We Thrived

Not only did we survive our little wilderness adventure, we thrived in the wild.  It was yet another amazing time paddling, portaging, swimming, singing, eating, relaxing, and rock jumping.

Never has the Quetico heard so many Disney tunes, sung with so many different lyrics, at so many hours of the day!  We woke up to very loud loons most mornings, and went to bed to somewhat quieter loons each night. We watched a pair of bald eagles whose nest was just across a little bay from us. We ate lots of very tasty wild blueberries.  We paddled through rivers of lily pads.

We got many scrapes, cuts and bruises. We drank a lot of lake water. We laughed.  We slept.  We thrived!

My sister Deb and I talked a lot about how thankful we were that our mom began this tradition of going to the Boundary Waters/Quetico.  She had to be almost 50 when she started going in, and she proceeded to make trips for 20+ years.  I believe she was 71 when she made her last trip in.  Molly, Nina and I were privileged to take two trips in with her.  She taught us so much about how to thrive in the wilderness - how to eat well and pack light.  Because of my mom's adventurous spirit, Molly has now been into the Boundary Waters/Quetico FIVE times.  She was only nine when she went for the first time, and even then she was portaging Duluth packs. Now she can portage a canoe like a pro.

I am hoping this is a tradition that will continue for many, many years!

Home

Three tents, three hammocks

Lots of trees and rocks

And you should see their muscles now after the trip!

Free water massage

Looking down on our campsite - we're at the cleared spot across the bay

A little rock jumping after lunch

Our view every night

The happy campers waiting for our tow

And Away We Go

We head out early tomorrow morning for our little adventure in the Boundary Waters. 

Very much looking forward to getting away from the civilized world and resting my heart and mind.

We'll be out of touch until Monday evening.

So long.
Farewell.

Bears, Backs, and Bad Weather

These are a few of my least favorite things...

Well, not always.

Just when I'm going into the Boundary Waters.

We leave for the Quetico a week from today.  I can't wait to get away from civilization and relax, but one of the problems with getting away from civilization is that you are away from civilization.

That brings us to the above list. 

Bears.  I am afraid of bears.  Not so afraid that I won't go camp in their habitat, but afraid enough that I will volunteer to sleep in the middle of the tent, as I'm sure the bears will go for my friends on the outside walls....sorry, ladies, self-preservation is a strong feeling in me!  And while Molly and my sister may be sleeping out in the hammocks at night, there is NO WAY you'd catch me out there!

Backs. I am actually in favor of backs.  They are very helpful when portaging packs and canoes....provided that they are working properly....which mine is not currently. I have seven days to get my back in a condition where it can support me and a 48 pound canoe...at the same time...in an upright position...over a rocky, hilly portage...Currently, I celebrated because I could hoist my left leg into the car without using my hands to lift it up when I went to the store this morning.  Yay for progress!  It's going to have to come in miracle proportions in the next seven days!  I don't think the six other people are going to want to portage me!

Last, but not least, bad weather.  I am a big fan of bad weather when I'm safely at home.  I love watching the trees bend, the lightning...I love it.  Not such a big fan of it when: a) you have no way to get advanced warning (i.e., no radio or sirens), b) you have no place to hide from it and c) you are surrounded by lots and lots of trees just waiting to topple onto your tent.  If you think I exaggerate, you can read about the Boundary Waters Blowdown that occurred in 1999.  While that happened 15 years ago, just last week a storm trapped several campers underneath trees, and they needed to be rescued...which up there is challenging, as you need to either be portaged out or get to a lake big enough to land a float plane on.  Let's just say, "help is on the way" means "help is paddling in to find you after you send someone out to let them know you are in trouble."

Like I said, I can't wait for our trip!!!!!  Really, I can't! But you can bet I'm praying that my back heals and that the weather is peaceful while we're there.  I don't pray about the bears....

What The.....?

We just got back from our most lovely vacation to Michigan.  The weather was great, and aside from the biting flies and one particularly mosquito infested hike, it was a grand experience.  We started out in the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula, and then trekked down to a state park near Mackinaw City.

