family camping, at last

Since the Bear incident of last summer, I have not spent a night in our tent.  Between pregnancy and just plain being too busy it has just not happened.  This past weekend I finally got my chance.  We spent the weekend with a three other families who are dear to us at Lake Elmo Park Reserve.  It was a wonderful time!

All the kids at the beach!

Little E was not so sure about the cold water on his toes.

Little E loved the tent.  It took him forever to stop watching the bugs on the ceiling and actually go to sleep!

There's nothing like time with Dad.

Just Me and My Dad

There is nothing like a meal on a picnic table with your tent close by!

Seth and Jason took Monday night for a guy adventure in the woods. Well, Jason would say it wasn't quite far enough from the city to be wilderness, but fun nonetheless. They went to the Three Rivers Park District for the night and were one of two campers there. Apparently the season is over for "normal" folks. Mom spent the night catching up on errands and watch a movie way too late instead of getting some much needed rest for their return. Oh well, maybe there will be another mom night in my future. Seth sure can't stop talking about his fun time with dad!

Hiking, running rather, is Seth's favorite part of camping, or being outside in general I think. It sounds like they had to run fast to keep away from the bugs anyway...

The nature center was a sure thing for Seth and Jason too. They got to play with all sorts of nature stuff. Seth fell in love with the rope swing and came home ready to build beaver lodges with my couch cushions. Learning can be fun folks - get your kids outside!

The Bear Attacks of 2009, An All Too Personal Story: Part 2

Sleep did not come easily. With every movement of a tree limb or sound of the night my heart jumped from my chest and it took a good twenty minutes to get my breathing to return to normal. Seth crashed hard with the total exhaustion of the long day and the adrenaline rush. Jason also was alert to movement outside the tent so neither of us was the least bit surprised at just how fast he moved when we heard Keith say, "It's back!"

Shocked and dismayed at just after five in the morning, I crawled carefully out of the tent to see a bear once again under our food pack in the trees. Crazier still - it was a different bear! I put my head in Jason's shoulder and wept. Then the pregnant woman in me had to do what all pregnant women must do when they are scared out of their whits - I had to use the latrine.

That would be Harry the Bear (Seth named both of the bears Harry) under what remains of our food pack. We had strung it ten to twelve feet in the air between two trees. My husband said that he actually saw the bear stand and pull it down breaking tree limbs in the process so he could reach in and help himself to seconds. That brown bear was HUGE!

I pulled myself together and Crystal and I watched as our husbands once again created a barrier of safety between us and the bear. We are talking twenty to thirty feet for us and about fifteen for them. They would bang the pots and pans and make sure the bear knew that we were there. However, this bear had found the goods and was not interested in going anywhere. He thundered down to the lake a few steps away for a drink after getting a mouth full of Kool-Aid and various drink mixes that totally turned his tongue red and certainly burned his mouth. We actually had to laugh and the comic relief felt good.

The bear finished a few more bites of our wonderful, scrumptious, well-packed and prepared food and then lowered his enormous body to the ground and started to fall asleep. No kidding. We realized then that this bear was really NOT going to leave. It was time to, "fish or cut bait," as they say.

Our last family photo in the BWCA, for this trip anyway. Seth was sound asleep in the tent. (Yes, it was cold. I had on long johns and my snow hat! Oh, did I mention that we had NO food to eat. I was hungry!)

We packed up the tents, minus the one my beautiful brave child was still sound asleep in, and cleared camp to the point of the boats being ready to launch. Still the bear stayed put. Letting the bear sleep while keeping us from breakfast (our stomachs were growling at this point) didn't sit well with any of us, especially my husband. He charged the bear a few times hollering and banging pans only to have the bear "bluff" charge him back.

Friends a "bluff" charge is one scary move. You do not know that it is a bluff until the bear backs up. I saw that bear charge my husband and my uterus seized in a clear first contraction. NOT good at 19 weeks of pregnancy I might add. Crystal got me to sit down and drink some water which resolved the contraction issue, but there was still a mad bear in my camp site!

