FIRST NITE AT SHAGBARK III

Our first nite at Shagbark III was with much anticipation on my part, as I didn't know what to expect. We spent Friday nite at Shagbark II, Saturday, gathered up any tools and anything else we could think of and drove on to Shag III. It had rained and the road in was a mess, so we walked in to the shack, hooked up the trailer to the 4-wheeler and drove it back to where we left the jeep, loaded things into the trailer and 4-wheeled back to the shack.
After unpacking things into the shack, we went to work cutting trees off the dam and some in the clearing around the shack. We worked at this till about 6:00 PM and decided it was time to get ready for supper. We threw logs into the firepit and proceeded to let them burn down to nothing but coals. Nance wrapped potatoes and onions in foil and threw them into the coals. I put a grate and grill over the coals and threw on a steak. It used to be a steak for each of us but now we share one. Anyway, it was a delicious meal.
Then it was time to get the cabin ready to receive us for the nite. We pumped up the air mattress, got out the blankets and pillows, then went out to sit by the campfire for awhile. We didn't realize how dark it got until I turned out the Coleman lantern. Between the rain clouds, the stars were bright. A very enjoyable evening.
It was time for bed. We were dog tired from all the tree cutting, and as we are older folk now it creates a few more aches and pains.
I slept fairly good, but woke up several times to hear the sounds of the dark. There were many, most of which I did not recognize, except for the mouse that scurried by my head. He must have been checking out his "company" for the nite. (the mouse has since passed)
I woke up at first sign of lite, as usual, got up and went outside to check things out. I walked down by the pond and just stood looking and listening to the beauty of first lite and the noise of nothing but birds chirping. I think my dream has come true.
Nance finally got up so I fired up the 30 plus year old Coleman stove that we used when we first started camping years ago. Put the bacon and coffee on(no better smell than this first thing in the morning), then eggs while Nance made toast over the campfire. After breakfast, we started burning the branches we had cut from the downed trees. We worked at this till mid afternoon, then decided we better get packed up to head home. We parked Dad's rider on the porch and also the 4-wheeler, locked the shack up and headed for home.
Stay tuned for the OUTHOUSE saga.