Unplanned Weekend

I've been an atrocious blogger of late, haven't I? Almost two weeks have gone by since I last wrote.

Rather than start with a recap (which would mostly just be the incredible busy-ness of daily life anyway), I want to get this last weekend down for posterity.

Lee's 41st birthday is tomorrow. We hadn't really planned anything in particular, other than that I'm getting him a tattoo that he really wants as his gift. So yesterday morning, he decided that what he wanted to do for his birthday was take a weekend fishing trip. Even though we'd made zero plans, his brother was free and able to go with us. So we headed out to Conowingo Dam, about an hour from here:

Conowingo 001

Our original plan was to camp at Susquehannah State Park. Their web site said the campsite opened in May. We'd hastily packed the tent and all the camping equipment we have, which really isn't much. But when we got there, we found the campsite wasn't opened for the season yet. See what I mean - no planning at all!

Not to be stopped, we headed to the bait shop anyway. Actually, we went there BEFORE we knew there would be no campsite, since we also hadn't figured out WHERE the sites were and needed directions. The bait shop reminded me of something out of the movie "Wrong Turn." The guy working, presumably the owner and the only person around, looked like he was a hundred and had never left the woods, and had long white hair that seemed stained yellow in places. But he was a very sweet guy, not a psychokiller, and although it took the 3 of us to decipher exactly what he was saying with his strange accent he managed to give us decent directions to the camp.

Which of course, was closed.

We decided to hang out anyway and just find a spot along the river for them to fish and me to chill out, play with the camera and read. The first spot we tried was a bust. And as we explored the wooded trail along the water, we came to a wreath on a tree that said "In loving memory of Mom and Mike." We wondered aloud why it was there. Was this a favorite spot of the family who put it there, or had whatever happened to "Mom and Mike" actually happened there?

Between the quirky bait shop and that, my writer's imagination was going into overdrive. So I was kind of glad that Lee and Cliff decided it wasn't the best fishing spot.

We headed up the road just a little farther and ended up here:

Sunset on Susquehannah

Sunset on Susquehannah

Those pictures were taken much later in the day, of course. We spent several hours there, them fishing without much luck. I finished a book and started another, watched a fishing crane out on the water, and several rowboats meandering around.

We contemplated trying to stay there overnight, since we had all the camping stuff. But it was too close to the road, and traffic was rare but loud. It was drizzling on and off, and in spite of the fact that I have hillbilly roots I prefer camping sites with indoor places to pee. So Cliff suggested he get us a motel room for the night as his birthday gift to Lee so that we could stay out at late as we wanted without having the drive home ahead of us. We hung out till about 10, then headed off in search of a motel.

With some help from a store clerk where we stopped and got a bottle of wine, we found a motel. Armed with wine and a bucket of chicken and fixins' from KFC, we settled in for the night. The guys were soaked and muddy and had to rinse their clothes in the sink and dry them using the air conditioner. KFC gave us no utensils and we didn't realize it until we were in the room, so we ate like neanderthals. But the wine was yummy and mellowing after a long day outdoors and we sipped and talked and crashed out on the 2 double beds and watched a Sopranos rerun and all fell asleep.

The next morning dawned chilly and filled with an all-day pouring down kind of rain. Since we were there, they wanted to go back to the dam and fish there before heading home. We stopped at the quirky bait shop again so they could stock back up. The same old guy was there, this time with a cute little chihuahua who he put on the counter for us to pet and play with. The little dog acted like it wanted to follow us home, even yipping and sort of growling at the guy when he made him get down and go back behind the counter.

We stopped and checked out a few other places before heading to the dam:

Old Mill

Conowingo 013

Conowingo 012

Conowingo 010

Ignore Lee's goofy gesture there in the one with his brother! I'm not sure if it was intended for Cliff who was ragging on him or me because I kept trying to retake the picture LOL!

Anyway, the rain just kept getting worse, so I left them to go get soaked at the dam while I curled up in the van with a book and watched the river and the fishermen until they were ready to roll. We got home a while ago, Lee and I took a wonderful nap, and I'm now just enjoying the feeling you get when you've got a great weekend in your tail lights but still have a week off ahead of you!