Wednesday, August 11, 2010
We're Home!
Just wanted you to know that we are all home safely. Please tune in again for follow up, but know that the camper is in it's footprint in our driveway, and all four of us are looking forward to crawling into our own home beds tonight. Thanks to God. More later, Love, Mynn for all
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
On The Way Home
We are enroute to home, due in Wednesday. We've had some little adventures along the route, including more fishing. Photos about that event will follow tonight, but suffice to say that Spencer caught a REALLY BIG catfish (27 inches), and Philip caught an even BIGGER and UGLIER one, but it bit through the line and got away with a huge hook in it's lip. Spencer's catch was just too beastly-looking to eat, so he heaved the bugger back into Lake Duffilfield. This lake is full of other fish like bass, but the boys didn't catch any big enough to eat. Great fun was had, however!
Tonight's photos will also include a few from frying up the mess of walleye and perch we caught back in MN! Now that was delicious and delectable, melt-in-your-mouth eating! Today, we are back into Eastern Standard Time (Daylight version)! Haven't been keeping time with most of you for quite a while.
Will fill in more tonight; goodbye for now.
Tonight's photos will also include a few from frying up the mess of walleye and perch we caught back in MN! Now that was delicious and delectable, melt-in-your-mouth eating! Today, we are back into Eastern Standard Time (Daylight version)! Haven't been keeping time with most of you for quite a while.
Will fill in more tonight; goodbye for now.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Spirit Lake Campground to Cass Lake, Minnesota
Well, our stay at the Spirit Lake Campground (and casino) was enjoyable - we slept well that night. We got up leisurely next morning, and got on the road sometime around 10:00. That day was pretty cool, because on our way past Grand Forks Air Force Base, we observed a Predator UAV drone landing on an airstrip to our left. It was a very cool sight; unfortunately, however, we did NOT get any pictures of the drone. That night, and for several more, we camped at Stony Point Resort and RV Park, at Cass Lake, Minnesota. We pulled in around 2:00, and managed to set up quickly enough that we were able to take advantage of a delicious offer - buy one ice cream cone and get one free (only from 2 pm to 4 pm). Obviously, since we were camping there, we slept late that night.
The next day, we slept in, and hung around most of the day. Philip and I went swimming, played pool, and rented a paddleboat ($2 for a half-hour - amazing), while Dad relaxed and Mom did laundry. Mom also went with us to reserve a guided fishing trip for the next day, from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. Around 4:00, Philip and I washed the camper, and managed to get off a whole lot of bugs. After that, we ate supper, watched a movie, and went to sleep - Mom, Philip, and I had a long day ahead of us.
Early in the morning, say, six-o'clock, we got up to get ready for our fishing trip. We gathered our gear, headed over to the dock, and awaited the arrival of our guide, Steve. Steve arrived shortly, pulling up to the dock on his skiff. Of course, he brought up whether or not we had fishing licenses. Mom was startled as she realized that she had not purchased a fishing license for Minnesota before the fishing trip. Therefore, she ran back to get the truck, and drove away to a nearby gas station. By the time we all actually left, it was about 7:30. For the next five and a half hours, we sat out on Cass Lake, catching fish as if we were simply picking up sticks from the ground. By the end of our trip, we had caught a total of about 18 perch and walleye, including the biggest perch I've ever seen (Mom caught this one - 13 inches). Over the whole trip, we had a whole bunch of fun, and were extremely satisfied with the fruits of our efforts, considering the fact that before this occasion, we had caught no fish whatsoever. After pulling back up the canal, we all hoofed it over to the fish cleaning house, where Steve sliced off enough fillets to feed an army for two months. Before we ate them, however, Philip and I had to continue our job from the day before by washing the truck and shining its wheels. After that, we breaded and floured the fish, and had a delicious fish fry. We must have fried about 12 full fillets, but we ate every last bite, incredibly. We slept well that night, dog tired, and with full stomachs.
Next morning, we got up around 9:00, and Philip and I waxed the truck from top to bottom. Our job complete, we had each earned 40 dollars from cleaning the whole setup. Anyway, we followed that up with a pontoon boat rental from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. After getting a crash course on driving the boat from the guy at the dock, Mom carefully maneuvered the boat through the canal, and out onto the water. For the next five hours, our whole family (minus Scout, unfortunately) lounged about on the big pontoon boat, catching a fish or two, or swimming in the cold lakewater. Our only regret was that Scout wasn't with us. Maybe next time... After our jaunt on the water, we headed back in, and ate a simple supper. After watching a movie, we went to sleep, and awaited morning, when we would break camp and head away from a very fun stay at a great campground.
