%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
My thoughts released; a mind set free |
|
These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. 
|
| In the previous episode last entry I mentioned Camp Bagoo, which many of you are unfamiliar with. So, without further ado, let me explain how Camp Bagoo came to be. For the sake of brevity, I'll try and keep this short! I met my wife in February 2002 and we did our first campout together in early May, which almost resulted in hypothermia. But, despite this, she continues to love camping. We started out with just the basics, a tent, a few cooking and eating utensils, and some blankets; cooking and coffee were done over a fire, and our bed was the floor of the tent. But over the next few years, our camping gear increased and we soon had a gas cookstove, an air mattress, a couple of folding chairs, a crate to carry things with a wooden top that served as a small fireside table, and a bigger tent. I had a young puppy, Klarissa, and by the time she was about a year old, my wife got a six-week-old puppy, Hyko, as well. They soon became best of friends, and we brought them with us everywhere we went, including camping. These two were a source of constant entertainment, loved the water, full of energy, and very curious; they got into everything. Even so, they were very well-behaved with other people, stayed at the campsite (most of the time), and loved our camping adventures more than anything else, except cookies. No, they would have passed up freshly baked cookies to go camping. While camping, we often saw signs that read, "Welcome to Camp Fill-in-the-blank" and we decided we should get a sign for our camp, but what to name it? We gave consideration to many options over time, but after the two beloved pets passed away, we decided we wanted to honor them and their love for camping. But, it didn't seem to work using their names, "Camp Hyko-Clarissa" or any combinations. As I mentioned, they were quite the characters, and after one incident with Hyko doing something mischievous, awkward, or silly (likely all of the above) my wife quoted a line from the cartoon, Mr. Magoo, "Oh Magoo! You've done it again!" But she misquoted and said, "Oh Bagoo, you did it again!" I laughed, she looked puzzled. I explained, she laughed with me and said, "You know what I meant." "Yeah, I did, but it was funny, and the look Hyko gave when you said it only made it funnier. You knew she was talking about you, didn't you Bagoo?" He looked at me when I said it, cocked his head, wagged his tail, and from then on, his nickname was Mr. Bagoo. With the two being inseparable and so much alike, Klarissa soon became Mrs. Bagoo. To make it even better, they would respond to their nicknames with cocked heads or back-talk. In time they were no longer pets, dogs, or anything other than a couple of Bagoos. In conversation with people we would, without thinking, refer to them as the Bagoos. it just became a normal term for them. "I have to get home and let the Bagoos out." Or, I have to give Mr. Bagoo a bath." Even things like feeding time, "Are you two Bagoos going to come eat?" And, they would. Ever since they passed, we have referred to our camp as, Camp Bagoo" in loving memory of the wonderful times we shared, but we never did get a sign to put up. Life has a way of making us put things off. But, now that we have the mobile tent, we often reminisce past camping trips and how much the Bagoos would have loved the camper, especially when it rained. (They loved the water, they swam any chance they got, you couldn't keep them out of a river or lake, but they despised getting wet from rain). Now, the time has come to finish our "Welcome" sign. Max and Bellah seem to have a bit of Hyko and Klarissa in them and will do things that the Bagoos used to do. This winter, I'll make the sign and my wife will either paint it or use her wood burner, and by spring we'll be hanging out our sign, "Welcome to Camp Bagoo". Our mobile tent is a 1998 Coleman Bayside, it's twenty-five feet long with the bunks extended and has a slide-out dining area. It's plenty big enough for us, gives us the convenience of a camper, and the enjoyment and memories of our years tenting. When the weather turns nice again, I'll remove the "Bayside" decals and my wife will replace them by painting (I write, she's the artist) Bagoo in their place. We haven't yet decided, but are thinking about replacing them with, "The Bagoo Mobile-Tent". |
| We packed up the mobile tent (pop-up camper) and headed out Friday for likely our last camping adventure of the season. It was damp and chilly, but a nice day for our three-hour drive. The leave's brilliant fall colors were in contrast to the gray, cloudy sky, and the drive was beautiful. It started raining about a half-hour before we reached the campground but stopped just as we arrived. I backed the mobile tent into the site and assisted my wife in getting set up and our gear inside. With my back acting up, she had to do most of the bending and lifting, but we packed our gear in multiple bags and tubs to keep them lighter just for this reason, and the mobile tent is pretty easy to set up. She had just about everything inside by the time I finished hooking up the water, electricity, and sewer. Just as I was going in I felt a few raindrops; it rained for about an hour and the wind picked up to about thirty miles per hour. I started the furnace (the temperature only reached the mid-forties Friday) while she put things in their place. Once we had everything put away, the rain stopped so we took the dogs for a walk, then carried the few remaining items in. Shortly after, it began to rain again. We took out some food, put on a pot of coffee, and enjoyed our first meal at Camp Bagoo listening to the wind blowing and the rain on the tenting. It was cozy, warm, and very relaxing. Saturday I was up early and was able to log in to