I was told later that my husband had charged the bear many other times when I was not able to see it happen and even pelted him with rocks in the middle of the night. (Now I know why we heard vicious growling!) It's a good thing that our baby is in the womb to stay for much longer given the enormity of the situation. I don't even want to think what would have happened if my husband or anyone else had been hurt. This pregnant lady can paddle but I cannot carry my husbands lifeless body down to a canoe. Crystal and I had to make plans of how we would make it back with Seth alone to get help two hours away. NOT fun thoughts my friends.

Our group photo with Seth still in the tent. Needless to say we decided NOT to invite Harry #2 to be in the photo. He was content to snore under the food bag he was now claiming and protecting as his own!

We woke Seth and left my friends. There was nothing more for us to do. The bear had been there with no intent to leave for about three hours. Close to two hours later, an hour of that paddling, we reached the Tofte Ranger Station and reported our incident. They were not surprised and told us then that there had already been three other bears in that area in the past week. (Might have been nice to know BEFORE we left!) They told us they would get a ranger in there to clean up the mess and if they found something salvageable they would send it our way.

We hope they find something as we lost $150 of food and a lot more money than that in camping gear. So much for our "bear" necessities!

Here is a quick video I took to give you a view of the camp site and the bear. This is our camp in the morning: after we moved our tents as far as water would allow from the bear in the night! I will never forget the sounds of his Darth Vader breathing, ever. It will be in my nightmares for weeks to come too...

The Bear Attacks of 2009, An All Too Personal Story: Part 1

"This is the year we are going to do the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as a family."

These words once spoken brought excitement and joy, now looking back it was one crazy adventure. I am not even sure where to start...maybe right at the beginning.

With our friends, Keith and Crystal, and family tucked tight in the suburban with gear for five days and two canoes loaded up top, we drove north to the beautiful land of the BWCA. The trip seemed to go quickly as we roared up to the Tofte Ranger Station and checked in. We learned there that the area we had chosen has bears and we all nodded our heads thinking, "they always say that." So we loaded up once again and headed into the wilderness excited and feeling well prepared for our greatest adventure of the summer.

Keith and Jason taking one last look at the map.

Seth running between the canoes and helping pack them up.

Our first family photo in the wilderness. (Seth was not interested in joining us so you can see him as the red speck in the background...he, he.)

Ready to take on whatever comes our way: Seth and J mom.

We paddled Kawishiwi Lake looking for a campsite. As it was late afternoon and we were hungry and tired for along day in the car we wanted an easy first day. With no sites on Kawishiwi available but no portgage necessary we headed into Square lake and saw a campsite available right away. In fact it was a great site. It had three tent areas which was just what we needed and a amazing view of the water and tree line.

We got camp set up and made our Hobo dinners which tasted delicious. Tiredness still a factore, we decided to make it an early night. As the sun set we pulled into our tents for the night. Seth in his own small tent, J mom and Dad in there tent and Keith and Crystal in their own tent slightly further into the woods. We were expecting to get a great night sleep and wake up ready to paddle further into the wilderness for our next camp site.

Little did we know...

Around 11 pm Jason was in Seth's tent (Seth was so overtired and restless he needed someone to be by him to help him keep getting back to sleep). I was in our tent and heard some loud rustling. Now I have been in a tent and heard mice, racoons, even deer but this sounded really BIG. Jason was also hearing this noise and popped out of Seth's tent and in the light of the moon headed toward the sound. Next thing I hear is, "A BEAR is in the food bag".

Within moments I was running from my tent to our son's, now yelling for mom, with my sleeping bag in tow. While comforting him, my husband is banging our pots and pans together and yelling in his deepest, darkest voice, "Get out of here, Bear!" It was either panic or pray. We chose to pray! Seeing the bear in our food and not being able to deter him Jason yelled for Keith to start a fire. Crystal, not wanting to stay alone one second, joined Seth and I in the tent.

May I stop to mention that we can hear this bear breathing and eating. He is a mere fifteen feet from our tent! My son is the bravest little boy ever and Crystal and I are great actors at being brave. Had Seth not been there I think we would have been freaking out or passed out on the ground!

