A Really Nice Birthday Gift

(Please indulge me a long post because it's my birthday today.)

If you see me riding a bike around the block several times a day, it’s because of a weekend camping inspiration. I decided that back home, if I rode three blocks to the bathroom every time nature called, my extra weight would come off in no time. The drawback to this bike/bathroom weight loss system is it won’t work well in the middle of the night or when snow’s on the ground. 

The younger girls and I have taken an early September camping trip for the last seven years, excluding 2010 for reasons I can’t remember. 2011 and this year we went to Big Bay State Park on nearby Madeline Island.

On the way there we heard an alarming sound on the van's left side. We hoped it wouldn’t be trip-cancelling but the sound worsened the farther we drove. Keith checked the van and discovered a wrongly-folded mud flap rubbing the tire was responsible for the alarming noise. Would that all of life’s problems were solved so easily.

It’s bothers me immensely that the state of Wisconsin put a state park on the back side of an island accessible only by expensive ferry or even more expensive personal watercraft.  I justified the expense as a birthday treat, but still cringed at the $76 charge for four people and a big van.

Other than the outrageous price tag, the ferry was fun and different and whetted our appetite for the camping trip. 

Our van looked like a red Twizzler in a bag of black licorice.

Last year’s campsite was unavailable. While driving around, deciding on just the right spot, we raided firewood from unoccupied campsites. We set up camp and Anna’s Conserve School experience last fall enabled her to direct the tent raising. 

We conquered our big hard-to-put-up tent, though the rain fly was noticeably off-center. 

Amy strung a hammock to sleep on behind the tent. Her first attempt crashed when both she and Lani got on. The second attempt held firm.

I noticed our queen air mattress had packing tape patches. Though I’d never heard packing tape recommended for patching air mattresses, I optimistically filled the air mattress, then looked at the two twins. Their missing caps confirmed my suspicions. We’d brought the wrong ones. What are the chances that out of the six air mattresses we own, we’d grab the three that don’t work. Not sure why we still have three broken air mattresses. Probably some delusional hope that one day we’ll actually repair them.

That evening we walked to the prettiest public beach on Lake Superior’s South shore. 

It is well worth the drive and irritating ferry expense to get there. We were disappointed that the weather never warmed enough for us to swim this year. We wore long pants and sweatshirts, wistfully remembering last year’s wonderful swims.

By bedtime, the only hopefully working air mattress had wilted. I refilled the mattress, hoping that we could get to sleep before it deflated. Lani and I felt air slowly leak out. Forty-five minutes later we were lying on a 1/8 in. cushion of air.  The thin foam sleeping pad I used instead earns a D- for air mattress substitutions.

To make matters worse, I’d forgotten my pillow. Anna stuck a folded sweatshirt under my head. Though better than nothing, folded sweatshirts rate a C- for pillow substitutions.

I’d forgotten to bring reading material (do you notice a pattern here?) so played with my cell phone. No cell phone reception but I could send and receive texts. I rarely text because I don’t like tiny keyboards or paying for individual texts since I don’t have unlimited texting.

I texted back and forth with all three oldest daughters. I’m still amazed by modern technology. Words sent from their phone, flying through the air, bouncing off satellite towers, seeking and homing in, like a carrier pigeon, to find my cheap tracfone in a cool looking Coleman tent in a state park on the back side of Madeline Island.

I couldn’t sleep. I love the sound of wind blowing through the trees, but not the sound of wind BLOWING through the trees. I started to worry and anxious thoughts looped through my tired brain.

Is a storm coming?  Will a tree blow down?  Should I sleep in the van?  Should I wake the girls and make them sleep in the van and be forever ridiculed for being chicken-hearted?  Will the wind whip up campfire coals and burn down the park?  Do park rangers warn people of dangers? Can they hear the dangers if they’re in their quiet houses sleeping in comfortable beds instead of on uncomfortable sleeping pads? If there are dangers, do rangers come up to the tent?  Would that freak me out if they did?  Or do rangers drive through the park with megaphones and shout, “Severe weather – seek better shelter.” Was Amy safe in the hammock?  What about bears? I’m probably too neurotic to be a camper.

The wind calmed down and I finally drifted off to sleep—warm, but slightly uncomfortable, and hoping not to be stiff the next day.

Saturday

Breakfast was tasty, although we realized we’d forgotten to bring a ladle to dip heated water for hot chocolate.

After breakfast clean-up, we felt sprinkles. Just in case they escalated, Amy moved her bedding from hammock to van. Good thing, because we soon had an unforecasted downpour.  I don’t mind weather that’s better than the forecast, but hate when weather is worse than predicted.

