On Wednesday August 13th Papa, Grandma Cathy and Douglas spent the night at our place and the Brundritt family came by at about 3:30 am. We finished packing up the vehicles, loaded up the half sleeping children and pets and we were off....Well, we would have been off if the Brundritt mobile was working.... the battery needed a boost! Hmmmm, was this a glimpse of what was to come?
After a quick trip to Timmy's we were on our way - for a long 12 hour drive to the Great White North (well hopefully green and not white, but definately north) Somewhere along the way - around Dutton I think - the Brundritt mobile acquired a speed wobble.....Oh no, what now? We pulled over at a rest stop and Al shifted the load in his trailer and van to correct the problem. A short while later and we were off again....When lunchtime came we stopped at an area along a small lake. Tilden Lake in Temagami. We ate sandwiches, let the dogs stretch their legs, and yelled at the kids to "stay out of the mud!" It was a beautiful place to rest from the long drive but the stress of trying to keep the kids away from the water and out of the mud puddles was taxing. Once we got back on the road I felt like I needed a rest from our rest stop.
There were three vehicle loads full of us going to Cochrane and we carried radios in each vehicle to be able to communicate with each other along the way. Sometime along the drive up Papa (my dad) came on the radio and said "Do you ever wonder what the trees are thinking as they stand here all this time looking at the hydro poles??? One tree is probably saying to the other tree "hey does that look like cousin George to you?" *Sigh* Only MY dad would think up something like this....
Well past the half way mark and heading toward the last leg of our journey, we came into the New Liskeard and Dymond area. As we rounded a bend in the road, Al came on the radio telling us that our trailer wheel on the passenger side was wobbling.... we pulled into a gas station to confirm it - the wheel bearing blew.
The service station attendant directed us to KalTire down the road. We creeped down the road at a snail's pace praying our tire wouldn't fall off completely. When we pulled into KalTire the
mechanics came out to inspect our problem and told us that they were unable to help - they didn't do that kind of work - they just did tires. They were nice enough to lend us the tools necessary to do the work ourselves though, and told us how to get to Canadian Tire to pick up the parts we need.
The men got the the trailer jacked up and removed the tire and did all that macho greasy man stuff then left us and the kids there while they went to Canadian Tire to get the parts we needed to fix the wheel. We kept the kids occupied with snacks and drinks.... it was a nice break from the long drive anyway. The kids explored the parking lot and a stack of old tires and the older girls walked the dogs a bit. It felt like the men were gone for such a long time. When they finally returned we anticipated a quick fix and getting back on the road toward our destination. Things rarely happen the way we expect them to....It's a good thing that Papa is an awesome back yard mechanic and he really knows what he's doing .... a word to the wise - Never leave home without your own personal mechanic, especially on a long road trip. Papa and Al got the tire fixed on the one side of the trailer and wisely suggested we do the other side as well. A good thing we did - it may not have made it all the way to Cochrane either. Did I mention that during this whole procedure we had a torrential down pour????
It started thundering and then came the lightening. When it started raining the kids all jumped back into the vehicles. Cherie and I tried our best to keep the men dry while they worked tirelessly on our tire problem. The rain was cold and very very wet! It did eventually end but we were so soggy by then that it really didn't matter anymore. Thank God we all have a sense of humour... we needed it. As the men were finishing up and returning the tools to the guys in the Tire Shop, one guy - Kim Lee Hamelin - brought us out new blue golf shirts to change into since our clothes were soaking wet. What a blessing that was - it never felt so good to be dry. We left KalTire three hours later feeling very thankful for how our day had turned out so far... things could have been so different but they turned out well in the end.
As we journeyed on, we concentrated on spotting wildlife - moose, bears, deer, etc.... As we studiously looked for signs of wildlife, Grandma Cathy was focused on spotting signs of Tim Hortons! She had much better luck than we did.
