Day 3: The 'vacation' day

The night before, we warmed up from our long day, applied a LOT of pain relieving gel, popped more than the legal limit of Advil and played a very loud game of cards well into the night. I cranked up the radio and listened to the weather report since we heard a few rumbles of thunder off in the distance. Well the folks back home must have thought we were ripped up and splintered in to the trees around here only after we must have weathered a freakin' hurricane! The report made the weather sound really bad up here. I vowed to break out the cell (yes, I brought it only for an emergency) and call home.
In the morning, after having some yummy food under our extremely cool kitchen tarp contraption, we all left the sight for empty boat paddle. I headed out to the middle of the lake to find a signal. I called home and husband was so glad to hear we were ok. He reiterated what we had been hearing and I assured him that we were fine. The original plan was to head down the lake and get picked up at the landing at the campground. Well, I was NOT going to Lower Rich again! I instructed him to pick us up at the put-in and that we'd be there sometime after lunch the next day. I joined back up with everyone and we paddled around, keeping the paddle muscles warm and elastic! We explored a few coves and found where the Metallak Stream and Brook come together and pour into the lake. We played in the rapids a bit and considered walking up the portage path along the waterway up to South Arm Rd, but decided that we'd rather have some lunch, swim a bit and collect as much wood as we can find for a roarin' fire that night. All of us spent the afternoon, washing our hair (with bio soap, of course), pumping for water (katadyn filter system), exploring the island, etc. The sun did not come out again after that little show on the beach a day ago, but the temps hovered around 60-65, so not too chilly. That night we had a fire that could be seen in Canada! LOL We burned all the blowdown we could find and the island looked pretty damn nice after we left. Judy, Susan and I (and my brother, Chuck) grew up in NJ and then Mass. Our parents loved the outdoors and we spent most of our time in it. We camped all over, always had boats and went hiking often. We weren't allow to watch much tv and we were quite adept at entertaining ourselves. WhenEVER we're together, we try to be out. We all hike, bike and yak. You know how some folks idea of 'roughing it' is taking the stairs?- we like to truly get away are comfortable out in the wilderness. I do have to say, though, that none of us have had any bad experiences with bears, snakes, moose, etc. Maybe that's what it takes?? LOL You know what they say, ignorance is bliss.