Usually I like to get up early on these trips and take in the sunrise. On this voyage, for whatever reason, I have been blissfully late in rising. Today was our last day and I forced my eyes open at dawn and pulled my uncooperative body out of the warm soft sleeping bag so I could convene with the sun. The initial show was nice but clouds soon moved in dulling the color and spectacle. I walked around trying to get some good photos and then did a little fishing. No luck. After a while I slipped back into my sleeping bag and was soon back asleep, glad for the time I took.

A couple hours later everyone was up and oatmeal was cooking on the stove. Sleeping bags were stuffed into their sacks, pads were deflated and the tent came down for the last time. By now we loaded the canoes by memory. Everything had it's place and we were are comfortable with how it sat.

The paddle back to the parking lot was long. In my boat the kids did not want to paddle and I was left to propel a 20 foot boat upstream against the wind on my own. Luckily my Northshore performed great and despite the constant effort required to keep positive momentum, we made it back gracefully. The kids were already talking about next year's trip before even stepping out on land.

Back in civilization I found that my brother had stashed a couple Pepsis in the car. Even though they were pretty warm, I have to admit it tasted good. It was a quiet ride home with the kids watching DVDs in the back. We stopped at a nice cafe in Orr for burgers and then made it home back to Minneapolis just after dusk.