Once we finally arrived in Cochrane after an adventurous 16 hours, we stopped at our favourite A&W Restaurant for dinner. We must have looked like some sort of sports team or something with our matching shirts (Thanks to Kim Lee Hamelin @ KalTire) and a bus load of children. We had dinner and with filled bellies and tired bodies we crawled back into the vehicles again... for the final 15 minutes of our drive to Kamp Koppes.We arrived at our place and unloaded vehicles and unpacked our bags. the kids were so excited to have finally reached our destination... I think the adults were too. We set up camp and settled in for the night.
Friday was spent cutting grass and tidying up the place... lots of trimming trees and cutting paths through the bush for the kids.It was the first day of Bear Season so the men weren't around much.... the women held down the fort.
We played on the ATV and enjoyed the view from the new observation deck Mike built this year (tower 1). The view overlooking the ravine is so beautiful - the sound of the water running down the stream has a hypnotic effect to it. One could stand on the deck for hours just drinking in the sights and listening to the water playing over the rocks below... and not even notice the time passing by. What a relaxing place to be. When the noise and activity level rose around camp, I'd escape to that tower to lose myself for a while in the beauty of what the Lord has given us - and we are so humbled by His magnificence and Greatness... and our smallness and dependence upon Him. Sunday was an exciting day. The Brundritt family had brought their own pop up trailer up to Kamp Koppes and set up camp next to our place and Papa and Grandma Cathy and Douglas bunked with us. There were four adults and seven children in our place (including two dogs) and two adults and three children in theirs (including one dog). All sixteen of us met in our place each morning for breakfast - oatmeal and toast - and on Sunday Mike preached a mini sermon for us. In the afternoon we went into town to attend the Cree Festival (like a pow wow for the native community in this area). We had a great time watching the dancers and listening to the singers.
The kids even tried a few dances on top of the hill we were standing on - they looked pretty good : ) It started to rain so we went into a tent marked "Cree Language" and visited with a few Cree teachers while we waited out the rain. We went in to the arena and checked out the local crafts and things for sale.
The men did some more hunting in the afternoon and they discovered a huge area of blueberries... so they came back to get us all to go berry picking. We had a great time picking blueberries. I have never seen so many berries... wow, what an incredible sight. The kids had so much fun climbing over tree trunks to collect handfuls of juicy blue yumminess.
The kids had blue stained hands, faces, and bottoms of their feet.... how in the world did they get blue stained feet?That night things cooled down a bit. A wild thunderstorm rolled in near bedtime and kept the dogs and the little ones awake longer than anyone wanted. The lightening was awesome and the thunder sounded like nothing I've ever heard before... it rumbled and crashed and shook the ground - you could almost feel it in your bones. It was amazing to watch. The wind blew and the leaves on the trees sounded like a waterfall.... and then the water really fell. It was a driving rain that came suddenly and seemed to escalate in waves. It was blowing right into the windows I had to get out of bed to close them all before we got soaked. The sound of the wind and rain against the trees finally lulled me to sleep.
When we woke in the morning (on Monday) it was considerably cooler and drizzling rain. Grandma Cathy and I went into town to pickup a few things. We were surprised to learn that it snowed today in Cochrane - wow, what a summer vacation.... SNOW!!!! Tuesday morning was freezing - there was frost on the vehicle windows .... is this really summer?
Papa (or Gladys as he's been affectionately renamed) went hunting outback (towards the back of the 75 acres ... on the other side of the stream near tower's 2 & 3) He put on his camo, took the ATV and drove off into the sunrise - it was suggested that he wear waders as there are a few spots that are deep and wet since it has rained so much this year. Gladys opted not to and off he went. It was only a short time later that the radio crackled and Gladys' voice hesitantly informed us that the ATV was stuck - really stuck - in a water hole....(Hmmm, probably wishing he had those waders now.) Mike and Al donned their waders and went off to rescue Gladys and the sinking ATV.
Once the ATV was back on dry land Gladys continued on to the back to hunt. We later found out that he spent the better part of the day in his camo boxers while his clothing sun dried on the walls of the blind/tower. Good thing the sun was shining and the temperature in the sun was nice and cozy. Perfect for partially nude sunbathing in the wild.
We wore winter coats in the morning, needed shorts and tshirts in the afternoon, and back to winter coats in the evening. We spent the day cutting trails in the bush, hiked down to the stream, and the kids played a javelin game uncle Al made for them. The kids were so dirty and muddy. We took turns on the ATV going down the road to see some giant moose tracks along the side of the road.
