Camp life

[m1west]

I left at first light this morning and drove the hour to camp. When I pulled up, she came running from under the camper scared. She had found her way to the food we left out and the shirt I left in her kennel was flattened meaning that she was sleeping in there. View attachment 164979

Yes thats great news, you should go buy a lottery ticket.

 

[pirate_girl]

Thank goodness that little baby was found!

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Thanks guys. We are extremely happy. After preparing the kids and pretty much accepting that she was a goner, we went to bed last night emotionally exhausted and were almost asleep when another friend of ours from camp called the house after trying both our cell phones which were off. She said her son and daughter in law were out and saw her but she wouldn't come. At first light, I drove out with an arsenal of her favorite squeaky toys. I pulled in at around 7:15am and as soon as I pulled up she came running out from underneath the camper scared and starting to run. I quickly shut off the truck and got out calling her very softly as that generally works and she stop and cowered in place then slowly crawled her way towards me as I called to her.

We I spent a bit of time comforting her before driving back. We did a full check and found 2 ticks on her and a small scratch by her mouth.

 

[m1west]

Yup and she will never do that again, until the next time. Keep an eye on that one.

 

[chowderman]

I suspect the pup will not be dashing off again - and will be on your lap for years and years and years to come . . .
dogs are way too smart to do a dumb thing twice . . .

we've had several rescue pets - once they learn to trust you, there's no going too far away.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Lol. We keep saying that she learned her lesson and won't do it again until the next time.

Seriously though, she has always been spooked and clingy. Now, even more so.

 

[m1west]

Lol. We keep saying that she learned her lesson and won't do it again until the next time.

Seriously though, she has always been spooked and clingy. Now, even more so.

Been my experience that if you get one that runs off, generally they will always do that. My dog is 7 and never goes un supervised for that reason and a couple others like mauling anything he comes across.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

On a side note while we're still sidetracked about honey. I did a little research and think I know why she runs like the wind. She's not a purebred obviously but....

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Back to camp life. 🏕

We are in final preparations to head out 3.5hrs northeast of here to Burroughs lake for the long weekend opening of walleye season. I have been going every year since I was born pretty much. Same pit. Same lake. Our 'merican friend from Michigan is coming up as well. He has been coming 60+years in a row. I first remember him from when I was about 7 yrs old playing baseball in the same pit where we're going tomorrow.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

We came home yesterday after a great weekend of camping and fishing. The camper worked great despite a dead battery the first night. The fishing was excellent. 5 people fishing yesterday in 2 boats. Limited in 20 minutes.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

The water levels are high this spring. Normally that culvert is exposed about 3ft down. The week prior, the water was over the road.

Where we launch the boats off the side of the road. My boat is a deep 20ft with a 150hp and I can slip it right off the trailer. Who needs a dedicated boat launch.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

We have been going to the same clay pit every may long weekend all of my life camping and fishing walleye at Burroughs lake in northwestern Ontario. My dad had been going there since he was a teenager. My grandfather brought him there. The pit we camped in was always full of Americans who came up every year as a group. Over the years, we became friends which grew into a life long friendship for one in particular.

I remember when I was about 6 or 7 years old, this feisty American jumped in and started playing baseball with my brother and I in that pit. It was always us and the Americans. Over the years less came until only one was left still coming. I remember that day playing baseball with Bobby. He worked in a factory in flint Michigan until he retired at age 51.

A little background on Bobby. He lives his life alone and simple. He loves the outdoors. It was this love that bonded us together. I remember as a child everyone around the fire pit chatting away after a great day of fishing and one by one they all went to bed until it was just Bobby and I. For years, it was Bobby, my dad, and I going mainly with whoever else in the family came. Dad passed away in 2021. Now, it's been just Bobby and I. Every year, I shed a tear as he pulls away knowing that he is slowing down considerably and one of these years not too long from now, I will get that call at the beginning of May as he always does and he'll be almost in tears as he says he can't make the 12 hour trip up.

I'm now 46. He's now 81. He first started coming in 1961. We've been friends a very long time. We traveled to southern Ontario a couple years ago and decided to go through Michigan just so we could stop to see him. He is a great friend and will truly be missed when he can no longer come. And I know that day is coming as my wife and I had to nearly lift him into the boat. But as long as he can make it up, I will be there.

For comparison, this is a picture of my dad, me, my stepson who is now in his early 20s, and Bobby.

 

[m1west]

Good thing there is a limit, you would have that lake fished out in a week

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Good thing there is a limit, you would have that lake fished out in a week

The fishing was unreal. It's a morning and evening fishing lake where the prime times are 9am to around 11:30am and 7pm until dark. You can still catch them but it involves patience and work to just catch a limit. There wasn't much challenge. You're allowed 4 fish and only 1 over 18". We caught a few smaller ones at first but after 20 minutes we had limit and were fishing for size. I spent most of my time after 20 minutes sorting through the live well tossing back smaller ones as my wife and son kept reeling them in. We were back at camp cleaning fish at 12 noon. And it's a 10ish mile trip across the lake to get to the river.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

This past weekend we were at our seasonal campsite and spent some time on the water with my wife and one of my daughters. The lake was just gorgeous like a sheet of glass.

