| ~ Camping at Cavy Falls ~ |
A journal of events by Porkchop. Saturday, August 19th 2000 
Finally we have a weekend to ourselves, away from the daily grind of stress and deadlines. The Wheekers, friends of ours in the next yard, suggested we take a weekend trip. They recommended Cavy Falls, a place where the Wheeker family reunion was held a couple years back. We’re really looking forward to it, all five of us. A couple days in the wilderness are just what we need.
It isn’t easy traveling with four girls. They wanted to bring everything they own! But I convinced them to all share one duffle bag, and after a lot of wheeping they all agreed. I explained that we had to have room in the jeep for our equipment, food, and supplies. I gave them the option of more personal belongings or more food. They all chose food. We got up early, packed the jeep and hit the road. We had to make bathroom stops every 10 minutes!
After traveling all morning on Saturday, we finally arrived at our destination – the magnificent Cavy Falls. Once we found our campsite, we began to unload the vegetables and pitch the tent. And what a nice location! We were just a hop, skip and a jump away from the actual falls! We hung our hammock in two neighboring trees, and strung up our plastic lights, so we’d be prepared for nightfall.
Soon after our arrival, Salsa decided to grab her cowboy hat and take a walk on the boulders that border Cavy Lake. We like to make fun of her cowboy hat, since we’re Texas pigs and since she looks goofy in it. But she thinks it’s the coolest think since baby carrots and wears it anyway. We advised her to wear sunscreen, but she just wouldn’t listen. She said her hat would be enough. Now she’s as red as a lobster and has to take it easy for the rest of the weekend.
The rest of us decided to rent a canoe and paddle around the lake and up to the falls. Everything was peaceful and relaxing. I was sitting in the back, just enjoying the view and paddling every so often. Tator Tot would put her front paws in the cool water and splash water at Biscuit, who was sitting in front of her. But since Tator Tot’s hands were all wet, her paddle slipped right through her fingers and into the lake. Before I could say anything, she leaned right over to grab it, and the whole canoe tipped over! We were soaking wet! Luckily, we all piggy-paddled and made it back to shore. We returned the equipment and headed back to our campsite. Salsa laughed hysterically at us when we showed up soaking wet and told her our story. “Now you don’t have any reason to make fun of my hat anymore,” she said jokingly.
After piddling around the campgrounds a bit and enjoying the local wildlife, we decided to make dinner before it became too dark. Biscuit and Snickers quickly volunteered for the deed, since they hate cleaning up afterwards. They grilled a couple ears of corn and heated up the vegetable stew. I set the table, while Salsa just laid in the hammock complaining about her sunburn. She still wouldn’t take her hat off! When dinner was ready, the five of us gathered around our picnic table and diligently ate our meals, while chatting about what we had seen or done that day.
After dinner Tator Tot and I cleaned up while Salsa, Biscuit, and Snickers played a mean game of Yahtzee. We soon joined in and played until it was really, really dark. The only light was that coming from our strung plastic lanterns.  Snickers began to grow hungry again and she begged to make smores. So we all gathered around our small campfire and Snickers would cook up smores, four or five marshmallows at a time! While we were sitting there, a sleek black and white skunk drew closer to investigate our actions. To drive him away, Salsa threw a marshmallow right at his nose, and he took off quickly without spraying a scent! Boy, were we lucky.
We watched the stars for a while, and I told my story about the penguin who escaped from the zoo. (Biscuit just loves that one.) We also played charades for a little while until we all began to wane. At that point, we headed for bed. Tator Tot talks in her sleep, which kept me up half the night, and she sprawls out everywhere, taking up half the tent.
 Well, it’s now late Sunday morning and I’ve begun to pack up the jeep again – all by myself. Biscuit was lying in the hammock, enjoying another hour or two with nature. She could feel water dropping on her from overhead, and she thought it was starting to rain, but it was actually Salsa squirting her with a water pistol. 
Tator Tot and I decided to go for one last hike around the lake. We crossed a large bridge over one edge of the lake that leads to the base of the falls. Tator Tot almost fell in when she leaned too far over the edge to see the pretty fishies. I can’t take her anywhere! We saw the waterfalls and then went back to camp to round up the others. When we got back, Biscuit had taken Salsa’s hat and Snickers was lying in the hammock. Sad to leave, we all piled in the car and waved goodbye to our campsite, but we’ll probably be back.
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