Saturday, July 25, 2015

We started the day out a little lazy, not getting our Bible study until about 8am. We packed some of our stuff and decided it was going to be a beautiful day. I decided to attempt a kayak trip. Hannah decided to go with me. The plan was to meet at Hamburger Island for hamburgers of course! After packing up and loading our kayaks, we headed out. It got pretty windy and there were even some whitecaps. We cut over to Eagle Island hoping for a break and then cut over to mainland. We took a break in one of the bays near the south end of the tip.

There was a very small beach there where Hannah got out for a couple minutes. When we were turnign the corner the float boat showed up with Scott driving and Nana and Grandpa riding in the back. 

They stalked us for a couple minutes and then headed on. We paddled to Camp Island and the wind pulled us all the way through the passage way between Boat and Camp. The side I was on was only about a foot deep in some parts. Over on Hannah's side it was about three feet. When we came out of there we spotted the boat. Nana was driving and Scott and Grandpa were fishing. They caught a perch and two small walleye. Hannah and I contined on to find Hamburger Island. Hannah found a bird on another island and got hung up on the rocks. She had to get out and balance on a tiny rock to get out.

 When we finally got to Hamburger Island we realized it would be hard to get onto land because of the low water level on Eagle Lake. We noticed that they had docked the boat on Boat Island so we paddled to them. We had planned to quit and got out on the little beach, where I got a leech between my toes, Scott had to save me and pull it out. He again threw it right where we were standing! Hannah and I yelled at him so he picked it up and threw it the other direction. Nana decided she wanted to kayak so she traded with Hannah. We decided to eat on Connaught Point instead sooo Nana and I paddled back through Camp and Boat Islands off Old Testament Connaught Point. It was about another mile and I was very tired. The guys on the boat saw a snake in the lake so we didn't go over by that bay.

When we reached the beach we started the hamburgers but were rushing because it looked like rain was coming in. We had hamburgers (without ketchup) and green beens (weird). It was delicious. We loaded up the kayaks and headed home through Canoe Narrows. 

When we got home, Hannah and I paddled over to our neighbor's beach to take out the kayak's. After we got them loaded and back to the cabin it started to rain. I told Scott not to bother moving the clothes off the line because it was an isolated shower. We started packing the truck and it rained again :) Scott did not appreciate my forecasting abilities. After about three loads to the truck I looked across the lake. It was raining so hard you couldn't see passed Sunset. Just as that rain was hitting our beach Ron and Dee showed up. It poured!!!! LIke I've never seen it rain before. Scott said it even sleeted and hailed some. We all had ice cream and played Shang Hai Rummy until after 9pm. I guess we'll have to pack again in the morning. Good thing we didn't plan on leaving early. 

Wednesday, July 21, 2015

Today we took a trip to Buzzard Falls. It was a lot of fun. We took the fishing boat. Hannah helped Grandpa follow the Garmen while I tracked the route on Hannah's map. Scott and Hannah counted over thirty loons on the round trip.

It was a lot of fun. It was about thirty miles away and took us about 45 minutes. We didn't go much over 30 mph because we were over weight on the boat and didn't know where the rocks and reefs were.

The water was unbelievably clear and beautiful. We hiked to the top and saw Buzzard Lake which was even clearer than Eagle Lake.

Then we hiked along the side of the falls. It was beautiful. We took lots of pictures and ate blueberries along the way.

On the way back we found Hannah's baby loon family that she had seen in June. Grandpa took us over to take pictures.

One little baby went under and we all got really worried because he didn't come up for a LONG time. Even his mom and dad got really scared. They kept sticking their heads under looking for him. 

When we got back it was time for our fishfry. Hannah and I hopped in kayaks and worked our way over to breakfast rock. We stalked kingfishers, eagles, and bluejays.

