Coyote Lake

This was a weekend about how thoughts create reality. I’ve never made a mistake in site reservations, or at least I don’t recall any. So we set off Friday, as per usual, arriving after dark, and merrily set up in our site. Well,… ok, maybe not “merrily” per se. On this particular trip, we learned that the phrase: “straight back” has become a trigger for me (especially when yelled or repeated multiple times) that could potentially result in property damage and/or bodily harm. But besides discussing verbal backing direction alternatives while eating dinner, we progressed with the evening fairly normally. Hookups meant we could microwave Chinese food and watch movies on our projector with the new screen that has not been melted by an iron. All good.

In the morning, the park ranger came by. When we arrived the night before, the check in kiosk was closed, which is normal when arriving after hours, so we knew we’d need to get our registration tags the next day. According to the ranger however, there was no record of us having reserved. Huh. Figuring it must be their error, I searched for the confirmation email in the mailbox I always use to file them. Turns out, in July of last year, I made a reservation for the 5th-7th like I was supposed to, except it was for the 5th-7th of July. Of last year. I have no idea how that happened, but it was pretty clear I’d screwed up. Luckily, there were plenty of available sites, just not the one we were in. So we had to pack up and move one site over. But here’s the thing: we had no idea we were driving to a campground with no reservations on a Friday night. Had we known this, we would surely have been super stressed the entire time. Not having any idea made the drive down and the night spent squatting in an unreserved site fine and dandy. This is what I mean by how our thoughts create our reality. I’d like to see if I can increase the amount of time I spend in blissful ignorance of my mistakes.

Saturday (after moving sites) we went on a modest hike. Richard was still recovering from the lethal version of the cold I’d had the week earlier. It was touch and go there for a while. He’s learned that it is important to consume calories, even when you think you’re dying from the virus that didn’t stop your wife from going to work. We now have a specialized shopping list labeled “Sick” to be used the next time he is not well.

Coyote Lake is a nice spot with sites for both hookups and non hookups. There is a reservoir there that is currently closed to all boating because of an invasive species of mussels, but it looks like it would be fun if it ever reopens. There are lots of hikes and bike rides in the area and it’s not that far a drive for us. We’d like to return. With reservations.

One last thing to note – it turns out that it’s important to check the little tiny screws that hold the pull out drawer under the table on its track.

Total miles: 85.0, 2 hours 58 minutes with really bad traffic, 16.3 mpg. Site: 8, then site 10. Both were nice, along the outer part of the hookup loop. The Lakeview loop has no hookups, but some sites have a view of the lake. Nice ones there: 34, 35. Sites 31, 32, 40, 41 do NOT have solar. Water spigots, but there was a notice posted that they had failed their water inspection, so carrying water is a good idea. Very occasional cell service for both ATT & Verizon. Nice dump.