Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Camping at Itasca Day 3

The second night didn't go as smoothly as the first. We didn't have anyway of knowing what the actual time was, but sometime when it was still dark both boys woke up screaming. We were doing anything we could to prevent them from waking up the whole campground, so they both ended up in "bed" with us. We are not big fans of family beds, because no one sleeps soundly...or comfortably. Kristoffer was on his side cuddling Karter telling him random stories until they both fell asleep and I was laying on my side with my arm behind my head and Kaden laying on my elbow, my hips at a ninety degree angle because Rascal was laying where my feet should have been. I was just happy when the next time I woke up it was daylight!

We had already decided that for breakfast we were going to go up to the lodge and have a nice meal before heading back home. So before basically anyone was up at the campgrounds we were already loaded up and ready to hit the road.

Kristoffer had it all planned out that we would take the 10 mile Wilderness Drive before ending up at the lodge. The description of this drive made it seam like you would see some amazing wildlife and beautiful overlooks. We saw the tallest and most beautiful trees...but sadly, no wildlife. Well, we did see a dead squirrel in the middle of the road!

Our breakfast at the lodge was delicious and a great ending to our time at Itasca State Park. We took one last look at Lake Itasca before heading out on our adventure back home. It was suppose to take 4 hours to get home, but with stops it took nearly 6 1/2...we were happy to be home!

We have compiled a top ten list of things we learned during this trip...
  1. Once you've seen one tall tree, you've seen them all!
  2. We are too old to be sleeping on the ground! Next year we will be investing in airbeds...waking up with stiff necks, backs and sore hips is no fun!
  3. Camping with a child that is immobile is very difficult. Kaden had a hard time, because he is too big for his bouncy seat but not big enough to crawl around. One of us had to be holding him most of the time.
  4. Karter LOVES camping! He thought he was Mr. Cool sleeping in a tent in his very own sleeping bag. This is one of those trips that we really hope that he remembers!
  5. Rascal is the best dog ever! Over the past 2 years he has mellowed out so much and really enjoys camping too.
  6. Our days of long hikes are over until our kids can hike by themselves. Hiking with a 22lb baby and a 30lb boy strapped to us adds a lot of weight and really hurts our backs.
  7. Our van is AMAZING! We are totally in love with it and not sure how we ever travelled without it. Oh wait, yes we do, we were super cramped and uncomfortable before!
  8. Just because you see signs and read it in a brochure, DOES NOT mean you will actually see bears!!
  9. Karter and I must taste pretty good to mosquitoes. We all used the same bug spray but Karter and I got eaten alive. Dana = 32 bug bites, Karter = 15 bug bites, Kaden = 3 bug bites and Kristoffer = 0 bug bites
  10. It may have been more challenging than before and we may have been sore, but nothing in the world could take away the amazing feeling you get when you relax with your family around the campfire. These are the kinds of lasting memories we hope to make for our boys...our family is amazing, God has truly blessed us!!

    To end our camping story, here are a two more videos of our adventure!




1 comment:

Gramaw T said...

Wonderful!!! You all are quite the wilderness troopers! A nice way to end the summer. Love you!