Shanty Town and the Great Flood, Pt. I

What's up, fans.

Well, the dust had barely settled from me and BP's raucous weekend in Detroit when it was time yet again for another Hough Family Adventure.  Like, the very next day.  A camping trip at a Jellystone Campground over in Silverlake, near Lake Michigan.  With, oh, eight other families.

. . .including BP's.

So we had planned this particular outing with our usual social group - the Johnsons, the Larsons, Colliers, Griffins, etc. - long before the Bouncing Souls show I just got back from, but BP and I decided to squeeze that show in anyway (punk rock.)  As I said before, I had gotten home around 2am in the morning, so I was still asleep when Kris went into work the morning of the day we were supposed to be leaving for Silverlake.  I woke up exhausted, knowing full well I'd be running on frickin' fumes by night's end.

You're damn right I packed the mini-fridge. . .

The plan was for me to load up Kris' van with all of our camping gear, and then, when she came home around noon (for she was working a half-day so we could set out earlier in the day), we would throw the last-minute stuff into my car (which she took to work) and we'd caravan out to Silverlake.  We needed two cars, see, because we were taking along Alayna's BFF, Maddie, and her stuff, as well as an extra tent and some of BP's camping gear (that he had thrown into my car when we met up at that car park in Brighton on our way to Detroit.)

It was a tight squeeze with two vehicles (as the pictures attest to), but we made it work.  Once we had the van loaded up with camping shit and the three kids, Kris hit the road, starting off the two-hour trip to the west coast of the state.  I followed, with Watson riding shotgun in my car.  My folks were nice enough to take him for the extended weekend so we didn't have to take him along with us or board him or whatever, so by the time I dropped him off and got back on the road, I was about twenty minutes behind Kris.

Long story short, we arrived at Jellystone before any of the other families, and immediately set to work figuring out the layout of our campsite:  where we were positioning tents, the dining canopy that BP was bringing, where we were parking our vehicles, etc.  This first day would see the other families trickle in throughout the evening and the setting up of camp sites - nothing too crazy.  Most of the big events we'd be saving for Saturday and Sunday.

And, with that said, let's take a look at how this whole weekend at Silverlake thing panned out. . .

The Houghs were assigned Site 20, which was at the far right of the block of sites we had requested (Ryan had reserved eight sites, all in a block, all at once.)  We were a shanty town of tents surrounded by a sea of nice RVs and campers - definitely the riff-raff of the Jellystone campground this week.

We chose this place for our main family tent - that Kris, Abby and I would be sharing - to serve as a wall between our site at the camper behind us.

I hate this process so damn much. . .

Alayna and Maddie attempt to set up their tent (our smaller 3-man tent.)

BP and his daughter, Delia, showed up about an hour or so after we did - his wife, Sam, had to stay back because their dog has been pretty sick.

I brought along my old hammock with me this time, foolishly believing that Yours Truly would have an opportunity once and awhile to lounge about and read a book or something.  No idea how at this point in time of my life - and fatherhood - I could be so stupid as to believe that. . .

Slowly coming together.

Fast forward a couple hours.  In the early evening hours, everyone else had shown up and had mostly set up their campsites.  Being some of the first to finish this process, BP and I got to sit back and enjoy a couple beers while everyone else was in scramble mode.  Eventually, we decided to walk our horde of kids down to the restaurants/gift shops/entertainment complex at the front of the Jellystone Campground for dinner.  We had six families at this point, with another two showing up the following afternoon:  all in tents, all with kids that ran about like rabid Apaches.

The Bastard Bastard Harbour Mastah, and offspring.

Our destination, about a ten-minute walk from our campsite.

This pond-thing it overlooks had paddle boats, a zip-line, bumper boats, a beach, and a miniature golf course on the other side.  Definitely a family-friendly joint, for sure.  

You'd expect a place like this to price-gouge you, but check out those prices - not too shabby at all, right?  While Kris hopped in line to order a few things, I took pictures and otherwise kept the children from throwing themselves off the 'pier' (for lack of better term) and into the pond.

Hungry children.

The guys and I decided we'd throw in on a putt-putt tourney with a $20 buy-in at some point in time over the course of the weekend (while I'm absolute garbage at regular golf, I consider myself someone of a cutthroat duelist when it comes to mini-golf.)  Sadly, we never got around to it.

Bumper and Paddle Boats.  We'd go the entirety of the weekend without renting either.

The Cannonball and Maddie, sorta-patiently waiting for the food order to be ready. . .

Chow time.  They had some pretty good chicken at this joint - wings, fingers, you name it.  I didn't really eat much - I was busy taking all these f***ing pictures.  You know, 'cause NO ONE else does. . .

Wrapping up dinner.

Kids playing unsupervised by the water.  Pretty sure I was the only adult anywhere near them at this point in time, and even then it was only to take pictures - I wasn't parenting in the slightest.

Fat people in bumper boats.  I could watch this all day.

Abby and Ella doing who the hell knows what. . . playing with mud?  These frickin' kids. . .

Back at our campsite, after dinner.  Here's BP in our 'kitchen.'

The Council.  We created two campfires, in order to give this large area of chairs enough 'fire' for everyone.  It more or less became a husband fire and a wives/kids fire (which us Dads were totally cool with.) We then circled the assemblage of chairs with tiki torches.  That's how our Gypsy Tent Village gets down, folks.

Obligatory close-up picture of a Tiki Torch.  I bought a few extra for this camping trip - one can never have enough citronella torches.

So Alayna totally posed this "are you kidding me, Dad" face for the camera - I purposely took a long time snapping this so I could see how long she'd maintain the annoyed tween demeanor.  Maybe she was putting on a show for her friend, who knows - regardless, it's SO obnoxious - I can't wait 'til she's in her 20s.

F*** it, we're on vacation.

Setting up another canopy.  This one, for food storage, with screen walls to keep out animals and children.

You're damn right the Houghs brought lights for their canopy.  What do you think we are, Amish?

The beacons are lit. . .

For 'Merica.

Hanging out pre-campfire with some of the tax deductions. . .

Alayna went through about a gallon of calamine lotion this weekend.  Every mosquito bite required a solid drenching, evidently.

Someone - I forget who - brought up a bunch of that color-changing packets you can dump into campfires in order to make the fire change colors.  We used to use them all the time back when we had a wood-burning fire place, back when we lived on Ivy Lane.

The Husband fire. . .

. . .aaaand the wife fire.  'Cause if it's one thing that sucks, it's sitting around the same campfire as your wife.  Listening to her cluck on about Pinterest and PTO and God knows what else.  AMIRIGHT, FELLAS???

- Brian