First the wasps attacked, then there was a ring

Several weeks ago, Mat and I planned a camping trip out to Perry Lake. We booked a cabin (we’d done this before and they’re pretty cute), and decided to just go out for two days and one night. Any longer and we’d probably die of boredom.

This trip was set for September 13-14, last Thursday-Friday. Of course, it ended up being the first cold, windy, rainy day of fall. We went anyways. Hey, it was vacation from work and a chance to be out by ourselves for a few days. During the week, the lake is pretty empty of people, and especially in that weather, we were nearly the only people there.

Decked out in fall clothes and raincoats, we checked into our cabin. We chose a different one than our last camping trip. This one was closer to the water.

We moved our stuff in, got set up and were cooking a little soup for lunch when I felt a tickle on my neck. It was either hair or a spider, so I reached up to smack it dead. Instead, it stung me in the neck and a wasp flew off! After a little inspection, we discovered 5 wasps in the bedroom! We shut the bedroom door and trapped them all in there. Some ice on my neck and a little while later, the sting wasn’t bad at all.

This nice old couple lives in an RV in the area and oversees the cabins. They came by with a can of wasp spray and told us not to spray it where we’d be sleeping. Mat bravely sprays this chemical-ladden concoction all over the bedroom and eating area, killing 6 wasps. We decided to go for a drive to see if the chemicals would clear out of the cabin enough for us to stay there that night.

On our drive, we thought about fishing but the wind was too strong, so we sat in the Jeep and drank for a bit.

After a few beers, we decided to drive as close to the water as we could get. Of course, we got stuck in the mud. Mat steered while I got out and pushed. (HAHA). We left some good tracks behind.

After successfully getting out of the mud, we went back to the cabin. Finding it too full of chemicals, not to mention more wasps, we knew we couldn’t stay there that night. Luckily, the ranger’s office was still open and they said there was another cabin open and we could move if we wanted. So we did. And Stonefield cabin became our home.

Still too cold and windy to fish, we played cards for a bit until Mat talked me into going for a hike. I thought he was nuts. It was still raining, though not hard. My shoes and socks were soaked through before we even got to the beginning of the trail. You can barely see it…

But it’s absolutely gorgeous and quiet and very “real nature,” spiders and all. The walkway is large and not trampled down at all.

On the hike back, about in the spot of the picture above, Mat pulls to a stop and says, “Ok, I can’t wait anymore.”

And then came the ring. And we got engaged. I think I laughed pretty hard too. Because it had been a crazy day already, but it was perfect. And it was “us.”

We spent our night cozied up beside a fire, drying our socks and jeans and hands.

The moral of the story? Check your cabin for wasps before you do anything else.

Wedding date? Who knows. Next year sometime? It only took us 7.5 years to get to this point. I’ll keep you posted 🙂