Mammoth 2005 (Continued)

Thursday afernoon to Monday morning.

The tent erect, finally—and the campsite officially set up, we venture out in search of fish. We walk through the campsite, past the second lake through the woods, over near a stream, and the boys fish. They don’t catch anything, but get very wet.

Our first night we decide to grill steak, but the steak is still frozen and we have chili instead. Doug cooks the chili, which burns to the bottom of one of three of our pots. We consider throwing the pot away, but let it soak on the table overnight. After chili we have s’mores. Frank goes to bed, still not feeling himself. And then I go into the tent with Beckett to try to get him to sleep.

He is adorable. Babbling. Smiling. Giving me lots of kisses. He turns over, his back to me and projectile vomits all over the sheet, the sleeping bag, the air mattress, his monkey, the tent—everywhere and everything. It’s mainly milk. I cry for help and CJ and Doug come running to get it all out of the tent as I hold Beckett who is crying and shaking.

We get cleaned up, and I get Beck calmed down and finally both of us go to sleep. The air mattress isn’t holding air and I’m forever rolling downhill trying to keep him from falling off into the crevice between mattress and tent. Not much sleep.

Suddenly I hear a very loud banging. And then an airhorn, and lights flashing. I wake Doug. “What is that?” “What?” he says. More banging. “That.” And then a car alarm, it sounds like ours. He gets up and looks out. “What is it?” I ask. “Is it a bear?” Yes, it’s a bear, in the campsite right next to ours, trying to get into storage boxes they’ve left on the picnic table. There are several children at that campsite and the parents are trying to get them to calm down and stop blowing the airhorn. The spotlights scare the bear away, but not before I get a good look at it.

Later it happens again. This time Doug goes out to get a better look. I think maybe he’s taking photos. The spotlights again scare it away. I hear the next day that there were two bears that time.

Now I’m sick. Same stomach flu as Frank and Beck. Doug goes outside with me because I’m frightened from the bear.

The next morning I get up with the sun and find the bear had been through our campsite as well. Our small, red, soft-sided cooler which had only had bottles of beer in it, had inadvertently been left outside and the bottom is ripped out of it. The chili pan which had been soaking is upside down on ground, and the table is a muddy mess. I clean up, light the stove, make some coffee. Doug and CJ are soon gone at the dock to find fish.

I have an hour alone to start making breakfast. We have potatoes, bacon and eggs, and coffee. Beck and Frank are up. Beck seems to be feeling fine. Frank is still under the weather.

We go to town for more firewood, water and beer. And to find a laundry. I find a brochure for a spa and decide to have a massage. Doug goes to get tickets for the Brewfest and finds it is really on Saturday, not Friday as he thought. I schedule the massage for late in the day and we go exploring while someone does our laundry for us.

We go back to the campsite and I take a nap. The boys go fishing and come back in time to wake me up to go have my massage. They’ve decided to go back to town with me and drop me off at the athletic club—they’re bored.

I go in and have a wonderful shower and steam, followed by a great massage, and then another shower and steam. If you’re in Mammoth, I encourage you to visit the Snowcreek Athletic Club and get a massage from Jacqueline. She’s really good and I don’t give that kind of praise easily—I’ve had a lot of massages, and for them to be really good, they have to be really good.

The boys pick me up and we pick up the laundry. We head back to camp for steaks and potato salad. It’s late and the boys and I go to bed. The campsite is more secure tonight, everything is put away. CJ and Doug make a plan to communicate via the walkie-talkies if either hear a bear, and also have some sort of weapon posted at the entrance to each tent. They’ve got a plan to protect the kids, and me too I guess.

The sun rises again. No bears last night. I think all the boys were disappointed. I wasn’t.

Breakfast today is cereal because we are in a hurry to go and fish before the Brewfest. We head to Convict Lake and fish off the shore for a few hours. I learn to cast, thanks to the patient and kind couple on the shore next to us. Doug is a great teacher, only not with is his wife. He is impatient when I can’t do it right away, and I think embarrassed. He is critical of me and a perfectionist. I don’t give up and finally get it. I don’t get any fish, but neither does anyone else.

We head back to Mammoth and to the Bluesapooloza. We are lucky to find a spot to sit. We sample lots of beer and lots of food, and all enjoy our afternoon immensely.








































Afterward none of us are in the mood to cook and we head to Roberto’s for margaritas and Mexican food. The wait is long and we are all very tired after dinner.

We get back to camp and it has rained. And Beck throws up again. The tent is like a sauna and I’ve got to clean up from the rain, clean up from Beck. Finally Beck and I go to sleep. Doug wakes me when he comes in. He tells me that rather than camping tomorrow at Rock Creek, he thinks we should get a cabin. I agree and am overjoyed.

We have pancakes and sausage for breakfast the next morning. Beck sleeps late, but just as we’re about to eat, Frank wakes him and then Beck gets sick again. Later he seems to feel okay as we pack up to head out.

We drive to Rock Creek and stop at the lodge. They don’t have any cabins, but the place down the road has one left. It’s beautiful and perfect. It has a bathroom with a shower. And beds.























































I move us in while Doug and CJ go in search of fish. It is the fourth day of our camping trip and still no fish, not even a nibble. They are very happy that I’ve agreed to watch the boys so they can get serious about catching dinner. The boys and I have fun and play in the cabin. Beck takes a nap and Frank and I play cards. He makes up games I don’t understand, and he wins.

Doug and CJ come back saying they each caught one fish, but both were too small to keep. They say they took photos with the disposable camera. Beckett wakes up and is very hot. Too hot. I’m worried. I realize the hospital in Mammoth is forty minutes away, but I’m taking him there. Doug drives, we get to the ER and Beck’s fever is 103, worse his heart rate is 197. They give him a tylenol suppository and then an IV. A few hours and many tears later, his fever his down and so is his heart rate. The staff at the Mammoth ER is bored in the summer. No broken legs or arms or other skiing accidents. We are the only ones there. We make lots of friends. They love our boys’ names. We overhear lots of conversations about it. They get us dinner, and then coffee. At midnight we are happy to be able to leave. I think the nurses are sad to see us go, but happy, of course, that Beck is better.

Monday morning we have bacon and eggs and toast (the cabin has a toaster!) I go down to the store to exchange towels and get pie. Pie in the sky. It isn’t overrated, it is fantastic.

Doug, CJ and Frank go for a hike, while I keep watch over Beck and give him lots of clear fluids.