Companie LeBoeuf and Rabbit Stew
By Denise Janus
This morning we got up bright and early (6 a.m.) with the re-enactors to start our walk to Picnicana Park. We had to walk 7.4 miles through the hilly Pennsylvania streets! We had a lot of fun with it though, especially with our police escort stopping traffic along the way for us! For the most part, we stayed true to the original path that the French would have portaged. We thankfully finished early at 9:30 a.m., before the real heat hit us. Those wearing re-enactment garb get heated up pretty quickly in all that wool. We walked all the way to Picnicana Park where the other members of the wonderfully hospitable Compagnie LeBoeuf were waiting for us with ice water, deer bologna and cheese snacks! I was so whipped I collapsed to the ground instantly. We rested for a while before heading back to pack up camp and move it over to Picnicana. Once back at Picnicana we enjoyed a luncheon feast from the LeBoeuf crew. We had rabbit stew, awesome bread, split pea soup, turkey, ham, cheese, cornbread, and more deer bologna. After lunch the re-enactors made a presentation for a group of elementary school students, including shooting a large cannon, muskets, and an 18th century handgun. That really grabbed everyone’s attention!
We relaxed and played volleyball. It was Mike, Tommy and Dr. Gerhart against me, Laura, and Chris. My volleyball game is really improving. Either that, or I had some extra energy…either way we had an excellent, very long game. We paused only for a pizza break and went back to the net until sundown. While the others went to sleep in their tents, Dr. Gerhart told Mike and me ghost stories out on the basketball court by the woods. I finally had had enough and was too scared so we all cashed in and went to sleep. I’m getting tired of the crawling in and out of the stuffy tent so I decided to just throw my sleeping bag out in the middle of the field and watch the stars a while, finally falling asleep like a hermit crab all snug in my sleeping bag to keep out the bugs! Besides the occasional fly buzzing around my head, I slept pretty well!