Subject to Change

The mosquito situation is insane.

This past weekend, we tried to take the kid and the dog camping again. We chose the Bong Recreation area because it was really close and had plenty of availability. That, I’m afraid, was a huge mistake.

We arrived well after dark, and it was immediately obvious that we were in trouble. In spite of the nearly three hundred blood-sucking insects that came in to the car when I opened the door, I put on my head net and set up the tent. Kelly and Cole hid in the truck and batted at anything that moved. When the car was unloaded, they rushed from the car to the relative safety of our tent.

For the rest of the night we made as few trips as possible outside. Each entrance or exit was followed by several minutes of swatting and slapping. Having a screen porch attached to the tent helped, just a little bit. Once we settled in for the night, I we were able to enjoy watching the stars. I hadn’t bothered to put the rain fly on the tent and we had a huge view of the night sky. That was probably the only pleasant moment of the entire trip.

On Saturday we discovered that the entire town of Burlington is sold out of insect foggers. After attempting a brief mid-day hike the reason was clear. Even in the daylight the mosquitos are wicked. Kelly and I decided to cut our losses and we packed up camp. The only one who seemed disappointed by the change of plans was the dog. I still can’t understand how she seemed so content to sit in the shade and get eaten.

Rather than unpack right away, we went to the zoo for an hour or two. We sure are getting our money’s worth out of the Zoo Pass! And, on Sunday we visted Old World Wisconsin. This was definately a much wiser way to spend the day. The bugs hardly bothered us, and Cole loves being outside.

I can’t wait for a good frost to come along and wipe those blasted insects out! I have no idea how people with outside jobs are managing right now.