We're not ready to grow up!!
by campnscrap
My alarm went off at 5:50 so I could take one last shower before heading out on our trip. Since Kendra and I shared the bathroom we made a schedule of who would shower when - everything needs to be planned well. Breakfast was a protein shake for me, and bagels and coffee for the other two girls. After that we packed up the gear in BW Joe and were on our way by 7:30 am - a little later than planned but still doing well for having such a late night. Trix was in the stern steering and Kendra in the bow (which is opposite of a traditional canoe). I was the navigator. We were excited and raring to go - Copia or Bust! We were on the loose, free of responsibilities and were looking forward to finding what the day would bring.
About two hours into our trip we needed to make a pit stop so we found a good spot, parked Joe, got out for a bit of a stretch and potty break. It was still so foggy and drizzly, but we made the best of it and kept on going. At this point Kendra and Trix switched - Kendra in stern and Trix in bow. Like I said, lots off bull skat and BWCA talk going on - we were chatter boxes - and found out that we all have so much in common. It’s amazing that one can find such good friend based on a website. Adam has really done a lot to bring us all together. Creating BWCA.com was brilliant!
All the way to Madison we saw a lot of road kill. This was beginning to make some of us hungry. We pulled off at a portage and had a sandwich at the BWCA Subway. There was a creepy old guy there that was staring at Kendra so we hid her behind a sign then Trix and I sat down. We told her that if he tried anything we’d kick his ass - he wouldn’t stand a chance against us three! At lunch we designated me as group leader because a decision needed to be made and I made it. We designated Kendra as photographer and me as journalist. We also saw a couple of kitty litter boxes that made Kendra excited but then bummed because none of them had a lid.
We arrived in Madison and were able to find a spot to park Joe where he’d be safe and the wind wouldn’t get to him. We grabbed our day packs, put on our permit wrist bands and went in our entry point - into the chaos. We got in and realized that we forgot our food for the food shelf so that we could get a bumper sticker. Kendra double portaged back to get the food - we wanted our stickers! And we got them - until Kendra LOST hers! OH NO! What were we to do? Again, she went to the entry point and was able to retrieve another one - she was just giddy. The sticker says: “I paddle wherever the voices in my head tell me to.”
We started off on a trail mission for Kendra to get information on kayaks as an incentive to borrow a Kevlar tandem canoe from a friend. She was also on a mission to find new life jackets for her kids. Trix was on a mission to find new Tevas and I was just along for the ride - to scope things out and if something jumped out at me and screamed “buy me! Buy me!” I was going to do just that.
As we came down one of the rows, we saw a group of burly guys that we recognized (the bwca.com gear helped too). Moose Plums, Mr. Barley, Cowdoc, Kiporby and his Little Angel, Butthead, and the three of us. Nine of us - just the limit for a group. We visited for quite a while and then realized we were clogging the portage and went our separate ways - said our farewells. We pestered and shamed Doc, Barley and Plums into going to the wing nut because they weren’t going to go. They just HAD to be there - at least for one drink - for just a short while. We’d have been heartbroken if they didn’t show up!
After we parted, somehow I, the group leader, got separated from my group. With no cell service or satellite phone on me I was on my own in the sea of people there. It was amazing one could even walk in there - so many people. Kendra and Trix were then on a reconnaissance mission to find me. Along the way they found an organic coffee stand that was selling some kind of special coffee for the BWCA. Trix was bummed that it didn’t have Baileys in it. We eventually reconnected. I found them by some life jackets - trying them on. Kendra was looking for some for her daughters. So, who ended up purchasing the jackets? Trix and I - we got matching ones - orange with lots of pockets and we won’t get lost at all on our Quetico trip with those on.
After having fun with our vests we found a canoe vendor camped out with a canoe couch. A canoe couch?! That just screamed Kodak moment. We sweet talked him into taking our picture - he did a pretty good job. Of course it helps when the subject(s) of the photo are so photogenic.