The aforementioned state park, Wilderness by name, was a very unique experience.  First off, it is on the shore of Lake Michigan, which is very sandy and Caribbean-blue.  I actually named the area the Caribbean of the Midwest.

Now I've been camping for 46 of my 48 years of life.  I've been to many, many different types of campgrounds - state parks, national parks, private campgrounds, KOAs, Jellystone...you name it, I've camped in something like it.

The campsites on the lake-side of this park were very crowded which, in and of itself, is not that unusual.  The weirdness about this particular park was that almost everyone else seemed to know each other.  I felt like we were walking into some great big family reunion!  Literally, there were campsites with ten tables set up all together.  People would be walking down the street to a neighboring campsite with their beer in one hand and dinner in the other, and they would all hang out together.  It was a little bizarre.

That wasn't the weirdest part though.  Next on the weird list were the refrigerators!  Yes, refrigerators. Not like you have a fridge in your RV. NO!  As in you are camping in a tent and you bring along two large dorm-sized refrigerators. And it wasn't just one group that did that.  Probably half of the campsites had fridges!  "Okay honey, let's pack up the sleeping bags, tent and fridge!"  Who does that??

Anyway, that was weird, but the weirdest part, by far, were the large rugs people had outside their tents or campers.  We're talking 14' x 20' rugs...Persian rugs....living room sized rugs!  I have NEVER seen people have full sized 20' x 20' rugs in a campground.....until now!  Now, as I said, it was a sandy place, so I can certainly see a nice door mat outside your camper/tent to keep the sand out, but this....I just don't get it!?

Anyway, enough about weirdness.  Here are a few of the 300+ pictures from the week...

 We spent a lot of time doing this...

And looking at things like this...

Saw a few of these as well...

And a lot of these...

We did a little of this in Lake Superior, and a lot more of it in Lake Michigan...

We spent a few hours doing this around Mackinac Island....

 And then we saw lots of these...

We spent a lot of time doing this, which looks incredibly like hiking, but is really "Going exploring" (a much more palatable term to certain children)

 And we spent a LOT of time looking at this...

The only thing that could have made it better is if Evan, Erin, Nina & Molly were along with us. 

And Everyone's Off..

Said good-bye to these lovelies yesterday, and they have safely made it Northern Ireland (at least that's what flight tracker told me at 2:30 am).

Now, it's time for the rest of us to depart.  We're off to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a week of camping and fun!

I am sure I will have plenty of photos and stories to share once we arrive back home!  Have a great week, folks!!

I'm Freaking Out

GAHHHHHHHHHHH!

There. Now I feel better....kind of....

This coming week is going to be...intense.

Nina & Molly leave for Northern Ireland on Thursday...for two weeks.  It was hard enough last year when Molly left, and now I have to let go of two of my daughters.  I'm not sure I'm okay with this.  Actually, I AM okay with it, but it will be hard on my mama-heart.

Please pray for them (and me) while they're gone (July 17-31).  Btw, for local folks, the Northern Ireland team is being commissioned at the downtown campus tomorrow (7/13) at 9:00 and at the north campus at 11:00, stop by if you are able to.

Then on Friday, we leave for vacation.  We'll be camping in the Upper Peninsula.  It should be a blast (and it will help time to go by faster while I'm missing my girls), but camping trips require planning and preparation, some things that I am sorely neglecting right now! 

To top it off, our Quetico canoe trip will quickly follow the girls return from Ireland.  That requires even MORE planning and preparation....HEEEELLLLLPPPP.  I think I'm going to have a meltdown!

It's Our Turn

If you've been around this blog long enough, you know that every other year we take a girls-only canoe trip.  We didn't go last year, so that means this year is our turn.

Why a girls-only trip, you might ask?  Well, that's a tradition started by my mom many years ago. She began going on girls-only trips when she was about my age, and continued doing that for about 20 years (I think she was 72 years old the last time she went in...and truth be told, if her hips/knees were in better condition, she'd still be going in).  She brought me along a couple times, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyway, there are a few advantages to not having any guys with.

