pie.  Delicious!  This was our first time getting to see their new trailer.  

For a view of the luxurious interior, check out this site.

We left their trailer after sharing dessert and some catching up on what we've all been doing.  It started raining and the wind was blowing.  According to the local weather we were in for a rough night with the possibility of tornadoes.  Were we scared?  Not really.  After all about 42 years ago we all weathered a hurricane on our shrimp boats out in the bay.  We all slept well with the exception of Judy who apparently is our night watchman.  We will count on Judy who suffers from insomnia to alert us to when it is time to panic.

The next two days were beautiful although a little cool and we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the weekend.

Have you ever noticed that good times usually happen around good food?  It's hard to tell about a good weekend without sharing what we had to eat.

Bubba and I started off Friday morning with oatmeal and strawberries which we ate while watching a squirrel play outside our window.

Now don't turn your nose up at oatmeal.  I think I make the best oatmeal ever.  I used to make a big pot every morning at work and I had quite a following of people who wanted to know if I had enough for them to have a bowl.

Later in the day we gathered outside for lunch.  We had sandwiches and chips, but doesn't eating outside make everything taste like a feast?

For supper Joe and Judy fixed something new for us -- Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches.  I've had them in restaurants, but never thought about preparing them myself.

One of the reasons we wanted to return to this park was so that we could get some more of the sausage like we got last year from Stripling's Store.  Joe cooked some as an appetizer before our main course.

They were just as good as we remembered.  We returned to the store the next day to stock up so we could bring some home for the freezer.

Breakfast on Saturday was a joint effort.  Joe cooked bacon and sausage on his new gas grill/griddle.

And I cooked pancakes in an electric frying pan on the picnic table.

Don't you like my outdoor kitchen?

It was a cool morning and Bubba built a fire while Joe and I were cooking.

And then Judy made s'mores.

As I said in the blog title, "It's Not All About the Food", there were other activities as well.  Both brothers had invested in a Georgia fishing license and were eager to try fishing from their kayaks.

They fished and fished.  Joe set out a trot line and tried fly fishing.  And, although it wasn't the most productive fishing ever they did bring home a nice catch.

 Apparently when you are fishing from a kayak, you just let the fish pull you around until he gets tired.

Joe's fish in this picture was really bigger than it looks.

Bubba was proud of this nice size bass.

Guess what is pictured above?  

Supper!! Fried Fish, French Fries, Beans, Potato Salad, and Hushpuppies!

There was more fishing.

And some relaxing....

I'm sure you're wondering what Judy and I did while the men folks were fishing.  Actually, I'm not quite sure.  We talked about anything and everything.  We played Scrabble.  We walked around the park and checked out all the other camp sites.  Judy wants a kayak and I think I want one too, but for sure not until I retire.  I think I want a bicycle, but I want to try someone else's first to make sure my knees still work.  We really don't have enough room to carry many more things with us so we'll see.  For now I'm content to just enjoy the scenery and have time to relax.

Every time we go camping, I wish that we could stay one more day or maybe two.  I'm really looking forward to November 1 and RETIREMENT.

In closing, I would like to leave you with this inspirational thought.......

The family that dumps together, stays together!