Hot, sticky, and dirty...

Day 2

The date is June 30th; Monday. Clint and I sleep in until about 8:30 and begin the day with some hot scrambled eggs and bacon; just the thing to prepare our jet-setting bodies for our first day of vacation! After breakfast, we discuss our plans for the day; go into town with Grandma, go for a swim...Wait; no luggage! Well, that really puts a clinker in the works! We cannot leave the house for fear that our bags arrive and we are not able to claim them!

Grandma goes into town to run some errands, and Clint and I decide that, instead of waiting around inside the cottage, we will go for a walk. Clint's travel clothes include shorts, a T-shirt, and his Chucks. My travel clothes are less convenient for such a hot and humid day; jeans, a button-down top, and uncomfortable sneakers. Awesome.

We take Mandy for a walk around the end of the lake and back, and by the time we reach to cottage again, I am so sticky and hot I want to rip my clothes off and jump right in the lake. It's times like these that I wish I was less inhibited! Alas, I keep my clothes on and Clint and I decide to take the Canoe out of it's holster up and underneath the deck. This, in and of itself, was an adventure. The canoe is held, up-side-down, under the deck by two loops of rope, one around each end. This way, the canoe is protected (somewhat) by the elements during the winter. However, there must have been quite the wind storm this past winter, as one of the ends of rope holding up the canoe had become absolutely frayed and entangled in the mesh seat of the canoe. After some cursing and much finagling, we decidde that the rope must be cut to free the canoe from it's twine entrapment.

We cut the rope and the canoe is free; now we need to get it into the water. The hillside leading from the deck to the water is quite steep, and when covered in dry pine needles as it was, it quite slick, not to mention the rocks, railing, purch and patio furniture to navigate. Clint, the engineer, evaluates the situation and comes to the conclusion that the best way to get the canoe into the water while navigating all obstacles is to carry it over our heads. Right...

After much complaining, a few stubbed toes, and a lot of laughing, too, the canoe is in the water. Mission successful, although not as easy as the proposal made it sound! Just as the canoe went "Splash!," Grandma returned home. We lunched, lounged and laughed until (at last!) our luggage arrived! So happy to have our belongings and swim suit, we donned our bathers and jumped in the lake for this year's maiden intertube voyage!