Mom will continue blogging next, so this is Spencer, signing off. Stay tuned for just a little longer!
The next day, we slept in, and hung around most of the day. Philip and I went swimming, played pool, and rented a paddleboat ($2 for a half-hour - amazing), while Dad relaxed and Mom did laundry. Mom also went with us to reserve a guided fishing trip for the next day, from 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. Around 4:00, Philip and I washed the camper, and managed to get off a whole lot of bugs. After that, we ate supper, watched a movie, and went to sleep - Mom, Philip, and I had a long day ahead of us.
Early in the morning, say, six-o'clock, we got up to get ready for our fishing trip. We gathered our gear, headed over to the dock, and awaited the arrival of our guide, Steve. Steve arrived shortly, pulling up to the dock on his skiff. Of course, he brought up whether or not we had fishing licenses. Mom was startled as she realized that she had not purchased a fishing license for Minnesota before the fishing trip. Therefore, she ran back to get the truck, and drove away to a nearby gas station. By the time we all actually left, it was about 7:30. For the next five and a half hours, we sat out on Cass Lake, catching fish as if we were simply picking up sticks from the ground. By the end of our trip, we had caught a total of about 18 perch and walleye, including the biggest perch I've ever seen (Mom caught this one - 13 inches). Over the whole trip, we had a whole bunch of fun, and were extremely satisfied with the fruits of our efforts, considering the fact that before this occasion, we had caught no fish whatsoever. After pulling back up the canal, we all hoofed it over to the fish cleaning house, where Steve sliced off enough fillets to feed an army for two months. Before we ate them, however, Philip and I had to continue our job from the day before by washing the truck and shining its wheels. After that, we breaded and floured the fish, and had a delicious fish fry. We must have fried about 12 full fillets, but we ate every last bite, incredibly. We slept well that night, dog tired, and with full stomachs.
Next morning, we got up around 9:00, and Philip and I waxed the truck from top to bottom. Our job complete, we had each earned 40 dollars from cleaning the whole setup. Anyway, we followed that up with a pontoon boat rental from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. After getting a crash course on driving the boat from the guy at the dock, Mom carefully maneuvered the boat through the canal, and out onto the water. For the next five hours, our whole family (minus Scout, unfortunately) lounged about on the big pontoon boat, catching a fish or two, or swimming in the cold lakewater. Our only regret was that Scout wasn't with us. Maybe next time... After our jaunt on the water, we headed back in, and ate a simple supper. After watching a movie, we went to sleep, and awaited morning, when we would break camp and head away from a very fun stay at a great campground.
Mom will continue blogging next, so this is Spencer, signing off. Stay tuned for just a little longer!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
From Our Departure of Jasper to Devil's Lake, North Dakota
Hey guys! It's Spencer, blogging from Devil's Lake, North Dakota, about our long days of driving since we left Jasper National Park.
We were all sad to leave Jasper, as we had seen so many awesome things around there, such as Whistlers Mountain, Mt. Robson, the Jasper Park Lodge, and other things as well. However, all things must come to an end at some point. Anyway, we slept late on the day we left the Jasper Park Lodge, and took our time readying the camper. We got out around noon, but we still had a big drive ahead of us. Driving back through the Columbia Icefields on route 93, we encountered scenery we had previously viewed, but it was beautiful nonetheless. That night, we camped very close to our previous campsite in Banff National Park. We kept the truck hitched to the camper (as we would do for the rest of the nights between then and now), so we could shorten up the morning breakdown as much as possible. That night, we slept in the shadow of true mountains for the last time (presumably) on the trip.
Next morning, we broke down very quickly, and very early, and managed to exit the campground at approximately 8:20. Our last glimpse of the mountains stayed in Canada, and in our minds. That day, we crossed the border of Canada and returned to the state of Montana (when we crossed the border, we weren't even 100 miles from our previous stay near Glacier National Park). However, we couldn't celebrate JUST yet, as we still had a bunch of driving left to do. We finally reached our campground in Havre, Montana just as the light was beginning to dim. However, the light was very close to being gone by the time we were done with setting up, as we were in a terrible spot at first, and had to get a new one. We had driven 400 miles that day, and the stress caused by it showed. Nevertheless, once we were all set up, we settled down, and slept comfortably for the next day's drive.
