We used to live in Minneapolis, so we had to drive five hours to Whispering Pines Lodge.
Our boys were three and seven years old. How many of you have travelled long distance with children? To keep them from being bored in the car, I invented a wildlife game. Points would be given to whoever spotted an animal first. For rabbits, deer, owl, squirrels, those would get five points but if it's a bear, that would get 10 points. The winner would get a treat! That made our car trip interesting and fun! The kids were so busy looking for animals they forgot to complain. They never asked, "Are we there yet?"
We finally arrived at the place. As we drove down the winding road amidst pine trees and tweeting birds, I spotted an animal who walked like a person walking between the cabins. It was brown and hairy and guess what it was? A bear! I saw it first! Yes, I saw it first! That was 10 points and I won the game! And you know what else? That kept me from worrying what prize to give the winner.
Our vacation had begun. We left behind the noise and the crowds. The Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness surrounded us! We were guests to the bears, loons, moose, deer and other wild creatures of Northern Minnesota.
We went fishing but the fishes all avoided us! We kept trying. Finally, I caught one on the line, A big fish!!! I was so excited I was rolling it in, then POP!!! The line broke and it got away! That was the end of my fishing ambitions!
We needed our older son to experience the joy of catching a fish so the next day, we asked the resident naturalist to go fishing with him and my husband. He caught a small fish and it made him very happy!
One night, my husband and I were almost asleep when we heard a loud ripping noise outside the bedroom. Our two little boys were in the bedroom next door fast asleep. My husband turned to me and said, " Someone is in the cabin with us." "Could it be the bear?" We wondered aloud. My husband opened the door to the cabin which opened to the porch. He saw the bear reached out for the garbage sack through the torn window screen. The bear quickly disappeared with the garbage.
I handed the camera to my husband and I told him to take a picture. He said he could not find the bear outside, so I went to the porch and searched for the bear looking through the windows. I found the bear eating the trash outside, by the corner window.
I told my husband, "The bear is over here,go take a picture." He was somewhat far so I said to him, "Closer!!!" If you can imagine, my husband in boxer shorts doing this (arms outstretched with hands together on the camera tiptoeing toward the bear)! The animal was too busy eating Filipino left-overs to pay attention to the crazy tourist who wanted to take his picture!
One day, we came back from our excursion, to find a teeny tiny mouse barely able to walk in the middle of the cabin floor! He was probably a hundred years old. We had to take him outside.
When our vacation ended and it was time to leave, we discovered a snake coiled under the water heater that stood inside the bathroom just by the door.
We hurriedly got out of there but I bet you that snake had been with us the whole time we were there! I will not think of all the possibilities that may have happened when going to the bathroom with a snake! I will only thank God of His protection in a seemingly safe but dangerous place!
It was a truly wonderful wilderness experience even if we had to share the log cabin with a mouse, a snake, and a bear!
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