Lake Davis, CA
NEVER, joke with a six year old! That was the lesson I learned from this camp trip.
Ever since I got my Bobcat, year before last, I've developed a disdain for campgrounds. Being able to go far off the beaten path and boondock it is quite addictive. I had planned to go somewhere over the weekend of August 5th, but I didn't know where, but it was going to be "in the sticks." As I'm looking over my various Sierra books for a destination, a friend of mine called and invited me to camp with him and another friend at Davis Lake. Since it was only going to be a quick weekend trip, I decided to go to the dreaded campground. At least the company would be good!
In preparation, I made a batch of cold smoked salmon (lox) and followed that
up with a batch of hot smoked salmon. I could have a good time at the DMV
with a little salmon...
It was a good 10°-15° cooler at the lake than it was in Reno, which is
just what Dexter and I were looking for.
My buddy Joe, collects cast iron cookware and has over 1,000 pieces of it in his garage (can anyone say O.C.D?). At any rate, there's always a lot of good food when he's on a trip.
He kept everyone fed for a good part of this outing. He brought out some artisan sausages for dinner, did some incredible Dutch oven breakfasts and even made some cherry cobbler, complete
with ice cream for dessert.
On Saturday, the lake was calling. I couldn't wait to go for swim and cool off after the
last couple of week's heat wave.
Dex tested the water for me and assured me that it was perfect for a dip.
He and I spent the next hour and a half swimming and splashing and enjoying the beautiful area.
I didn't even bring a towel--we just air dried on the beach under the sun.
My buddies tried to fish a little, but they didn't even have a nibble.
The last two times I've fished Davis Lake, I've been skunked. It's too bad because
Davis Lake used to be such a great fishery (before the drought).
After the lake, Dex and I hiked up to the Grizzly store and I saw this FWC parked nearby. I didn't
get a chance to introduce myself, but they had California tags. I also didn't recognize the rig
from WTW.
The next day, I saw this rig barreling down the highway with the boat in tow and the
camper still popped up. I hope they knew what they were doing, but I'd bring the
top down before getting on the highway.
So, that evening I learned to NEVER joke with a six year old.
We were all gathered around the camp fire and cooking dinner on Saturday night when
a very cute little six year old girl came over from the adjacent camp. She called out to me
"Hey Mister, can I pet your dog?" I looked up at her and said, jokingly "sure, for a nickel."
She put her little head down and took off running back to her camp. I felt horrible!!! It only
got worse though. About five minutes later she ran up to me in camp with a nickel in her hand.
She insisted on giving me that nickel and wouldn't take no for an answer.
Here's Dexter with the little nickel that taught me a big lesson.
Shortly thereafter I took the nickel over to her mom and explained what had happened and she
just laughed and said "I wondered what she needed a nickel for."
But that's not all of the guilt parade....
About an hour later, as we were wrapping up dinner, here that sweet little girl comes with a
marshmallow dangling from the end of a stick. She had bought it to me for a gift.
Damn!
Dinner was over and the camp fire was crackling. I don't know what it was, but I had two of
the best night's sleep I had had in a long time. The weather was perfect and the company was
great. What more can someone ask for over a quick weekend getaway?
I left vowing to stay out of campgrounds for the rest of the year, but sometimes, camping with good friends trumps getting out to the boonies.
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