Thankfully, the tent didn’t leak. A few drops fell on Lani’s book, but that might be because of the off-kilter rain fly. We read in the tent for an hour. Anna lent me Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac. Nothing about that title inspired a read, but bereft of anything else, I gave it a try, only to be pleasantly surprised. Good Stuff!!! Insightful, literary, wise, thought-provoking. A nice way to wait out a rude rainfall.

Everything was soaking wet. Rather than succumb to motorhome envy, we drove into the cute little town of LaPointe. LaPointe is one of the oldest towns in America, dating back to 17^th century fur trappers. Now it’s mostly a tourist town.

Our best discovery was the cutest library we’ve ever seen. It’s in an old house, with nooks and crannies, charm, character, personality, and a hammock out back to lay and read books in. Unfortunately we got there at closing time.

After walking through shops and touching everything but buying nothing except a used Artemis Fowl book for fifty cents, we rewarded our surviving the unwanted downpour experience with a trip to the Sugar Shack Candy Shop. We took our chocolate goodies to the now almost dry beach and thoroughly enjoyed every bite. Don’t know if other families do as much, “Can I try a bite of yours?” as we do. We all agreed maple fudge tastes better than the cookies and cream kind.

Though we’d stored our firewood under the van, it still was damp, so building a fire that night was difficult. Despite Anna’s valiant, creative techniques and using a whole box of matches, we barely got the soup hot. We squeezed out enough heat to half-way cook a half campfire pie for everyone. 

Too tired to be neurotic the second night and still uncomfortable, but resigned to make the best of my air mattresslessness, I drifted off to sleep much easier.  

Sunday

I love waking up in a tent and seeing the nearby sweet sleeping faces of these children I love so much. The morning greeted us with blue skies and dry air. Vibrant colors, beautiful clouds, peaceful surroundings. Much, much nicer than yesterday.

As our little one burner camping stove heated water, Anna asked about a weird sound. I speculated it could be a breeze or more likely, the tank was almost out of fuel. We forgot to bring the extra cylinder. If the stupid, fun ferry didn’t cost so much, Keith could have brought us all the things we forgot.

Since we missed church, we had a devotional and quiet time. Then set off on a long hike along the shore. I love the soft, sweet smell of pine. 

Amy's standing on a fallen trees roots.

We passed big, beautiful rock formations. Some just had to be climbed on. 

Some just had to be hung over. 

Some just had to be put in interesting arrangements. 

After a late lunch, we dared hope the weather would be more conducive to swimming. We optimistically wore swimming suits underneath shirts and jackets. Amy lasted ten minutes, Lani lasted five, and I decided why bother. Very pretty, but breezy. We read instead, then went back to fix dinner.

We were oh so grateful when the fire started without problems. When things work right, campfire cooking is fun. We tried an idea from Family Fun’s website called “Pie on a Stick.” 

We roasted an apple on a stick about 15 minutes until the skin puckered. Then removed the skin and rolled it in cinnamon sugar. Delicious. We made one to start with, not sure how it would turn out. After two bites, Anna insisted we had time to make more.

The campers next door to us returned to their campsite at 8:00. The man looked around their spot and yelled, “Who took our firewood?” All three girls looked at me.

“I didn’t take his firewood,” I protested. Really, I only took it from unoccupied campsites. I’m not sure where his wood was, but we didn’t have it.

Instead of tossing and turning on an almost useless camping pad, I opted to sleep in the van. The good news is the van’s middle seat is much more comfortable than a thin sheet of foam. The bad news is, I’m longer than the seat. The seat is too narrow to be truly comfortable to sleep on. Plus it slants a little towards the back of the seat and has three seat belt connections that poke up. All things considered, the seat rates a B- in air mattress substitution.

I didn’t want the container of onions smelling up the van while I slept and also didn’t want it luring animals to our campsite at night, so walked it down to an unoccupied campsite three spots down. Then forgot it when we left the next day. Hopefully the rangers find it soon or it will smell pretty awful for the next campers who rent that spot.

Monday’s weather was the best of all. Too bad it came our last day. I’d forgotten to bring oatmeal so we made due with eggs and potatoes. We packed the van, then went for another hike. I tried talking the girls into swimming but they were anxious to get home. If I was choosing between going home to laundry and chores or swimming on a beautiful beach, I’d choose swimming for sure. But I like camping democracies, not camping dictatorships, so we left around 1:30.

We’d planned to revisit the library, but the camping democracy decided to take the 1:45 ferry instead of the 2:30. The camping democracy also decided to get waffle cones at the ice cream store in Bayfield.

A day later, we’re still washing laundry and putting stuff away. I had a good time and am thankful for uninterrupted time with daughters in a pretty place.   

Camping is my favorite way to spend a birthday. If you want to make me happy, go camping with me. Along with hiking, or playing Boggle, Catan, or Ticket to Ride, I guess I most prefer the gifts of time. Thanks girls for the gift of your time this weekend.