I’m tired and my knees seem to need a break, so we take a rest day at Beaver Dam campground, even though we can’t find the beaver dam and the stream is a muddy, cow-trodden mess. It doesn’t matter, we spend our day climbing the boulders that top the hills around us and reading in the tent when it rains.

Oh, and visiting with Christian and Frank.

Some time around six AM we hear a kid singing or talking to himself, a yipe once or twice, and the tap-tap-tap of a walking stick. Then when I finally get out of the tent at ten he’s right there within minutes, talking quickly and asking me what I’m doing and telling his Pa Pa that we’re awake. Then Pa Pa comes walking in our camp and introduces Christian, his grandson, “He’ll pester ya, he’s awfully bored.” Frank is the campground host, Christian is his grandson who’s come up for the week. Christian sits at the table and plays with his walking stick and Frank leans on his walking stick and talks for probably at least forty-five minutes. I hear more about the family and Christian’s boredom than I could have thought questions to ask. Dave stays in the tent.

We end up getting visits from Christian and Frank several times throughout the day.

That night our friend Robert catches up with us and sets up camp next to us. Of course, Frank and Christian are there within a couple minutes getting the low-down on the new residents. I guess with the fires the campground has been pretty darn empty for weeks on end. Both Frank and Christian are going nearly insane with boredom (our prognosis, not theirs). Robert, being the clever professor that he is, knows exactly how to employ the young Christian who seems full of energy. He hands Christian his tent and asks if he would set it up “right over there” for him. Christian is eager to help. After that it’s fetching water from the well.

We finally start cooking dinner and poor Frank is still hovering, leaning on his walking stick and offering a comment now and then. We invite Robert to eat with us once again (we share bits of food and tasty candy bars with each other) and I think we nearly consume our meal with Christian and Frank just hovering there. They’d already eaten.

In the morning we pack up, feeling rested and ready to get on the road again. Frank and Christian are there to visit–Frank giving advice and Christian getting a cup of hot cocoa from Robert. They go back and forth between our two camps as we eat, clean up, pack up, and get ready to go. They finally head off to go fishing just before we leave. I think we made one of our earliest departures yet.