Le Chalet de FPO

 The time had come! It was my first weekend off since the purchase of FPO, and the weather was cooling off in the mid-September evenings. We packed the truck and trailer down with my dad's four-wheeler, the golf cart, tables, a screen tent, the camp tent, chairs, blankets, overnight bags, the camp toilet, a fan, bug lamps, the beach bag, a medic bag, and of course our guns and good old Smokey dog. 

We left leisurely Saturday morning and arrived at the campsite about noon. After unloading the golf cart and four-wheeler, we started to set up base camp again between the power pole and the well pump. While the kiddos helped unload, we set up a water hose and sprayer, made sure the water was working, and set up the most important thing-the radio. A Bose tabletop system DH found at the pawn shop for a few bucks, paired with a cheap Bluetooth receiver so we could listen to the local station or our favorites playlist on YouTube. 

DH had come to FPO a few weeks earlier with my dad (the other Papa G) and set up our fire pit; a 2ft section of a large steel pipe from the pipe manufacturer out on the beach. Papa G had cut our surname into the pipe with a torch and given it to us as a gift. We'd never used it at the city house, but it was a perfect addition to our campsite. 

While we were setting up camp, we had a few visitors including my mom, Papa Gon, and the neighbor across the street, Mike. I hammered away on tent stakes as we all chatted and had sodas, watching the kids play on the four-wheeler and golf cart. I made sure the kids were slathered up with bug spray and sunscreen and plopped myself down in the zero-gravity recliner folding chair I brought for DH. I quickly realized that when I didn't have something to set up or clean.... there wasn't a whole hell of a lot for me to do. Which was.... almost kind of nice. 

We decided now that camp was established, it was time to go ride around at Papa Gon's acreage and follow some trails, maybe target practice a bit. 

Some of us chose to play instead of target practice!

As time wore on, the kids and DH scoured the woods for fallen timber and sticks to build a good fire, which wasn't a difficult task because the mowing and trimming of several weeks ago had left a plethora of wood to dry out and was now ripe for the picking. Initially we didn't take into account the size of the fire pit, so after several trips made on the four-wheeler, DH added his truck to the retrieval vehicles.

Nearer to dark, DH cranked up the grill. We opted for simple this go around and did hot dogs with little bags of chips. DH had snuck away to the dollar store and picked up some after-dinner candy and snacks as well, so we enjoyed the crackling fire and munched on Air Heads under the stars. 

We retired to the tent a few hours later. The kids went first, saying they were going to play on their electronics in the dark, but soon fell quiet as they drifted off to sleep. DH and I sat up in the dark like pioneers on a new frontier, talking about the day and what our future plans were. DH took one last sweep around the campsite, ensuring we were safe and put his guns away safely for the night. 

I packed myself away in the tent with the girls as DH slept in the recliner chair. 

It wasn't as bad of a night as I'd imagined it would be. The traffic hummed in the distance, the night air was just cool enough, I had a wonderfully squishy pillow, and before I knew it, the morning sun peeked through the screen enclosure on the tent. DH went to Hardee's and got all of us a hot breakfast-even though we brought pastries with us. We slowly got ourselves cranked up; of course, the kids were at 100 before I could finish my energy drink. They made a few final loops on the four-wheeler, then helped load it on the trailer. 

We slowly broke down camp and loaded the truck, rinsed down the fire pit, and headed back to the city house, back to the buzzing fast pace of reality. 

It was a bittersweet end to the weekend when that aluminum gate clanked closed, and the chain was wrapped and locked. 

I prayed we would return soon. In something more substantial to sleep in, that is.