Trip Log: Vacation, Summer 2013

This blog post is brought to you by Wisconsin State Parks, where you are welcome to bring your dog.  Oh, but once you're here you can't actually bring him anywhere.  Like the beach.  Or on hiking trails.  Or places you go when you are in STATE PARKS.

This dog is the poster child for the experience YOUR dog will have in Wisconsin State Parks.
Sorry, buddy, thanks for being such a good sport!!!

Day 1: Arrival at Copper Falls State Park

Weather: 73 degrees, sunny, with one small sun shower.

Critter count: Multiple tiny frogs, the first named Gilbert.  An owl symphony during the night.

Number of hours Rowan spent in the water: 2

Number of fish caught: 0

What we did:  Arrived and explored the park, swam at the beach, serenaded by Aidan on guitar.  Reveled at my amazing packing ability.  Those years of playing tetris in high school paid off.

Quote of the Day: (Rowan) "Dad, do police kill mosquitoes?"

Rowan and his micro-frog

Beach at Loon Lake

Aidan and his micro-frog

Day 2: Copper Falls again

Weather: 73 degrees, sunny, with one big shower of rain.  COLD at night!

Critter count: A woodpecker, a herd of deer and a possible sasquatch encounter.  I mean really people, we heard the weirdest noises coming out of the woods by the beach, so we drove down the road to explore what it might be.  There was a bigfoot crossing sign tacked to a power pole, I kid you not.  This, of course, sent Rowie into excited question mode about the "monster" that made the noise.  Dan explained the sign was just a joke.  My response was a cocked eyebrow and, "Or, is it?"

Number of hours Rowan spent in the water: 1.5

Number of fish caught: 0

What we did: Explored and hiked the falls, moved campsites, celebrated our 13th anniversary with ice cream cones and cheese curds (we ARE in Wisconsin!) from the gak stand at Copper Falls, both of us grown ups went for a jog, went for a quick swim, had Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner, which you usually can't say you did while camping, had a fire.

Quote of the Day: Dan" "Rowan, what's your favorite thing about camping?" Rowan: "Swimming" 

Dan: "What's your second favorite?" Rowan: "Sleeping."

Hike to the Falls

Anniversary Cone N Curds

Day 3:Copper Falls State Park, again

Weather: 73 degrees, according to the thermometer.  But really, 90 in the sun 37 in the shade.  Which makes it really hard to decide where to put your camp chair on the beach.  So then you do this funny little dance of shuffling your chair back and forth, putting your sweatshirt on, taking it off, etc.

Critter count: two cute widdle baby fawns

Number of hours Rowan spent in the water: 5

Number of fish caught: 0, but not for lack of trying

What we did:  We split up, Dan and Aidan hiking to go find fish, Rowan and I camping out at the beach.  The boys never made it down to the river, as steep slopes down would not have allowed our gimpy geriatric dog to get back up the embankment.  They had a great hike though.  Rowan and I lazed and swam.  We had another fire and ate s'mores.

Too steep for Murphy

Day 4: Off to the Island!!

Weather: 75 and perfection

Critter count: Owls, who again performed for us all night.  Blueberries.  Behind our campsite. They count, right?  They were wild.

Number of hours Rowan spent in the water: 1

Number of fish caught: 0

What we did: Observed a miracle:  BOTH boys slept late, which allowed us to pack everything except for the clothes they were wearing, the sleeping bags they were in, and the tent around them without interruption or whining.  It was glorious.  We drove to Bayfield, played at the park/picnicked, and took the ferry over to Madeline Island, explored the beach at the State Park.  Without our dog.  Again. (See, brought to you by...)

Quote of the day: Me: (While pointing out my lack of a razor.) "Yep, I am rockin' the French pits."

Day 5: We Love Madeline Island

Weather: 75 and perfection, again.

Critter count: two naughty red squirrels who were openly shouting profanities in front of my children, some ducks.

Number of hours Rowan spent in the water: 3

Number of fish caught: 1 perch

What we did: Hiked along the lake, saw the Lake Superior Water Sprite and his tribal dance, drove over to the Town Park beach where dogs ARE allowed, thank you very much. Aidan and Dan rented a canoe to fish in the Lagoon.  Drove into town to experience Tom's Burned Down Bar and to eat real food.  Met a fellow Jeffersonian (lives 1 block away from us) while at Tom's.  Ate burgers and drank beer while the boys played with the ducks in front of the restaurant.  Got up with Aidan at 2 a.m. and walked down to the beach to see the stars/persieid meteor showers.

Quote of the Day: Rowan (at lakeside restaurant) "Can I take off my clothes and go swimming?"

The Lake Superior Water Sprite performs his tribal dance

Finally, a beach for me!!

Aidan at Tom's

Day 6: Minnesota Goodbye

Weather: 77ish and perfection.

Critter count: 0

Number of hours Rowan spent in the water: 6

Number of fish caught: 0 caught, one bonded with in the Lagoon

What we did: Decided the island wanted to hold on to us for as long as possible, so we broke camp, went back to the town park, and stayed there til 4:30.  Caught the 5:00 ferry and headed home. :(

Quote of the Day: Rowan: "I want to go swim in the La-ga-goon."

And finally, I leave you with a video, which really captures the essence of what it is like to camp with these two children.  Make sure the sound is turned up and you listen all the way to the end to hear what Rowan has to say. Enjoy.