The bear finally walked away about an hour and a half later with a very full belly. We all sat around the fire discussing possible plans and finally moved tents closer to the fire ring and each other for safety. Jason and I also joined Seth in a tent as we were not letting each other out of sight any time soon! The guys surveyed the damage and we assumed we were safe until morning. We decided to get a few hours of sleep and then decided what to do in the morning about our lack of food and newly developed fear of bears.

Oh how wrong we were...

To be continued...

The Last Great Adventure of the Summer

The happy campers: Andy and Rosie, Cindy and Nick, Crystal, Jason and Seth on the bridge over the creek. (I was of course taking the picture, as usual.)

Fall is here (as of today in fact) and our last great adventure of the summer was worth every bit of time and effort. We spent the weekend with friends (all grads or spouses from Northwestern College in St. Paul) at St. Croix State Park. I will let the pictures help tell the story...

First, our friend Crystal came to our house (her husband Keith graduated with Jason and I, but he is in Iraq and was unable to join us). Seth and Crystal hit it off right away and if they weren't chasing they were reading a story. She drove all the way from Omaha to spend time with our family and go camping with the gang!


Everyone packed the gear they would need for the two night stay in the wilderness, even Seth. (He got a new backpack from Grandma just for the event. It was hilarious to see him struggle to carry something so heavy but he loves to help!) The great part about group camping was that everyone took a turn at meals so there was less stress and more time for fun!


Some of the fun included a climb up the fire tower. It was quite the climb but believe it or not, Seth was the one who lead the way to the top! He was totally fearless while we were all hanging on tight to the side rails and praying for safety. The view from the top was worth it though. We could see for miles and there were plenty of trees already changing colors too. Beautiful!


We also did some hiking as a group and individuals. Seth was a bit on the tired side so they were slow hikes or we took turns carrying him. (Hopefully next year there will be more families and he will have some small friends to run with!)


We of course cannot camp without the canoe so we brought it for everyone to take turns. There was a small but long lake and everyone got a chance to paddle. Here is Jason helping Nick and Cindy back into the beach.


I think one of my favorite parts of the weekend was just getting to spend time with good friends. We spent a lot of time talking and catching up around the fire pit, telling stories about the old days, and dreaming of the days to come. Thanks to everyone for such a great weekend. Our memories will last a lifetime! I can't wait until next year to do it all over again!


Just a funny side note: There was horseback riding at the campground where we stayed. When hiking I told Seth not to step in horse poop. He asked me, "What like?" I told him, "It was big and stinky!" He responded, "Like Buddy." We had a great laugh at the expense of our fat and smelly cat!

Happy Campers Unite!

The Johnson family campers!

The Labor Day holiday weekend was a great one. We spent it on "the land" with our friends. They own a few acres of water access only property just outside of Ely where they camp throughout the summer months. We were invited to join them and do some family camping.

Best friends in the screen tent taking a break.

With our two year old, and their four year old and one year old there was a lot of activity. I think Elanor and Seth perfected the art of Hide and Seek and Chase while us ladies enjoyed conversation and keeping the baby busy. The guys - they were always off working on this or that. They also spent their fair share of time chasing and hiding too.

Moving some dirt at the loading area.

We had a wonderful time and I learned some valuable lessons about camping:

1. Don't just pack bug spray, put it on. Same works for sunscreen.
2. When you purchase a sleeping bag for your child - don't expect that they will want to sleep in it. The sleeping bag you are in is always better!
3. When camping during a new moon there is NO light during the night. You MUST not only pack a lantern but make sure to have charged batteries in it!
4. ALWAYS have a light source for your child who is afraid of the dark. (When I say dark, I mean the kind of dark where you cannot see your own hand in front of your face!)
5. Bring a plethora of dump trucks and front loaders to play with in the dirt and rocks, one of each for each child would be best. (Sharing is always so hard!)
6. You can never pack too many underwear - accidents happen when you are busy playing. That goes for diapers too - they are not "reusable."
7. Two families can consume more than 14 gallons of water in a long weekend.
8. Sharing food with friends is way more tasty than eating what you packed for yourself.
9. When relieving yourself in the woods it is always best to get a 360 degree view to make sure you are hidden - you never know when a boat may drive by on the lake.
10. When in town make sure to lock bathroom door when relieving yourself or you are just as vulnerable as when relieving yourself unhidden in the woods.
11. No amount of deodorant can hide the scent of one who has not showered in three days - why bother?!
12. Lack of sleep will eventually catch up to your child - they may take a two hour nap when you least expect it.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend with friends. We all enjoy the outdoors and the company of one another. Thanks for a great weekend McL family!

