Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Minnesota Day 05 - Preparations

We all slept in this morning.  The kids weren't up until after 10AM!  In the morning, I worked a bit in the cabin and put together some skyline for tonight's dinner. The boys were down at the lake.  Zach wanted to go out in the kayak again.  We told him to stay nearby, making sure he could see the cabin.  Well, he stayed within sight of the cabin - except that he was all the way over by the channel to Lake 2.  He did disappear for just a second, and we (after much deliberation) went to check on him in the motorboat.  Once we saw he was paddling for home, we came back.  He gave me a huge scare - I don't know if we'll let him kayak again.  Again we had a late lunch.  Zachary made mac and cheese for himself.  Lydia and Immy came over while we were eating, so he shared with them! The boys goofed around with them a little.  Tim and I put the waverunner in the lake.  Then, we went to practice canoeing with the boys.  Tim went first with Jeremy and Goober.  As he was getting in the canoe, he flipped it and went in the lake!  I have to admit that I laughed pretty hard!  Then, I swam a little because Zach asked me to get in with him.  Then, it was Zach's and my turn to practice in the canoe.  When we got back, it was already time to make dinner.  After dinner, the boys went out fishing (with Josey this time!) and I got things ready for our BWCA trip.  Mom made us popcorn tonight. 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Minnesota Day 04 - Work and Play

We got to work right after breakfast with Tim cleaning gutters and mowing and me thoroughly vacuuming every surface of the cabin!  I also helped with washing some more dishes (yes, every dish in the place must be washed by hand before being used for the first time!) and scrubbed the kitchen floor.  So much to do!    Tim got out the paddle boat and hung out with the boys while they swam while I was working in the cabin.  They came in for a late-ish lunch, then we all went to try again to launch the boat.  I really don't want to admit that the reason it wouldn't start yesterday was that the dead man wasn't in.  Ugh!  It went very smoothly this time, except for Goober getting freaked out when Tim accidentally revved the motor and jumping into the lake.  Once we got the wet dog back in the boat, Zach and I drove the empty trailer back to the cabin. 

We all spent some time in and near the water in the afternoon.  Tim had Jeremy practice paddling the canoe.  Zachary swam and looked for mussels.  Jeremy hitched a ride in Lydia and Immy's paddleboat.  Tim and I swam for a bit.  Jeremy eventually decided to try to the kayak.  He paddled around the floating dock over and over.  We convinced Zach to try it, and much to his surprise, he enjoyed it.  I went inside to start dinner, and the next thing I knew, Jeremy was running up to the cabin yelling, "Mom, Mom!  Zachary's across the lake.  Dad wants to know if we should go check on him."  Of course my answer was, "YES!"  He was fine, and he had planned to paddle all the way to Lake 2!!! 

We had hamburgers, oven fries, and sauteed kale and chard for dinner.  I made it all (except for grilling the burgers) and thought it turned out pretty well.

After dinner, Jeremy and Tim did dishes, then we went out fishing.  I took the GPS out with me for the first time.  I have to admit I enjoyed it!  It was silly to spend so much time looking at the map instead of the landscape around me, but it was SO easy to find the sunken island, and I could show Mom exactly where we went when we got home.

Everyone is exhausted and they are all sleeping right now.  I am not far behind!

Again, photos of he boat for Mike:

We don't get it - looks like it will just hold the battery and that's all.  We haven't tried the lights yet.



Minnesota Day 03 - In the Water

For Mike.  Photos of the boat repairs.  Doesn't look like I got any good shots of the floor.  Will try that tomorrow!
 This is the thingy that you slide over to put the tall light in.





Monday morning - I had stayed up too late the night before, so I intended to sleep in.  The trouble is that when you sleep on the porch, it's extremely difficult to sleep in, both because of the activity in the main part of the cabin right behind you and because as soon as the sun comes up, it's bright in there!

Zachary woke up before most of us (which makes sense, because according to Mom he went to sleep at 6:30 PM the night before).  He started making himself a strawberry banana smoothie!   We had a morning of chores, then Tim, the boys, and I left for Virginia to pick up Mike's boat.  We got haircuts for the boys while we were there.  Zach wanted a shampoo for some reason, so we spent the $3 to have the girl shampoo his hair!  Tim teased the boys about getting mohawks, and Jeremy thought I was going to pay him $2 not to get one.

It took a little while to get the boat - the wiring connector for the hitch had come off.  We finally got going and made it back to the cabin in one piece.  Then, I helped Mom work on dinner while Tim got the motor on the boat.  The boys were invited over to the Knapp's for a sauna.  That led to jumping in the (67 degree) water, and much fun and silliness ensued.  We finally called them in to go get the boat in the water.  When we got over to the public landing, there was someone fishing there.  That's always a bad sign, because then there is an audience for whatever stupid thing we might do wrong.  Turns out, this guy claims he's done some stupid things himself.  We had a nice, long chat while Tim tried to get the motor running.  He is an elementary school librarian in Minneapolis staying in his VAN at Bearhead so he can fish on Eaglesnest!  Tim wasn't able to get the motor started.  We had think it might need new spark plugs, but we really don't know.  We had to tow the thing BACK to the cabin.

Once at home, Tim and I took a VERY quick swim in the freezing cold lake.  Then, we all enjoyed the awesome, very special meal of Chicken and Dumplings that Mom made for us.  After dinner, Tim and Zach were down at the lake when Lydia and Immy came by to ask the boys to take a paddle boat ride.  Jeremy had to finish helping with dishes.  When he was done, there was a plan to jump off of the paddle boat and swim, but they all just wound up in the sauna and jumping off the dock again.

