All about the kids...trip report

“What a wknd!!!

Sass,Abby,Laqtis,his son Max and I got a room about 3/4 the way to the marina where the boat would get us at noon the next day. The kids has a few hours of wrestling then it was bedtime.

Drove about 2 hrs to the marina and met up with the shufams,sunshine,Gonzo and his kids and kids friend. We all hung out till the boat was ready. Had a 1.5 hr uneventful(read as vomit free) ferry ride to N.Manitou island.

After the ranger briefing we headed out. The weather was a tad muggy but cool in the high 70's. Many of the islands trails are actually old dirt roads so hiking with the kids was easy. We all cruised along at our owns pace and eventually met up with each other on the west side,about 5.2 miles from the start. Sass and I took turns carrying Abby after she got wore out. At 2.5 years old we didnt push her too hard. We found two nice spots for our camps and set up. Saw two fawns in spots prior to setup. After a nice swim in Lake Michigan we all headed back for dinners etc. Ate and sat around and got to know one another a bit. Watched the kids play and hung out.

Got up and ate. Sunshine,Laqtis and son and Sass,Abby and I decided to head to the east side to shorten sundays hike. The shufams and Gonzo and crew would stay and base camp.

Hit the trail and saw a maintenance crew slaving away. We said our thanks and headed out. It was cool and breezy, perfect weather, We were all amazed at the lack of bugs for mid-summer. Max walked the full three miles and Abby did 2.25 before needing a carry. Visited the old cemetary and found the oldest grave (1885). Talked a bit about the Island history and went camp hunting. Found a SUPERB spot about 100yds off the water, nestled in the treeline with a nice clearing for tents. Setup,lunched and swam. Abby and sunshine took naps and we hung out and relaxed. A few hrs later we heard our walkie-talkie come to life. It was the shufams asking for a location. They decided to join us. We talked em in and welcomed them . They setup and it was swim time again. We all headed to the water. It was cold at fisrt but felt great. We spnt the next couple hours swimming,building castles and burying each other in sand. Hunger drove us back to camp. After a nice meal it was R&R time again. we sat around while th kids played. The shufams youngest celebrated his birthday so we congratulated him and then I spent the next half-hour trying to keep my hat from the four kids. Not to easy for sure!

Abby went to bed and we headed to the beach (the bugs were picking up) and talked. About 930pm we all headed back for bed.

A great sleep was cut short by dawn. It started out sunny but quickly turned gray witha few drops of rain following. We walked the beach part way back to the dock, some continued others went to the small side trail where fresh raspberries were in abundance. after a snack we headed out. We eventually ended up at the village and dock and dropped packs, it was now time for coffee. We watched the kids play and talked. The shufams had the fisrt ferry the rest had the second. Gonzo and his crew werent in yet and we figured they'd show up later. On a whim I tried laqtis' cell phone and called the ferry service to see about tranferring tickets. they had 6 seats and we had six bodies...problem solved!!!.

Just as we were boarding the ferry Gonzo showed up. We chatted and said our goodbyes. Another uneventful ride and it was time to drive. Laqtis and max headed out followed by us and sunshine. Shfams were last seen entering police ststion trying to locate car (possibly got towed). We had to leave (work in early am).

Had a great trip!!! Got to meet some wonderful new people and see some old friends. It was reall cool to see kids from 2.5 to mid-teens out there having fun.

As a side note Abby wants to go again, our new tent rules and my new shoes felt great.

Cant wait to hike with ya'll again!!!!!!!!!


********disclaimer********

If I messed up details I am sorry. Our drive took 6.5 hrs with 3-4 of it in rain so hard we had to drive 30-40mph on the interstate.”

“arrived at the leland boat dock a bit early....parked the car and saw a woman who looked a lot like sunshine herding kids who looked a lot like the sunspots....turned out that's exactly who they were....the kids were waiting for grandma and grandpa to arrive and sunny delight was getting a solo vacation....

we got a cup of coffee and we were soon joined by birch, sass, abby, laqtis, mad max, and the shufamily for the ferry ride out....

as birch reported above, we had near ideal weather for backpacking and playing....we found a great campsite out on the west side and got down to the business of serious swimming as soon as we were able to....after supper we went over to visit and swap stories with the other tter's until pretty late in the evening....

we decided to stay put because the kids were having so much fun and also because james and i wanted to day hike up island and nose around a little bit....we packed up a lunch and headed up the trail toward swenson's barn....we had a very nice day hike....saw some interesting birds (including a baltimore oriole), heard a big tree fall down in the woods, and ate our fill of ripe red raspberries....i expected a crowd at the barn, but we saw no one camping there....i really don't know where everyone goes, but this island just absorbs backpackers!!

