Friday, May 23, 2014
Sometime during the night, Wes woke up and was doing something that I couldn't figure out. Auralee turned on the light. Wes was all the way down at one end of the tent, apparently trying to get in a sleeping bag. However, he was half (or completely) asleep. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I want to sleep in the beautiful one." (Meaning sleeping bag) Auralee and I burst out laughing. We asked him in the morning which sleeping bag was the beautiful one. I don't think he remembered anything from the night before.
This would be our only full day in the Boundary Waters this trip. The day started early (as they all do) with Rohan waking up hungry. He looked cute in his sleeping bag, though. Weston soon followed. Dad was tired...
![Rohan in the Morning](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1678&rnd=697598&maxside=400)
![In the Morning](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1679&rnd=907615&maxside=400)
The morning was peaceful and serene.
![Wood Lake](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1680&rnd=311843&maxside=400)
Breakfast was oatmeal. Weston likes oatmeal. (He also loves pancakes, but I was being lazy this trip.)
![Oatmeal for Breakfast](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1681&rnd=823187&maxside=400)
Then I wanted to explore the lake a bit more. There were two campsites that I hadn't seen yet and didn't know if anyone was staying there. Since it was a calm morning, I took Weston with me. While we were still a ways away from the first campsite (northwestern one on the lake), I saw someone standing there. Apparently it was occupied. Soon we saw someone else join the first person. We turned around and headed back towards camp. I had fun taking some pictures of Weston, though.
![Weston and Dad in Canoe](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1682&rnd=857539&maxside=400)
![Beautiful Morning](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1683&rnd=503235&maxside=400)
![Weston "Paddling"](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1684&rnd=954720&maxside=400)
When Wes and I got back to camp, we decided to attempt to go fishing as a family. We would just try out the little bay by our campsite. Rohan lasted less than 5 minutes. We didn't get much fishing in. No bites...
![Rohan in Canoe](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1685&rnd=904643&maxside=400)
![Rohan in Canoe](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1686&rnd=597444&maxside=400)
![Attempt at Family Fishing Trip](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1688&rnd=459102&maxside=400)
We dropped Mom and Rohan back at camp. Wes and I headed back out to try to catch dinner and visit the second campsite I hadn't seen yet. It is hard trying to fish with a 4-year-old. I didn't get much fishing in, and neither of us had any luck. By the time we reached the campsite (and found that it was occupied), the wind had picked up, and I was having a hard time controlling the canoe. I tried switching with Wes (me in the bow and him in the stern) since we had to go back into the wind. While we were able to make progress, the canoe fishtailed down the lake. Every time the canoe started turning, I couldn't make it stop. It felt like a car skidding on ice. We made it back to camp eventually. On the way, though, we were treated to an awesome spectacle - a loon on a nest. I tried to keep our distance and used the zoom on the camera to get a good picture.
![Nesting Loon](/handlers/photoScaled.ashx?imgnum=1690&rnd=503235&maxside=400)