It’s a shame the whole pinched nerve thing, happened, by the way, because Lake in Wood Family Camping Resort was a lot of fun to visit. Kate said that it reminded her of Kellerman’s, the Catskills resort in Dirty Dancing, except it was more working-class. There were a lot of big Ford F350s with four wheels on the rear axle and extended mirrors, but it wasn’t in the least bit hick-y. These were folks who had an RV as their vacation house, and had rented a pad and hookup for the summer. Lots of wooden signs out front of each campsite (“The Zimmermans, Earl and Marie”; “This is HOG HEAVEN for Marv and Sally”; “If we’re not here, you can find us at Wal-Mart!”) Actually, it was a lot less kitschy than I’m making it out. It was really nice; the boys played softball on the communal field, the girls walked back from the pool saying “oh..my..GOD!” to each other, and the parents and granparents zoomed around on golf carts, often pulling up next to each other for long stretches to hold palaver.

Kate and I were in site A22, which the woman at the Trading Post desk assured us was “…way out there in mountain goat country!” Actually, it was about twenty-five feet away from a couple of big RVs, each with exactly 18 patio lights hung from the awning (18 is the maximum, it says in the rules), and most with flagged walkways, built-up firepits, and screen porches.

The coolest feature about Lake In Wood is that it has “special accomodations” you can rent, including a caboose, a treehouse, a double-decker bus, and a grounded 1950s cabin cruiser (named”the shipwreck.”) If I had camped in the shipwreck as a young child, I would have just about expired from an overdose of coolness. Okay, I admit it, I *still* want to go stay in the shipwreck!

So, what with the self-heating meals, the shipwreck, and the Saturday night “Ho-Down [sic]” at Lake In Wood’s entertainment hall, it was quite an eventful camping trip.