Yesterday morning, we got up around 8:00 or so, and worked at a normal pace as we closed up shop around the camper. We had 300 miles to drive, but it was all on empty rural road with a high speed limit. Therefore, we didn't have as much need to hurry as the day before. Once on the road, we rolled through miles and miles of empty plainsland and Indian Reservation. It seemed as if the scenery's playback was skipping. "Hayfield, hayfield, plains, plains, plains, *REWIND*... hayfield, hayfield, plains, plains, plains." Yeah, the scenery wasn't too exciting, but it certainly is characteristic of the American Midwest, so we appreciated it anyway. We pulled into our campsite in Williston, North Dakota around six-ish, and set up as quickly as we could in the blazing, dry heat of the Great Plains, then got inside the camper to eat, watch a movie, and get to sleep. None of us wanted to be out in the unmerciful sun any longer than we needed to.
This morning, we got up at 9:00, and broke camp just as quickly as we had set up - the sun had risen and had already begun to heat up the air. We've encountered very similar scenery to what we had encountered yesterday and afternoon on the day before, so it's gone by fairly fast. I'm currently sitting in the truck, in the parking lot of a Walmart, watching my mom and brother returning with a shopping cart chock full of stuff to put away in the camper. We are less than five miles from the campsite, so I'm going to publish and sign off now, as I'll have to set up camp once we get there. Thanks for your attention, guys. Cheerio!
We were all sad to leave Jasper, as we had seen so many awesome things around there, such as Whistlers Mountain, Mt. Robson, the Jasper Park Lodge, and other things as well. However, all things must come to an end at some point. Anyway, we slept late on the day we left the Jasper Park Lodge, and took our time readying the camper. We got out around noon, but we still had a big drive ahead of us. Driving back through the Columbia Icefields on route 93, we encountered scenery we had previously viewed, but it was beautiful nonetheless. That night, we camped very close to our previous campsite in Banff National Park. We kept the truck hitched to the camper (as we would do for the rest of the nights between then and now), so we could shorten up the morning breakdown as much as possible. That night, we slept in the shadow of true mountains for the last time (presumably) on the trip.
Next morning, we broke down very quickly, and very early, and managed to exit the campground at approximately 8:20. Our last glimpse of the mountains stayed in Canada, and in our minds. That day, we crossed the border of Canada and returned to the state of Montana (when we crossed the border, we weren't even 100 miles from our previous stay near Glacier National Park). However, we couldn't celebrate JUST yet, as we still had a bunch of driving left to do. We finally reached our campground in Havre, Montana just as the light was beginning to dim. However, the light was very close to being gone by the time we were done with setting up, as we were in a terrible spot at first, and had to get a new one. We had driven 400 miles that day, and the stress caused by it showed. Nevertheless, once we were all set up, we settled down, and slept comfortably for the next day's drive.
Yesterday morning, we got up around 8:00 or so, and worked at a normal pace as we closed up shop around the camper. We had 300 miles to drive, but it was all on empty rural road with a high speed limit. Therefore, we didn't have as much need to hurry as the day before. Once on the road, we rolled through miles and miles of empty plainsland and Indian Reservation. It seemed as if the scenery's playback was skipping. "Hayfield, hayfield, plains, plains, plains, *REWIND*... hayfield, hayfield, plains, plains, plains." Yeah, the scenery wasn't too exciting, but it certainly is characteristic of the American Midwest, so we appreciated it anyway. We pulled into our campsite in Williston, North Dakota around six-ish, and set up as quickly as we could in the blazing, dry heat of the Great Plains, then got inside the camper to eat, watch a movie, and get to sleep. None of us wanted to be out in the unmerciful sun any longer than we needed to.
This morning, we got up at 9:00, and broke camp just as quickly as we had set up - the sun had risen and had already begun to heat up the air. We've encountered very similar scenery to what we had encountered yesterday and afternoon on the day before, so it's gone by fairly fast. I'm currently sitting in the truck, in the parking lot of a Walmart, watching my mom and brother returning with a shopping cart chock full of stuff to put away in the camper. We are less than five miles from the campsite, so I'm going to publish and sign off now, as I'll have to set up camp once we get there. Thanks for your attention, guys. Cheerio!
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