We started our weekend a bit earlier, thanks to our decision to stay encamped from the previous weekend. With Cloud 9 already set up and ready, we had only to leave our work world behind and head to Cedar Hill State Park for Date Night cocktails. The weather was still too chilly for dining al fresco, so we enjoyed our grilled steak and veggies indoors, followed by a couple episodes of “Royal Recipes.” In each episode, host Michael Buerk is joined by chefs Paul Ainsworth (we just love this guy!), Anna Haugh, and others in highlighting food inspired by the British royal family’s lives at home and abroad.

Saturday’s weather was spectacular: Sunny and warm with daytime temperatures in the mid-60s that quickly dropped under cloudless skies — an ideal environment for enjoying cocktails at a crackling campfire. Chef Cliff fired up the grill to prepare turkey hotdogs topped with chili, cheese, and onions, accompanied by crispy French fries and tater tots. It seemed odd to indulge in hotdogs while watching the Royal Recipe chefs prepare stuffed quail, caribou venison, and curried mutton pie, but we suspect our campfire hotdogs would be equally enjoyed.

Sunday was also nice, allowing us to enjoy an outdoor brunch, a long walk along the lake, an early evening campfire with cocktails, and our regular televisit with Jon’s mom — all ahead of a vastly different and far more dramatic episode of Royal Recipes, this one hosted by Oprah Winfrey. Her interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was indeed a recipe for disaster, at least for the British royal family. We were riveted by the rapid-fire revelations! The racism! The baby reveal! The suicidal ideations! The ruptured relationships! And we were grateful that Oprah joined the team at “CBS This Morning” on Monday to help us begin processing all we had heard the night before.

Alas, all good things come to an end, and so it was with our 10-night stay at Cedar Hill State Park. Next weekend we’ll head back to Loyd Park for the first time in four months. We’re eager to see the progress that’s been made on the conversion of all the park’s campsites to full hook-up, but we’re not so keen on going there on a Spring Break weekend.