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Saturday, July 14, 2007  

A Digital Camera and Beer

Trash is pretty proud of the pictures she took during our camping trip last weekend, and rightfully so. This is just about the worst one of the bunch:



As previously mentioned, this is the first time we've been camping at this particular locale. You know how at most campgrounds, there are a few sites on the water? Well, this one is on an island, so every site on one side of the road passing through the campground is on water. What's even more amazing is that every site on the other side of the road is also on water. I've tried to explain this to people, but I don't really feel confident using the word "isthmus" in spoken conversation.

But anyway, here's the view from very near our site:



Now, if you're like me, you'll take one look at all that glassy, still water, without a ripple in sight, and instantly think of one thing: mosquitoes. But for whatever reason, they didn't bother us at all. A few flies and moths at dusk were the worst we had to deal with, and our giant citronella candle repelled the worst of those. Unfortunately, the giant citronella candle also attracted M. Small, so it was kind of a tradeoff.

Here's the view from right next to our campsite's picnic table:



The miniature camper in the foreground isn't there right now, mind you. At least, he better not be.



That's more like it.

Obviously it's kind of ridiculously beautiful, but the downside is that on the second day or so, one becomes aware that if flash floods should strike the Chippewa River, the best-case scenario is that you'll never see your camping equipment again.

We realized that there wasn't actually a whole lot for M. Small to do, per se, so we went on a lot of walks. Now, he doesn't generally like to leave home (or the campsite, in this case) without bringing something with him. I think it's like some kind of psychic tether for him that he can hold onto. Sure, he can also hold on to Trash's or my hand, but those items have a tendency to hold him back when he suddenly gets the idea to dash across a parking lot or something. So something inanimate is good. On this trip, he could have chosen from any number of small toys we'd brought along for him, or even some small bit of non-lethal camping equipment. He went with the latter. Specifically, he insisted on holding the end of the air hose that's attached to our air mattress pump. And the rest of the pump? Not his problem. It could tag along if it wanted.



In other words, I could either carry the cylinder for him or let it drag noisily along the ground (see above). I think we got about the same number of looks this way, but at least people didn't hear us coming.



As previously alluded to, this campground is on the Chippewa River, which flows from here down into Lake Wissota about twenty miles downstream, whereupon a brewing company in Chippewa Falls takes the water and turns it into my favorite everyday beer, called Leinenkugel. So I was literally surrounded by water that I will one day be drinking.

In fact, we had a few cans of Leine's that we'd brought with us from home. So basically, water once flowed past this spot, ended up in cans, got shipped to Minneapolis, was bought by us, stuck into a cooler, and transported back to the river, where I ultimately returned it to its source. I'm all about the circle of life.

posted by M. Giant 8:26 PM 6 comments

6 Comments:

Gorgeous pictures, Trash.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 15, 2007 at 10:21 AM  

What really bends my brain is to think about the beer you will be drinking, say, six weeks from now.

Fantastic photos, Trash!

By Blogger Febrifuge, at July 15, 2007 at 2:40 PM  

I live in DC, and I got WAY too excited the other day when I found out the Korean grocery near me carries several varieties of Leinie's - and I don't drink beer. Guess I miss home.

By Blogger Cori, at July 15, 2007 at 2:53 PM  

Leinenkugel Berry Weiss for the win!!!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 15, 2007 at 4:51 PM  

You were at Lake Wissota? It's my favorite Wisconsin campground! Maybe when M. Small's a little older you can take him to the Leinie Lodge for the brewery tour and beer sampling. I think they do root beer for the little ones.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 16, 2007 at 10:15 AM  

Okay, I know I'm jumping in waaay late here, but after reading your post, I noticed for the first time that there is a neon Leinenkugel sign in the background in The Great Outdoors, which I must have seen 50 times.

Anyhoo, if it weren't for your post, I would never have started a 6 degrees of Leinenkugel: Leinenkugel sign to John Candy to Steve Martin, etc. :-)

By Blogger Nee S., at July 27, 2007 at 7:50 AM  

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