We wandered along the trails stopping now and then at different vendors. I sat in a hammock for the very first time. Not sure that I really liked it much - the poor college kid had to baby me as I was afraid I’d fall out. Silly me. As we wandered we stopped at Cache Lake booth and tried some of the things on sample there. They had a wild rice salad - I thought it was nasty. I do have to say that the frying pan bread was good. I didn’t purchase any though. We looked at Duluth Pack and had to stop at CCS. At CCS Kendra was trying to break the child labor laws by looking for work for her 13 year old so she could make more money and support her mom’s gear habit.
Trix was on her mission to find Teva’s and she did get a pair of hot pink sandals. Those are for fun, not for BWCA. She’s still on that search to find the perfect pair for the trail.
As we were walking the trail I spotted the Bungee Dealee Bob sign and that is one thing that I absolutely had to have. We stopped by and chatted with Old Scout - the Bungee Dealee Bob guy. What a cool guy - he even gave us girls bright banana whacker yellow “Have you seen BUNGEE DEALEE BOB?” buttons. We proudly wore those for the rest of the day - not taking them off until we went to bed. My BDB button is going on my life jacket right where fishing lures would go as I don’t fish.
Through out the day we ran into “the guys” or “those people”, as our families call them, on the trails. Several times we were portage cloggers and had to move out of the way. We met up with Nojobro who had her two girls with her - unfortunately we couldn’t walk with her long as her little one was done for the day and they left. However, we knew that we’d see her at the Wing Nut. We saw: Kiporby and his Little Angel, Mr. Barley, Moose Plums, Cowdoc, Butthead (that still sounds so wrong to say!), Jackfish, Solotrek and wife, Merganser, Izzy and wife, Winemaker and I think that’s it - there were so many people there. Way over the limit of people that should be paddling.
Finally we came upon one of our desired spots - Voyageur North outfitters. We stopped and talked to Lynn and John for quite a while. We all had questions for them on canoes, routes and planning. They were such a great help - we really appreciated it. I can’t wait to get back up there in July to meet them again.
The gang met, once again, at the Sea to Summit booth. Trix wanted to look at these new plates, bowls and cups they have that collapse and can be used as a cutting board. The salesman was quite the salesman - not from America. I being the nosy one had to ask. We learned where he’d been but then he told us “we’ve digressed…..” and continued on with his Bull Skat. I listened for a while, saw Plums and went to chat with our guys (once again) and left poor Kendra and Trix to deal with Barry the salesman from hell - he just wouldn’t give up. They finally disentangled themselves from his clutches and we moved on.
At one of the booths we saw some really cool bandanas. However, we refrained from purchasing them as we are waiting for the up-coming BWCA.com (HUGE HINT HINT Adam) bandanas. Our priorities and allegiance is with BWCA.com and we’re saving our money to be spent on a site that’s well worth it. We want ones that Adam will print.
“OMG!” one of us said, “there’s Smokey the Bear! We need to get a photo with him!” The canoe couch dude was enlisted as a photographer once again. We were so smoking’ hot that the smoke blurred the photo - I think we even made Smokey blush - though it was hard to tell through that thick fur.
As we were ready to leave the portage trails we got in line and thought it was going to take forever, but it actually didn’t. The line moved pretty fast. That is where we saw Winemaker and found out that he’d be attending the Wing Nut. We were told that Journeyman was there too, but we never saw him - that was disappointing. While waiting in the line Trix found a new license plate holder for Joe - “you’re following a paddler.”
After we paid our fees for packing out more than we packed in we suddenly had the brilliant idea of getting more photos. By this time it was after 5 p.m. and we knew that we’d be late for the wing nut. We ran around like crazy women to get fun photos. First stop - Kayaks!, second stop - teeny tiny tent!, third stop we had to go back to see Old Scout the BDB guy. He is such a great guy. He was game for a photo and then we decided to surprise him with a kiss on the cheek! That was the highlight of the evening. We moved on to get more photos and as we came down that portage trail again, we caught him showing all the vendors in neighboring sites our photo - he was so proud!
We were finally done with our photos and tried to exit. But, we had caused such a ruckus that the security guard stopped us at the door and cuffed us with our Bungee Dealee Bobs that we purchased - three crazy women on the loose! After a lot of sweet talking and using our womanly wiles, he was kind enough to let us go so we could get to Wing Nut.
