First Camping Trip of the Year: SUCCESS! (part 2)

Missed part one? Go here!

I last left off with us being totally safe and obedient of all signage around the lodge "ruins." *ahem* For some reason we decided it would be a good idea to scale the wall on the way back instead of using the path. Um, yeah. Oh well, we made it out safe and sound.

Danger? What danger?

Trudy and Laurie had left from the park to go visit one of Laurie's friends, so the rest of us headed back to our camp. Two more of Jon and Reg's friends were there, and we quickly got back to our silliness on the beach. I learned all about a number of different skills that were possible involving fire, pop bottles, and rocks: chicken farts, exploding pop bottles in the fire, and the "happy birthday sausage." That last one is what happens when you're trying to roast a piece of sausage over the fire and the fire burns through your stick, thus dropping the sausage on the ground and leaving a still-burning piece of stick lodged in the meat. It looks just like a wee little birthday candle!

But most fun of all was the diet coke and mentos experiment. Oh yes! You've all seen it on YouTube, no? Put a pack of mentos into a bottle of coke and BOOM! Holy foamy Coke geyser, Batman! Jon tried his first and it was spectacular!

Reg had another plan. He wanted to put the mentos in the bottle then quickly screw on the cap, throw it in the air, and let the pressure that had built up in the bottle and the shock of the bottle hitting the ground work together to create a spectacular explosion of coke and foam and awesomeness. We devised a plan, interviewed Reg, got the cameras rolling (two videos and me on the rapid fire setting), and went for it! IN went the mentos. ON went the cap. UP went the bottle. DOWN came the bottle. "DUCK!" yelled the people....

and BOUNCE! went the bottle.

Reg and Coda the dog ran after it to try it again. UP! DOWN! DUCK! ...

BOING!

And again! UP! DOWN! DUCK! ...

BOING!

This carried of for quite some time. Eventually Reg tried throwing it against something hard. A large driftwood log. It bounced right back at him, nearly taking him out.

And so commenced the "pelt it with rocks" strategy... which also didn't work. But boy, did they try! Eventually the "throw it against something hard" strategy and the "pelt it with rocks" strategy were combined.

Also to no avail. Enter Peter to assist.

Still no luck. That coke bottle - now scratched, dented, and the label almost totally torn off - WOULD JUST NOT BREAK.

We pretty much all had tears streaming down our faces from laughing so hard. At least, I did! It was hysterical. Eventually the bottle was put out of its misery. One large rock pummeled down at close range finally busted that thing open.

VICTORY!

Hmm... not so hysterical reading about it? Trust me, it was FUNNY!


That evening we did some more exploring. Jon took me through the craziest little path through the bushes to the top of the waterfall... it was only about three feet tall so we had to kinda crouch walk. It felt like we were travelling through an enchanted thicket and would arrive out the other side in some kind of fairy tale! The river on top was gorgeous - grooves and deep holes carved in the rock by the flowing river with a view out to the ocean. Very cool! Back at camp, we enjoyed some more campfiring, conversationning, and playing with fire before heading to bed. Note: Camp fuel on the fire makes for spectacular fireballs, and there IS a way to put a plastic pop bottle in the flames and not have it melt. Check.

The next morning we went back up the magical mystical path to the river above the falls and played with Coda the dog for a bit before packing up (in the rain!) and heading back to civilization to clean up and catch the ferry home. (Why, oh why did I have SO! MUCH! STUFF!?!)

The weekend was definitely a big highlight of my last few months. It was SO nice to just get away and relax - no worries, no work, no chores, no errands, just play, play, play. And I was so happy to meet some really great people! Peter and Bronwyn, Reg and Faa, and Jon - they were all so much fun! And of course, Trudy and Laurie - there's ALWAYS fun and fantasticity where they're involved!

Here's to friends, here's to camping, here's to God's awesome creation!

Full photo set here.