Everyone else joined us on Breakfast Rock and we had a good dinner. The pan caught on fire and the second batch of fish got dropped but it was fun anyway! :)

Hannah and I had quite an adventure heading back especially our special exploration on the small island across from Breakfast Rock. We disembarked and I got a leech in the boat when I got back in and Hannah and I both saw a fish in the water. 

Friday, July 17, 2015

We woke up to Mom and Dad setting up a clothesline in the shop because the clothes on the line were on about the fourth washing between rain showers. We helped them finish hanging and had breakfast and did our Bible study. After that we headed out fishing. We were expecting more rain and storms so we thought we would end up at Three Towers. The open area was so rough that Dad went around the island the other way. Then the weather ended up being really nice. The sun was out but there was a really nice breeze. We didn't catch anything but a small perch (Scott) so we decided to troll along Canoe Island heading for Boat Island. Luckily Nana and I had packed a bunch of snacks because we ended up staying out after lunch time. I caught a little northernn on the edge of Canoe Island.

We had some slap stick moments like when Scott wrapped his line around the motor that wasn't even running, I hooked Dad's spoon. Scott's and my lures stuck together in the boat. One of my lures stuck to a rock and snapped the line. Mom lost a lure caught in the weeds. 

When we were trolling around the first tip of Boat Island Dad said there's a snake! Don't you see it? It's right in front of you! Nana and I who were in the back of the boat didn't see it (which didn't bother me at all)! So we kept trolling. All of the sudden Nana screamed and jumped out of her seat. I looked down and there was a little black snack with an orange stripe crawling around the edge of the boat - right where she had been sitting!  I ran to the front of the boat and reeled in as fast as I could. Then Scott went to the back of the boat to try to remove it but slid under the motor. He and Mom searched for it but couldn't find it so they were sure it had jumped off. I was sure it hadn't. I was pretty sure it was going to crawl back up to the front where I was standing! Then suddenly Scott found it again on the motor. He took his floating pliers and tried to grab it without much luck. Finally with Mom's help he flicked it into the water and it swam towards shore. 

By that time we were all tired and the trolling motor was out of juice so we ran over to Connaught Point to see how much of the beach was showing and headed home. We had ice cream and took naps (except Scott) he started digging the trench. I woke up from nap dizzy and in major pain. The side of my neck and jaw were swollen and my injury whatever it is really hurt.

Scott and Dad dug and covered the electric line from the shop to the front of the cabin and grilled burgers. We had dinner and then went down for baths. Mom and I swam halfway to the island and then I kayaked around Paradise. When we got back I showed mom some smash journalling stuff and we printed three pictures. Then we looked at the pictures on my ipad and watched the snake movie which only showed the head of the snake for a very short time. :) But the commentary was funny. We all went to bed around nine. 

Thursday, July 16, 2015

We did our Bible study and were going to head to Viking but it looked like rain. Instead we cleaned the shop utility room and Bernie came by. He said we could leave the light but the trench was not okay. He brought us the report from inspector to prove it. Dad had to make covers for the wires in the shop, too.  Scott undug the trench and then started to dig it deeper. I went down and worked on the beach. It was so humid, I was dripping sweat. Then Scott and I went for a quick cool off while Grandpa grilled chicken for lunch. We had chicken with salads for lunch. Then G and N headed down to take a nap on the float boat. They were down there for a few minutes when it started to pour. That was around 1:30pm and it's 6pm now - it hasn't stopped. Last check we were at eight-tenths of an inch.

We played three hands of Shanghai Rummy before Grandpa quit and demanded dinner. Nana fixed them both soup. After that I goaded Nana and Scott to go kayaking with me in the rain. It was fun. Nana went about halfway to Paradise and Scott and I went around Sunset. The rain stopped about halfway on the trip. 

