Pie eating contest!

You all remember Ben (Skip's grandson) and Cole (Jack's grandson) from the last blog post, right?  Well they provided a major service to us last week by polishing off some leftover desserts.  Leftovers are pretty much public enemy number one around here.  If you don't stay on top of things it can get ugly.  So, in an effort to keep the refrigerator organized we try and offer up any leftover sweets after dinner each day.  I swear, if you wait 20-30 minutes after the meal they get scooped RIGHT up!

But, that being said it's all about how you sell it.  You have to work the crowd in order to make the sale.  The desserts in question last week happened to be 2 pieces of coconut cream pie.  How these delicious meringue topped beauties lasted past their initial unveiling I will never know.  But something had to be done.  Mary-Jane and I were staring at these poor pieces of pie in the storage room and about to plop them into the scrap bucket (such tragic fate!) when she perked right up and said, "How about a pie eating contest?!" Genius!

We sauntered into the main lodge with one piece of pie on each plate to make our pitch.  Lucky for us two growing young men (Ben and Cole) were playing cards and we had found what we were looking for.

They LOVED the idea!  So, naturally, it got recorded on video (you are welcome) for your viewing pleasure...

Cole was a good sport, and immediately following this loss he eyed the two remaining birthday cupcakes that were still out and proposed a rematch.  Which resulted in video 2....

If you blinked you may have missed it.  One bite, folks!

I think Ben may have career options, don't you agree?

Well done boys!  Never a dull moment around here.

If you were in a food eating contest what would you dominate in?  Or what food should you avoid?  For me, the list of options to try for are endless.  I think I could eat an infinite amount of fresh peaches or bowls of ice-cream.  Yum!  Mayonnaise would be my worst nightmare.

Black bear sighting in camp!

Good morning everyone!

We are well into our 3rd week of guests (which doesn't seem possible) and they are having a great week so far.  Weather has stayed very nice, but we had an overcast day yesterday and we've gotten a little bit of rain in the evenings.

Travis' family is up here so he is finally making some time to fish with his siblings and dad while they are up this week.  Yesterday he snuck out for most of the day, so Mary-Jane and I had fun preparing the meals and hanging out around the lodge.

While we were busy making these.....

This guy (or gal) meandered into camp...

Yikes!  Before watching the video I need to do a little build-up for you all.

For those of you who don't know myself or Mary-Jane we have a TON of fun together.  Pretty much any mundane or undesirable task we face at Eagle Falls Lodge (or anywhere else for that matter) we can make fun.  So after our mountain of dishes yesterday morning we launched into pie making.  Mary-Jane was busy finishing the meringue on the coconut cream pie and getting it in the oven while I was battling a wasp in the hallway.  We have had our fair share of wasp battles this week for whatever reason.  Remind me to get Travis on that.

Anywho.   I had just swatted another wasp to death and opened the door to dispose of said wasp.  At this point I remembered I should probably do the cabin checks, so I start to leave the main lodge and head over to the big cabin.  I get just outside the door and I notice this big dark mass in front of me a little to the left.  My thought process is this: "How strange for Cosmo to be milling around outside.  Maybe he got stuck out here when everyone was leaving for the docks.  Waaaaaait a minute, my sweet puppy boy is yellow - not black.  Black = bear.  Bear = danger.  Oh crap, get back inside!"

For a timeframe reference, that entire conversation I had with myself took place in about the time Mary-Jane placed the pies in the oven to bake the meringue.

Panic and hilarity ensue.  Not once were we actually afraid.  I ran back inside yelling for the camera.

Sidenote:  Here at Eagle Falls Lodge the top of the refrigerator is a dumping ground for all random papers, screwdrivers, lures, pens, etc.  Naturally there is a camera waiting for us there for such an occasion.

We spend the next SEVERAL minutes taking photos and videos of the bear.  Where is our bear defender puppy, Cosmo, you ask?  Sacked out in his bed.  So much for that.  We didn't even start to think about having to deal with this bear situation until everything was adequately documented and discussed.  We were just getting ready to formulate a plan to get him/her out of camp when we realized THE PIES!!!  Drop the camera, oven mitts on, and swing open the oven door.  Whew, pies are fine.

Okay, back to the bear.  Mary-Jane did an excellent job scaring him/her back into the woods.  Oh, the adventures we have here at camp.  So much fun and excitement.  The best part was when Cosmo finally woke up and was outside he clearly could smell the bear.  With the hair on his back raised he quickly went into defensive mode - looking at us like "uh ladies, we should head back inside.  Seems we have a situation here - never fear, I will protect you!"  About 30 minutes too late, Cosmo.

You can hear us giggling in the background of the video.  Too funny.

You will be happy to know that the pies turned out beautifully!  Everyone seemed to enjoy them as a nice ending to the Monday night fish fry.

Did anyone else have unexpected guests yesterday?  We haven't had this type of unexpected guest in at least two years.  Sheesh.

Until next time.