DAY THREE 6/20/16

Last night we all got out of our tent to find a tree to water at 4:30AM and the moon was shining over the bay. So much so, that it looked like an upside-down exclamation point! I had to get the camera for this moment. Ended up rolling out of the tent at 9:22AM, slept in today! It was time for all of us to have some coffee together. I wanted to try the percolator with the coffee that Lisa (My Wife) sent with us on this trip. Dad said, “Let’s do it” We got the water going on the mini gas stove and I got the coffee and creamer out of the green bag in the food pack. Now what happens next is very important when camping so pay attention. It was time for all of us to get caffeinated! I never drink coffee in the morning, but today I was going to do it. Conversation was flowing and the wind was blowing so we were trying to keep all the supplies from flying into the wind. It seemed like a lot was going on in that amount of time. Scott says, “Haven’t you guys had caffeine in the morning?” Dad and I laughed because we both realized the coffee was hitting us! Scott says it’s so windy out here that the wind almost blew the coffee right out of his cup! That was on thing we will need to get used to today, the power of wind. I boiled up 3 cups of water and we had egg skillet burritos for breakfast. I could tell Scott and I had and appetite because we ate way too much. Dad had just enough and then told that they are not his favorite. That was fine I said, I will make a banook this afternoon and we can have pancakes tomorrow morning for breakfast. Scott did the dishes this morning as we only dirtied 3 plates and 1 spoon, easy clean up. We were all riding high on caffeine this entire morning! We were just finishing up breakfast when Dad noticed a canoe entering our bay and heading to our campsite. It was an elderly couple, Dad said he was going down to talk to them. They were looking for the portage. We told them it was straight across the bay and invited them into the camp to show them the portage on the map. I held the bow of the canoe and helped his wife (Karen) out of the canoe. Then pulled the canoe up and helped the old man out of the canoe. It was so nice to see these two and it felt good getting them going in the right direction. We could tell they were husband and wife and I admit, I’m a little jealous of him because he has his wife with him in the Boundary Waters. Scott said it made him think of his first wife because she loved to go camping with him. They were a really cool couple, that went all the way up to Canada. Had been already out for a full week, camping on Lac La Croix, Rebecca and Curtain Falls. Karen had a picture of an animal on her camera that she wanted us to identify. Scott said it looked like a mink or a martin. Too small to be a beaver but you never know. They thanked us. When shoving off from camp the old man said, “You don’t have a co-pilot like my wife” When she was getting into the canoe he said, “My Queen is entering the canoe” Dad said if you ask a weasel if he is a weasel don’t believe him, because he would weasel his way out of it! We all roared with laughter and Scott mentioned the movie Roger Rabbit and the gang of weasels. The wind continued to howl all afternoon and we needed something to do. I was off fishing off shore and constantly getting snagged on rocks and weeds. Dad yells over to me “Greg, we are going up to the look out!” This made me excited because it was like going on a nature hike with Scott and Dad every time these two get together. Scott started to sing the Jimmy buffet song about Margaritas, because when we get back from our hike, it will be tequila and country time lemonade time! Something to look forward to. He says “Its Five O’clock somewhere. We adventure up to the lookout point and admire the view this campsite has to offer. Then we go off trail and into the woods and we each find a small fallen down tree that would be good firewood. Walking back to camp with anticipation for a margarita, it took Scott, Dad and I no time to get into the tequila once we hit camp. We set up chairs by a rock and Scott used the cap of his canister bottle to pour the shots. We laughed, told stories and cheers to how thankful we all are for Friends and Family and camping trips like these. Late into the evening the wind finally decide it had enough and it got calm on the water. The Sun was descending behind some trees and I told myself that I wanted to get a good sunset picture on this trip. Dad tells me that I better hurry up, and I slipped on my socks and keens as fast as I could. They were still warm from drying off on the flat rock all evening. I ran as fast as I could through the forest vegetation and tree roots that protrude and want to trip you up. They couldn’t slow me down at this moment as I ran up to the lookout point. I am always amazed at the view of the Sun, I snapped a few pictures and headed back to camp grinning from ear to hear. Today was a good day!

Animals we saw today • 2 Bald Eagles • Beaver • Red Squirrel • Offsprey • Seagull • Ducks • Loon • We heard a hoot owl while going to bed