Back into our boat we went and got our tow to the bunkhouse “Hotel Ruby Marie.” There we did a quick check in, changed into other clothes (hey, what can I say, we’re still girls), and headed over to Wing Nut. We knew that there would be a large crowd in Essen Haus so we sat, waiting for Moose Plums, Mr. Barley and Cowdoc to leave. We didn’t want to be campsite crashers - there were too many people at that site - heaven forbid we disobey the nine person rule!
We waited a bit and never did see them leave so we decided to crash the campsite. We were informed that we missed them by 20 minutes. By that time we were so disappointed that we had missed them that the tears were flowing. We had talked them, shamed them into going and then we missed them! What vile, wicked women we are, huh. We wanted to call them but no one had a contact number. Kendra obtained a phone book from our server and scoured in hopes of finding a number for Cowdoc. I used my phone to Yahoo! Chat with Jan asking if he had a phone number for either Barley or Plums. He said he didn’t, but I’m not so sure that I believed him - he probably just didn’t want to give it out without permission (sorry Jan for doubting you). Our greatest regret was missing those three guys at the Wing Nut, but getting those last photos at Copia was priceless!
The entertainment for the evening was SunCatcher. He was our choir leader and led us all (along with a couple other tables) in singing Bill Grogans Goat. The beer was flowing and good times were being had by all. Trix put peer pressure on herself to order “The Boot” - which all shared in. Then they shared a “Crock” with some college kids at the next table. There was a young man there as Trix was taking her drink that had his hand right on her ass - she called him on it and he denied it - silly boy. If he only knew, she could kick his ass. There was a lot of polka music and dancing. SunCatcher tried to get the band to play the Bill Grogans Goat, but they were Grumpy Old Men and didn’t want to indulge. Once they were done playing we had our own Choir.
SunCatcher had his own Huskers fan club with those college students - but Kendra turned his hat inside out to hide it because Winemaker was booing it - that was funny. He enlightened us with the speaker schedule and barked about “Mr. GQ in the Kilt.”
We visited with Journeyman about solo canoeing. He told us that it made him worried about us up there all alone. But what worried him wasn’t the wild animals, falls or tipping canoe, it was “the men” that go up there. We assured him that we were perfectly safe and capable of dealing with the situation. It was so sweet that he was that concerned about us.
Trix ordered a "Boot" and it was shared by all around the table!
As the evening grew late, our group thinned out to where we started with four tables we were down to three. The last man standing award goes to . . . . . MERGANSER! What a trooper putting up with us Queens of Fun. There was a lot of Bull Skat going on that night - by every single one of us. After a while Trixs niece showed up with a couple of friends. They had a nice long visit and Kendra talked to her niece’s boyfriend who actually works his summers in the BWCA at a kid’s camp - taking 10-12 yr olds on trips. He seemed like a really good kid. Trixs niece was so proud of her auntie Trix for ordering and drinking a boot! As group leader, I was too.
We finally grew tired of the polka music and decided it was time to move on. We had pushed our permit to the max by being the last ones to break camp at Essen Haus. We moved next door to the Up North Saloon. I left Trix and Kendra there to run back to our bunkhouse with my left overs. When I returned to the camp, they were talking with a young man who had his “pants on the ground.” He told them his life story and asked if they were waiting for the bus. We indulged him a bit and had him take some photos of us. As you can see, he wasn’t standing very still when he took them. He then asked us if we’d like to smoke a joint with him. We politely refused and he left us alone. Trix ordered her pizza and as we were waiting our servers from Essen Haus were there - nice girls. The visit with them was nice and they were entertaining.
Exhausted we dragged our butts back to the bunk house “Hotel Ruby Marie” and got ready to hunker down for the night. Our rooms were cozy and the bunk house was nicely decorated with period pieces as it’s an older building. Kendra jumped up on her bed and was praising god that we didn’t have to listen to any more polka music! Once in bed it didn’t take us long to fall asleep - we were exhausted - and with the time change we knew morning was already there.
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