It was to be a summer like none in recent memory in many ways. With school out, MtA Reunion cancelled, folk festival pushed to 2021, kids at work, and travel restricted, the tides and stars aligned for a full on summer at the camp. Oh no… I’ll have to go to the lake 😉!!! Time to make some lemonade. In particular, it seemed the conditions were right to keep moving forward, after a lengthy spring excavation, and take on the construction of a new deck. A camp extension had been a project we’d dreamed of carrying out for many years and we looked to turn the circumstances of Covid into a real positive.
Truth be told, I ended up spending every night of July at the camp. Trips out for supplies at Dave’s and the Co-op were numerous, but day to day life was at Camp Lumsden. I had my sights on building the new deck and began the laborious process of trekking in materials, tools and supplies to get the job rolling. With Dad’s help, and a day with Peter on site, we started the deck July 3rd & finished July 6th. Easy peasy… even replacing and leveling the older, existing deck.
At a critical juncture, I took a few days to figure out whether to stop at deck completion or to keep working on an addition. After several days, and picking off some smaller maintenance tasks, I decided to go all in! Dad was up for the challenge as well and we managed, I assure you no small task, to raise walls, build rafters and cover the roof by the end of July. It was quite a job, the difficulty being the schlepping through the woods (without vehicle) of building materials and connecting an extension to the many bends, swerves and swoops of a 65 year old camp! Dad’s experience in projects such as this were invaluable… and I’d like to think we worked together well as a team. In the end we were very happy with the result. Hope the pics give you an idea of the space created.