Today some of us acquired nick names that will stay with us for the rest of our lives (or whenever we're camping anyway). I was affectionately known as "Outhouse Annie" (yes, we do have an outhouse... LOL) my sister Cherie became "Trailer Trash Tracey" (her family camped out in the pop up trailer next to our place), my step mother Cathy came to be known as "Crabby Cathy" and dad was simply known as Pa (pronounced Paw - with a hillbilly twang) but his name later changed to Gladys???for some unknown reason. Al became "Alice" and Mike was "Michelle" - they partly got these new names because of their hen parties they'd have when they got together after hunting .... cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck.... (worse than women...LOL)
Suddenly it was Wednesday - day 7 already, where has the time gone? We had our last breakfast of toast and oatmeal in Styrofoam cups (I have developed a hatred for oatmeal) Over breakfast, everyone shared what their most memorable time this past week was. Some favorites were:
-ATV rides
-Papa getting the ATV stuck in the mud hole out back and needing to be rescued.
-papa almost naked in tower 2 sun drying his clothes after getting stuck in the mud.
-hiking down to the stream together
-having to repair the tires on the trailer in the downpour at KalTire
-attending the Cree fest
- just spending time together as a family.
We all took family pictures at the Kamp Koppes sign.... that was an experience in itself - everything we do is an adventure.
We all went in search of the local dump to look for bears.... on the way there we passed a pasture full of goats.... "horsies!!!!" my little ones excitedly hollered .... wow are they ever sheltered. After a long back road adventure - and a hand drawn map on the back on my gum package from some local guy - we finally made it to the dump! Our excitement was short lived - the gate was locked and the sign said closed Wednesday's.
Hahaha just our luck. We were standing around with binoculars trying to get a view of the garbage piles to see if we could at least spot any bears when a city worker pulled up on a tractor and told us that it was too dangerous for us to be walking around out there - that's comforting.We went for a drive up and down some back roads.... (everything is a back road up here) ... but didn't see much - except beautiful scenery. When we returned to camp the Brundritt's all went into town to go swimming (ya, it was snowing yesterday but hot enough to swim today... figure that one out) Papa and Mike went out hunting and Cathy and I stayed at the camp with the kids and fought off dragon flies.... we are now known as the "Dragonfly Slayers".... but that's a whole other story.
The day eventually came when it was time to leave Kamp Koppes and Cochrane behind and head back to Chatham.... our vacation was over. We grudgingly packed our bags and loaded the vans for the return trip. On our way home we stopped in Dymond at a Food Basics store - well not the store but the parking lot. We were hungry and needed to feed the herd. Cherie and Al have a sweet pop up trailer that has the stove and sink unit that slide out - so we were able to cook burgers right there in the parking lot! I'm sure we looked like a charity trying to sell burgers or something... LOL but it was a good time and we certainly had fun. We were parked right next door to .... you guessed it.... Tim Hortons! So the die hard Timmies fans only had a short hike to get their desired beverage of choice.
When we got to North Bay everyone was gracious enough to stop by the "Dionne Quints" Museum for me so I could have a quick look around.... Al wondered aloud why on earth I (already having seven kids) would want to go look at five more?!?!?! Good point Al : ) Guess I just can't get enough of the little darlings. *No one really minded stopping anyway since the museum was located right across the street from a Tim Hortons.... but isn't everything located across the street from Tim Hortons?
On our continued drive home I had the van window open as we went down the highway - Little G2 piped up "Mommy, I smell Cars!" (Hahaha, she meant the exhaust from the vehicles) A little further on as we drove past a rest stop she started sniffing the air again..... "Mommy, I smell Pizza!" Yes, G2, close your eyes and sleep - it's a very long drive home.
The result of this week: Did our hunters get any bears?
No - no bears, but they did see a big bob cat and a rather large fox - but it was never about the hunting anyway - it was more about all of us spending time together sharing an experience we'll all be talking about for years to come ... making memories - that's what it's all about.
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