Call of the Wild

Once upon a time, when I was in college, I worked a couple of summers for a camp, taking church youth groups on canoe trips in the beautiful wilderness known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It was a life changing experience, to say the least.

I always hoped that one day, if I ever had a family, I would have the chance to share it with them. This was finally the year for that dream to be realized. Thankfully, my brother and nephews were able to join us and help carry the load that would have been too much for us to handle on our own.

The first day was just a travel day to get up there. We were excited to learn that a group of eight vintage "tall ships" would be in the Duluth harbor the day we came through. What a cool rest stop!

Then, on to Ely, where we spent the night in an outfitter's bunk house, ready to hit the trail bright and early the next morning. More about that later!