First week in Hunting Camp

I posted some pics of this last weeks hunting camp on my facebook account: www.facebook.com/easygibson. It was a lot of fun and I learned a bunch of stuff. All of you who know me and my habits would have been astounded at my delight in being able to change my routine a little and sleep in until 4:30AM!

I get up at 4:30 and start the coffee brewing. NOT in a drip coffee maker, you modern types, but by starting the burners under the coffee pots! Then, I go out and fire up the generator so I have a little better light to work by.

Breakfast has to be on the table at 5:30 and even the big group I had last week would be done eating within 15 minutes or so. Then they'd all load up and head out to go hunting while I got the breakfast dishes and mess cleaned up. I'd try to get a couple hours nap before I had to prepare lunch which had to be ready at Noon. Then, after cleaning up the lunch mess, I could really relax for a while ( as long as I had planned and prepared well for dinner) because dinner didn't have to be on the table until 8:30PM. I'd get all the final cleanup and preparations for the next days breakfast done and be in bed by about 11PM, ready to start all over again the next morning.

This first week, I was cooking for 12 people...13 counting myself, although I really didn't eat much. Too busy fixing it to eat it. So, planning was everything. We have a freezer in camp and several coolers. Each morning I would get the next days meals out of the freezer and thawing. I would prepare as much as I could at least several hours if not a day ahead. Things like boiling and slicing potatos, making salad, pre-cooking bacon; that sort of thing.

We also have fresh baked bread instead of store bought but I cheat a little by using the frozen bread dough. I kept fresh baked cookies handy all the time, keep the coffee pots full and so on.

Most of the clients were guys from Pennsylania. I had a lot of fun with them and we had some great conversations. I played a little music in the evenings and even sold a few CDs.

It's 10 miles of tough road to a cell phone signal and 35 miles to White Sulphur Springs, MT. No running water or bathroom facilities, no TV, no internet. Many of you are not any more shocked at these deficiencies than I but there are also lots of my firends list who will have a hard time grasping these concepts.