Day 6 – Wednesday - soaking at Owen Lake

Another day of strong sunshine encouraged us to head to a nearby lake (there are a few) where there is a small beach and park, and, most importantly, a cool offshore breeze. John spent about 6 hours in the water, kayaking, swimming, and entertaining all of the other kids that arrived by boat and car. Jean quilted but the heat took its toll and they left for the comfort of home in the early evening. John and I grilled chicken for the three of us.

At 7:45pm, Dot realized her dump would close in 15 minutes and not reopen until Saturday, so she promised us ice cream cones if we’d leave everything and scramble to collect recycling and trash. Kicking up a cloud of dust, we pulled into the dump driveway at 7:53 and found it already padlocked. She was about to turn around and leave when John and I persuaded her that we could walk around the gate and bring the recycling and trash to its containers. She was pretty squeamish, but we reassured her that it was the dump attendant’s fault, not ours, that it was locked already. On the way out, she said, “See? Look at that sign, it says the dump is open on Wednesdays in the summer until… oh, 6:00.” Obviously, we took no pictures of this so we can maintain plausible deniability if there’s ever an investigation.