Wow… We took so many pictures that my poor computer is having fits trying to process them all for the web. I’ll try to talk a little about each day and show the pictures we took that day. For now, let’s get things started…
Friday – August 10th
Leaving town to start on a trip never seems to be easy for our family. We set a time to leave and there always reasons why we can’t make it happen. This time around it was mostly because of the fact that we bought a few more things to help make camping life a little nicer and the kids all got bigger (as well as their clothes) and for some odd reason the van didn’t grow with us. So between the minivan and the car top carrier, we struggled to get it all in there for the trip. In the end we had to leave two cases of bottled water that we had hoped to take with, but overall I think we did pretty well.
A nine hour road trip to go camping in the same state you live in is a bit much for small kids to comprehend, so even when we told Corbin that it would take 9 hours, I don’t think it really sunk in that he was going to have to sit for that long. “How many more hours?” is a tough question to have to answer every 15 minutes or so.
We made it. We set up camp. We started a fire. We made S’mores. We slept very well that first night.
Saturday – Aug 11th
This morning started the daily routine of watching who was leaving and determining which lots to scavenge firewood from once they left. We did pretty well today. It probably gave us a day and half worth of wood. We then spent some time walking around as a family scouting out the rest of the lots here at Tahquamenon. We’ve kind of come to an unofficial conclusion that we’re going to be coming back here annually for the foreseeable future. We know which lot we want for next year!
After lunch, we decided that we had forgotten enough supplies that a trip to bigger store than the local town could supply was wise. We also had talked about taking the kids to the Soo Locks this year, so we jumped in the van and headed for Sault Ste Marie. Though at first we weren’t sure if we’d get to see a boat go through the locks, the boats finally started flowing. The kids really liked watching a huge (Edmund Fitzgerald-like) boat named “Algoisle” go through. It’s really amazing looking at the two great lakes so close to each other, yet having such a difference in water-level. One of the employees said that it’s roughly six and a half meters difference.
After hitting some local shops, we were all hungry and decided to have supper there in Sault Ste Marie at a place called Frank’s. It was good over-all. The kids and I liked it, but Sheila didn’t enjoy it much so I doubt it’ll become a regular stop on our annual trip.
Wal-Mart was our last stop before heading back to camp, where we picked up some needed supplies and the kids managed to spend some of their vacation money on things they could have bought at home. It rained during our trip back to Tahquamanon and the site was pretty drenched once we arrived. Thankfully the tents stayed dry and the wood was dry enough to get a camp fire going. Sheila and I tried to play some scrabble after the kids fell asleep, but we were too tired.
We had some drunk idiots near us tonight. They were loud and foul-mouthed, but thankfully the kids had all fallen asleep long before they got lit. I would have complained and tried to get them kicked out, but they left the following morning.
Click here for all the images from the first full day camping…
More soon!
First is a full-band jam of the song followed by the version we did live. This was never a favorite of mine lyrically, but the song was fun anyway.
