Black Lake

last night we couldn't decide what we wanted to do. friday is usually a night we would hit Walmart after dinner because dean works saturday's it is not a night that we would go for a drive usually.
so last night i had no inclination to go shopping so dean suggested a short drive out to a local lake he wants to fish this summer. i agreed as long as the road wasn't too rough. bouncing around in the truck hurts my tummy. couple hours there and back, kids would be in bed by 9:30-10. sounded like a great idea and we would be home in time to do the dishes have a shower and maybe some fun before we went to bed.
i shoulda guessed things weren't gonna go exactly as planned when i took the stairs on the deck by storm and tried to break my back on my way down. how i didn't hurt myself worse is beyond me as i slid down the 5 front stairs after my foot came out from under me on the second step. i bruised a rib and jarred my knee but i came out of it no worse for wear really and meds and a good nights sleep has left me feeling little or no pain.
black lake is off the beaten track outside the provincial park boundaries. we drove the main hwy for about 20 min till we hit the road for roche lake and after travelling a pretty decent road for another 10 min we came to black lake road. now here i am looking down this bush cut road and all i can see are rocks and puddles definately not a maintained road. I bite my tongue as dean turns onto the wheel rutted path and off we go.
i am not sure what dean's idea of a rough road is but good lord this road was ROUGH. it really wasn't hurting me but when the puddles are bigger than the track i get ancy. i mean you can't tell how deep they are or what is inside them and within a few minutes i had white knuckle syndrome from hanging onto the door handle. the truck bounced and jostled and jilted. dean drove with as much caution as he could but the truck being on a 45 degree angle as i looked over edges and into deep freaking puddles was almost more than i could handle. LOL i was really trying to maintain my cool and have fun but i was freaked none the less.
i was relieved when we finally came upon the lake. it was just getting to dusk and there was a mist on the water it was beautiful and well worth the rough ride. i had told the boys to grab a coat but dean told them they wouldn't need them... they needed them LOL. dan had grabbed his but little drew was in a t-shirt so in no time he was wearing dean's sweatshirt.
back into the truck and further along the rough road. the puddles were huge i tell ya. we drove out to wear there was a field with a beat up pick up in the middle of it that looked like it was prolly stolen and joy ridden to its certain death about 5yrs ago. this is where dean decided to turn around but not before seeing a puddle that could have been called a lake. the boys begged dean to drive through it and chew up some mud. dean sat in the truck for a couple minutes eyeing the puddle then got out got a big stick and tested the waters. 2 min later he returned to the truck and much to my relief said no way boys i can't find bottom. LOL Whew.
30 min of rough road back to the logging road and we were on our way. by now i was sore and my knuckles were tensed so bad i wasn't sure i would ever type again. LOL it was dark by the time we reached the logging road and i was glad we weren't on the back road anymore. i don't like that kind of driving when there is no daylight and you have to rely on just headlights. yes i am a worrywart but i am trying to ease up which is why i agreed to go in the first place. LOL
so as we are flying down the road at a good clip we are passed by the police who have every search light on the top of the car turned on. then another one right behind the first with search lights on too. a strange sight on a logging road at 9:30pm. a few hundred yards further down the road there is a truck and tent-trailer pulled off to the side and the driver is standing about 100 feet behind the truck. i saw him before dean and thankfully was able to avoid hitting the guy. we slowed down asked them if they needed some help and the guy informed us the cops that just passed us were looking for a car that had gone off the road and gotten an onstar call. he stopped because his wife thought she had seen something. we wished them a good evening and carried on our way.
about a mile down the road i too thought i had seen something off a ridge so dean stopped and went to check. it turned out to be a massive boulder but always better to be sure. the truck we had stopped to talk to ended up passing us and we took our time getting back to the main hwy keeping our eyes peeled from broken brush or tracks that could have led off the road. we saw nothing but lots of brush and mud.
back onto the main road we were cruising at a good clip looking forward to getting home. everyone had to pee now and I needed some meds. ok not everyone. LOL Andrew was crashed and I mean totlly missed the action crashed. mouth agape and head bobbing with every pothole sound asleep. we were maybe 10 min out of town when we passed the truck and tent-trailer again and the trailer had a flat on the drivers side. dean suggest we stop and see if they needed a hand and i agreed so we turned around and went back to find them parked on the side of the road under a street light.
dean gets out of the truck and lo-and-behold the guy driving is someone dean went to school with. what are the odds. LOL the two guys walked up to the closest house and as they knocked no word of a lie the people shut the lights off and made like they had gone to bed. turns out neither of the guys had a jack so they ended up flagging down a cattle hauler and he gave them a jack. so there is the 3 guys trying to get it together to change the tire. the guys wife came over and thanked us for stopping to help turns out they were heading out camping but got stuck and had spent their evening trying to get out of the mud they sunk into. their daughter was finally sleeping and it was obvious this woman just needed to vent. 7 hours it took them to get out of the bush they were in. their friends had long taken off on them and she said no less than 10 vehicles stopped asked if they were stuck said thats really too bad and then left. finally two guys in quads came by and pulled the truck out and kindly hauled the tent-trailer to the main road for them. Again i wonder at a humans ability to tuen a blind eye to someone in need. anyway....
as the guys finished getting the tire on the trailer the police showed up. now keep in mind that the two cops we passed in the bush had passed us about 40 min prior and hadn't stopped but now a unit had been sent to find out what we were doing there. like it wasn't obvious to the first two cars? anyway the guys were just finishing up so they went and told the officers what was going on. turns out that the lady who had turned the lights our had decided we might be up to no good and she got scared and called the police. dean and dan walked over to them and explained what was going on the officer said she would explain it to the lady and we were on our way again. by now it was midnight LOL so much for an early evening.
home at last the kids tucked into bed dean went for a shower while i cleaned up the kitchen and put the still dirty dishes into the sink to be washed this morning. we tucked into bed and promptly fell asleep after agreeing that even though the evening didn't go as expected it was enjoyable and it felt good to be able to help dan and alison get home safely.
hugs all hope you have a great weekend.