Me, my husband and another couple “shacked up” this past weekend in the camper cabin at Waterloo State Recreation Area, located in the Portage Lake campground.

If you’re planning to travel to Waterloo State Recreation Area? Better be specific if using a GPS! More about that in a bit….Waterloo is a 21,000-acre outdoor playground consisting of 11 lakes, four campgrounds, a nature center, 50 miles of hiking trails and a few rental cabins in Southeast Michigan. Here’s a pic of the cabin we rented:

This “camper cabin” has two bedrooms (each sleeps two people), and a living area with a fold-out futon. The deck offers nice views of Portage Lake. Inside the cabin is electricity, a coffee maker, microwave and a small refrigerator. A fire pit and picnic table are behind the cabin.

Before the trip, my husband and I joked that I’d “threaded the needle” in planning this trip! The modern restrooms were recently opened for the season, and alcohol restrictions at the park wouldn’t kick in until Monday, April 15. Right after we arrived, we decreed that it was “Drink ‘O Clock.” We brought some “spiked seltzer” water and Triple Sec.

The new “tropical” flavored Truly spiked seltzers were pretty tasty! Especially the pineapple (drool)!

The first night we arrived, it remained warm enough to wear shorts for a while. Instead of watching TV, we watched …the lake! And took lots of pictures of the lake – and of each other!

Am I being a Sporcle Live whore in this picture? Pro tip, those drink cozies keep your fingers from getting too cold, and distinguish your cup from someone else’s.

My husband doing his best “douchebag” impression (it was my idea for him to hoist his leg onto a chair).

My husband and I had the cabin to ourselves for the first night, so we had first pick of bedrooms. We found a bed arrangement unlike any we’d ever seen in cabins we rented previously – with one room featuring a queen sized bed – and the other featuring a set of twin-sized bunks.

We jokingly called this room the “parents’ room.” We turned it down in favor of the “kids’ room, which had more room and hooks for our gear:

I decided I’d claim the top bunk on this trip, because of my husband’s arthritic issues. The crossbeam you see above the top bunk is an important plot point in two different storylines!

I honestly can’t remember the last time I’d ever slept in a top bunk of a bunk bed. My brother and I used to share a bunk bed from time to time when we were kids when Grandma stayed in the third bedroom (until he set up his teenage “boy cave” in the basement), and he’d always want the top bunk. Bunk beds in the 1970s were nothing like the bunk beds of today! They had no guardrails – you just had to be smart enough not to roll out of your bed. And hope the chintzy ladder wouldn’t give out on you while climbing it, and also hope that the upper bunk wouldn’t collapse on you. Which happened to me once, though it wasn’t as hilarious as the scene in Step Brothers, where the two male “kidults” unsuccessfully attempt to make their own bunk beds:

Tragically funny bunk bed scene from Step Brothers.

It’s amazing that us Gen-X kids got out of the 1970s alive, isn’t it? We didn’t wear bike helmets, our hoodies had drawstrings, we had blacktop/concrete under our play equipment, we had asbestos ceiling tiles in our classrooms, there were near lethal amounts of artificial colors and preservatives in our junk foods/sodas,  adults didn’t care about getting drunk around us, blowing cigarette smoke in our faces or stifling us with second-hand smoke while we rode with them in closed vehicles, seat belts and sunblock were “optional,” and we’d just go out and “play” with very little supervision (but had  to  be  back  for dinner). 1970s parents would bristle at the antics of today’s overly involved “helicopter parents!”

Back to the topic of bunk beds, shall we? Our bunk bed in this cabin was very sturdily constructed, with a ladder built into one side of the top bunk, which was easy enough to climb – not so easy to descend. Apparently, I was a bit “vocal” when struggling to climb out of my bunk! Here’s a snippet of our  conversation:

Mike: I really hate hearing you struggling like that! You’re not a very good climber.

Well yes – he was correct in that statement! I’m not a good climber! I made sure to do all of my descents barefooted to get the best grip on the boards. But I had to respond:

Me: It’s just a bunk bed – it’s not El Capitan!

Kirk and Spock on Yosemite’s El Capitan in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

Remember me talking about that support beam? Apparently, previous top bunk users decided to apply their own graffiti to the beam. “Sage loves mommy 4 Ever” was written on it, as well as something a bit…more seedy:

I came inside a girl in this bed.

While I thought about writing my own snarky response to that, I didn’t want to continue defacing the poor defenseless support beam. But I did think about saying, “Tell your mom I said hi,” and “It doesn’t count if it’s your sister.” Did not take a picture of the graffiti!

True or not – I suspect it was a teenager who wrote it. I just can’t picture an adult saying “came inside a girl.” I’m thinking it was a rowdy group of high schoolers (glad they had fun in the cabin). If a baby resulted from this cabin adventure, well…at least they’ll have a story to tell their kid when they’re old enough)!

This, my friends – is why I always bring my own sheets when using a rental cabin!

And this support beam would have a starring role to play in the most recent episode of “Where the Hell did I put my phone?” I’d forgotten that I’d placed my phone on top of that support beam (which was a convenient location from where I was sleeping), and went on a frantic search for it. Then my brain decided to remember I’d left my phone…12 feet up on a support beam (always the last place you look)!

Day two of our trip was a bit more chilly than day one, but the sun was shining – and we took a couple of short walks around the campground/beach. There were a couple of amusing signs leading up to the beach. Two playgrounds were set up along a pedestrian path – a “kiddie” playground – and a “kid” playground. Another Gen-X flashback – there was no differentiation like this when I was a kid! Other than the taller slide being “off limits” when we were in kindergarten, we had free run of all of the play equipment. Even those super dangerous merry go rounds…

Me goofing off at the “kiddie” playground.

The other funny sign we saw involved a quizzical goose…

Which way do I go?

What was on the menu on this trip? As always, we kept it simple…

Behold – “Loaded Mac ‘n  Cheese.” I used an electric skillet to saute the peppers, onions, fresh spinach and sausage and served it over canned Chef Boyardee macaroni and cheese. It may not be gourmet mac and cheese, but on a camping/cabin trip, it will do just fine!

On the second day, we were joined by our longtime friend Dave and his “plus one” Susan, whom we’d never met. They were scheduled to arrive “noonish,” and I got a call from them (you know it’s something serious when you get a call instead of text). Dave and Susan needed a little help finding the campground – they weren’t specific enough with their GPS directions. Thankfully they hadn’t wandered too far off course, and I was able to successfully guide them to our location. We  went out with them to buy more “supplies,” and enough firewood to make the gods notice us again. Speaking of fire…It’s always fun to test out at least one new piece of gear on a trip. Mike got a chance to try out his new “fire gloves” I’d bought him for Christmas, which allowed him to manipulate burning logs and turn into the human version of Vulcan: 

“Fire…Walk With Me!” Twin Peaks fans will get this reference…

And a few parting shots…

Love what the glare did with the colors!

Great way to end the day!