Saturday, June 30

Up around 7:30, and had a breakfast of banana/pineapple, and peach breads, and blueberry muffins, along with fresh fruits...cantaloupe, oranges, and peaches...and coffee.

Soon afterward, Hubbie took a bunch of tomatoes from the garden to his daughter and son-in-law, who are staying at their lake house over the July fourth holiday. Unfortunately, he didn't get to see his daughter, because she was already out on the lake with her husband. He did see his granddaughter and her boyfriend, however.

While Mother got ready for the day, I heard singing going on at another campsite. I stepped outside and heard (but could not see) a group of Hispanics clapping and singing rousing camp songs (at least, I think they were camp songs..they were singing in Spanish).

Hubbie returned around 10 a.m., and once Son and family were ready, we went on a tour of the area. We started at the visitor's center, which has several displays interesting not only to adults, but also to children. At the end of the tour, the kids were given little colorful sunglasses as gifts from the center.

I was really aggravated with myself, when, after I'd taken several pictures of the kids at the visitor's center, I discovered there was no memory card in the camera. The one I regulary use was at home in the card reader. I have a spare card, but it was in my camera bag, which was back at camp. Phooey. Thankfully, Daughter-in-Law had her camera with her, and so she got several nice shots.

From there, we went to an overlook to view the lake, the dam, and the river below. Thanks to near drought conditions, the river is quite low.

Next, we visited the campground near the river. This is a beautiful area. The river is very cold, suited to trout, and lots of fishermen were wading out into the water, hoping for a catch. On the way out of the park, we noticed a woman walking with her young son. The boy had a nice stringer of pan-size trout, and I rolled down my window and complimented him on his catches.

Years ago, Hubbie and I camped in this area frequently to trout fish. Since we were there last, a viewing pier has been built, so we all walked out on it to enjoy the view of the river.

Lastly, we went to the fish hatchery. Mother, Hubbie, and I opted to skip touring the big tanks outdoors, since it was so infernally hot out there. Instead we went into the air conditioned visitor's center, where there used to be large fish in aquariums. The aquariums are empty now. But, we were allowed into the back room, where there are tanks of thousands of fingerling trout.

Another family was ready to enter the back room when we came out. A little girl of about seven years old refused to go into the room...she appeared to be terrified of it. Admittedly, it was very brightly lighted, as well as loud from the huge pipes pumping water into the tanks to keep them at the proper temperature.

But apparently, she is afraid of her own shadow, because her grandmother proceeded to lecture her about how much she was going to miss out on in life, if she didn't quit cowering away from every little thing. She was not persuaded, though, and hung back, clinging to a wall, until the family came out of the room.

Back at camp, after lunch (each family at their own campsite), Mother opted to take a nap. She prefers to be alone while napping, so Hubbie and I toured the area, while Son and family went to the lake.

We stopped at several shops around the square in town, but only bought a couple of items, including a cup with my initial on it to use in the camper. At one store, we met a woman and her daughter that we know. The woman lives in our town, but the daughter got married about a year ago, and she and her husband now live in the town where some of my family live. I think they decided, as we and Son and family did, to meet halfway in this little town.

We also visited an art gallery, the owner of which was in our town recently for the Summer Celebration, where she created a painting while the party was going on. This small gallery is very cluttered with the works of various artists. We wondered, though, about some clay sculptures of nude devil images...what is the artist trying to convey?

We stepped out of the gallery in time to hear the courthouse carillons playing "Raindrops are Falling on My Head." Maybe it's the town's way of doing a rain dance. Hope it works, because it's brittle dry right now.

Before returning to camp, we toured a fishing resort on the river. It's a lovely place, where there is a nice restaurant we'd like to try next time we're in the area.

We returned to camp around 3 p.m. to find that the breaker switch had shut the power down, and there was no air conditioning. I don't know how long it had been off, or why Mother didn't call us...we left a cell phone with her. The camper was quite uncomfortable and took a while to cool back down. It was just another example of why I hate to leave Mother alone, even for a short time.

Later, we had a cold supper of pork roast sandwiches, and garden tomatoes with cottage cheese. Then Mother and I sat outdoors for about an hour, before Hubbie and I got into our swimsuits and headed to the lake.

Tonight, Son and family joined us. We really enjoyed watching the kids frolic. The baby was especially cute, as she displayed pure joy at being in the cool water.

I felt sorry for one lady in the lake, who was crimson with sunburn. She's very fair skinned, and I imagine she's blistered and suffering today.

Strange: we were in the lake for about an hour when, as if getting a signal from somewhere, everyone, including us, swam or waded to the bank, gathered our things, and trooped up the flights of steps to our vehicles. It was 9 p.m., but a posted sign said the area closed at 10 p.m. I don't know what caused this phenomenon.

At camp, Mother was ready to play Skipbo, so we played two games, and again Hubbie and I each won one. We were ready for bed after that.