Day 2 on the Water 6/19/16 FATHERS DAY Woke up around 6:30AM and went outside the tent, it was so calm out on the water and there was hardly any breeze. I remember our conversation yesterday about how we are going to rest on Sunday. I crawled back in the tent and slept in. Dad got up later on and made some coffee, but he had to get his rain jacket because clouds were rolling in and I could hear pitter patter on the tent. Then we all heard what seemed like the longest thunder roll we have ever heard before. It went on for miles and the rain kept coming down. I feel asleep some more and then woke up when Dad came back into the tent. He said that he made coffee and had some oatmeal. Two packets of oatmeal to be exact! The sound of the that motivated me to get out of the tent and start boiling some water. I was about to have 2 packets of Strawberries and Cream oatmeal. That stuff tastes so much better out here. The wind and rain had gone down and Scott got out of his tent to have some coffee and oatmeal too. I couldn’t find the bowls so I used the one my Dad left out. Now, it washed so it was clean. I ate my oatmeal and cleaned the bowl, then Scott used the same bowl! It really doesn’t matter when you’re out here. Later on, that morning the weather started to make a change. The wind was picking up and you could see some white caps on the waves, although they were small ones. The wind was warm and Scott said it’s the beginning of a new front coming through, that will bring cooler weather. He was right, and that wind howled well into the afternoon. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch around 12:30, they were heaping with Jiffy peanut butter, my favorite! Next, we decided to explore the campsite area on foot. There was a huge rock cliff just to the side of the campsite. Guess it had been 10 years ago, that Dad and Scott had been at this very campsite. We drank up the rest of our water supply, knowing that we would have to go out in the middle of the lake and get fresh water. There was floating yellow green scum from pollen that left a film on top of the water and lined the shore line. Heading up to the lookout point on top of the rock cliff and I began to get more appreciation for just how grand this campsite really is. I like it already but it’s one of those places that keeps getting better the more you explore and stay at it. We got to the top and I took a cool panoramic photo with my iPhone. Scott was on the left and Dad was on the right. It turned out so good! There are some huge rocks up there and then we see perhaps one of the biggest White Pine trees of the trip. Dad says, “Hey Scott, why don’t you go hug that tree” And Scott, being the nature lover that he is, went and gave it a big hug! We all shared a good laugh on that one! Back to camp we go and I was kind of staggering back looking at trees and rocks like I usually do. Dad yells across the bay, “Greg, we’re going out to get water! This would be out window of opportunity because the sun was high in the sky and the wind had calmed down enough. After all, today is the second longest day of the year. We head out on the lake in our canoe and I’m steering in the stern. Dad is in the bow, and Scott is sitting midship with his hand pump water purifier. We find a spot where there is no scum line and start the hydration process. We all drank a 1/3 of the Nalgene bottle and then threw the bottle to the next person. Then Scott filled al the bottle with his charcoal filter water pump. It’s cool, he has a Nalgene bottle attachment and can fill them up in no time. There is a burst of water that shoots from the top of the pump and you know the bottle it full at that point. Scott was a pumping mad man out in the middle of the lake in the middle of the canoe. He would pump up one bottle and then yell “Next!!” Was quite hilarious and we all share a laugh. Suddenly, a camping chore became fun. We go the canoe turned around and headed back to camp, landed the canoe and when Dad got out he mentioned that we went out there with no life jackets on, or in the canoe. Lucky the game warden wasn’t around to give us a ticket. We all laughed because we usually always throw the life jackets in the canoe at least! Last year on October 31, 2015 my Dad became a Deacon at St Michaels Church. Since we were not going to make it to Church today, Dad had the readings on an app on his iPhone and asked me to do the first and second readings with him. It was midafternoon and I felt honored to read the readings with him today. We found a nice place that was in the shade with a view of the lake and we said the readings and then talked about the message. We had a very good Father and Son conversation. In the meantime, Scott had gone out into the wood and cut up some wood, he throws it down by the fire pit and says, “we got firewood boys!” We all got going and it was time to get the sawvivor camping saw out and start cutting some wood! We all three went to work, Dad and Scott held the tree and I did a lot of the sawing. Team work goes a long way where you’re up here. Scott tells us that cutting wood and getting a fire going is his favorite thing to do while camping. We made freeze dried beef stroganoff and we all agreed that it is one of our favorite meals up here. Good thing we finished our meal because the rain was starting to come down again. It came down so hard that we had to move under the tarp. Dad said he wished they would have brought a tarp out when he first started camping. For the first 10 years, they didn’t even bring a tarp. So many more camping gadgets now days and these guys have them. Scott says, “Our tarp is hanging low and limp, like an old man!” We all roared with laughter as the wind kept blowing into camp and our tarp that is held down with a 50lb rock, keeps getting loose. When it came time to go to bed I said, good night Dad and good night Scott. They both said good night to me and then Scott says, “Good night Johnny boy”! A huge smile came over my face, today was a good day.