Aug 15-17, 2025

Even though it is not a rule, but I just feel like we need to do something different each month, especially in Aug, our anniversary month. Then I got this idea about camping and fishing. When I saw there was a yurt in Lake Anna state park, I booked it right away, and tasked Erik to plan the rest. :)

闲不住的我总要计划些什么才觉得踏实，前几个月去了丹佛、在大雾山看了萤火虫、去了海边儿两次，八月做啥呢？去露营钓鱼吧！安娜湖，离家不远，还能体验蒙古包👍 于是我订了帐篷，剩下的就交给老艾去计划了 ：）

Aug 15, 2025 First night 第一晚入住

A lot to take for two nights.

虽然两晚，要带的东西好多啊，一辆车塞得满满的。

After a little more than two hours drive, we arrived at our yurt site. Loved it! No need to set up a tent. It is spacious, has grill and picnic table. All I needed to do was to make the bed.

开了两个小时多一点儿，到了安娜湖州立公园，看到我们的帐篷一号，喜欢！宽敞、有烧烤架，野餐桌，自己铺床就好了，好方便。只是没水没电，但我们旁边几步远就是公共设施。

Erik went to get ice while I was organizing the camp site. Got attacked by mosquitoes as usual.

老艾去买冰，我留下来收拾，除了蚊子多啥都好。好在有我好朋友最近送给我的风油精，可是成了我这个周末的宝贝！随身携带！老艾回来就开始烤肉了。哎，我忘了带穿肉的签子🙁

Forgot to bring the barbecue sticks for my skews. Oh well. But the ribeye and veggies were still tasty, especially with cold beer and snacks that normally go with liquor in China.

肋眼牛肉粒、洋葱辣子，撒上烧烤料，配上啤酒、老虎豆、花生、瓜籽儿，+ 好伴侣 = 幸福生活 - 烤肉签子 🤪

I felt a lot relaxed after some beer and wine. The stress from heavy workload, some tough employee issues I needed to handle at work, and the news that Erik made down payment for an airplane went away with some alcohol in the body. Even on the way here, I felt the anxiety, but it was really all gone. I lied on the picnic bench so relaxed. It made me have empathy on those who turn to liquor and drugs for their problems. It works. What other options they have that are so effective? I feel so bad and sad for them. I wish there was better solutions. I feel grateful that I am blessed not having severe problems so far.

小酒下肚驱除了一天的疲劳和焦虑，躺在板凳上，觉得好轻松。最近工作繁忙，加上人事的一些事需要处理，加上老艾今天通知我交了定金买了一架小飞机…心情总是很难放松，酒精的作用还真的不容忽视，让我感同身受的同情那些依赖酒精和毒品的人缓解焦虑和抑郁，那种痛苦，无法自拔，他们的其他选择是什么呢？

It is hot. Our car became a desirable place for Erik to enjoy the AC. He paid many visits there.

没水没电，可怜的老艾数次去车里吹空调，谁能想象这次旅途我们的车成了老艾最享受的憩息地。

Aug 16, 2025 Second day

The night wasn’t bad. We were woken up by a loud car alarm sound somewhere in the camp ground.

Erik really did his homework. I liked his idea of going to a dock to try fishing in the morning. Someone was already there for an hour with little luck when we got there. That wasn’t very encouraging, but, who knows.

It was super hot already around 10am. We tried for about 40 mins without even a bite. We decided to change a place, but ended up with heading to a seafood restaurant for our anniversary lunch. :)

老艾的摄影技能实在不敢恭维🤫

Who will take a picture for someone with huge objects in the front? Erik will.

21 years. 风风雨雨携手21年。

I haven’t had such huge ice cream for many years. The ice cream shop was so cold with super low AC. Erik had to buy the ice cream for me. 好久没吃这么大一个冰淇淋啦！

We went to the beach after lunch。

下午湖边沙滩。

We tried fishing again in the evening. It was still pretty hot. We didn’t get any fish, but we tried. :)

傍晚又去钓鱼，哎，连影子都没看到。

Aug 17, 2025 回家啦

After another good night of sleep, we packed up and left Sunday morning.

It was a good weekend without catching fish. It was nice to be away for a break. But we decided to do it in late spring or fall next time.

睡了一宿好觉，周日早上就离开了公园。想到要有空调了，我觉得我俩都暗自高兴😊