Nate and Alex returned to Alex's car and were quick to climb in. They watched as Mrs. Stovall backed out of the driveway and began to finish her group's short drive back to the Stovall house. Once the driveway was clear, Alex drove forward, turned into the driveway and then backed out onto the street, so as to head in the other direction. From there it wasn't long before they were headed north toward the lake the town was named for and the recreational areas that were attached to it. That had been the part of their plan for the weekend, to have some time alone out in the recreational area and return to the Ramsey's for Sunday morning breakfast.
"It's actually kinda neat that they'd keep a camping area open," Nate commented as they rode along, "many times many camping areas close during the winter. Or at least I'd never seen any that were open in the winter."
Didn't didn't want to mention that prior to coming to Moon Lake that things like camping really wasn't something the Anderson family had done much of. So much of what he really knew about it were with KOA campgrounds placed along the sides of the interstate and sometimes on the outskirts of a major city. By October they usually closed.
"In many places where they've actually built cabins or even HOTELS in the park, those areas stay open longer," Alex answered, "as they would be able to keep people warm longer if there's a bad storm. I think places like Yellowstone have areas like that, as the park is big enough for that."
"I wouldn't think that the Moon Lake recreational areas are like that, though," Nate commented.
Alex chuckled as they went up the street that take them directly toward the recreational areas that were connected with Moon Lake. Nate noted the difference in the distances. The recreational area marked N, which Nate assumed stood for "normal" was only 1.5 miles while the recreation area marked W, which had to mean "were" was three miles from where they were. There wasn't that much that separated them, but Nate probably figured that there was some rougher terrain that normal humans visiting the area probably wouldn't have the same interest in.
"No... not it isn't," Alex admitted, "BUT Washington State... at least our part of the state... isn't known for hard winters. We're close enough to the Pacific that we get some warmth from it. Now we do get snow and sometimes there can be some snow days, but our odds of dealing with massive blizzards is much lower than places like Yellowstone."
"Okay," Nate commented.
"And then there is the fact, stud, that you and I can turn into huge wolves with a nice thick coat of fur," Alex smirked, "and so can many of the other were-beasts in Moon Lake. We could easily stay warm in a big blizzard if one came."
"Well... that's comforting to know," Nate commented as they moved along.
"And because of all that, our recreational areas for camping stay open longer," Alex finished the answer to the original question, "the area for normals will stay open until the second week of November and the area for weres will stay open until December first. By then, between winter's arrival in Moon Lake and the holiday season... even our local rangers want a bit of a vacation."
"I can understand that," Nate laughed as they rode along.
It didn't take long for them to reach the turn off to the camping area for weres. They'd passed the lake as they did so, and it was a fairly decent sized lake. It was tiny compared to the Great Lakes and some of the lakes in Minnesota, but it was big enough that people could easily enjoy swimming and fishing and other related recreational activities that people enjoyed at lakes. Nate even figured that he and Alex could have some real fun on Saturday. They stopped at a small gate that included a ticket counter. It included a small fee, and included a system that was like what was used for automatic payments at toll booths on a toll road or like what was used in vending machines. The entrance fee wasn't much and once Alex had paid for it and got the ticket he pulled forward again.
Nate watched as they drove along. There was a small open shed which had pieces of wood stacked in neat rows, probably to make sure that campers didn't cut down trees or hurt the forest while looking for firewood for camp fires. The camping areas were well maintained and inter-spaced with trees and bushes. He noticed that many of them seemed to almost enclose many of the individual camp sites, which he supposed made sense. Weres might be a bit less "Puritan" when it came to sex and nudity, particularly in their were forms, but that didn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't want privacy for certain activities. That made sense, and it even with how the sites were laid out, they looked interesting and even inviting. A part of Nate even felt at home in these sorts of conditions, which he figured was the wolf now within him that at times wanted safety and shelter just the way any human would want the same.
"This all looks pretty neat," Nate commented, noting that there were a couple of other campsites that had other campers in them, likely for the weekend.
"Yeah," Alex nodded as he pulled into an open parking space next to a campsite that was available, "while the town is laid out so that our homes are always close to nature... there is just something about these recreational areas and campsites, both for normal humans and for weres that carries a real closeness that is really enjoyable. There is fishing, hiking, and in a way... these areas are removed from the sound of cars driving, television, radio, electronic music, and so on. It's more fun that way."
Nate nodded as the two climbed out and moved toward the trunk of the car. Alex did it to get to the supplies that he and his dad had packed before they started their day and while he finalized things to get himself ready for the Skulk's ceremony, Nate went along to be close to Alex.
"So... what do we do?" Nate asked.
"I'll get the tent out," Alex spoke calmly, "why don't you go and get some firewood. We'll need it for some light and for marshmallows."
"Marshmallows?" Nate asked.
"What's a camping trip without marshmallows?" Alex said with a smile.
Nate chuckled and made his way to the shed where he'd seen the wood stacked. Alex meanwhile moved the tent from the trunk, and Nate could hear Alex getting things set up as he walked toward the shed. He found the shed and began collecting up some logs for the campfire to be made. He picked out a fair stack of large longs that would burn rather well, or at least he thought they would. Once Nate had them, he made his way back to see that Alex had the tent mostly set up. There were a few things to finish, and he was wrestling with them as Nate approached.
"I got some wood," Nate announced as he returned.
Alex looked up and then pointed to stone circle that was about four feet in diameter, and Nate noticed the ashes that remained there from previous campfires.
"Place that by the pit," Alex instructed, "that'll do well for the main fire, but you'll need to go back for some smaller branches too."
"Smaller branches?" Nate wondered.
"Kindling," Alex explained, "You don't want to just hold a lighter under a log until it burns. You build UP the fire before you put the big logs on. It helps increase the heat and keeps the fire going."
"I see," Nate said slowly and then smiled. It was beginning to get late, but this would be fun and might even provide some good learning experiences.