Bugged - Day Two

Oh my, what a night.

It was very warm and nary a breath of air moved in the trailer. What did move was the bloody dog. She was up on the bed and fidgeting like crazy all night. I should point out, here, that in the confines of the caravan, it's very difficult to prevent her getting on the bed; she may start on the sofa but knows that when you're sleepy you're not going to do much to shift her from the bed - who says they're stupid? Anyway, heat, humidity and dog all combined to make it a sleepless night and a grumpy-feeling morning.

I did try to get into the camping routine by feeding her outside, then going for a walk around the campground. The bugs were biting even at eight in the morning so it wasn't a very enjoyable walk, although I did use the time to check out everyone's trailer and camping equipment. No other Airstreams, by the way.

The highlight of the morning was a run out to the dog beach, some 6Km to the south of the campground. I suggested that we walk but the howls of derision could be heard in Ottawa. Anyway, it was good that we did drive because we came across some of Rondeau's elusive deer herd, in this case a doe and her two fawns. They're never easy to see as they're almost always in the dense Carolinian Forest, but this morning there they were, crossing the road and not particularly concerned at the presence of the car. Maybe the bugs were biting them, too.

The dog beach was crowded by its usual standards, that is there were other people and dogs there. The sand was way too hot for Willow's feet (Greyhounds really are very sensitive about their feet) and she wasn't up for a run, although she did wade in and out of the murky lake water a few times. I thought she may use the chance of a paddle to cool off but she seemed supremely indifferent about the whole thing. Not dissimilar, in fact, to the indifference of the smaller Tadpole who had her "I'm 13 and nearly 14" head on. They grow up so quickly.

The afternoon included a nap for the grown ups, but not until after cooling the trailer down a bit with the A/C. A fire was built and used for cooking the Tadpoles' meat based supper, although you seriously have to question the wisdom of lighting up an inferno when the weather was so hideously hot to start with. Mind you, they did enjoy their charred remains and even stuck it a while to make some s'mores (see here), always worth the effort in my view. We had a go at Yahtzee (renamed Boggle for the evening by a very confused Mrs Toad) and Monopoly, a game at which I normally excel but on this occasion absolutely sucked at.

The bugs were not giving up. Every time we went outside they were on us. With hindsight I could possibly have used a tad more bug spray on my skin - OK, ANY bug spray on my skin - but I fear that the little sods were immune to it now.

So, chivvied by insects, we headed for bed again and the cursed dog followed. The chances for an improved night were not looking good, and only Bugged - Day Three can reveal the truth. Read on...