WdC for a short time, but the WiFi at the campground was intermittent, and since I have a difficult time typing on my tablet, didn't post very much. It got cold at night, down to about freezing, so we waited until it was warmer (it got up to fifty) to start a fire and sit outside while the dogs roamed the area and explored their new surroundings. The campground was about half full, but nobody was camped near us, so we had quiet and the dogs had plenty of room to explore and run. We cooked a simple lunch over an open fire and enjoyed it inside the camper as the wind picked up a little and more rain passed over. But, by the time we finished eating and cleaning up, the rain had passed. Still, it was pretty wet out, so we decided to load up and go for a scenic drive. The fall colors were splendid as we drove the backroads into Bemidji. The furnace did great at heating the camper, but we wanted to get a small, electric heater to save on propane. We found a small, about two feet wide and a foot and a half high, electric fireplace with infrared heat that was perfect to use in the camper. We took a different route back and enjoyed the scenery, some deer, a couple of eagles, and a lot of squirrels. Once back we set the heater up, decided on our dinner, and I got another fire going. Later, we enjoyed hamburgers, baked beans, and sweet potatoes cooked over the fire. After eating, we built the fire up and watched a very beautiful sunset before returning to the warmth of the camper. Unfortunately, we forgot to charge our phones so we didn't get any pictures that evening. We started Sunday the same; a warm fire to cook brunch and relax while it warmed up into the fifties. By early afternoon we had most of the campground to ourselves and enjoyed watching the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks going around the various campsites searching out tidbits of food while the fire burned down. My back was doing better, so we went for a short hike on one of the easier trails. When we came to a split in the trail, I was still doing well and decided to tackle the inclined side up to an overlook. The trail was nice with a gentle slope, and about halfway we found a place to sit on a downed tree and take a short break while the dogs explored around us. This was the only bad experience we had! After a short rest, we started walking and called for the dogs who were a short distance away, in the woods. Bellah came right away, but Max was distracted and after we walked a bit further, I called him again. He came this time, but we were further up the hill and the sun was behind us. He looked towards us, but I think he was blinded by the sun and didn't recognize us because he started running around the area he had last seen us in. I started walking towards him, and he panicked and started running back the way we had come. I called him a few times, and each time he would stop and look, but then start running in circles looking for me. He's not quite a year old yet and got very confused until I was in a position where the sun wasn't hitting him straight in the face. Once he could see me, he bolted straight at me! At over sixty pounds, and moving fast, there wasn't anything I could do except brace for the impact... But, at the last minute, he put the brakes on and didn't jump. He stood up against me and licked my face before running over to see the rest of our group, giving them Husky kisses before we continued on. When we crested the hill, we discovered a large meadow on top, the foundation of an old structure, and an old wooden fire lookout station. The dogs ran around the meadow while we enjoyed the view. The tower stood another twenty or thirty feet high and would have made for an awesome view, but it was closed off; not that I would have been able to climb the ladder anyway. We took a different trail back down, this one a bit steeper and more difficult, and by the time we reached the bottom my back was getting pretty sore, so we returned to camp and lounged around in the camper while I waited for the Advil to take effect. Then it was another fire and roasting sausages on forks to go with chips and dip for dinner. In the evenings, since it was a bit too chilly to sit out, we enjoyed the comforts of our mobile tent and played Backgammon. Well, we had brought a Backgammon set along, with the intent of learning how to play, but the directions were very confusing and written so small we couldn't really read them. So, using what we knew, taking what we could from the directions, we improvised our own version of the game. Monday was another beautiful day, no clouds at all, a bit windy, but warmer. There were only two other campers and they were at the far end, so we walked the dogs around the campground a bit, built a fire to cook lunch then started packing things away. Knowing we are in for temperatures below freezing, and it's not very likely we'll get out camping again this season, we stripped down bedding and packed it in the truck, removed all the food items and put them in the cooler, and removed any liquids, so we could bring them inside when we got home. We cooked stew and ham over the fire, enjoyed one last meal in the mobile tent, and then closed it down. We took our time and let the fire burn down and go out, then hooked up the camper and headed for home. Knowing we wouldn't get here until late, we stopped in Park Rapids at the A&W and enjoyed some very good food. I should have taken a picture, but didn't think about it; they still have the carport in the back with car-hop service! Now, after my wife gets home to help me (my back is still acting up) well pull the camper into the lawn and set it up to clean it real good, drain the water, and get it ready to hibernate for the winter. Still, if the weather isn't too cold, I may be tempted to take it out for a weekend, one last time; I can hope. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
