We spent yesterday on domestic chores. Mrs. Lion did a lot of bending and lifting that left her sore and tired. Today is more of the same. We need to get the camper ready for our first trip. A camper? That’s what Mrs. Lion calls it. It’s an enormous fifth wheel trailer with all the comforts of a five star hotel. We have to stock food and other supplies for our trip into the hinterlands. Mrs. Lion was too busy to stop and write a post.
We will be “camping” in a very pretty state park. This campsite is near the top of a mountain surrounded by first-growth evergreen forest. The natural beauty is slightly marred by a 500 kv power line that crosses the campground. It’s largely unobtrusive except for a zzzzing sound now and then. Since we aren’t going to have any more children, we are only mildly disturbed by this horror-movie sound effect. Fortunately, our camper is pretty soundproof and the shows on our satellite TV drowns out the zaps.
Mrs. Lion has been largely silent about any sexual fun she might have planned during our time away. We’ll have to plan ahead. We like to roam all over the countryside and wear ourselves out by the time we return to our little trailer home. However, there will be opportunities. We generally return to the camper in the late afternoon to walk the dog. Perhaps lion exercise could also be on our agenda then. Just a thought.
The night sky there is incredible. There isn’t any light pollution. We visited a local observatory and the astronomer had us look up at the night sky He pointed to the International Space Station as it went by. We could see it clearly. The Milky Way was a thick carpet of stars across the sky. It was amazing for a city boy like me.
We live in the country. Our night sky would be spectacular except for the constant cloud cover. Well, there’s another problem too. We live in the middle of the woods on the side of a mountain. We don’t see a very wide swath of sky. I love living in the forest. Our front yard has 150-foot cedar trees growing in it. Living here is a constant reminder of how fleeting our lives are. Those trees were here when George Washington was President.
To reach this campsite, we drive across the Cascade mountains, cross a high desert, then ascend back into the Cascades to our campsite which is 3,800 feet above sea level. I love the mountains! Despite the buzzing transmission lines, the air has a crisp, clean smell that makes me stop and bathe in its purity.
This state park is relatively undiscovered. It has room for about 20 RV or campers, plus some tent sites. It’s rarely full. The families with kids and the boaters want to camp about 25 miles away on the shore of the Columbia river where there are playgrounds. This park has none of the recreational amenities most parks in this part of the world feature. It’s perfect for us. We can take quiet walks on wooded paths. The dog has thousands of new smells to explore. A thirty minute drive takes us to the Columbia where we can visit a beach and join the dog who loves to wade in the clean, cool water.
I can’t wait.
