Our First Picnic on the Road                                                           August 26, 1999

I admit it.  It took us two weeks before we had our first picnic on the road.

We were driving from Spokane to Glacier National Park.  It was a beautiful drive along Pend Oreille (Ponderay) Lake in western Montana.  We had had the foresight to buy some food before setting out on the almost deserted road.  With just a little searching, we found a State Park, anted up our $3 day-use fee and chose a picnic table overlooking the scenic lake.  There was a rocky beach right there with a couple of youngsters splashing in the water.  Pretty nice.

We had come prepared.  We had packed a pretty plastic tablecloth, real silverware and paper plates into our over-stuffed auto.  We had shopped, getting some juicy peaches, a couple of firm, dark purple plums, a cut-up chicken, coleslaw, potato salad and drinks.  And, we were hungry!

So???  Apparently while we were busy getting unpacked and set up for a leisurely lunch, a yellow jacket scout had spied us.  He'd immediately returned to his hive and called forth the yellow jacket army!  Within 30 seconds of sitting down, 6 huge yellow jackets were swarming around us and our food.  And, another one was arriving every 10 seconds -- a dozen by the time we started eating.  There was no way we could sit there.  NONE!  We quickly moved our picnic to a different spot, but those buggers were everywhere.  

Our only option was to picnic in the car -- with the windows closed.  Now it dawns on me why we waited two weeks before trying this!

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