When we got back it was almost 8pm. We all went to bed besides Nana. She was lonely. :(

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

We did our Bible study once everyone was up and then headed for Dryden because it looked like rain. It never really rained. They dropped Scott and I off at the library so we could take care of some internet things. I needed to check on my Clash of the clans :) and make contact with Lou. After that we went to Canadian Tire and Nana and Scott picked out the wrong color of stain for the cabin while G and I walked around and found great deals. Then we had lunch at Subway. We stopped at the boat shop and looked at a couple of campers. Then we spent an hour in Walmart buying groceries. We headed home with our vanilla ice cream cones from Walmart.

After we put the groceries away everyone else took notes so I went down to the floatboat to read but I fell asleep too. I woke up to the sound of G emptying the bilge on the fishing boat. Next, Grandpa, Nana, and I kayaked for about an hour. We went on the bay passed Bear Trail. I paddled all the way to the stone wall at Cedar Point, then I headed out a ways and doubled back to catch up with Mom and Dad who had headed back. On the way back, we checked out a couple bouys that we didn't remember being there. 

When we got back we swam while Grandpa went a cleaning spree. He shined the double kayak and now Nana is not allowed in it. He cleaned up a bunch of his poles out of the boat and even put a way a couple lures. 

After leftovers and salads we settled in and watched John Wayne's The Alamo. That kept us up way after our bedtime. We didn't get to bed until almost 9:30pm. 

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

I was very grumpy when I walked in the cabin and they were doing a Bible study without me!! I had not slept well and was staying in bed out of sheer pain and no one even came to check on me. :( We did our Bible study and prayed then Bernie showed up to do the electric. Scott and Dad continued to bury the electric line. They dug it exactly 18 inches with appropriate red tape. Then they exploded water out of the well-house and moved the water line over the electric. Meanwhile, Nana and I shaved our legs then I worked on weeding the beach. I will probably regret it later... Grandpa came down with the weed-eater and chopped off a lot of that grass. Then we had chili for lunch but we had to microwave it because Bernie turned off our crockpot.

Then N & G took nap while Scott and I headed out on a kayak excursion. It was marvelous!! While I was waiting for Scott I tried to stalk the turtle I kept seeing. Then a loon popped up so I decided to stalk him instead. He headed toward the little island in front of Bear Trail. When he went under I paddled toward where he last was.  When he came up I would stop paddle and take pictures of him. We headed toward the leeward side of Paradise Island. We stopped at the beach so Scott could rest. I took pictures of him, butterflies and a bird - I think was a kingfisher. The we headed over to Eagle Island. There were at LEAST ten eagles. It was a blast taking pictures. There were a bunch of magpies but I didn't get a picture of them. When we got around Scott climbed out on a cool rock. Then around the corner I saw three mergansers, I was distracted by them and almost missed an old guy in the tree. I got a great picture of the bald eagle because I was pretty much right below him in my kayak. Then we chased the mergansers on our way back to Paradise Island but they flew away. On the windward side of Paradise I found my loon buddy who lets me get really, really close. After getting a bunch of pictures of him I saw N & G heading back toward the dock in their double kayak so I whistled and they headed back. Amazingly that did not scare Mr. Loony. When they got close they pointed toward the bay. There was a young doe eating in the water. I paddled really close to her. Only paddling when she was eating and then stopping when she looked up. I got some fun pictures. We all headed back and then went for a swim. Scott, Nana and I swam about half way to the island today. Then Nana and I took our baths. 

A little while later after eating some leftovers and getting minnows we headed out to Three Towers. We did not even get a bite, then we headed to Pufahl's Rock. Scott caught perch and Dad caught a very small walleye. Next we went out to the Back Channel. I decided to fish for the first time this year and went for a minnow only to find the bucket completely missing. I asked Scott where they were and he pointed to an empty spot. He had thrown them in the lake without tying them to the boat. We looked back and saw the minnows bobbing about 50 feet back. Dad asked the other boat if they needed some minnows and not one of them even cracked a smile. But after they caught a couple humongous walleye we had to listen to the same five guys cuss using the f word for hours. We did not have one bite but we did get the radio to work. We listened to one station we get to tune in but it was still better then their conversation. On the way home, we made one fisherman angry because we crossed in his casting zone. Then another sped past with a 300 horse motor - show off! When we get back there was this: 

The good thing was that we did not have to fillet fish in the mosquito ridden lake. Nana forced Scott and I to play Euchre. She won but every time she dealt she had a Bauer.  Now I'm going to bed... Scott actually gets to sleep in my room tonight because we have electricity. It will test evening to see if he can stay there the rest of the trip. 

