2008 Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma Vacation

July 3, 2008 Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma

Lakeside. I’m so glad we’re here. My first time at the cabin. We’re here with Jack and Jayne, Brad, Angie, Zeke and McKenzie. It’s a 2-room cabin so we’re all sleeping together, which is a great recipe for family fun. Its really too late to do anything tonite so we’re watching Where the Red Fern Grows and bedding down. It’s the family’s 1st post-Mike holiday, so that’ll be interesting, but should be a great weekend.

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July 5, 2008 Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma

I think I must write better in my sleep because every time I wake and compose my thoughts they sound great, but by the time I actually get around to writing them down, all the great thoughts are gone and all that’s left is this running descriptive that doesn’t sound that good at all. I hope that when I’m old and vegetative though that someone takes the time to read it all to me. Perhaps then I could recall what a blessed life I’ve been privileged to live.

Yesterday, of course, was the 4th of July. Happy birthday, America. If only you had become the nation our forefathers intended… Still, you’re a pretty amazing country. Anywho, I was reminded of all the great memories I have of the 4th. I suppose one of the earliest and best was 1981. That was the year I began my tradition of honoring the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. That year I scraped a bunch of dirt into a big pile, scooped out the middle and put a bunch of fireworks in the hole. They were all small stuff, kids stuff, because Oregon doesn’t allow anything else. Then, using the powder I gathered by sawing open a handful of shotgun shells, I primed my creation. Finally, after calling out my family to observe the occasion, I lit a match, dropped it into my miniature mountain and promptly lost my eyebrows. The gunpowder was better than I thought, creating a BIG flash that ignited the hair on my 10-year-old face and the fuses of all the smoke bombs, snakes, strobes and whatever else I could get that I’d tossed into the cone. Twenty-seven years later and the formula hasn’t changed much at all…

Fireworks and the 4th have always gone hand in hand and I can remember vividly a number of years when my parents would host a huge (75-150 people) party and I—and sometimes a friend or three—would be in charge of pyrotechnic displays. There was, of course, always a volcano, but that was usually the only real “legal” display we’d put on. We’d buy our stuff out of state and bring it in just for the party. At least twice my mom even had shirts made for us advertising our special status at the party. One year I read the Declaration of Independence. People cried. It was amazing. To this day I struggle with the ideal of patriotism. I serve God first, but I am also an American, right or wrong.

Another special 4th was spent in Eforie Sud, Romania, with Mandi. We were the only Americans there, and all we had were party poppers, but it was our first major holiday spent together. We weren’t even dating then, but it’s special to me. That was 1995.

Another time I spent the 4th in Sunriver with my family. I was young, but can’t remember how young. We drove to Bend to watch the display and they caught the hill on fire that they were staging on.

In 2004 we took students to a state park in Bloomington, Indiana to camp for the weekend. [Actually it was Lake Monroe State Recreation Area—Paynetown.] After setting up camp we drove to a beach nearby to watch the display. It was a good show, dwarfed by the phenomenal thunderstorm that rolled in just at the same time. The lightning outshone the fireworks and it began to rain just exactly as we got back to our car.

There were 2 carloads of students with us and the rain was so heavy it stopped traffic. We got something in the neighborhood of 6 inches in an hour! Since the road we were on was right next to the lake we actually had to have someone get out a couple of times to make sure we were still on the road. It took us nearly an hour to make the few (<5) miles to our campsite. There we found that our tents were dry, but basically floating in 2-3 inches of water. As I stood there in the deluge discussing whether to stay or leave with one of the students, a bolt of lightning crashed down close enough for both of us to get the message. Much closer and we’d have been fried. We left everything and headed to the safety of town. Yesterday was also a fun 4th. We celebrated with most of Mandi’s side of the family here at the lake. Jack, Brad, Zeke, Nate and I tried to find some crappie, but the fishing was terrible so we came back early and played at the beach instead. Most of the day was spent swimming and playing in the water. Last night we went to the boat dock and lit off a few fireworks, mostly for the kids. It was a good relaxing day. Maybe tonight we’ll make a volcano…

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July 7, 2008 Joplin, Missouri

Monday. The weekend is over. I’m torn between sadness and relief. Frankly, I don’t care much for Lake Eufaula as a destination. I mean, the crappie fishing is amazing (normally), but the heat is a real bitch. Every time I go down there its like a thousand degrees and humid. You can cool off in the water, but you’re still cooking. In the shade you’ll just sweat a lot, which is a relief from the broiler element they call sunshine there. And really, there’s not much to do. If the fish aren’t biting you’ll be either sitting in the shade sweating or sunbathing or playing in the coffee-brown water, none of which appeal much to me personally. Here’s the catch: The rest of the family LOVE it. And I’ll sacrifice whatever to give them those memories. The kids play endlessly in the water and Mandi would stay in the sun until she evaporated completely if she could. Fortunately she’s listened to my rants about skin cancer long enough that its starting to sink in that too much sun is a bad thing.

Anyway… Yesterday we went to North Fork Baptist Church and after a quick bite at Sonic in Eufaula we visited Lake Eufaula State Park. It was horrible. I’ve been to numerous state parks across at least 7 states and that one was the worst of all of them. By a mile. The visitor center smelled like the inside of a badly run nursing home which was ironic since the very senior citizen running the place couldn’t hear if you didn’t shout and couldn’t actually use the cash register. Seriously. I tried to buy a little decorative knick-knack as I often do, and she asked me if I knew how to use the register! The rest of the park seemed well manicured though. We hiked a couple of short (<1 mile) trails but even that was too much in the heat and humidity for the kids and Mandi. Did I mention the ticks? They’re everywhere down here. Seed ticks, deer ticks, any tick you want. Just step more than 3 feet off the concrete and you’ll have your choice. Fun, fun, fun!

Anyway, (I use that word a lot I’ve noticed), anyway, I’m not sure what to do about Labor Day. We’ll be expected to return to the blast furnace for more family fun, but I have a hard time getting excited about it. And it really is just my problem. Mandi’s entire side of the family is nuts about the place. Of course, they’ve never known anything better, or different. I grew up spending summer in the arid mild heat of central Oregon. Bend, Sisters, South Twin Lake, Sunriver. Please, God send us back there! I suppose, in the end, life is about family, and since Mandi and I are from different parts of the country we’ll always have to choose between hers and mine. We both hate that, but we also recognize that it is God who put us together and led us here, and that will always be enough.