Day 69: Explore The Wild

After a long night of sleeping on the ground (i.e. comfortably in the back of our extra long SUV away from the cold air and hard ground and bears and leaving our kids out to fend for themselves alone in the tent with the puppy), we woke up bright and early ready to take on the day. 

Brad cooked us a delicious breakfast in a cast iron pan over the fire of potatoes and eggs while the boys made a Lego camper, complete with fireplace and tent (the stand for our GoPro). 

Breakfast! Eggs and potatoes cooked over the fire

Cam insisted on packing his Rocket Racoon hoodie. He fits in with the wild. 

Lego camping

Rebel helped by eating our entire box of powdered donut holes. 

Notice the powder on his mouth

After a hearty breakfast, we set off for a little hike around the lake. By around, I mean a third of the way around the lake, because in reality we are towing 7 and 9 humans and 4 month old puppies with us. And in real reality, we were in a hurry to hop on our paddle boards and play in the water. 

The hike was incredibly beautiful. The area was surrounded by thin and tall redwood trees and mountainous shrubbery. We stopped often to peek at the different views of the lake (and for Rebel to drink). At one point, we stumbled upon a surprising birch tree forest, then right back to sparse redwoods. We assumed that's where all the bears were, watching us walk like we humans do when deer walk through the yard. 

Crossing a dam that connects a creek to the lake

Birch forest

A beaver was here!

After our little 2 hour hike, we went back to the campsite, got our swim gear and paddleboards, and spent the entire rest of the day literally on the lake. The boys often paddleboarded alone and LOVED the freedom of it. A few times though, All four of us went out (one kid and adult per board) with Rebel and went all the way out to the middle of the lake or to another shore.

Calen made a "hydroplane" out of a stick. Boys are the best. 

For dinner tonight, we had a hearty dinner of canned chili (and a quick visit with our camping neighbor to borrow a can opener, because that's one thing we didn't take into consideration when packing a can of chili) with sausage cooked over the fire. We made s'mores and whacked each other with the "Marshmallow Paddle of Smiting" that I in my possession (flatly shaped S'more Marshallows are great for whacking kids with) and then played with an entire box of glow sticks. The boys even decorated their tent with so many colorful glow sticks it looked like Christmas lights. 

Rebel had a glowstick too

Another super awesome day in the wilderness. 

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