We had a great trip. We arrived on Saturday, July 20, and left on Friday. We usually stay until Saturday, but the kids are getting older and have jobs to get back to. 

It was a typical trip and very relaxing. The highlights were

1. A family of minks, one of which came within 2 feet of me one day, investigating the humans, I'd guess.
2. It rained one night only, but it came down so hard. Fortunately, it was not windy. We all stayed dry, though the tent had a lake at the front and some bedding got wet at the bottom. Weather otherwise was sunny and around 75. 
3. The games of the trip were backgammon and Code Names. Chess was played of course by all but me, and Thome played me Spit and Farkel. Backgammon was all the rage though; Thome taught Thomas and me to play and there were many games played. We played Code Names at night in the tent.

On our last evening, the Other Reussers visited and we had a nice campfire, hot dogs, and s'mores.

When we arrived, Scott decided to shore up the deck a bit before we pitched the tent. He sure knows how to do hard stuff.

It helped and the tent was dry except the night it rained. Here's our tent setup.

Most of the usual activities occurred:

Sorry, I did it the least of anybody, but these are the only pictures. Hideous.

The view from inside the tent is amazing. The moon would come up glowing orange, and one night it was full. 

Scott took pics of sunsets and sunrises.

Scott found the minks' home, and we saw 2 wolf spiders. One was in the tent and we couldn't usher it out so it had to be crushed. The other was outside and it was carrying an egg sack. Ugh.

We had a great family camping trip this year. This picture was taken in an area called the Carolinas. 

The water level was down, and we decided we could use the deck for the Clam (which we use as our tent)!!!

This is a picture of the deck after we took the Clam off when we were leaving. That's why the water spot is there. But notice that the deck has turned 180 degrees from its original location! The pointy end at the front should be directly opposite, where it was contoured to the shape of the cove. 

The deck also was no longer level after its rotation, so it sinks a bit, which you can see along the left side of the water spot. We placed the Clam as far from the depression as possible, but a couple feet of the front fell over it. No worries until the wind shifted, the water rose, and it rained one night straight at the front door, which had just a screen, no panel. I didn't realize we had an extra panel we could have used until we were packing to go. 

We got a little water inside when it rained HARD all night into the tent. But that was all, and we stayed totally dry in our cots, so we felt pretty lucky.

It's such a relief to be able to put the tent on the deck for several reasons:

• The cove is sheltered and our alternative, up on the top of the island on the windier side, is far more vulnerable to the wind
• It frees up that rocky area on the top of the island for things other than a tent
• Our stuff is less exposed to the elements. When we're on the rocks on the top of the island, the gross roach bugs get in more easily and sometimes get in our belongings. EEEEWWW!
• The floor is way more level, even in its current state, than the rocks on the top of the island. That makes it easier to set up tables and organize our things.

But also, the views are amazing. You're right on the water. It was really awesome when the deck wasn't flipped, because then our picnic table was set up right on the water, too.

Pretty nice, eh?

We set our kitchen, pantry, and table up in our usual non-deck area. It works nicely. I do have to be careful when I'm preparing meals, hopping up and down on the rocks. The pantry is about two feet above the table area and my stove.

Kids in the kitchen.

Meals in the kitchen.

Views from the kitchen table.

Activities included 

• Swimming
• Fishing
• Kayaking
• Lots of games, mostly Poison, some Crew in the evenings, and chess
• Reading
• BB golf
• Running into town for supplies
• Boat rides
• Fires and S'mores
• Exercising
• Hanging out together
• Building sculptures
• Enjoying the views
• Making meals and eating.

Here's the island as you're driving in from town.

Some views around the island.

The bathroom.

Here's a view of "town": Some marinas (now all owned by the same megacompany), a general store, some other businesses like construction companies, a gas station, and a restaurant.

The White Ingrate is not a great Canada dog. He doesn't cause problems, but he sleeps most of the day, and when he's awake, he's usually right at your feet trying, I can only surmise, to kill you. He also liked to dig, and he got dirty and also very, very, very smelly. However, he is a great boat dog. He loves speed and wind. He does cause trouble trying to get as far onto the edge as we'll let him. 

We saw some interesting wildlife.

• As usual, the song sparrows were singing throughout the day, mostly at 6:30 am and dusk, and flitting about the trees.
  
• There was a LOT of loon activity and communication. Most mornings and nights we heard them, and many days we saw them. One day there were four swimming about 4 feet in front of Scott and Thome.
  
• We saw a hummingbird a couple times.
  
• We saw an enormous toad that hopped out of the water when we were stepping onto the same rock to get into the kayaks.
  
• We saw mink--once on the island, once fishing, and once swimming in the water.
  
• We saw a harmless snake on the island
  
• We saw bald eagles a couple times. I saw one once when kayaking. I got pretty close while it was on a high branch and where I could see it very clearly. Scott was with me but wasn't close enough to get a good look or a photo.  And then when he and Thome were on the boat, they spotted one near town.

Click on images below to pop up the images for a clearer view.

Some folks were momentarily fooled into thinking the bald eagle had landed on our fire pit. (It was a log.)

We learned from the locals this year that we are the "tent people." We have always referred to ourselves as the "Beverly Hillbillies"—for fairly obvious reasons.

Mostly pics from this trip, little commentary. Yay for you.

​One thing we did differently this year was to set up the Clam as our tent. We had to use the back side of the island again because the deck is under (ish) water, and there is a large, flat (ish) rock on that side. The upside is we could leave the panels down most of the time because the weather was fine, and we had splendid views and a breeze.

We set our kitchen up on the big rock on the front of the island. Why front? I guess because that's where we park the boat.

This is the view from the kitchen. That's the little Clam on the left.

This trip began with a bit of disaster. We got our boat in the water, went about a hundred yards, and the motor died. For evah. Fortunately, a passerby towed us to the nearby marina, and they had a motor we could buy and they could install that weekend. 

​Here we are outside the marina.

Another thing different about this trip was that my brother-in-law was up there the same time with his two kids. He towed us out to our island, we unloaded, and then they towed the boat back to the marina.

Oh, here are a few more. They are either fishing or playing BB golf.

The White Ingrate was an okay Canada-camping dog.

Morning coffee.

Island views.

The daily swim around the island.

Fishing. 

Kayaking.

Annual Burning of the Trash.

In the last few years, water levels in the Great Lakes have been rising, and water has been covering the deck. My husband has raised the deck a few times. This year, it couldn't be done. 

So we set the tent up on a flatish rock on the back half of the island and set the kitchen up on a flatish rock in the front.

We could still use the deck for various purposes. We just couldn't live on it.

It was a great trip. 

Deck had to be raised on account of rising water levels.

Set up on the deck.

Comfy tent.

Swimming. Some folks more willingly than others.

Boating, kayaking, and fishing.

Fun and games.

Morning coffee.

Scenery.

First things first. The deck had to be raised...again. 

We set up camp.

Enjoying the deck.

Boating.

Fishing.

Kayaking.

Fun and games.

Scenery.

Campfires.

The water level and prevailing winds started to submerge the deck toward the end of our trip.

We had a great time nevertheless.

A great trip. A year with good wood and good fires.

Good times.