The weekend drive from Hartland to Arkdale was long but always worth it. Every weekend my dad, my brother Kaleb, and I would get in the truck after Dad was done with work and take the two hour trek to the cabin. My brother and I kept ourselves busy mainly by sleeping but also singing, talking, along with the occasional pit stop at a Kwik Trip and of course, fighting.

As we turn onto South Dixie Ct., our freshly rested eyes flutter open as if our bodies knew exactly where we were. When we finally make it there, Grandpa has the fire going. I open the door to step out and am instantly hit by the smell of the fluffy smoke that whispered fun times were to come. 

After an endless night of stories and s’mores, we take our sticky faces and tired bodies to bed. As the sun rises, we are woken by the smell of bacon and pancakes. Our swimsuits are waiting for us, ready to be worn in the water. We pack sandwiches with fresh deli meat from the Four Season Citgo down the road and coolers with loads of Twisted Elix’r and Tropical Dream’r Bubbl’r and head for the lake. 

The day is filled with tubes, floaties, and sunscreen. Even though we packed food, we always ended up eating at the Water Dawg, the hotdog boat on the lake. It is a pontoon boat that serves food and of course ice cream at the sandbar in the middle of Castle Rock Lake.

As we take the waist-deep walk through the warm water, the sand floats between our toes. When we make it up to the hotdog boat they know our names already and they know what we are about to order: two hotdogs and two ice cream bars. While we wait for our food we play volleyball in the water at the net that the hotdog boat set up. 

As the day comes to an end, we find ourselves gathered for more stories, s’mores and stacks of wood; the night doesn’t last nearly as long as the last. We are curled up into bed and instantly sleeping after our sun-filled, draining day. 

Our drive home consists mainly of sleep for my brother and me. There was not one weekend where we would stay awake the whole ride. 

We are woken again by our minds the second we turn into our only stop on the way home: Kwik Trip #653. Our exhausted bodies know that turning into the parking lot when we reach Portage means it is time for our pepperoni pizza (that I picked all the pepperoni off of because it was too spicy for my little mouth). I always need my blue Bug Juice and one oversized Marshmallow Crispy Bar. Even as I lost more teeth, I would never pass on my treat. The more teeth I lost, the harder it was to eat and there was occasionally blood from my missing teeth on the crispy.

As soon as the food is gone we are back to sleep for the remaining hour of the ride and don’t wake until we make it back home.