Rockstar Camping '05 Devil's Lake

Friday afternoon was spent on my new found love of windsurfing. Light winds allowed me to practice my tacks and jibs until early evening. When Brock came back in from the lake I had asked him to work my overnight shifts so that I could go camping for the weekend. He agreed. Thanks dude.

As I unrigged my board Stephen came down to the rigging deck with an order of Mediterranean Cafe and we just chilled a bit and ate up. By now the Friday night social was beginning to assemble so I greeted the few people that I am acquainted with.

I showered up while getting ready to go to Devil's Lake. There wasn't a great deal of packing to do since Stephanie and Sita seemed to have all of it done. James put away a few things in his truck and we took the short drive to Baraboo convening at the Ranger Station. The campsite we got was oddly fun. Apparently the campground folks had just started a program of teepee sites of which there were only two thus far. We were lucky to have one of them. The teepee was constructed on a level surface of plastic wood like material situated on a very spacious site. Large wooden poles joined at the top to form a cone enclosure and a surface layer of canvas made for cover. What was unique was the hole at the top that we were warned about if it were to rain.

Since it was getting dark out James and I picked up some firewood while the ladies setup an emergency tent (in case it were to rain) and prepared the grill for dinner. My night would end shortly due to fatigue and the mix of food and alcohol consumption as I lazily fell asleep by the fire and then crawled into the teepee.

The next morning went by fairly fast though everything was taken very leisurely. We had breakfast of egg sandwiches. Mostly we sat around the teepee talking and laughing and then laid about on a rock for hours. The large boulder, pushed about for thousands of years by glaciers, was given the name Beth and we enjoyed her company so. Later, when we felt like getting up, we took an excursion down to Devil's Lake. I went for a quick swim as my fellow Rockstars laid out in the sun.

We returned to the campsite by dinner time and cooked up what was left of the food. John and Diane came by from their bike ride and joined us for the night. As a side note, John and I tested the feasibility of cooking an egg in the fire pit. What we learned was that it is entirely possible if not put in the direct heat.

Past midnight a storm was brewing in the sky. Claps of thunder could be heard in the distance so I packed away things inside the teepee. We sat out around the fire until only moments before the rain would fall. John and Diane took to the tent as we scrambled into the teepee. As we were warned, rain fell inside through the hole at the top but to only a small extent, mostly dripping down the poles. I kept my things under the cot to keep it dry.

When the storm hit the hardest in our area, strong winds slapped around our canvas door as I struggled to tie it down. Once under control by small ties, no more than an hour had passed when John came knocking. The powerful winds were blowing away the tent in which they slept. James and I went outside to help put everything away and just like that, we had taken in a few more occupants inside the damp teepee. Though the storm would continue to pound the teepee with its might throughout the night, I still fell into a good sleep.

Rockstar Camping '05 Devil's Lake
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Activity: 3 | Energy: 2 | Friends: 3