Note: This is the blog for Thursday, August 4.
Woke up at 8:30a (I know!), still feeling rather bad. During breakfast I heard what sounded like the scream of jet engines. Back in the 80s, if we were really lucky, the A-10 Warthogs would be practicing over the park. One time a pair of them flew really close over the lake (though I think this has since been forbidden) — it really made an impression on my brother and I! Suspecting the A-10s were practicing I grabbed the kids (though only Addison seemed really interested) and we went down to the lake for a look-see. They were far, far higher than in the past and it was hard to determine if they were indeed A-10s (in fact, a web search reveals that this summer some UAV practice was being performed over the park as well — but these seemed far more maneuverable). Anyhow, we enjoyed listening to them flying about and skipped rocks when it hit a lull. Addison got some really great skips in once I got him to get his rock toss nearly parallel to the water’s surface. Addison also played the timeless classic “hit a floating object in the water with a rock, and failing that, a handful of rocks” game.
View from rocky beach, looking south
We also saw the Gotts’ taking a few of their kids on the traditional cross-lake swim. I wish we had known about that, I’d have loved to get Addison to participate. Basically it is a camp rule that anybody wishing to take a boat out solo has to be able to swim the width of the lake (in event of capsize). Why the whole width and not just half? Because at water level, and particularly in a panic situation — like being dumped in cold water unexpectedly — it is pretty easy to guess incorrectly which shore is closest. Being able to swim the entire width helps ensure that a poor guess isn’t fatal. Usually a day is picked and all of the camp’s kids that want to participate do it together with at least two guide boats or canoes alongside. The accompanying boats are not only to allow those that can’t complete the swim to climb aboard but also to make the pack of swimmers hard to miss by the power boaters on the lake. The traditional target is Squaw Brook opposite the camp on the lake. Greg and I did the swim in 1985 — I’ll never forget grandpa letting us each take out a boat shortly after by ourselves to cruise the lake. Good times.
A Camp Sabael tradition -- the "swim across the lake" test
Addison and I returned to the cabin. Michelle had just finished her Harry Dresden book, “Ghost Story”, which we had bought at Chapters in Ottawa. Michelle and I ran into town, leaving Genetta and Addison to relax in the cabin with explicit directions to stay put. It is nice having Genetta old enough to run things when needed! We headed to Stephenson’s Lumber and bought some garden lime. Ended up paying $10 more because he swore we gave him a $10 instead of a $20 and, you know what, it’s just not worth arguing sometimes. Not like we (or he) could prove it. Grumble. Then went to the hardware store and learned we should ideally use dehydrated, not hyrdrated lime, but they had none and hadn’t been able to get it for a couple of years. Sheeesh. Well, it was all for privy odor control so it was good enough. Better than nothing.
Returned to the cabin and ate blueberries, grapes, cookies, and chips. I really missed eating ham or turkey and mayo sandwiches with grandpa out there on the deck.
View from Gray Rock's deck, with classic green Adirondack chair
Genetta, Addison, and I grabbed the bow and arrow and did some archery near the front of the camp on the old volleyball field (where only two posts remain). We each took several shots at a stump, all of us scoring at least a hit. Without a forearm guard, though, the kids would occasionally get hit with the string, leaving red. Also some of the arrows weren’t in great shape — not surprising as Greg and I abused them back in the 80s. Whooops. We’d have to rectify that!
Michelle, Addison, and I headed down for another swim (plus a “bath” — using biodegradable soap to try and clean off some). Addison did some great jumps — cannonballs and 360 twists. We had fun and swam a bit but the waves from the power boats got to be a bit much so we got out and went in to town for shopping and eating.
View from rocky beach, looking north
We first went to the Lake Store, a delightful store on the western shore of the lake. It is accessible not only via I-30 south of Indian Lake but also by boats by way of docks in the rear. They have a wide variety of goods — camp supplies, groceries, reading material, tourist stuff, and even an ice cream / soda counter. We bought our requisite magnet and the kids each got a bottled Coke.
Lake Abanakee, just north of Indian Lake, resulting from dammed Indian River
The Lake Store folks recommended that we visit Pumpkin Mountain Gun Store for archery supplies so we headed out on 28 towards Blue Mountain Lake. We got there shortly before close and were able to get a forearm guard, finger glove, and eight arrows to improve the state of the archery gear at Gray Rock. The owners were very polite and friendly. Headed back to Indian Lake to the hardware store for a bucket and lid to put the lime we overpaid for (ok, ok, letting it go…) earlier into. While Michelle got some medicine for me (yay *quil!) at the gas station the kids and I got our name on the list for Indian Lake Restaurant and Tavern, the place where we ate on Tuesday. It was good then so we figured “why not?” This time I had the pig dip that Michelle had on Tuesday and it was awesome. They really nailed eastern NC BBQ sauce with their “Carolina Piedmont” sauce. Turns out the lady that runs the place used to live in Florida and on her drives up to New York would stop at a place off of I-95 for BBQ in NC — that explains that! Michelle had a salad, Genetta fettuccine alfredo, and Addison wings.
"Downtown" Indian Lake
That same lady also told us where moose had been seen but she claimed that almost all of them were in the morning. Crap, well there goes that idea! Nonetheless we rode up to the transfer station at dusk near the swampy terrain and also back out a distance along Cedar River hoping to find a moose. No luck, of course!
Went back to the camp for some reading and recreation by gaslight. One of the things we always did as a kid was listen to grandpa read from a book about the Adirondacks. Sometimes it was pioneer stories, sometimes natural history, even ghost stories. I looked around and didn’t see any of those books but did find a book by my favorite President, Theodore Roosevelt, called “Big Game Hunting in the Rockies and on the Great Plains” from 1899. Yeah, you find stuff like that all around the cabin — amazing to run across something like that (as well as some old AMC plastic model car kits from the early 60s that my dad and Uncle Geof had). I read just the introduction aloud, my voice as pale imitation of grandpa’s great reading voice in ideal circumstances but as I was sick it wasn’t even close… It is amazing what a great writer ol’ TR was — in the introduction he waxed philosophical about the disappearance of the frontier in the final two decades of the 19th century. It is weird reading a missive from a bygone era about an even more bygone era. Kind of like playing Red Dead Redemption in a way, where the main character reflects on what has been lost from the frontier days in his modern era of the first decade of the 1900s.
Played a bit of WAR! (the card game) with Addison then blackjack with Addison and Genetta. Genetta then headed to bed while Michelle, Addison, and I went out to the deck to watch the stars and talk of the current vacation as well as previous ones. I saw a shooting star but, sadly, we were a bit short of peak for the Perseids. When my brother and I were younger we happened to hit the Perseid peak dead on and had a new moon. We went down to the lake shore with flash lights and lay on the diving board until the wee hours of the morning agog at the hundreds of shooting stars that night. After a while we turned in for bed.