Tim and I took a short paddle in the kayaks.  When I got back to the dock, I was struggling to try to get out and trying to follow Tim's directions, and I wound up laying flat in the lake beside the kayak.  It was COLD and humiliating, but I was fine and provided wonderful entertainment for the rest of the night.

We rounded out the night with a game of penny in the pot, won by Jeremy.  So much fun and lots of laughs tonight!!

Monday, June 17, 2013

Minnesota Day 02 - We're All Here

Sunday morning arrived before we knew it!  I resisted getting up, but at 8:30 I just had to.  We rushed around trying to get the cabin in some sort of order before Mom and Zach arrived.  I put things away, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned most kitchen surfaces, and washed both refrigerators with bleach water.  I wasn't too grossed out by any of the mess that inevitably occurs over 9 months in an empty cabin EXCEPT for the refrigerator.  Ack!  It was a disgusting mess of mold.  We even managed to vacuum most rooms before we left.

At 11:10, we left for the airport in Hibbing.  I was very ready to see Zach (and my mom)!  The airport is not exactly bustling.  Our GPS actually routed us over a dirt road to get there.  We arrived about 10 minutes before they were scheduled to land, and we were all outside watching, waving like fools at everyone on the plane.  We then went inside, where we met them and Zachary gave his dad a fun Father's Day card.  His souvenir for Jeremy was two barf bags from the plane!

It was time for lunch, so we drove into Virginia where we ate at Grandma's.  Love that place!  I had a delicious dish of Cajun chicken over wild rice.  Tim had spicy sausage pasta, Jeremy had a HUGE bowl of potato soup, and Zach ordered fish and chips!  There were groceries to be bought, so we had to stop again.  Finally, we stopped for fishing licenses and live bait in Tower. 

After arriving at the cabin, the work started again.  We made up beds and unpacked suitcases.  We were all walking around like zombies, exhausted.  Jeremy was itching to go fishing, so Tim took him out in the DINGHY!  I went down to see how they were doing and decided to try out one of the kayaks.  We saw Lydia on the Knapp's dock, so we all paddled over to say hello.  She's here for a week along with a friend.  They had picked up our modem which had been delivered before we got here.  Lydia's mom told me that the 2 girls had come over 3 different times hoping to see the boys!

When we got in from the lake, Mom told me that Zach had fallen asleep fully clothed at around 7:30 PM - not a huge surprise since he had gotten up at 4AM Eastern time, and it felt like 8:30 to him.  We all still hadn't eaten dinner, so I made Tim his requested Father's Day meal of peanut butter and jelly, nacho cheese doritoes, and a strawberry milkshake (made from strawberries and jelly from our garden).  Spoiled Dad!  Jeremy, Mom, and I had cheese sandwiches.  After dinner and cleaning up, we played a round of Hearts, which I lost in a spectacular fashion, as usual.  Finally, I set up the wireless internet.  I was online WAY too late, catching up.

Minnesota Day 01 - Travel

We pulled out of our driveway at 5:15, only 15 minutes off schedule.  Tim wanted to stop for coffee, but we were so early, even Starbucks wasn't open.  Then, we smelled it.  Poor Josey had had an accident in the car.  (Solid.  Yay!  This is what I'm reduced to.)  Out of desperation and also out of worry for the security of the two kayaks strapped on the top of the car which made it sound like we were in the midsts of a hailstorm, we made a stop at Route 4, not even 20 minutes into the drive.  Sure enough, our kayaks had shifted and needed to be re-secured.  While we were working on that in the middle of a movie theater parking lot, the dogs jumped out of the car.  We weren't too worried, figuring they like to stick beside us in an unfamiliar place.  Turns out they like to EXPLORE an unfamiliar place, and soon we looked around and saw no dogs!  We eventually spotted Josey, about to turn the corner of the building.  Tim gave chase and found Goober ahead of her, trying to figure out how to get in the front door.  I made a joke about Lassie playing on the big screen - Jeremy didn't get it.  At this point, I was convinced we would actually never get to the lake.  I was plotting ways to get the 2 kayaks INTO the car.  Tim is awesome, though (come on, we all knew that already, right?), and he got everything well-secured.  When we got back in and headed on our way, even the noise was a little quieter.  At every stop, he made small adjustments that quieted things (the "thrumming" of the straps) down a little more.  My terror at losing a kayak on I-74 dissipated to a low grade anxiety which lasted most of the drive!  Honestly, at 6AM, I was pretty sure I was going to have a nervous breakdown before we crossed the state line!  On one of my driving stints, there was heavy rain for about 45 minutes.  I HATE highway driving in heavy rain.  I survived.  Then, after a stop, I noticed someone waving and pointing.  We were right by an exit, so we pulled off only to find that the straps attaching the back of the kayaks to the back of the car were loose.  I had been driving with the s-hooks bouncing their way down the highway.  We lost one altogether.  It really wasn't too big of a deal, and the kayaks were still fine.  Another sigh of relief, a few adjustments, and we were back on the road.  Just a few minutes before arriving at the cabin, just past Tower on 169, we saw a small-ish bear cross the road about 100 yards in front of us.  All 3 of us actually managed to see it.  Without a doubt, from the car is my favorite way of seeing a wild bear!  We pulled in the driveway to the cabin at about 9:15 PM local time.  That's right, the trip took us 17 hours!!  And the payoff?  A cabin filled with d-con, just waiting to be cleaned!  We unloaded, clean up the awful mouse poison, wiped off some of nastiest surfaces, turned on the fridge, and were in bed by 11:00 PM or so.  Whew!