 

[Ross 650]

That sure is some pretty country. Enjoy!!!!!!

 

[NorthernRedneck]

At the time when I originally built the fence surrounding our site, I didn't have 4x4 posts out with me so I framed it sorta like an interior wall and screwed it down to the deck. It was wobbly as heck and I got tired of hiding behind a 5ft tall wall. We need it for the dogs so I redesigned it and tore out the old fence this morning and got to work. I started with proper 4x4 posts and lag bolts to secure them to the deck then attached 2x4s to screw the fence boards to.

The new gate and fence is 3ft tall. I repurposed the old gate as a mini deck for the laundry rack to sit on.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I've been at camp since Thursday. We're going back tomorrow. Since my back has been out of commission, I've been hanging out at the camper by the fire experimenting with cooking on cast iron both on the fire and over the BBQ. The pan worked great this morning. I just preheated it and gave a light coat of olive oil and let the eggs cook with the lid down. That flat top on the BBQ also works great for frying though I haven't tried eggs directly on it yet.

 

[EastTexFrank]

Careful with that cast iron cooking, it can become a passion. My wife still cooks with cast iron cookware that she had in college 55-years ago. My SIL belongs to a Dutch oven cooking group that meets once a month at a local State Park to cook lunch. Anyone can eat, you just leave a donation. The Rangers eat for free and they're all there. It always amazes me just what you can cook in a Dutch oven over a charcoal fire.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I've been working on rebuilding the fence along the camper this summer after the dog identified all the places she can escape. I looked at my inventory of supplies this morning and determined that I had just enough wood here to do it so I took it apart and moved it back about 5" closer to the camper. One more project done. I still have to figure out something under the kitchen slide. I did have to steal 3 fence boards from behind the wood shed but those are easily replaced.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I just spent 6 hrs rebuilding the front gate and fence AGAIN!!! We decided that we wanted an archway over the entrance with something to block the full evening sun.

I basically just swapped out the shorter corner post with a taller 4x4 and another 4x4 on the opposite side. Everything is secured with 6" lag bolts.

While I had the fence disassembled, we hauled out the huge picnic table as it served it's purpose but we regularly only have 3 kids coming out so a smaller table will allow more deck space.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

We're up to our old shenanigans again. This time we decided last week to book 3 nights mid week this week at rainbow falls provincial park near Rossport on the north shore of Lake superior. It was a light rain yesterday when we arrived after a 2.5 hr drive and we got out late afternoon so we just stayed inside playing board games with the kids. We have our 3 youngest who aren't so young anymore. We also brought Honey along. This time there were no issues. No flats. I was prepared this time with 4 new tires on the camper fully inflated to proper specs and a brand new spare on the camper and an older spare in the back of the truck in case of a catastrophic double blow out. I even went through my Jack's and wheel wrenches making sure that I had the correct ones for both truck and trailer. That's all part of the 7 P's. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

We're out at camp for 4 nights. It's pouring rain so rather than sit inside the camper listening to my teen daughters watching high school musical, I decided to tackle a long overdue project I have been meaning to do. Organize the shed. We built it 5 years ago and put in some shelves but everything was a disorganized mess. I cleaned and organized for 4 hours sorting everything out. We also brought out my wife's toolbox she had downstairs when we first got together 12 years ago. I had been saying for 4 years that I was going to bring it to camp.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

So how's this for redneck ingenuity? 100km from the nearest hardware store and we needed a piece of eavesdrop to divert the rain coming off the end of the awning. I had some left over fence board pieces from another project and a box of small scraps destined for the firepit.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Well, that long weekend sucked. We went to camp last Thursday. It started raining Friday and all day Saturday. It was nice Sunday but my back has been on fire the whole time to the point where I couldn't stand or walk more than a few feet. I did get the boat in the water and tied up to the dock. We got new docks last summer.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I was just out for 3 nights for the weekend. Went home Sunday. Brought my daughter to an appointment yesterday. Did a dump run this morning then headed back to camp to.....well, more on that later. But back it up first. My neighbor at camp for the past 5ish years pulled out a couple weeks ago to at first get his camper repaired until he discovered that they're going to cost way too much. So I have been helping him clean up his site to rent it to someone else as he's payed for the season.

In the process I inherited a bunch of wood. Everything I need to build a small sink house behind the camper.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

First, the materials. On my way to camp, I stopped at the dump to drop our weekly garbage. Laying next to where I was, was a decent piece of metal roofing. Enough to do the roof. Bonus...into the trailer you go. All of the wood came from my neighbor. He said to burn it. I have other plans.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Here's the area. Big enough for a 3x5' sink area with quick easy access to the water system on the camper.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I layed out the deck boards first. The opening is for the sink drain. My friend had pieces of plastic culvert. I first dug a hole then took a piece of the culvert and drilled a bunch of holes in it. The sink drain will just drain straight into the upright piece of culvert and leach into the ground. Perfect for grey water.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

This is as far as I've gotten. I still need to frame the roof and install the metal roofing.

The water system is simple. The taps on the camper run through a hose to a diverter valve. One side is the shower. One is the sink.