Day 2

On the second day, Brian made friends with a chipmunk. This was not difficult after the dogs spilled their food. (By the way, they need to make a portable invisible fence for campgrounds...) They are not used to being tethered up. Needless to say, their food and water was often overturned and the dogs got stuck in the picnic table, under the tent guy wires, in the branches and in the bushes. So, when the food got overturned, we received visits from various types of wildlife including the chipmunk pictured here. It was eating out of Brian's hand. Brian grew to know the habits, entry points and times his little friend would come into camp. Well, as Brian was learning this information, so was Maggie. Without saying much else, Maggie followed instinct and Brian's little friend was lifeless in the grass after she escaped from the tent. Brian and I both shouted at her but it was too late. After that, Brian learned to NOT feed the little animals that came into camp. Maggie tiptoed even lighter around us and hung her head, knowing we weren't pleased but not understanding why we weren't impressed with her hunting skills.

When Maggie first came to us, she was very shy. She stayed upstairs for a long time and wouldn't come down. We had to feed her up there. We also had to leash train her, which resulted in midair sommersaults and distressed yelping. Eventually she came closer and closer. After awhile, she would sit by me. She still hates being picked up, though. In fact, if she barks too much, I will threaten to pick her up and that usually results in a submissive stance as she jumps up on the couch on her own. (Oddly enough, it even works if she is already up on the couch.) We have concluded that she must have been abused at her last home. She really doesn't warm up to folks very fast and especially hates men. We understand that she was an outside dog, but don't know why anyone would do that to such a thin speck of a dog.

Anyway, she was really rattled by her tongue-lashing. It took much time and me sitting on the ground at her level for her to finally come back. She was so sorry, though.

Up North - Evening One thru Day 1

Since Brian, despite my protests, enjoyed his nice slow-paced drive through the woods eerily, I thought I would let him put the tent up himself. :) - Okay I do have something of an evil streak... I was nice enough to put the poles together for him and point out which goes where, but it was up to him to find the sleeves to put them through! It began misting so the rainfly had to go up as well. Needless to say he was frustrated by the end of it and hopefully will enjoy putting the tent up while it is still light out next time.

As soon as the tent went up, Maggie was in it. Sage and I sat by the fire and made some coffee while Brian finished up. Sage, my big fru fru dog, loves getting wet, dirty and rolling in leaves and such. The photo above shows her contentment. Maggie, approaches nature a bit differently. She does not like to get wet or dirty. She avoids the puddles Sage splashes and splunks through. While Sage sits in her own chair by the fire, Maggie will only sit by the fire if I am holding her. However, as you will find out later, she is no stranger to the wild!

After a short morning stroll to the lake, (about the equivilent of 1/2 a city block away) we went into town to have breakfast and get groceries. The car was so packed that we couldn't fit many groceries. Not only that, but if we like to frequent the area, we feel we need to support it and keep it going. Cranberry's, the restaurant we usually frequent, changed ownership and covered Grandma up with another sign that didn't do it justice. Perhaps it did, however, as the menu had changed from good home-cooking to a more "Applebees" cuisine.


We shopped a bit at our local favorites and even frequented a couple of new places. Compared to all the other times, the town and the campground were both quiet and not full of sightseers. The reasons for this were the cold weather this spring, gas prices, and the black flies not having hatched. Once the black flies hatch, the fish no longer have larvae to munch on and are more lured to the fisherman's lure. Our camping neighbors from Wisconsin said the fish they were getting were about 10 inches shy of their average catch of 26-27 inch fish. They fish for Pike, Walleye and Trout. We have seen the fisherpeople come back through the campground with these fish nearly as big as their smiles.

Baby, I'm Back!

Home away from home...

For those of you who are of yet unacquainted with my love of the forest and the wild, here is my most favoritest place to be!

This wonderful tent sleeps 8-10 or so, and even comes with cupholders and a porch light. It also has a valet pouch for keys, etc. and a screen roof so you can view the stars at night.

We left on Friday May 30 with no children. Though they both were scheduled to go with us, Ben didn't want to go anywhere he had already been (i.e. too into video games and paint ball to waste his time with nature! - This from the child that wanted to move there and live off the land!) and Jessica's mother decided to throw a wrench in the deal by telling her daughter that she had another option - during Brian's time. During that option time, she proceeded in telling her daughter that it was only those two, that Brian had abandoned her for his family and that he doesn't love her anymore.

What an excellent time for a vacation!!! It was nice to get away from it all. Up there, we didn't have many neighbors. No partiers. Just some friendly folks like us up there to get as close to the undeveloped wilderness as possible.



Despite my desire to put the tent up while it was light out, Brian wanted to drive through the woods in the dark. Especially after a long day driving through Minneapolis traffic with near constant construction detours, the woods can look awfully sinister. Corners are often so sharp you don't see them until they are there. The light from the headlights gives the trees and the brush shades of gray hues. The craggy branches lunge out from the body of the woods.

One thing that we have discovered about the woods, and perhaps that others that live up there have taken for granted is the lack of road kill. This is due to the natural balance of the land that we no longer have here. We eliminated it years ago as we forced our populations onto the wilderness. Wonder why? The northwoods have the natural tool to clean up such messes - wolves.