Monday, July 13, 2015

I went into the cabin around 7am and Nana and Grandpa were eating breakfast on the porch, Scott was still asleep. He had stayed up late reading since I wasn't there to yell at him to turn off the lights. My neck was down to bearable pain. After our Bible study, I made chili for Tuesday and my lunch and Nana fixed fish for everyone else. After an early lunch, somehow we all ended up taking naps again. After the nap we decided to try kayaking. Nana and Grandpa took the double and I took mine. The pain was pretty tolerable so we went around the island. We saw an eagle, a golden-eye with about five babies, a merganser with nine babies, a loon, and deer tracks on the beach. There is at least one baby there because the beach was plastered with tiny tracks. 

When we got back we checked out McCarty's (Jeff's) boathouse to see what work Ron Don had done. It was looking better. We looked back and saw Scott was behind us. I paddled back out to see him. Nana decided we should take care of the surprise in the garage so we took the float boat out to Paradise Island. Grandpa was sad we didn't take our poles so we headed back to make quick sandwiches and get our poles. We took it out to Three Towers where Nana caught a perch almost immediately. I spotted a deer on the island and took some pictures. Instead of fishing I was the support team. I spent most of my time fixing Nana's rod, but I also took her perch off the hook for her, fed everyone and even took care of the anchor. It was starting to look a little dark and we heard some thunder so I was watching for lightening. After we had been out there for about forty minutes I saw lightening by the towers. We decided we better get in. It started to sprinkle on our way in and I evidently lost the tie rope when I was fixing the anchor. By the time we got everything all set up the rain had stopped and we had seen/heard any more lightening. SO we all took our baths and Nana and I swam a short distance.

Back at the cabin we had ice cream and popcorn and looked at all the pictures on both Nana and Grandpa's phone. It was a lovely hour of narration as they explained each of their pictures. Grandpa went to bed and I tried to but Nana and Scott made me play cards. I played one came of three-handed euchre. Bob called while we were playing and said he couldn't leave until at least Friday after a dentist appointment because his root canal was having trouble. Ron and Dee were in Paxton and should be here on Friday. The earliest Bob and Sue could be here would be Sunday but it depends on what the doctor says. Grandpa and I saw a beaver swimming in front of the cabin. 

My neck was starting to really hurt again so I made my escape to my shop room with my three blankets, wool socks and have the sweatshirt ready.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Everyone got up and we did a Bible study. I laid around most of the morning trying to do something for the neck pain. Dad had some Epsom Lotion and it did help a little bit. I was able to at least get up and get dressed. 

Mom and Dad went for a walk, then Dad and Scott did some more digging. Now we are going on a scavenger hunt for postcards. We started in Vermillion Bay. It was lunchtime so we headed to Buster's since they were the only thing open except for two food trucks. There was a twenty minute wait because they were packed so Nana, Scott, and I walked over to Bobby's. We found postcards at the first place. It was $21 for 15 of them. Lunch was decent. Nana had chicken caesar salad, Grandpa a half rack of ribs, Scott a ruben and I had a philly steak. We stopped at Moose Creek for ice cream and headed home. It was supposed to rain but never seemed to happen so after an afternoon nap, Nana and Grandpa headed to Eagle River for $6 minnows. They were massive and we headed out to fish. We started at Three Towers and didn't have much luck so we went to the Back Channel. I took pictures of eagles while they fished and Grandpa talked to the other six boats that were there. He even ran into a farmer from Rantoul that he knew. Scott caught two slotters that we put back and Nana and Grandpa both got a 22 incher. We kept one for dinner. When we got back Grandpa was attacked by mosquitos while he tried to fillet the one fish. It was horrible. I took a bath and went to bed in the shop by myself. My neck couldn't take being in the other bedroom and Scott couldn't stay out here because there was no electricity for his cpap. It was very humid and they had every window open. I kept waking up because it was so cold in the shop room.  I ended up with three blankets, wool socks, and a long sleeve shirt before I was warm  enough. :)  I slept pretty decent and my neck pain was a little better.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