Life can change a lot in two years.
Jason & Seth August 2006 and August 2008!

Need more amusing advice about camping? Learn from another mom who has been there recently at The Overflowing Cup. She was my inspiration for this post!

Count Me In

We have a very large tree in our backyard that will have to come down eventually. We have started in on it in the last two weekends to remove branches that affect our neighbor's yard first. So how do you do such a thing as remove a tree?

First of all, you have a husband who has been trained by professionals and does it from time to time for work. Second, you invest in some serious climbing gear and ropes. When I say invest - this is no cheap side job, but over time and a few projects it will pay for itself - so we hope.

The professional up in the tree last Saturday.

Third, and this may be most important - you get friends and the whole family involved to provide a second opinion and be there to pick up the pieces. (The branches, not body parts, we were very safe!)

Our friend Ryan who brought more ropes, climbing gear and the ever important chain saw!

Seth wanted in on the action too - so dad gave him a little lift.

Seth will soon need his own gear as staying on the ground when the adults are in the sky is no fun!

I watched as Jason and our friend Ryan climbed and wondering if I had it in me to do such a thing. It looked pure painful to climb when Jason did it straight from the ground using only a rope. I asked if he would ever teach me to climb, at least let me attempt it. He offered to have me give it a go, TODAY! Being the adventure seeking woman I am, I jumped at the chance.

After getting the equipment resized to fit me, Jason gave me a few pointers and had me give it a run. He then hooked the saw on to my belt and I laughed thinking there was no way I would ever make it up. We are talking 30 some feet in the sky with only a rope to hang on to and MY limbs. Well, surprise - I made it all the way up and took out a few branches before coming safely back to the ground. Don't believe me? Check out the photos!

Here I am about half way up, as you can see, it's me and a rope. I like to think that is pretty cool for the lady of the house!

I grabbed onto a branch and just to show off, since I had the saw and all, cut a few branches down.

What a rush! I told Jason that he may need to include me in the business as a second partner and invest in some more ropes and another harness. I so want to do it again! Maybe after my arms are a little less sore though...

The Shortest Camping Trip In Johnson History

Seth putting in some tent stakes on our semi-modern camp site. That means they put you on a sand base which is really not all that user friendly if you camp much. We will now have sand in our tent until Kingdom come!

The boys preparing a fire for breakfast. Seth wanted to help a bit too much at times.

Did you know that female mosquitoes are the ones responsible for all the pain we Minnesotans suffer each year? Being a female myself I understand this could be stupid to share - but those are some mad girls out at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park! We arrived in time for supper, though I think the mosquitoes ate more than I did. Even with pants and long sleeves my whole family has plenty of nasty bites. Of course I was wearing sandals and really paid the price. I tried to count them and lost track around 40 and that was on one foot by the way. (Since our return nothing short of ice packs every couple of hours has allowed me to walk around without severe pain!)

Enough about the mosquitoes, they may have ruined my trip but there was some fun to be had, well before the rain came that is. Yeah, this was one camping adventure we hope not to repeat. After the first blood bath of those aforementioned bugs we set up our tent for protection. As night came we expected sleep to come alongside it, but no luck this time. Seth finally closed his eyes just before 11 pm and then awoke in the night around 3 am to spend the rest of the morning in and out of sleep between my sleeping bag and his. At 6 am I was so frustrated and overtired that Jason took Seth to the car for safety. (I was in that state of motherhood where you start to understand why some animals eat their young - I was ready to lash out like a you know what kind of bug and be relentless about it!)

So where was the fun to be had in all this? That was our pancake breakfast over a fire (oops, forgot the propane). The syrup was everywhere and only seemed to call the bugs in, but then to our relief the bugs flew for this hills...as the rain started to pour down. We tried to keep ourselves preoccupied in the tent, but camping with a two year old is much different than our former camping days. Jason and I would have loved to curl up together and read a book or take a nap and enjoy the sound of the rain in the trees, but Seth was ready to see the world and could not be held down. (Lack of sleep makes our child crazy, not tired!) So it was decision time - do we stay or do we go?

