Maybe half an hour later, it was also time for Jerome's mom and dad to leave too. We'd made the plan ahead of time that they would all leave on Saturday, so that Jerome and I could have at least one day of camping on our own. That's actually what this weekend was originally going to be in the first place, just me and my boyfriend camping by ourselves, but then the whole family wanted to come along. :P (And why not? It's they're holiday tradition.) Still, I'd enjoyed myself plenty among all the Ginori's. ^,^
By 8:30, Jerome and I were all on our own! We were pretty excited! We made ourselves a kickass breakfast of hot chocolate and omelette with chopped tomatos and mushrooms. Then Jerome got things ready for our day of canoeing while I prepared sandwiches for us containing the last of the tasty bean loaf from my mom. Great teamwork!
Finally we set off for the creek. A stranger helped us get the canoe off the trailer and we set off in the same direction as Friday, which was upstream. It was so beautiful, peaceful, quiet and warm. My arm felt loads better, and it was cool for just Jerome and me to experience the creek without the other Ginoris. We saw some people already on the beach, so we pushed forward to explore more of the creek. I remember seeing a alligator that looked as big as Jerome, almost!
When we'd been rowing for about an hour, we turned around to see if those people were on the beach anymore. Thankfully it was empty, so we parked our canoe there and relaxed on the beach, just the two of us. We ate the sandwiches I'd made and Jerome complimented me highly on them, saying they were delicious and perfect. ^,^ When we were done with them we also snacked on chips and salsa. There was still a bit of both leftover, so I put the little pieces and crumbs of the chips in the jar to mix with the last of the salsa for later. (Remember this, because it's important later).
We lay in the sun a lot and tanned ourselves, explored the woods near the beach, took small naps, watched other rowers passing us by. For the most part, it was just the two of us on our little beach. It was so romantic. Eventually, maybe an hour or so later, we decided to row back. Another kind stranger helped us get the canoe back on the trailer and we headed back to camp. After a little walk and a little nap, we readied ourselves for the task of making ourselves dinner.
Jerome started the campfire up again, since it had gone out while we were away, and I chopped up a bunch of vegetables that he fried up later on the little cooker. Onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini. While he was frying them up, Jerome suggested we throw in that chip mixture, which was a totally genius idea! While that was going on, we also cooked up a bunch of ramen noodle packages I'd brought along, and we still had an apple pie that had gone uneaten from Thanksgiving. We were going to have a feast!
We had just finished cooking everything when we suddenly realized: we didn't have any bowls to put the ramen in! XP Luckily we improvised by using the mugs we'd drank our hot chocolate in that morning, which was actually nice because all the broth went down to the bottom, so when you finished with the noodles you just sipped the salty liquid like a regular drink.
Everything was delicious, and we were so proud of the meal we'd created together. (Well, ALL our meals that day were something to be proud of, in my opinion)
We sat by the fire for some time, staring into the flames, recounting our long and exciting day, kissing and clutching each other for warmth. That day had really shown us that we make the best team, that we work super well together. I didn't think I could love my boyfriend any more than I already did, but I was happy to be wrong. ^_^
It was dark by that point, but not really that cold. We were really full, but still were eager to have s'mores again that night. We just had to digest and keep ourselves awake. I called home to see how everyone was, since I hadn't talked to them all week, and we spoke to my sister on speaker phone for several minutes. Then Jerome showed me an episode from a podcast he enjoys, called Hardcore History with Dan Carlin. His voice to me is like a mix between George Carlin and Patton Oswald (Remy the rat in Rattatouille). It was fun to listen to.
After about 20 minutes, we found ourselves getting really tired, me especially. So we went to the tent to rest a little. Jerome showed me a book on his kindle, which he'd brought along, and he read the first few pages to me aloud. I'm not sure, but I believe that was the first time he'd read to me. He has such a nice, expressive reading voice. It was like he was telling me a bedtime story. Well, it just about put me to sleep...
Who knows how long later, we both awoke to see that the fire had burned itself out, so s'mores were out of the question. Well, we were too tired to eat anyway. Too tired even to brush our teeth! I didn't mind though, and just went back to sleep curled up in my sweet boyfriend's arms. There was no place I'd rather be.
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