I woke up before everyone else so I did a Bible study. When everyone else got up and ate we did our lesson and prayed. I did my workout but had to improvise on the weights. I used a steel bar and a gallon jug filled with water. I started and ended the workout with 8 sets of steps each time. SO I did 17 sets of steps by the time I finished my workout. By the end of the day I was up in the twenties. :( My neck was really hurting but I helped Scott cover the hole that he and Grandpa had been digging to bury the electric line. Then I carried a bucket of beach slop up the stairs to "mulch" the front yard. And I saw a weasel run the shoreline while I was working out. :)

After our morning work, Mom and Dad drove our truck over to Muse's so we could put our kayaks in. Scott and I had a nice paddle back to our dock. Then we ate lunch and rested up for a little while. Next, it was time to put the pontoon boat in. I was up in the boat handing stuff down to them (like an entire canoe), I'm pretty sure that's where I pulled my neck even worse. Then Dad wouldn't let me ride in the boat to Deer Trail until the branches almost ripped off the canopy then I got to get in. Once there after Rich filled up our gas cans, Dad and I got on the trailer to push the pontoon off while Scott and mom backed the truck. The water was pretty low and we were too far over so it was quite a chore. Scott and to keep backing up and Dad and I had to push, the problem was that I was in about a half of foot of muck. It was up over my ankle and my shoes kept coming off and I had to stop so I wouldn't lose them. We finally got it in but I was still pushing so missed the boat. :) I had to climb out of the muck rinse off my shoes and go meet him on the dock. We put the awning up on our way back. When we got back Scott showed up and informed us that the truck had gotten flooded. Nana's whole side was squishy. They had to shop vac it and leave the doors open hoping it would dry out. 

After another rest, Scott and I went down and glued my dry-well seal with silicon sealant. We also tried to fix the minnow bucket. It was a real pain, we had to put clothespins down to hold the seal on, by the time we were done we had used about thirty clothespins. I took a bath because then my neck was really starting to hurt. Dad swept out the pontoon boat and then he and Scott took off fishing. Mom and I played cards and dominoes and spied on boats with our binoculars. We saw a canoe with a motor. We also spied on a guy walking a really old dog through the camp. He caught us looking at him through the windows. :) We tried to be a little more discreet after that. I went to bed about 8:30 and the guys came back shortly after that. Dad had only caught a couple fish but they saw a moose swim from Boat Island to the Mainland. It was about a half mile a way so they couldn't see it supposedly others said there was a calf with her. :(

After Scott came to bed my neck pain became unbearable so I spent the night out on the couch awake most of the night. I have never had neck pain like this before. 

Friday, July 10, 2015

I got up just before 3:30am and started getting ready. Scott and I pulled out of the lane at 4:36. We were on our way. It was a really smooth quick trip. I drove to just north of Madison where we stopped to fill up while Scott napped. Then he drove to Minong while I napped. At Minong, we filled up, had burgers from A&W, and then checked out some campers at the RV place across the street.  We stopped in Hermantown and shopped at Gander Mountain. The only issue we had was about 15 miles outside of International Falls where we were at a complete standstill for about 20 minutes. We even got out of the truck and switched drivers. The border had no line and he only asked a couple questions before letting us through. We were at the cabin around 8pm.