We are usually up at sunrise. It starts getting reasonably light at about 5am with the official time of sunrise being about 6:10. First chore is fire up the camp stove to boil water. We drink coffee made in a press pot. (Way faster than perking and tastes great.) Once you have poured the water in the pot, it only takes 3-5 minutes to steep before it is ready for pressing. Two cups go into our insulated mugs and then the rest goes into the Stanley thermos for drinking later. Nothing beats enjoying that first cup of coffee while enjoying the birds singing and the early morning sounds of the forest. ( we heard turkeys not fare from our site)
My wife and I usually sit and read for awhile before cooking breakfast. I have alreadty finished three books on this trip and I am starting my fourth. What do I read? I read "A Nightmare's Prayer" A nonfiction book from a marine Harrier pilot stationed in Afghanistan. I also read "Cross Current" and "Surface Tension" . Two novels by Christine Kling about a female tugboat captain in Ft .Lauderdale that always manages to be around someone who dies. Fast, fun read and the woman know about boats so it was technically accurate. I am just starting an old WW2 novel about an attack transport in the South Pacific called "Away All Boats" By the way, three out of the four books were read using the Kindle app on the Droid. Great for reading at night by the fire or just before going to sleep as no lights are needed.
What we have for breakfast depends on what we are doing that day. For early morning hikes or getting on the road, we will have pastries or muffins and of course our coffee. Most mornings we will make a big breakfast. Eggs, bacon, (nothing beats the smell of frying bacon wafting across the campground) hash browns, omelets, pancakes or our favorite, French toast. Leftover Chili can be made into a great huevos rancheros.
When bellies are full and dishes are done, it is time for tidying up the campsite, inside and out. With the A-Liner, we find people are constantly wanting to see the inside of the camper so we always try to have it rid up and presentable.
Lunches vary. I love making cold hoagies with lots of goodies on them. We have an insulated bag that holds them very well and I usually have ice in my Camelback that keeps the lunches cold.
Since we are recovering from the McCrae Peak climb, we decided to just hang around camp. Within a hundred yards of the Mortimer camp site is a beautiful sand beach on Wilson Creek. It is a beautiful place to swim and sun. The swimming hole drops gently to a clear pool that is over eight feet deep.
On a warm afternoon, we like to drag our chairs and books up to the waterfall that is about a quarter mile from camp. We set our chairs in the shallow pool at the base of the falls and the cool water provides natural air conditioning.
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| Thorpe Creek Falls |
The next major question is what have we been eating for dinner. Spaghetti, beef stew, beef stroganoff, chili, pork chops, steaks, fish. Lots of fresh veggies from local sources if possibe and almost always a salad. Somethings are from scratch but I usually make a couple of jars of spaghetti sauce and reheat when we need it.
As for the liquor supply, we started off with a bottle of Sailor Jerry spiced rum and a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon. For wine we had half a case of Happy Camper cabernet sauvignon and another half case of Redwood Creek , plus we brought a few bottles of good wine for the real nice dinners. All in all it is a pretty well stocked bar. The NC mountains used to be pretty dry (not even beer or wine) but most communities have come to their senses and beer and wine can be bought at the local grocery store except on Sundays.
This has been a peek into the day in the life of the happy campers.
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