Lyre River Campout

Well Folks! Here we are, it's the Monday after our very first Campout as a group. Did we have fun? The answer would have to be a resounding YES!

We went to the Lyre River Campground which is located approximately 15 miles west of Port Angeles over looking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The weather was almost ideal for our campout. It did have a tendency to get a tad on the cool side in the evening, but other than that it was great. The cool evenings presented no problem thanks to John Campanelli and Barry Weaver who supplied the wood for the campfires.

John and Sandi Campanelli had their first experience with an RV as they were old hands at tent camping, but had not been camping for more than fifteen years. Ask Sandi what she learned about looking into the business end of a hose while someone else handled the supply end! Poor Sandi was just destined to get wet Friday. After getting soaked when someone blew on the end of a plugged hose, she moved off to watch the repairs on what was thought to be a loose connection under the sink. Unfortunately, it was something more than a mere loose connector, and when water pressure was reapplied, a stream of water shot out of a cracked connector and soaked her yet again.

If you think we just spent the weekend sitting around watching the Eagle's fly or the ships steam back and forth through the straits, then you have the wrong group. Soon after arriving, the toys began to appear. Everyone got an introduction to a game called "Mucker's". Mucker's is very similar to Horseshoes in that you have two pegs set eighteen feet apart and the scoring is similar. The difference is that instead of horseshoes, you are required to toss rubber rings that have a tendency to bounce and roll making good tosses difficult. This game proved very popular!

There was another device that was very popular as well. This device looked like a miniature football with a short fletched shaft protruding from one end. It was extremely easy to throw for a rousing game of catch, usually at the same time we were engaged in a "Mucker's" game. This made for some interesting catches and surprised expressions.

The windy afternoons were highly conducive to "Kite" flying. Saturday afternoon saw a great many Kites of varying shapes and sizes in the air. As it turns out, Dave Rodrick is very proficient with stunt Kite's and John Stokes found that he also has an affinity for them. Personally I find them to be aggravating and frustrating and made a gift of my stunt kite to John. I will stick with the Delta's and the box kites.

One of the more popular toy's were Dave Rodrick's radio controlled trucks. These proved very popular, to the point that Dave was continually charging batteries. I overheard several comments being made to the effect of "I'm going to have to get myself one of those!"

What about the food? As always in these kinds of get-together's, there was a mountain of food. Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Melon, various and sundry condiments. John and Sandi treated us all to a huge slab of Halibut, this was one that John had caught himself a month earlier. He and John Stokes grilled it to perfection. Everything was made just that much tastier with the addition of Joan and Barry's wonderful B-B-Q sauce.

Then of course there were the campfires! These were a lot of fun and very relaxing. Roasting Marshmallows and hotdogs all the while regaling each other with stories of daring-do from our younger days.

All too quickly Sunday morning arrived. It was time to start getting ready to go home. Putting gear away, preparing the RV's for the trek back. But, not before a large Pot-Luck Breakfast and plenty of talk about the next get-together and our next Camping Trip.