Cabin-camping at Shady Pines Resort

This is the last part of time spent at Shady Pines Resort on Conconully Reservoir.

The resort has four individual cabins, a duplex housing two more cabins and the loft, which is a full-sized apartment. There are also 21 RV sites and two tent sites. The interesting point about 16 of the RV sites is they are at the edge of the water.

The four individual cabins can be considered rustic. We stayed in Cabin Number 1. This reminded me of a studio apartment. There were two queen-sized beds, a full kitchen, with full refrigerator and top freezer. Also, a full electric stove and oven, plus kitchen table and chairs and a bathroom with toilet, sink and shower stall. As with a studio apartment, everything was open, except the bathroom, of course.

Dad and I stayed in this type cabin on many hunting and fishing trips during my youth. What surprised me was how much Garnet enjoyed the experience. We used paper plates and plastic silverware, but had to handwash the other cook ware.

The food Garnet prepared was delicious. The first night we had pan-fried hamburgers. Not sure what she did differently, but it was the best hamburger of my life.

The second night Garnet prepared chicken thighs, cream of chicken soup and lemons slices in a slow cooker. The results were scrumptious. We ate three of the thighs and saved the others and the juice.

The third night we had more hamburgers and the next night ate the rest of the chicken thighs and juice. We also brought pork chops and a thick T-bone steak, but neither of these were needed.

Garnet makes a great breakfast. Her newest discovery is Betty Crocker Blueberry muffin Mix, which only needs water or milk to make six muffins. She uses milk, because she thinks the results are better overall.

We also had breakfasts of eggs, thin New York steaks, an omelet with green and red sweet peppers, onions and asparagus. Lunch meat, bread and all the fixin’s were along, but not needed.

We took way too much food, but because of the freezer, we brought items not used home, plus any leftovers.

I fished three days and caught two fish total. Not sure what I was doing wrong, but the fish were not biting for me. Other anglers caught limits or near limits.

“I want to come back here,” Garnet said on our last morning. Indeed, it was a great experience.

We were about five miles from Conconully when an animal crossed the road. It was not possible to identify it at our distance. As we neared the spot, a doe and another fawn crossed the road. Both fawns were still supporting spots.

Our last sighting of wildlife on this trip provided another memorable experience.