We camped at a place with WATER. This is a big deal. It is such a big deal, that one family rented a canoe so we could enjoy the water even more. Altogether, we were a group of six adults and nine kids, a good size! We enjoyed kite flying, fishing, canoeing, hiking, swimming and eating. We also had our own little meeting Sunday am which included some nice thoughts from all the kids. The biggest problem was the teeny flies, and we all got bites that have lasted a couple of weeks... no one is quite sure what gave us those, since there were no mosquitoes. All in all, a bunch of fun!
A few fun photos from the trip....
On our way to the campsite, they crash like a bunch of puppies.
Hmmmm, maybe we are packed in there kinda tight.
A quick view of the scenery on the way....
Out on the point, everyone engages in their activity of choice. Some fly kites, some fish and some untangle line and retie lures.
Lucas works on his casting form.
Sorry.
Neither mom nor pop fish, so he's on his own!
So many cute shots of this sweetie! She's flying a kite with her other hand. The kite flew away a bit later, and went into the lake and drowned.
Nathan brings out the big canoe, and many hands are willing to help carry it to the water! Everybody got a turn to ride in it, because Nathan was giving lots of rides that day!
My camera died right around this time, but I do have one story to tell.
Towards evening, after Nathan was done giving the kids rides in the canoe, he took Shane and I and we set out to paddle to a small island not too far out in the lake. The wind was against us, the waves were rough and we did ship a little water. But no matter! Canoeing is great fun, and ripe for jokes about marriage therapy and the like. Plus the wind would blow us back, so the hard work was dandy. An adventure! We got to the little island, checked out the old nests, bird mess and scripture written with rocks on the beach, then turned our heads for home. Well, being the excellent sea-people that we are, we paddled that bad boy and skimmmmmmmed across the water! Visions of a triumphant arrival flitted through our mind, and we knew too, that supper was on the barbie. After a bit, we start scouting the shore for our campground (there are three different ones). Turns out, after much discombobulation, we had gone WAY past our campground. So we had to turn the canoe around and paddle back, but now we are going into the wind again. We were so tired that at times we actually watched ourselves lose ground. Things were getting desperate, because we hardly had the energy to stick the paddle in the water and pretend to stroke. No one came to rescue us, and the wind didn't give us a break. But we toughed it out and then lugged the darn thing back up to camp with the help of Carrie, who was starting to worry about us. We sank into camp chairs while the cooks shoved huge helpings of salmon, couscous and steamed veggies into our hands. We slept that night like tiny infants, and I'm guessing Nathan slept best of all, since he had previously taken three trips out already that day!
We had a really good time, and we are going to miss Dalrymples when they move away!
So great. I love the imagery in your story! Very well written:) Glad you had fun. It looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteDid we really do all those things you said? No wonder we were so exhausted at the end! It was a great trip--a wonderful memory to take with us as we move on to a new state. We will miss the Staffords, too. The few years we've spent with you all as our friends have been a highlight.
ReplyDeleteI know, it was so exhausting, right? And your family had already hiked miles and miles that day before we got to camp! WOW! And it was so fun, too. I'm glad we got to make that memory, also, because we are going to be so sad without you guys! =( But you made a spot in our hearts that won't fade, even if we have to go a lot longer between visits! =)
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