Cole Family Free Press: Forth of July with the Jenkins

The past three or four years Yegi and I have spent the forth of July with my dad's side of our family camping on Watts Bar Lake. We stay at a place called Camp John Knox. It is owned by the Presbyterian church and they use it for outdoor ministries. It is a beautiful place but as my wife would say it is a little "rustic". Accommodations include tents or whatever you bring to sleep in and a bath house with running hot water (not too rustic when you can have a hot shower).

The first year was rough on Yegi, I think it might of been the first time she had slept outside with no access to an air conditioned area she could retreat too if need be. It was hot and we shared my 2-man backpacking tent on a 85 degree humid July night. She toughed it out though and ended up having a great time. It doesn't hurt that my aunt and her daughters are all unbelievable cooks and we ate like kings every day. It is awesome to watch my aunt Becky Jenkins cook. She is like Maguiver of the cooking world. Give her a mixing bowl, flour, something hot to cook on, a pig, and ...Boom, sausage gravy and biscuits, pancakes, bacon, fruit, etc. All the while watching one of her 11 grand kids under age 6 (which includes two sets of rambunctious twin boys) and only two girls in the whole mix.

This year we debated on whether to take River or leave him with Yegi's parents for the weekend. We really did not want to leave him for that long so Yegi made a list of things she needed if we were going to take him and I went out shopping. On her list:

1) Tent large enough for both of us and River in his pack and play. Thank you Dick's Sporting Goods for the awesome deal on a 6-person Living Room Sized tent.
2) Battery operated fan for River to keep cool with and to provide "white noise". Yegs asked for this last year but I told her to buck up (I guess I'm getting soft).

We left the house around 11:00am and arrived around 2:30pm. You might be thinking..."Don't you guys live in Knoxville and Watts Bar Lake is only about 30-45 minutes away?" You would be correct until you take into account the stop we made to get boat fuel, then to buy a fan at Dick's, then at Walgreen's to get batteries for the fan (and Candy for Yegi, b/c she is 3 and needs a surprise whenever we stop), then to Yegi's parents house to get her swim suit that she forgot (concurrently, all I packed was a pair of swim trunks and my tooth brush...I love shirtless summers). When we stopped at Yegi's parents it was time for River to eat so our trip was even further delayed for him to drink a bottle and do all the necessary burping, etc. that goes with it. By the time we got back on the road River had decided this trip had taken entirely too long and he no longer wanted to be in his car seat. Screaming and crying ensued and did not finish until we pulled into the camp entrance and I told Yegi it was safe to let him out onto her lap.

The first thing we did at camp was of course eat. Lunch was out on the table and we dug into the sandwiches and home made desserts. Soon after we were out on the lake looking for smooth water (a rarity on a 4th of July weekend). I got a couple passes in before the water turned rough again and we headed back looking forward to an early morning set. I left my boat anchored in the water overnight so I could get up early, wade out to it, and take off without waking everyone up. Mother nature had other plans though Saturday night...

At approximately 1am I woke up from a surprisingly deep sleep where I had dreamed that someone had snuck into the cove and tried to steel my boats to someone shining a very bright flashlight on the boats in the cove. I jumped up and whispered to Yegi I thought someone was trying to steel the boat. As I exited the tent my uncle ran up and said the wind had picked up and was blowing all the boats on shore. I ran down to the shore to see that my boat that had been anchored 50 ft off shore was now about 10 feet from the water's edge and getting closer. I waded out into the water in my clothes only to realize I had taken the keys and put them in my truck by the tent (to deter those would be boat thieves). As I ran back to the tent I could hear River crying (he had been awoken by the sound of people, trucks, and all the flashlights) and I knew the camping trip had taken a turn for the worse. We got all the boats out of the water with no damage and everyone headed back to bed, except for River. Four hours later he was still awake and so were we, taking turns trying to sleep for a few minutes between outbursts. Around 3am Yegi turned to me (probably with tears in her eyes that I couldn't see through the darkness) and asked if we could just go home then and come back for all the stuff tomorrow. Unfortunately we drove my loud A diesel truck and I did not want to wake everyone else and their kids just because ours was ready to party. We toughed it out until about 6 am and then napped periodically during the day.

Even with all the trouble and no sleep we had a great day playing on the lake with our family and friends. Yegi ACTUALLY GOT IN THE WATER despite her fear of "lake sharks". I have proof (see below) of her trying to wake surf. We ate dinner, packed up, and headed home instead of staying a second night like we had planned because as Yegi put it...I am not going to do this again until I can tell River to lay down and go to sleep.