In answer to the question, first, lots of girl time!  Second, if we brought guys along they would do a lot of the hard work (think portaging canoes and the food pack). Now, I enjoy being pampered as well as the next girl, but sometimes you just want to prove to yourself that "you can do it."  On our trips, ain't nobody going to carry that canoe for you!  If the wind is blowing whitecaps on a lake, you're the only ones who are going to get the canoe across it and make camp. Oh, the aching muscles and that satisfied feeling of "I did that!"

The past two trips (2010 & 2012) we stayed on the Minnesota side of things, but this year we are going into the Quetico which is in Canada.

You might ask, what's the difference?  Well, there is really only one that matters - bathrooms.....there are none.  Not an outhouse, not a box in the woods, nada.  A small shovel is highly recommended for this trip!

Aside from the minor inconvenience of no biffy, the benefits of the Quetico are: 1) You can camp ANYWHERE. You don't need to stay at a campsite, unlike on the Minnesota side, provided you can find a flat area large enough to pitch a couple tents, 2) While the Boundary Waters is remote wilderness camping, the Quetico is even more remote and more wilderness, 3) Fewer people, as in you may go days without seeing another human being, aside from your camping group who may or may not resemble human beings by the end of the trip.

I am so excited to go!

Here's a taste of our past two trips, put to a most amazing song...

Re-living My Childhood

I went camping this weekend.  Most of my family had other commitments, but Emily, Raelea, Zoe and I met up with my sister, Deb, and her family at William O'Brien State Park.  We camped a LOT when I was a kid, and one of our favorite campgrounds in Minnesota was O'Brien State Park.  We went there many, many times while I was growing up.

It was so fun to spend the weekend there again!  The weather was only so-so (rain on Saturday), but we had a fun time hiking, playing, eating and generally being strange.  Mom and Dad also came out to join us for lunch and a hike on Sunday.  So much fun!!

Deb modeling the latest in rain poncho fashion

The kids looked like a bunch of colorful ghosts.

The kids made dream catchers with the rangers at the park.

The sun came out today, and Raelea couldn't wait to climb down by the water.

 

 

Zoe & Max having a little bonding time.

The leaves are just starting to change along the St. Croix

Happy hikers

What?  You mean you DON"T let your girls throw tomahawks? 

 

Had a really great weekend and can't wait to go again with more of my family!

Memories Made

So.....many....emotions!

I'm home.  Back from that little festival I went to.  After an amazing weekend, great music, precious little sleep and 12 hours in the car, I'm a little emotional.

Instead of a weepy, reminiscing post I will sum up the weekend in some short phrases or words - each one has a story (stories) behind it, each one carries a precious memory of my time in Guthrie...OH!  now I've done it, I'm crying....

Okay...

Here's the list...

1. Sisters of the Road (Oh, man, I'm crying again!)
2. Hugs!
3. Ivan
4. HOT
5. Graffiti
6. Dust
7. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
8. Wal-mart
9. Bastille
10. Rythm of the Night
11. Walking
12. 5:00 AM
13. Ice
14. Security Guards
15. WATER!
16. The Vaccines
17. "We love you!"  **usually said to #14 because of #13 and #15
18. Adam
19. Kansas
20. Half Moon Run
21. Lucy
22. Hair freedom
23. Tattoo
24. "If you close your eyes...."
25. God
26. Spring
27. Barrier
28. Drum stick
29. Mumford & Mums
30. Sunscreen
31. Sweat

I'll stop now. Feel free to ask for the story behind any of those, if you're interested.  I'd be happy to share memories with those that are interested.  For now, a few pictures...

FINALLY, I got to hug some of my Sisters of the Road!!  Notice the intensely happy face!

Graffiti was encouraged, so we obliged (thanks to Ben for the fine artwork!)

More SOTR arrived the next day!

Molly & Ben doing the festival thing in Guthrie.

Sunrise at the queue.

Waiting for gates

Barrier spot secured.  LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG wait in the heat.  Ice in a bottle is a glorious gift!

Notice how much happier they look now that the sun has set!!!  It's almost Mumford time!!

