Camping (part of the catch-up)

Let me see if I can get caught up some.



I spent and wonderful week camping in the mountains of North Carolina. We had a tent, cook stove, several coolers and the boat. My oldest daughter and her significant other were with us. None of our cell phones worked in the wilderness, what a shame. We had a whole week of peace and quiet. Most of the week we had the camp ground pretty much to ourselves. The lake we were on was beautiful. It's a dammed up river and seemed to go on forever. We fished several times. I have a reputation when it comes to fishing. If any one's going to catch a fish it will be me. Well that didn't happen this time. There were 4 fish caught and all of them by my husband. We had no close calls with wild animals. No episodes with the locals. We did have a frighting experience with the boat.

There were two options (close by) for launching the boat. One had a 14% grade and the other was very flat but dirt and mud. Well, the first day we used the dirt launch. It was easy going in. Husband did a wonderful job. We loaded 4 adults and a large lab (BuBa) on the boat and went for a short ride. It was breath taking. I was a little nervous not knowing the lake at all. We did fine. The lake is down some 50 feet or more right now. Lake Fontana is filled in March and drained by the end of September. It's a flood control lake. I can't wait to see it full.

Any way, after the ride we dropped daughter, SO & dog off at the boat launch and went to do some serious fishing. It was so hot. Mid day hot. I found us some shade up next to a cliff. We heard a splash in the water and of course both of us started casting towards the splash. Then there was another splash, we saw this one. It looked like something hit the water from the top, not leaving the water. We sat and watched a few minutes, another splash. Something was being tossed off the cliff at us. We both sat there, looking up and waiting. Next came a small branch and this time we got a glimpse of our assailant. No not some kids. No not some mean adults. It was a squirrel. I guess we were too close to his home and he wanted us to move. Now remember the lakes down 50 or more feet so it's at least 50 feet to the top, but it was more because this cliff is a cliff even when the lake is full. We eventually moved on, no fish biting. Our fish finder was telling us there were fish every where, but no body was hungry.

Hot, tired and pissed (because the fish aren't biting) we decided to go in. Pulled up to the launch, no problem. Now you have to visualize that this boat ramp is just a temporary launch, the real launch is 50+ feet up the bank. It isn't exactly straight at the end, just as you enter the water you have to turn the trailer sharp to stay on the mud ramp. It took hubby several tries to get the trailer angled just right. Now, we're pulling the boat with a 4x4, Chevy, silverado, it's a little heavy(the truck). Well add the boat to the trailer and the weight of the truck and the mud ramp decided to give way. My hearts in my throat. Hubby was trying to man handle the boat and trailer over some to decrease some of the weight. I climbed out of the boat and got behind the wheel of the partly submerged truck so we could be moving forward while he worked the trailer over. The low end(the one trying to go under the water) was on the drivers side, good thing too, the exhaust is on the passenger side. Hubby had me back up even further, I was terrified, but I did it. All I can say is thank god for 4 wheel drive. I put the truck in 4-wheel took a deep breath and slowly, very slowly pulled truck, trailer, and boat out to safety. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't the one that saved the day, I was just following instructions. My husband was the one making all the calls. I guess men can be useful some times. (Sorry, man slamming is one of my specialties)

The rest of the time we used the other launch with the 14% grade. If the truck could get us out of the mud it could get us up a steep grade on concrete without any problem, and it did. The day before we were leaving we took the boat out with everyone on board, dog too. We stayed out 6+ hours. From where we entered the water to where we turned around was just about 1/2 way up the lake. When we started our outing we went to the marina to get gas (we had 1/2 a tank) well that wasn't going to happen, the gas tanks where way up out of the water and empty. No gas at the marina because of the water level. Well no big deal, we'd just go until we had a 1/4 tank of gas and turn around. We did this. What we hadn't paid much attention to was the time of day. It was getting dark and we were on empty and still had several miles to go. Oh, did I mention that we ran the troller down to nothing fishing off and on during the day. I can't see where I'm gong, boats still running but it's been on empty for 30 minutes. We had a GPS this time so every body but me feels safe. I see light up the bank. I ask, "isn't the the boat ramp?" "No the GPS says to go to the left." I start to go to the left and then I see, what is it? Yeah, that's a truck with a trailer behind it parked on the side of a drive??? Again I ask, "are you guys sure that's not the ramp." Everyone studies the shore line hard and decide it is the ramp. I approach slowly, it's dark and we're still not 100% sure. It turned out to be where we needed to be. It seems we turned the GPS on right when we left and not when we went back by the ramp after going to get gas.



This is one long story. I'll finish up later.