Thanks again for making this story easier to write than I had thought it would be, due mostly to your enthusiastic responses, generous voting and many words of encouragement.
Chapter seven finds Becky and David exploring new territories...
*
We slept surprisingly well in the tent, although Becky's first middle of the night foray into navigating to the outhouse with the lantern proved an experience for her, although she initially declined to elaborate. I later learned that someone from the adjoining campsite was coming out when Becky was headed for the door, providing a rude awakening for both of them.
After a breakfast of campfire toast, granola bars and coffee. we enjoyed another beautiful warm and sunny day. We rented a canoe and explored the island in the middle of the pond, a mysterious place that I had always found to be enjoyable. I found it fascinating how such a small and hilly chunk of land could have so many points of interest. Becky was fascinated at the difference between the grassy side of the island which faced our campsite, and the opposite side of the island, which ended in a sheer rockface about fifty feet above the water.
Becky wanted to dive off of it, or at least claimed that she wanted to, which was most likely a bluff designed only to scare me. Who knew what was waiting underneath the surface there? After getting back in the canoe we spent a long time playing hide and seek with a loon. Becky got to see one fairly close up as we floated to within about twenty feet of one several times before it would dive underwater again, only to resurface twice the distance away and floating off in another direction.
"God, loons are so beautiful" Becky said as we tried to quietly paddle nearer only to have the loon dive down again. "Too bad we can't get really close to it."
"I think the loon is telling us exactly how close he wants us to get" I suggested. "We might think we're playing with him, but it's really the other way around. Besides, the elusiveness is part of their beauty and mystery, I think. As long as we don't go near the shore where their nest is, it probably doesn't mind playing out here with us."
After an extended play time with the loon, it apparently got bored with us and took a mighty dive that propelled him an exceptionally long distance from us, which was the signal that the game was over. We contented overselves with another lazy circuit around the perimeter of the pond before finally returning the canoe to the swimming area and walking back to camp.
That night after dinner we got the fire raging again and enjoyed another beautiful evening under the stars. I cracked open a bottle of champagne that I had buried in the bottom of the cooler and we enjoyed the bubbly as we threw the last logs onto the fire.
"We'll have to get more wood for our last night Dave" Becky said, the nightly fire clearly becoming a high point of the experience for her.
"We won't be here tomorrow night, if the weather permits that is" I said while declining to elaborate. "And speaking of the weather, I wouldn't be surprised if we got stormed on tonight. I've never gotten away without getting rained on up here before, and the weather's been just too perfect so far."
I would have liked to been wrong, but I wasn't. At least Mother Nature was considerate enough to wait until we had made our final trip to the facility. We brushed our teeth and enjoyed a primitive bath in our makeshift sink before the first raindrops started to fall.
We quickly got into the tent with some liquid refreshments as the rain grew steadier and harder. The coals in the fire hissed loudly as the rain grew in intensity. My tent was fairly large, as it was billed as being for six people. I had always gotten a kick out of that claim, trying to figure out how you could ever jam six people into this tent and actually sleep. It was similar to trying to get the sixteen servings out of a half gallon of ice cream that the nutrition label suggests. Still, the tent was almost tall enough for us to stand up in, and served our needs well. Our main need at this point was to stay dry and it was doing fine in that regard, despite the deluge from above.
We sat on our bed in the faint light of the lantern and listened to the rain persistently beating on the roof of the tent. Becky looked over at me and smiled ever so sweetly, her hand roaming under the sheet.
"You know what the sound of the rain makes me feel Dave?" Becky asked shyly.
"Sleepy?" I offered innocently, knowing full well that was not the case.
"No, you turd" Becky said sharply. "Does this give you a hint?
As she peeled off her sweatshirt and kicked of her pants, I got the hint.
"Too bad there's no shower around here. I tried to take a bath in our little sink-bowl but I probably smell like a monkey" Becky said while sniffing her underarm.
"There's no way I could tell if you stink or not, because I smell the same as you do. Probably we both smell like smoke from sitting so close to the fire. I'll prove it to you" I said and with that leaned over and buried my face in her armpit, my tongue dancing lightly over the lush forest and extracting a squeal of delight from Becky as usual.
"You smell fine and you taste great too" I told Becky as we tore off our clothes and made love to the rhythm of the falling rain.
**
The next day at camp, which unfortunatly was our last full day, was spent lounging around and swimming off our little beach. To be honest, Becky swam and I was content to wade around near shore, even going so far as putting my lawn chair out into the water at one point and sitting in it with the water up to my neck while watching Becky.
Becky was wearing a bright lemon yellow one- piece bathing suit which made her look amazing. I had suggested we go down to the public beach but Becky made a face and pointed at the crimson curls peeking out from the crotch of the suit. There was only the tiniest wisps of hair visible but she was adamant, so we stayed around the campsite.
As the afternoon grew late, I announced that we would be going out to dinner, and as Becky got dressed in the tent I packed my backpack with the things we were going to need.
"We aren't going anyplace fancy I hope" Becky said as she emerged from the tent in sweats.
"No, what you're wearing now, that's perfect" I assured her. "If there's anything you are going to need before tomorrow morning, grab it now."
"Another David adventure looms on the horizon, I fear" Becky said ominously as she gathered up a couple of things before we headed out.
We drove down the long bumpy road and then over to Old Forge, the largest town in the area. We went to Slickers, a tavern painted a garish yellow, located right on Fourth Lake. We devoured a pizza, some chicken wings and beer, and enjoyed being back in civilization for a brief period of time.
It was getting close to six o'clock, and I encouraged Becky to use the rest room. "After all, when's the last time you got to flush a toilet?"