We had booked two nights, but it was time to go and no two ways about it. We tore down camp in the pouring rain and drove our soaked little bodies two hours home to recuperate and scratch our wounds. It was for certain the shortest camping trip in Johnson history! We were in camp for less than 24 hours - yikes!

Family Camping Adventure

Our "new" family tent: Marmot Halo 6. We purchased it two
years ago and now it is finally getting some use!

Seth loves eating outside. We got home and he still wants to eat outside!

Our Jr. Paddler preparing to take on the white caps.

Seth and Dad being silly with Peanut Butter and Jelly lunch all over their faces!

Jason and I love the outdoors! That love has most certainly come naturally for Seth too. Over the weekend we spent two nights at Rice Lake State Park. (Click on name to learn more!) We brought along our canoe and stayed at a canoe-in site across the lake from the main campground. Aside from a family who came out for a long lunch we had the whole area to ourselves. It was wonderful, aside from the wind that is.

Seth was such a trooper the whole time. He loved helping set up the tent and even paddled when we were in the canoe. He led a few hikes, though we might need to teach him the value of sticking on the trail. He let us know that the sun would be out, that it was in fact windy, and pointed out any bugs he could find, of course, their were plenty. He even wanted to chop wood for a fire, but we had to keep him away from the hatchet, safety first! Seth seems destined to be a Jr. Naturalist!

There are numerous funny stories to tell, but our sleeping bag troubles seem to stick out the most to me. Maybe since I finally got a comfortable night sleep last night.

Our son normally gets in bed around 7 pm (I know, I know but it works for our kid!). We knew this of course would be difficult in a tent as the sun barely sets by 9 pm. Thus with open minds we cleaned up supper, went for a hike and then all headed into the tent for some quiet time. (It was so windy we all just wanted to get out of the wind anyway!) During this quiet time Seth decided that he liked Daddy's Z-rest or Therm-a-rest (a fantastic sleep mat for camping - click on word for more info). Seth decided it was a "bumpy road" and wanted to drive his tractor on it. No problem, let that go on for a bit, it was a quiet activity. We read some books, sang a few songs, then more with the tractor and the bumpy road.

Then he proclaimed he was sleeping in mom's sleeping bag. I knew in my mind that there would be no happy ending to that, but just wanted to get him to sleep so around 9pm he crawled in with me. After losing half the skin on my thighs to his toenails and getting kicked in the gut enough times to cause stomach cramps, I got out and slept in Seth's sleeping bag. He fell promptly asleep in my "bag" and I was left in big trouble!

Now to fully understand sleeping bags you must know that there is a difference between your everyday Coleman sleeping bag and a Marmot mummy sack, which I own. The difference is the one who sleeps in the "real" sleeping bag, being a Marmot (or similar expedition style brand) is the one who actually sleeps. Not only sleeps but is also comfortable! We figured a little boy would not notice the difference, but apparently he is much smarter than we think. He knows quality when he sees it and that is why on night two when we let him sleep in mom's bag he slept all night (9pm-8am) without waking or complaining!

Now mom on the other hand handled the inferior bag as long as possible and then traded with dad who also has a "real" sleeping bag, warm and inviting. Dad used Seth's bag for a few hours and then proclaimed that we would have a ceremonial burning of said bag! It was really that bad! The heat your body produces should stay in the bag keeping you warm. In Seth's Coleman the heat just dissipated leaving you cold, no frozen would be a better term. It almost felt as if the wind was blowing right through your shorts!

All in all, sleeping and wind aside, we had a great weekend with many memories. If you are someone who hates camping, I tell you this. Buy some real gear and you will find a new fondness for the outdoors. Check out Marmot to see what a "real" sleeping bag looks like. I have a women's Helium by Marmot which rates to 15 degrees a weighs under two pounds. (Click on Helium for the link.) It is amazing! Put that on a Z-rest and you can sleep great, of course you must also buy both for your child or no matter how comfortable you are, you will not be sleeping!