Tales by a Grumpy and Selfish Old Maid

Sometimes, I really wish there were no weekends. I was definitely not saying this a year ago, and will not a year from now. This is very selfish, but what else can you expect from the grumpy and selfish old maid I am gradually turning into? I am sure people who do not work feel exactly the same sometimes.

We arrived at this beautiful campground by another lake (our fourth and last lake) on Friday afternoon. As we were the first we took the best spot, right by the beach. People started to pour in, a group of teenagers sleeping in tents, two Americans from Colorado touring Chile, and a few other families. We are so used to be almost the only ones in campgrounds that this looked already crowded for us. At night, the group of teenagers gathered on the beach wrapped in blankets, made a bonfire and drank soft drinks. Some played guitar; there was a barbecue with plenty of meat on the ready; nice atmosphere.

The next day, Saturday morning, we decided to stay for another day to explore the surroundings. So we paid for another night at the reception, explaining we were leaving but coming back later on. We left two chairs to clearly mark the site as occupied.

We spent the day sightseeing: some beautiful water falls, another lake and the arrival of a marathon called Volcano Trail: people struggling to make it to the end and going straight to the massages tables with energy drinks. We bought some smoked salmon for dinner and went back to our campground.

This time, it was really crowded. Half surprise: there were two tents pitched on our spot, with people drinking beers comfortably seated in our chairs and a pick-up truck parked. Mmmmm… I got out, put on my best smile and greeted them. In my halted Spanish I explained that we had reserved the spot, paid for it, and put the chairs to clearly mark it. Because I was nice and polite, they agreed to move out immediately but told me the car was not theirs. Mmmmm… It belonged to a guy who had gone fishing on the lake, on a boat, nobody knew how to contact him. Damn… We could not bypass the car, so we parked our camper behind it, blocking half the way and waited (grumbling), hoping fishing would not last until sun set at half past nine. The guy finally came back, not too late actually and moved his car out. End of story; with a smile things get sorted out easily. The evening was very lively again, barbecues, music, people chatting until very late.

Today, we have an English weather, or a Island of Chiloe weather, as people call it here. We are indeed going to Chiloe Island later on today, we know what to expect. I woke up briefly last night, hearing the rain pouring down and thinking of all the people sleeping in tents. The selfish old maid, comfortably tucked under her feather comforter thought: good that we have a camper; went back to sleep and made sure to be the first one to use the shower at 7am this morning!