we returned back to camp and joined audrey and kaci for a relaxing swim....after an early dinner, the kids went for another swim while ol' dad cleaned up the camp a bit (it's all about the kids!!)....they built a big sand castle and we headed north up the beach for a sundown walk....the kids found some big sanddunes (near johnson's place, i believe)and had a blast climbing up and sliding down....it was dark when we got back to camp and turned in after some hot cider....

next morning we woke up early and set about tearing down camp....james and i smelled what we though smelled like wild animal scat....we couldn't find it and thought that there had prolly been a raccoon in camp during the night....after breakfast i headed into the woods, trowel in hand for my morning meditations....there was a big ruckus in the woods right behind our tent and two huge fat coyotes went tearing up the mountain....they had been laying there watching us no more than thirty feet away....pretty cool sight but a little bit unnerving!! we headed out after breakfast and had a relaxing hike back to the dock....we were unsuccessful in convincing the ferry folks to take us on the early trip so we kicked back and waited for trip #2 which was supposed to begin at 1:00 but actually began closer to 2:30....after turning the kids loose in the traverse city mcdonalds, and scoring some tasty local bing cherries, we hit the asphalt trail for the long haul back to buckeye country....

a great weekend all in all....good company....excellent weather....pristine setting....ate like pigs....what else could you want??

thanks again to sassafras for setting it up!!”

“Max and I had a great time! I'm working on getting pics up and unloading/cleaning gear. That rain was real bad coming home. I tried to get through most of it as fast as possible and did pretty well. I hope things worked out with the shufams car.

My legs and arms are just chewed up! I had a hard time sleeping last night.

gonzo - Mad Max! That's funny. My other son's name is Mason Andrew Derminer......”

“Sounds like a good time all around!

Good to hear that there were no driving mishaps because of the rain. I am not to far from there and we, AGAIN got hit very hard.

We will soon need a very large boat equipped with mosquito netting. They are terrible around us.”

“Damn! Sounds like a great time, my neices would have loved it! Glad it went well.”

“Here are my pics from this past weekend:

http://community.webshots.com/user/laqtis

I had 27 pics and webshots will only let me post 24, so there are two albums. Enjoy!”

“Nice shots!”

“Thanks fer the link, Buddha. You got time to hike the High Country Pathway this weekend? :)”

“S h i t ! The 8/15 - 16, 17.”

“That pic of Max crossing the field w/ the hills fogged over is awesome! Frame it!!!”

“I don't think Abby and Max could be any cuter. I'm really looking forward to stuff like that with Laurel. If you guys are doing this in a few years when she's older we'll be there.”

“great report and great pics! The kids are so cute - looks like they were having a ball!”

“I really want to make this an annual trip. It was so much fun watching the kids have fun and enjoy doing what their parents love so much.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well all the kids did. They all seemed to have a great time and the parents did too.
Q your pictures are great! I'll get mine dropped off tomorrow I hope and have them up in a few days.
Thanks everyone for joining in on this trip and making it great!
Schufams, I hope you made it home safely and got a quick stop in at an antique shop or two!”

“Hey, did any of you find out how the Schufams' car fared and what happened? If it was posted, I totally missed it.”

“Sounds awesome you guys! I wish so much I could have made this, Newergirl would have had a blast. You'll never guess, but she has croup right now. Just took her to the doc. today. Poor baby. Sass, you should definitely make it annual. We could try again next yr.”

“poor kiddo!
Count on it.”

“*wink* *wink* we wont mention the car.

We had a great time and appreciate being welcomed. As Kev is just starting out, and me being out of the sport for over 14 years, it was great to be around some vets to see how we are measuring up. Alex still awes me and even though I have to threaten to get him to go - he comes back telling me all about the great things he saw and did. The Camster, well - it was heart warming when he was sad about leaving the island to go home.

Thanks millions, Sass, Birch, Sunshine, Gonzo, laq, etal.
I do hope we can do it again.

Gonzo - your stories of yosemite have refuelled my excitementabout our Yellowstone & Grand Teton trip next year!”

“Good to hear everyting worked out and you guys are home safely! It was great hanging out with you guys! I hope to see ya on the trail soon.”

“I had a wonderful time. It was great to enjoy the kids without having to care for my own. It was very relaxing and exactly what I needed.

I had a lot of time to rest (read nap) and to get lost in my thoughts (read problems). I've been re-energized and have my head screwed back on. ;o)

Hey Sass, just in case you were wondering... I decided to keep him. :)”

“=D!”

“Got my photos back today and have them posted.Enjoy!”

“Hey I missed these when ya first posted. Them. Great pics! Thanks!!”

“Very nice pictures to all you family folks. Cute kids!”

“I definately want to plan on a kids hike next year. Hopefully, things will settle at work enough that I can take my scheduled time off.”