As I've said before, it doesn't matter if there are 100 people or 30,000 people at the concert if they're all behind you!  And yes, there were 30,000 people there.

Just about the only decent picture I got of M & S.  I'm lousy at taking concert pictures and I would MUCH rather just enjoy the show.  And enjoy it I did...thoroughly...even though I had just seen them three days prior...and no I am not obsessed....okay, maybe just a little bit....

Oh, one last thing....

it's mine now :-D

Well, He's No Help!

We're planning our week long trip to Colorado and working on supplying our new camper.  The following conversation just took place -

Me (to Chris) - "How many bath towels do you think we should pack?"

Chris - "One....maybe two."


WHAT is he thinking?  Eight of us.....for eight days....and we're all going to share one bath towel?!

Guess I'm on my own here to pack this baby!

Fun Ahead

As if going to Colorado this summer wasn't going to be enough fun, now we get to go in this....

Definitely a step up from the 41 year old pop-up that we have been using.  (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that pop-up because it embodies my childhood camping experience, but we can all sleep in this.)

Now if we had a place to store it besides our driveway!

Good To Know

Yay!!  We're actually going on a family vacation this summer!  We missed out last summer, due to poor planning on my part.  These things must be planned in advance, and "in advance" is not always my strong suit.

Anyway, we now are set to go to Colorado for a week this summer.  I haven't been there in...hmm...something like thirty years, so this will be fun.  I love the mountains.  Not as much as I love the ocean, but close.    We'll be spending part of our time there in Rocky Mountain National Park, so I thought I should do a little reading on the park.

Being safety conscious, I decided to see what were the dangers in the park.  Here's are the things they tell me I should be concerned about:

• -Burned areas, falling trees
• -Mountain weather, hypothermia, snow and ice fields (not too big of concern in July)
• -High elevation, mountain climbing
• -Lightning
• -Wildfires
• -Wildlife - lions and tigers and bears...well, not the tigers
• -Streams, lakes, waterfalls (we're from Minnesota, we have all those things here, too)
• -Avalanche (hmm, don't have these in Minnesota!)
• -Giardia (I drink unfiltered lake water in the BWCA, not overly concerned over this)
• -Plague

WHOA!  Wait just one minute?  Did I just read the plague?  As in the bubonic plague?  Why yes.  Yes, I did!  Well, this is just sounding like a really welcoming place, isn't it?  Turns out the plague is endemic to Rocky Mountain National Park.  Who knew?

But the list goes on...

• -Colorado Tick Fever
• -Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• -Hantavirus

Oh boy, hantavirus!  That sounds like a fun one too!  Actually, no one has gotten it in RMNP, but the deer mice there carry it.  Well, I guess this means we won't be kissing any rodents on our vacation!

I'm sure we'll have a great time....if we make it back alive.....

Only The Necessities

When camping, it's important to only bring the necessities!



Well, how else do you expect me to keep you all informed of the comings and the goings in the town??

One can never bring too many cameras either, don't you think?

Hmm, I guess I'll need a tent and sleeping bag as well....

Second Choice

We were supposed to start our week-long vacation to the Black Hills this past week, but then children got jobs and football try-outs got scheduled...and our week-long vacation went down the tubes :-(

But, alas, there were other options!  So instead of a week-long camping trip, we opted for a weekend trip to a Minnesota State Park with the subset of the children who were available.  Aside from a scary storm on Friday night, we had a great time exploring Nerstrand Big Woods and we have the pictures to prove it.

Marcus trying to start a fire without matches.  Didn't go to well :-)

Going camping in our family ALWAYS involves taking a hike!  Thankfully there were NO mosquitoes, as in NONE!  Beautiful place to hike, btw.

Hiking also requires the mandatory picture of the kids.

While I was snug in my sleeping bag last night, Chris & Aidan took a dark and scary hike to the waterfall to take cool nighttime pictures of the falls.  

Swinging was on the agenda today.

As was a long jump competition.

And another visit to the falls during daylight hours.

We came home tired and smelly, but we had a great time.  After being away from home three weekends in a row, I am prepared to stay home next weekend......and then it's off to Dixon :-)