The long-anticipated cold front arrived on Friday night, bringing gloriously cool temps and low humidity throughout the remainder of the weekend. It also provided a welcome relief from the stresses of the week, which included Jon’s grand jury service, a nonfunctioning refrigerator, spoiled food, a new fridge delivered and returned and replaced, and the typical…
The time has come. The end is near. Throughout the summer, the leaves have absorbed all the energy necessary to transform carbon dioxide and water into the sugars and starches needed to help trees grow and thrive. But now they’re spent. They’ve done their duty. Daylight is shortening, temperatures are falling, and the trees are…
Once again, the weather forecasters seemed to agree we would have a wet weekend, with 80 percent coverage in some areas. What they couldn’t agree on was the timing. Clearly, other campers were deterred by the dire warnings. But we pressed ahead, knowing that being holed up in Cloud 9 would be as good or better…
We arrived for our weekender at Loyd Park on the hottest day of the year. With the mercury climbing to 107°, we wondered aloud “what the hell were we thinking?” Yet by Sunday morning, the temperature had dipped to 77°. The weather was actually pleasant! When we left for the weekend, we received dire forecasts of…
We spent our second consecutive July weekend at Loyd Park discussing the political news, walking our doggies, and enjoying grilled foods. Colleagues have asked how we can go camping in triple-digit temperatures, and the answer is simple: The temperatures are just as hot at home. With the major parties’ political conventions now over, the contest…
We spent the weekend at our favorite backyard campground, Loyd Park, a place we’ve visited at least once a month for almost a year. There is a certain calm here that is restorative. As we like to say, a little Loyd goes a long way. When we arrived on Thursday evening, many in Britain were…
One of our favorite films is On Golden Pond, which tells the story of an aging couple, Ethel and Norman Thayer, who spend each summer at their cabin on a lake called Golden Pond. We suspect a movie about an old couple wouldn’t find much of an audience at theaters today as it did when it…
We planned to visit Jon’s mother in the St. Louis area for his birthday weekend, but a bedbug infestation forced us to postpone our visit. Still, we used our vacation days for a long weekend at our favorite backyard park. The weekend weather forecast called for a major rain event. Fortunately, the rain held off…
The mild February weather drew us to Loyd Park, our favorite local campsite, for two consecutive February weekends. Weekend One included an extra night and a day, thanks to the Presidents Day holiday, as well as a very special Valentine’s surf-and-turf dinner. Weekend Two was dedicated to cleaning Cloud 9 of many months of accumulated…
We decided to stay close to home for Christmas, so we headed to Loyd Park for a weekend camp-out. The park was nearly empty, the weather was unseasonably warm, and all was eerily quiet. After setting up camp on Wednesday afternoon, we settled in for our extended stay. For our first night feast, we enjoyed…
Garinns on the Go 