July 08 Overnight Canoe Trip

Our first ever Canoe trip to Caddy Lake through the tunnel with our kids... Here is how it goes.... Canoe 1 - Shawn, Kristen and Ty, Canoe 2 - Amy, Me (Mom) and Peaches the dog. We each had a cooler, bedding and our bags with our clothes in each of the canoes. We canoed for 1 1/2 hours in, where we had to guide ourselves through a tunnel to get to our destination of our rock where we camped. The first night Shawn, Amy and Ty decided to try their hands at catching fish, while Kristen and I were to stay back and set up camp....(R U kidding) We set up in WARP speed because you know there may be a bear or something. Shawn doesn't get it..So after hearing a few cheers from out yonder and hyper speed on our parts Kristen and I ventured out to see all the commotion. Yep they were catching fish...So after being out on the water for appr. an hour we got hungry and all went in for some good ole' sloppy joes. The fire didn't work so well. We relied on getting our wood from the woods...It was too wet so we retired to the tent around 10pm. Good, 'cause at this stage I am beat..Ty zonked out in seconds of placing his head on the pillow, and the dog was asleep before that. Perfect, we'll have a good night sleep....NOT! With all the talk of being Bear savvey...the girls couldn't settle. Knowing that before bed we cleaned up camp and ensured our food was far enough away from the tent sent a chill through the girls. So finally the girls fell asleep from shear exhaustion. Yeah for us. It didn't help that Shawn was telling us scary stories and reminding us that his axe is just outside the front of the tent. The laughter we shared was joyous for us...Not for anyone within a close proximity from us. It was hilarious to see the girls freak out at every noise. Morning, was scrambled eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. No coffee..OOPS on my part! Reminder for next time...Shawn needs coffee in the morning. The way home was a little rough as there was a fairly strong wind and so we had to paddle against the current. It was quite difficult getting through the tunnel on the way back due to the current being so strong. It took us 2 1/2 hours to paddle back. All in all Shawn not only caught fish on our trip, but a turtle as well. The sunset was beautiful to watch as a family (we savored every moment). Ty got to experience catching fish and touching minnows. The dog got to run around free at the campsite. The hardest part of the trip I would say was having the girls go to the washroom far away from the campsite, in a bush, and the sleep. The dog and Ty slept through everything. Our tent is a 3 person tent, but the way the girls squished against me, you could have easily fit another 2 adults in the tent. The only thing that was sore on ourselves in those 2 days was our butts. It's pretty sore when you sit in a vehicle for 2 hours for the drive up to Caddy Lake, then Canoe for 1 1/2 hours and then sit on a rock all night either fishing or watching the sunset. Then we slept on that same rock. Ouch! Although it hurt for days afterwards, it was definitely one of our most memorable trips, and one of the most fun. The kids enjoyed themselves tremendously. Ty was awesome in the canoe, Peaches...most of the time she behaved in the canoe (almost tipped us a couple of times) and the girls were pretty awesome at paddling.
When I asked the girls if they would do it again,they said yes. In fact they said this was the best trip ever. They will have to get better at relieving themselves in the wild....(we can't always take your bottoms all the way off to go to the washroom). Ha! Ha!