Beales Point CG, Folsom Lake, CA

Ara and I drove out to the campground fairly early on Friday and got to our campsite. Donald joined us a little later and we set our tents up, then he took all the girls back because Autumn had a soccer game at 6 pm. He later returned with Jeannie and the whole family, and it was much simpler with the tent already set up and most of their camping gear already at the site. I enjoyed an afternoon of just sitting around in solitude. Steve & Meg arrived with Liam, and we all settled in for what we hoped was a fun weekend.

The campground is in the CA state park system - very expensive with some weird rules, but then we had two very nice sites together which added up to a lot of room. It is spacious but not all that private, although we did back up to the woodsy greenbelt between the campground and the American River bike trail, so we had no campers behind us.

The next afternoon a middle aged couple came into the next door site and immediately went to work unloading trucks and vans. I thought one of the guys would never get to the bottom of his truck bed which seemed to contain a small forest - big tree rounds, some cut firewood in bundles, and even 3 or 4 wooden pallets. They had enough wood there to burn a forest down.

The negative part came when the young folks started arriving and the parents left. There must have been 15 or so late teens there, on their own, and celebrating someone's birthday from what it seemed. The had no conception of campground etiquette and were fairly loud into the night. I didn't stay up late and missed the part where they poured lighter fluid on the campfire and the flames shot up into the oak trees. They woke the campground up before 6 am this morning, chopping firewood and talking in their regular daytime voices - the guys were talking and the girls just giggled. What a bunch of asses!

Sarah and her 2 girls stayed Sat. night, and my niece Stephanie also joined us for the evening. The highlight of the camping trip was when Ara's boyfriend Dylan surprised her. She knew he was flying in from PA and driving back with her, but he kept it a secret from her when he would be arriving. Of course we were all in on the secret. My Son Joe picked him up at the airport and delivered him to the campground. I saw him shoot out from Steve & Meg's campsite and run toward our circle of chairs around the fire pit. Ara was the last to realize, and he ran up and she looked around and stood up - they embraced and went around in circles hugging and kissing, and all the women were brushing tears our of our eyes. I've never seen anything like it - it was like something you'd see in a movie. You couldn't tell if they were laughing or crying, probably a little of both. (They haven't seen each other since graduation back in May.) Oh to be so young and so much in love!

On Saturday afternoon everyone but me went down to Folsom Lake and hung around in the shade near the beach. It was pretty hot and I just stayed back at the CG - I have no desire to sit around a body of water in the heat. It's a good thing I remained because our site was invaded by a ferocious and cunning army of squirrels. I fought them off bravely. I got sleepy in the heat but every time I would nod off I'd hear a thud and there would be something knocked off the picnic table by the rodents. I wished I had a slingshot or at least a handful of small rocks to throw at those little devils. Bears wouldn't trash a camp site much worse I don't think.

Other than that, there were geese flying overhead in the mornings, and two turkeys that walked through the campsites at least 4 times a day. They were quite unafraid and I must have taken 50 or more photos, probably none of which turned out very good. I need a view finder! I hate to spend the money now on another camera as October is a month I will be hit with renewals - AAA and Costco memberships, as well as vehicle insurance.

I enjoyed arriving home, emptying my car, taking a shower and then a nap. I'll be good to go by tomorrow.