Surviving a Summer Vacay

PSA- The New Deli will be closed for the Fourth of July- hope you all enjoy some time off with loved ones. We’ll be right back on Monday!

Tom and I have been camping since our honeymoon back in 1976, when we traveled across the US in our Chevy II. We really dodged a bullet then- we took a short detour through part of Mexico, where police at the border tore our seats apart a bit looking for pot seeds. By some miracle, we escaped back to the US. (My grandma said, “Lucky you didn’t end up in a Mexican prison.” YEP!) We hadn’t found any non-culinary mushrooms (though “The Teachings of Don Juan” implied we’d find that and peyote growing wild and free in the desert).

Subsequent trips paled by comparison, but camping was still our summer vacation of choice. Even before “earthing” was a thing, it just made sense to bask in the beauty of God’s creation out in the wilderness somewhere. Plus, it was always affordable.

This year’s destination was a campground in South Lake Tahoe. As predicted on the weather app, the normally warm summer temperatures were replaced by much colder weather (37 degrees at night). Thankfully, my friend loaned us her very very warm, REI sleeping bags at the last minute, so we threw those in the car too. Good we did that, since someone forgot to pack theirs! I was reminded of how good God is- He really does provide. Even with a “random” thing, like getting extra last minute sleeping bags from a friend, that ended up saving the day. (Or, night.) So. We survived the first night of camping.

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” PSALM 139:16

We even survived a cool dip in Lake Tahoe the next day. I accepted the dare and went all in. THAT’ll wake you up! A few of us thought of how great the cold therapy would be, burning all those roasted marshmallow calories and activating brown fat. Worth it, right?

We had almost recovered around the campfire later in the day when… It started snowing! (Tom said it was hail. Or both. Either way, burrr…) On a somber note, the unseasonal storm hit Lake Tahoe too, capsizing a boat (which included some casualties). I was glad we hadn’t gone boating. It did make me ponder, how God knows the number of our days. I like to “optimize” by eating healthy and all that, but ultimately, there is a point for all of us when it’s our time to go.

Which brings up the next part of the story. You’ve heard of “Poking the Bear”? Well, this time, it was the bear doing the poking. Someone across the street had left their bear locker slightly unhinged, and a mama bear discovered some tuna salad in that bear locker. She didn’t seem interested in us, thankfully, as she was too excited about the tuna. So much so that all our roaring and hollering didn’t faze her one bit. Thankfully, the camp host came by, clapped his hands and yelled at her with authority. She scrambled away at that, and we enjoyed watching her two cubs playfully climb the trees at the top of the hill, in what looked like a circus act. Great to watch at a distance. They were adorable.

Still, we were all a bit nervous to sleep in our tents after the tuna-dining incident. At least our oldest son had bear spray. We eventually convinced the youngest granddaughters that we were going to be OK. And again, we did survive.

In any case, that very mama bear went on to actually invade a locked trailer the next night, swiping at a camper, who was sent to the hospital. Awfully close for comfort.

The cubs have since been re-homed, while the mama fared not as well. The camp host had alluded to this fate after the tuna event. “She’s not being a good mom- she’s teaching her cubs bad habits. She should be foraging, but she lives completely on camp food. It’s not her fault- she also wasn’t properly trained by her mama.” We’re hoping those little cubs will grow into properly-foraging adults

Funny thing- all the grandkids want to go back to this very place again next year. But we’ll bring extra blankets, just in case. And bear spray.