We took a fishing/camping trip up to the Canadian border over Labor Day and had a great time, despite coming home with ZERO fish! We had expectations of returning with our family limit of 24 walleye, but caught nothing worth keeping. But even with the fishing frustration, we had a great time camping. The last time we camped like this (tent, no electricity or running water) was when Rylan was 4 months old. And I wouldn't have to do it again - I like my bed, my Keurig, and no bugs - BUT, the kids had so much fun that we plan to go again next summer. Here are all the photos of our trip.
Making pizza sandwiches over the fire.
A toast on our first night! They thought it was pretty cool to have cream soda and ginger ale in glass bottles!
Our tent - we were shoulder to shoulder, but a bigger tent wouldn't have fit on the raised platform anyway.
Our lake view - pretty awesome!
Breakfast in the dutch oven
Making coffee on the first morning. I wrapped coffee grounds in filters and used it like a tea bag - worked great! Thankfully too, because instant coffee is nasty!
This dead stump was right in the middle of our campsite, the kids played on it constantly.
The pups. Look at our old man Ace, he really is getting gray. Poor Dutch was nervous the first night, he barked and whined off and on during the night. They were both in their kennels outside, so I'm sure he didn't know what to think. Every time he would start barking it freaked us out, wondering if there was a bear nearby, but then as long as we didn't also hear Ace bark, we knew it was nothing.
Hot dogs and crescent rolls on a stick!
Wondering about the bathroom? Right behind Mackenzie and the picnic tables in this picture was a little trail that led down around a big rock and there was our privy. I didn't say outhouse because there was no house. Just a raised seat over a hole. I meant to take a picture of the view of the lake from it, because it was actually quite nice. But if someone was fishing close by, they'd see it all! We actually didn't use it much, Mackenzie was thrilled to master the art of squatting. She's been trying to practice those skills in our yard, but I've caught her every time and made her go inside. I love that she's so mothering when she plays with her babies and she loves princesses, but she's also such a rough and tumble girl who loves to get dirty!
Going for a hike, exploring our island. Our campsite was on an island so we had to get there by boat. I just wish bears couldn't swim, then I could have slept a little easier. But we never saw any. I'm sure our noisy dogs helped keep any wildlife away. We were prepared though, you can see the bear spray hanging on Nick's side.
One day is was really nice and the kids swam across our little bay. The water was still pretty chilly, but they both made it! (with life jackets of course)
This was the biggest fish we caught - a bass that was not worth keeping. Oh well, at least we actually caught a few. It would have been much more discouraging if we hadn't gotten any bites!
While casting for bass, a deer came right down to the water for a drink. We were only about 20 yards away in the boat - she didn't seem bothered by us at all.
In face, she even stuck her tongue out at us!
The last morning. We had planned to stay an extra day, but this particular morning was chilly, windy and forecast to be rainy all day, so after breakfast we packed up and headed home. We didn't really want to spend the entire day in the tent if it was raining.
Thank goodness for bear lockers! We were careful not to drop any food or throw anything in the woods. Everything got packed in these lockers so bears wouldn't be able to get into it. If they start finding food at campsites, then they'll always come back.
Ace patiently waiting, hoping to get some bacon.
Dutchy loves his tummy scratched, even with a foot!
Playing fetch in the lake.
Here's our boat all loaded up! I wasn't thinking we would be able to fit everything in the boat and only make one trip, but it all fit easily. We ended up bringing too many clothes and too much food. Although, we had planned to stay an extra day, so maybe we would have needed it? Probably not the clothes, I think we all only changed clothes once and we slept in our skivvies, so an outfit for each day was not necessary.
