Double Feature

Day 26

I had the morning chats like crazy today. It's like, I build up all this energy from sleeping and dreaming, and when that combines with my coffee, I'm really creative. It's all in the form of brainstorming though. If you try to coral the morning chats, make them productive, or fruitful, or realistic it's no fun. We must have chatted an hour and come up with a million ideas for a million different things before we went to get our food from the camp fridge.

It's hot and sunny, and extremely windy today. The tress tops are constantly whistling and humming today, bending and fluttering with this wind against the brilliant cobalt sky. This much wind feels a little crazy-making, a little altering, like the setting in that movie Volver. It seems that something big that is really far away is blowing in. That feels both exciting and ominous.

Now that all of the weekend campers have gone, and it's just us long term folk, we're able to enjoy the pool. I like a pool, I do. Especially when my Pirate and I are the only ones there. We bask in the sun like rotisserie chickens for hours, dipping into the pool here and there, trading off old Vanity Fairs. We have a great system for our poolside cocktails. The campground allowed us to buy a bag of ice and keep it in the ice cream freezer all week. We go up to the camp site, mix our cocktails (which are clear) in a water bottle, tote that and our empty Sierra cups back down to the pool. We fill the cups all the way up with ice, but pour only a standard martini's worth of booze over it at a time. It's enough ice for 2 or 3 drinks. The Pirate kills his in no time. I sip until all the ice is melted and I have something more like gin flavored ice water. It's probably sacrilegious to dilute good booze, but it's so good. I can stretch a good icy cocktail over 2 hours when I'm poolside.

We relax like this all day long. Hours and hours of lounging. This is my favorite speed.

And speaking of how much we're enjoying our relaxed pace, we made a decision yesterday to stay another week in this campground. Basically, though American and Canadian currency are neck in neck, Canada is expensive. They have socialized medicine up here, and all manner of things that are funded by taxes. There are heavy taxes on food, lodging and restaurants in particular. From what I can figure, traveling through Canada has cost us an extra 20% across the board. We had a long talk about what to do. One option is to stay in Canada just like we'd planned, and cut way back on our spending. The other option is to blow it out like rock stars but head home early. We chose the first option. The weather and the scenery up here is where it's at. We'll live on their thick cut bologna and homemade white bread if we have to. The luxury is in the setting, not the entertainment. If we book this campground for a week, we get the 7^th night for free. Staying here two weeks had allowed us two free nights, which goes a long way, not to mention this is a helluva great campground.

That said, not all campgrounds are created equal. Between our trip last summer and this one, we've stayed in a myriad of campgrounds. The reason we like this one so much is that it's small, it's away from a traffic-y road, it's wooded, it's a quick walk to the water, and, though the common buildings are not in the very best shape, they are kept spotlessly clean. The vibe here is relaxed. The hot showers are free. Nobody messes with your stuff. It's affordable. It's heaven. That's why we're staying another week.

Tonight, we are going to the Brackley Beach Drive-In Theater. We arrive around 8:30, just before dusk. For $9 a piece, we get to see both movies tonight and get a small drink. Since we don't have a car, we sit in the plastic Adirondack chairs that are front and center. We are joined by all manner of teens and tweens, all excited to be able to snuggle up under blankets with each other on the grass on this beautiful evening. There are piles of little girls all tucked in under their blankets, already in their pajamas. The wind is still blowing, and it's starting to cool off fast. The “theater” is a big, grassy lawn that slopes gradually down toward the giant movie screen. In front of the screen, making kind of a stage, are two 40's model cars with working headlights. Gradually more and more cars arrive, and some Oldies get cranked up, then some previews telling us about the concessions and how not to have your headlights on, then the latest Bat Man movie, Black Knight something or other. As soon as the movie comes on, we are swarmed by mosquitoes. Everyone else is covered in a cloud of bug spray like Peanuts' Pigpen. But not us. We end up with bandanas over our noses, and hoods and hats down just above our eyes. These mosquitoes are serious, they bite your head right through your hair.

After the Bat Man movie, most people clear out. A pile of blankets begins to move and brings forth about four 14 years old girls and one 14 year old boy; nice move, son. Somehow we didn't understand that we could see both movies when we arrived, so we're thrilled when we realize that we can stay. We get our small drinks, which are in the satisfying waxy coca cola cups, but do not come with ice. Canadians do not drink their “pop” with ice, ever. They won't even give you any of you ask. A pop in a waxy cup with no ice is not as good.

View from the pool of the bay

The next movie is Magic Mike. It's ridiculous, but totally worth it to see Matthew McConaughey strut around in stripper gear.

It's 2 am by the time Magic Mike finished. Cars gradually begin to start their engines and slowly drive down the red dirt road to the highway. Families peel their young children from their rosy cheeked sleep under the blankets and tuck them into their cars. We plug the Girl's headlight in and pray that a deer, or a red fox, or a coyote doesn't run out in front of us on the way home.