The Adventure Continues...

The situation I was about to find myself in would be highly entertaining for everyone except me, hence the reason for the "Gong show" comment on my last post. After spending an hour or so in front of a warm campfire sipping on Bailey's , we crawled into our nest and fell asleep, on an ever deflating air mattress, then as the temperature dropped, condensation filled the inside of he canopy. Jules rolled off the "bunk bed" and landed on my head. Somewhere around 4am the temperature seemed to drop even more, with intermittent rain and hail. At this point I was wide awake with a desperate urge to go. I did not want to leave the warmth of the sleeping bag, but it became ultra clear to me that I wasn't becoming warmer, and would stay that way unless I found my way outside, and to the outhouse. I struggled to find my jeans and wiggled them up to my thighs. Carpenter then opened the canopy and I struggled over the tailgate while desperately trying to avoid whacking my head. With a few tugs, jerks, muscle spasms and a serious lack of gracefulness I managed to land on my feet and find my shoes, all the while Carpenter howled with laughter and the girls giggled. Alright, I thought, I'll just erase that from my mind , (but I am certain that little show will remain in my kids memory for quite some time.) Focus, in a little while I will be sitting by a warm campfire and sipping a coffee.

And then, I questioned my packing skills. Yes, the coffee grounds were packed, the coffee cream, sugar, spoons, and of course the pot. Yes, everything was packed, until I realized the part that holds the coffee grounds was missing. Luckily, Carpenter's friend Mr. Dancer was camping next to us, and had made us a pot of coffee.Mr. Dancer is a co-worker of Carpenter's and enjoys hunting and fishing. He had brought his quad and two hound dogs with him. I refer to him as Mr. Dancer because at one point in his life he was an exotic dancer. He had also brought his girlfriend Sheila. Anyway, it was a crazy start to a bizarre day and the events that were about to unfold were interesting, to say the least.
Dancer, and Shela had come to the area to help Dude and Dudette work on their cabin, that is jointly owned by Super DAVE and his wife. I was lectured by Dancer, how if we worked and helped with the cabin, it was reciprocal, and we would receive the keys when we wanted to.
I politely informed Dancer that Carpenter and I did not pack a second household and drive for 6 hours with two small children for Carpenter to strap on his tool belt. That in of itself was grounds for a permanent stay in the dog house.Or in our case the tree house.
Dude and Dudette's cabin is nestled perfectly between a few mountains and is a very nice cabin. The guys worked tirelessly on the roof while the kids rode around on quads. Gem was very excited as she actually drove one for a little while. Sheila took off on Dancer's quad, exercising the hound dogs and swearing at them. At one point, Dudette's little dog growled at the female hound until she pinned the little dog to the ground by the neck. The kids began screaming and crying, everyone was in an uproar and the guys had to come down off the roof.
The tin roof was eventually finished, Carpenter had found his belt and strapped it on to help finish up. We were all to have dinner together that night.
The deer, elk and moose steaks lined the BBQ, (did I mention these guys all hunt?) and salads were made. It was a dinner made for kings, eaten on Royal Chinet, and once the last bone was thrown to the dogs, the guitar came out and Dude began singing ballads with his kids. The fire popped and cracked, the rain had stopped and you could hear the crickets, until Sheila joined in, which made the dogs howl.
After a song or two, Super Dave brought out the fireworks he had bought to celebrate the roof being finished. With the first band the Male hound dog took off like a shot, and disappeared into the night. Apparently, loud bangs freak the dog out, to the point that not even a leash or Dancer holding him, will stop him from taking off. After seven bangs Dancer hopped on his quad and went looking for the dog.
It had become clear that the night was winding down, Carpenter and I packed up the kids. I watched the outside thermometer in our truck drop as we climbed the forestry access road to our camp.
The next morning we invited Dancer to join us for breakfast if he brought the coffee, and he did. We sat around the fire and enjoyed light chit chat. Dancer then decided he would head back to the cabin and help Dude and Dudette finish up. He made us a second pot of coffee and told us to knock on the trailer door in about twenty minutes.
After the allotted time I knocked on the door and Sheila, asked me to come back in about 10 minutes, it wasn't quite ready, when I asked her to join us at the campfire, she said that she was in a bad mood. "Bitchy" was the word she used.
When I came back, She said "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I have to say good-bye because I don't think I'm going to see you again. It's over." And began to cry. Through teary eyes she unloaded the emotional baggage that had transpired over the last two days. I stood there in shock. I did not know her,and I did not want to know anything about them, but, I could not bring myself to say "Wow, yeah, that sucks, but all I really want is the coffee..."