But I digress... back to the fun topic of the latest camping report.
Things started off in turbo mode at about 6 a.m. on Friday morning as neither HH nor I were exactly packed and both or us had to run around to get things together to meet Michele, Jill, and Angie to caravan to the ferry in Anacortes...fortunately, as seen below, the most important of the "10 essentials," (wine, more wine, a flashlight, a toothbrush, a tent, and at least one camping pal) all made it to the campsite by that evening and waiting for the ferry wasn't painful at all.
Once we got to Orcas and set up camp, HH and I went for a really great ride around the Island...I had some nostalgic flashbacks of tour guiding and HH was nice enough to let me guide the ride and blather on. Along the way, we stopped at a shop that had "Mad Housewife" wine and it was a no-brainer that we needed to bring back a bottle for Jill. Fortunately, my prior guiding experience included the knowledge that a bottle of wine fits perfectly in a water bottle cage...as demonstrated here:
Upon receipt, Jill promptly demonstrated that the wine was the right choice...
On day 2, I got in an awesome morning swim in Cascade Lake and, after breakfast, everyone went on various hikes...HH and I hiked up Mt. Constitution and had a GREAT time!
When we got back from our hike, we went down to the lake where Michele, Jill, and their dog, Roxy, had Cathy paddling them around and enjoying the scenery. 
HH, Indigo, and I were interested in getting pseudo-clean, but not so interested in taking a real shower, so we hopped in the lake as Diller did a little fly fishing on the shore (while wearing a very snazzy vest that I unfortunately did not photograph--it was way cool). Anyway, I got out first and was lounging on a picnic table in the sun when Cathy came urgently flying up in her car looking for Diller & Indie (who, at the time, was happily heading for the other side of the same toasty picnic table). Indie's plans for lounging were quickly thwarted as Cath explained that Bugsy, their pug, was locked in their vehicle back at the campsite, leaning on the horn, and setting off the car alarm annoying many of our fellow campground residents (and let's just say Bugsy was not the first one to call attention to our campsite on this trip...). Every time we've heard a car alarm since Saturday, we've looked at each other and said "Bugsy!!" Anyway, here's Bugsy with Indie...pretty fierce, huh? Oh, and the other irony is that the little old guy is, um, totally deaf. Gotta love it.
The rest of the weekend was really fun and included several more stories (at least a couple of which are unfit to print) and one major group decision. We're going to train as a group to hike in (and out!) of the Grand Canyon in about 13 months...as soon as we get the trip booked, I'm going to dig out my old coaching whistle (I've been appointed as the coach) and the group training will begin!! Fortunately, it didn't rain until Sunday morning and we got out of there without getting ourselves or all of our crap TOO soaked...shew.
A few more photos of the weekend...
After a lot of campsite eating (ok, and drinking) all weekend and sitting around waiting for the ferry, riding the ferry, and sitting in traffic yesterday, I felt like a total slug...got in a 6 mile run first thing this morning and went to spin class at lunch. Spin kicked my butt as it was the first speedwork I've done since the race 3 weeks ago. I'm pretty dang sure I've decided there will be no more races this season...
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