A desperately needed getaway after Jena's wedding and the hub hub that followed.  I had built the camping kitchen at long last, David built the camping trailer, and this was the maiden voyage for both, along with our new seven foot tall tent. We can actually change clothes standing up.

We left late Friday night, ate at La Morenita's in Cold Springs, found our favorite place still closed due to snow, finally settled in a real camping ground (usually avoided at all costs) at Clark Fork between Strawberry and Dardanelle. Setup with the new equipment took about two hours. Notes for improvements and new ideas were promptly made. A few good shots with my newly discovered night settings, including a weird blue light and a grand full moon. Pictures can be found at the bottom of the page. It was much colder than we anticipated, supposedly in the mid 40's so we brought only one light jacket each. Later we found out if had dropped to the low thirties! No wonder we ran out of wood.

Saturday brought fishing for David, basking in the sun reading and playing with butterflies and plants for Anne, generally goofing off and getting back to the calmness of the woods. We had a serious quantity of ants in the campground, and really had a ball watching them, even naming a few. Their strength, endurance, cooperation, organization and general productivity was truly amazing to watch and contemplate. We laughed as we sprinkled cracker crumbs and salami pieces around for them, "Food from heaven, awesome!" Those little guys can clean up an entire cracker within an hour and we have the photos to prove it.  We were in bed by eight and it was still light, and horrifically cold.

Sunday morning, 5 am fire and coffee, packed and gone by 9, still freezing. A few hours fishing, seed snatching and lunch at the Strawberry Inn. Their outside deck is amazing, the food is not bad, menu is good, but the service has always fallen short. We had to ask for silverware, sugar, get our own salt and pepper, and almost beg for more coffee. What a shame.

So good to be home and in our own warm beds again with coffee at the push of a button. But, we are planning our next camping trip.

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