Day 45 of the 47th orbit

We woke up later than planned in the morning. It was drizzling outside, and it was very tempting to bail on the camping trip and stay home. But the guys rallied behind the idea, and everyone got ready. So off we went.

In the morning Masha went to Hillel—they were moving to a new place. She was supposed to come join us by train afterward. There was a risk she would not want to go at all because she said she felt like she might be coming down with something. Still, the day before she had packed her things into her favorite green suitcase.

I fed the girls oatmeal, then we got ready and loaded up the car. We packed it absolutely full. Masha had bought a bunch of new gadgets to improve camp life—square kitchen bags, a collapsible kitchen shelving unit, some dishes. In short, we loaded everything up, and while we were loading, Masha called and asked us to come get her because they were almost done. An extra hour did not matter much, especially since it was drizzling outside. The girls and I drove to a hobby store near Elektrozavodskaya and bought Marfa a gift—a soft toy making kit. I also picked up some Korean noodles and nonalcoholic wine, since I’m still sober for now.

Then we went to pick up Masha and waited for her a bit. My princess was not in the best mood—she was hungry. We took the toll road and stopped in Gzhel to buy shawarma, which was actually very good. We reached the clearing around 1 p.m. Maloy and Kostik were already there, tending the campfire. We chose a spot and set up camp. While we were setting up, Igoryan arrived with his family, without Motya but with Anya; then Dima with Katya showed up; then two more families arrived. We ended up with a large camp.

Leah kept getting dirty and even managed to get her feet wet inside her rubber boots in the Nerka. It was damp, but there was no actual rain, just occasional mist like water dust. We had a great time sitting around, making fires, eating, playing the jaw harp and the handpan, smoking hookah, and laughing a lot. I went to bed at midnight.