Well it was the last day with Mom and Dad but it was a beautiful day. The water was like glass and it was already into the 60s when we got moving. Dad needed to go to Dryden to pick up lumber so Scott went with him and Mom and I stayed home and did some wash and got her packed to go home. When they got back we did something special to the pontoon boat. Then we loaded up the kayaks and headed to Connaught Point.
It took us about an hour to get there via Canoe Narrows. Ron and Dee met us out there in their boat. When we got there Scott, Dad and I jumped off the float boat. I swam/walked into the beach but Scott had to test the ladder so he actually jumped out twice. When we got to the beach we explored it again. Ron and I checked out the wolf tracks and then examined a track we thought maybe could be a moose track but really it was Mom’s shoe track from the day before!! Scott and I loaded up our kayaks and we all set out underway. Mom and Dad headed to the walleye hole to fish through Canoe Narrows. Ron the same but the opposite direction between Boat and Canoe Island. I took off toward Canoe Narrows and realized Scott was not behind me. He was working on his fishing pole and he ended up trolling all the way to the Narrows in his kayak. It was a beautiful paddle. We saw ducks, loons, seagulls, turkey vultures and eagles but no mooses :( It took us about an hour to get to the point of Canoe Island. With the pontoon boat in sight we headed around the tip. The rocks under the water were incredible. I was sure I was going to get hung up on them but to my amazement I skimmed over them each time. When we made it to the hole, the whole pontoon boat looked like it was going to tip over and Dad was leaned way over the boat trying to take Mom’s fish off the hook. None of us saw it but supposedly she caught a pretty big walleye. She had hooked two perch and two walleye on her magical ultralite pole. There was one minnow left so Scott hooked it on and started fishing. I casted for a while but no one had any interest in my green fake Rapala which I suppose I was a bit relieved especially since they had seen a rather large Muskie in that area a couple of days before. I decided I better get paddling after about a half hour of a break so I pointed my kayak to the middle of Tivo and Paradise. Pretty soon Mom and Dad came up behind me and told me that Scott had caught a small walleye. Knowing we had two hours before “brownie stew” on the McCarty point I told them to go ahead home and finish packing. I told them to come back for us if we weren’t back by 5:20pm. We were well over ¾ of the trip home and I was sure it wouldn’t be an issue to do it in an hour. I waited for Scott to catch up because my back was starting to hurt. As we started to paddle again the tiredness hit us like a load of bricks. I finally just laid down on my kayak. I paddled laying down, sitting up, halfway down my kayak. Paradise didn’t seem to be getting any closer. I finally asked Scott what time it was and he said that it was 6:05pm. I said, “What happened to 5:20pm come pick us up???” I was so tired I actually started to fall asleep. I was parallel to the tip of Paradise and decided that if I took my scuppers out maybe I could go faster and the water would pad my butt a little so my tailbone wouldn’t hurt as much. It was like an elephant got in the kayak with me! Bad idea. Then I looked at where I was and I was almost to Tivo – I had lost quite a bit of ground and there wasn’t even any wind! Go figure!! So I bared down and paddled as hard as I could. Scott got his lure caught in weeds so he was reeling in at the tip of Paradise closest to the cabin. Then he exclaimed that he had a fish. I paddled up and took a couple of pictures while the Northern lay still so we kind of figured he had drug him awhile. Scott proceeds to pick the weeds off the lure and the Northern fights sticking the lure in Scott’s hand and removing itself. We continue to paddle and we are about half way between the island and our dock. About this time Dad who can see that we aren’t even a half mile away decides to come out and offer us a tow. Again I say, “What happened to 5:20pm come pick us up???” He said, “Oh sorry I didn’t hear you say that.” Then he kept offering to tow me in and there was no way I was quitting that close after all the pain I had suffered.
Three hours later I was in the water taking a bath twenty minutes before the party. I was in pretty slow motion. So we all got dressed and headed down to the McCarty’s. When we arrived Kulbum’s, Groves and Meiers were there. We visited in the house for a few minutes and headed down for dinner which couldn’t have come soon enough because we were starving after our paddle. We sat on the McCarty Point and marveled at how still and incredible the water was. Dad even commented that he may never have seen it this calm. We toasted those who have passed those who were here, told old stories, told new stories and talked some sports and politics. It was a great visit. Mom and Dad left to go finish up so they could leave at 6am the next morning. Scott and I followed shortly behind promising to return after we had helped Mom and Dad so that we could see the Canadian stars. When we got back everyone was leaving because the mosquitoes were so incredibly horrible because there was no breeze. Michael wasn’t ready to leave the fire so we went down and visited with him for about an hour until we just couldn’t take the mosquitoes any more but we did see the stars and they were incredible. So many of the stars were visible that it was hard to pick the constellations out BUT I did find the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and Cygnus the Swan as I swatted mosquitoes. Scott and I tried to sneak into the cabin quietly around 11:30pm “tried” being the operative word. I don’t think there is anything you can do quietly in the cabin. Dad was up at 4:50am so we got up and helped them finish packing and loading up. They were out by 5:35am. They called at 9:30am from Eveleth, Virginia. They had seen two moose on 502 on their way out of Canada!!!
When we got in we jumped in and took our baths. I could hardly stand to get my hair wet but I was okay. My legs were numb at this point so they really didn’t feel the cold. When I dipped back in to rinse my hair I got external brain freeze and decided it was time to go up. Scott was down there washing his sweatshirt and jeans and then in his swim trunks. I always thought he was a little nuts! When we got back up the cabin was 64 degrees. I’m in the truck right now with the heat blasting!!
It took us about an hour to get there via Canoe Narrows. Ron and Dee met us out there in their boat. When we got there Scott, Dad and I jumped off the float boat. I swam/walked into the beach but Scott had to test the ladder so he actually jumped out twice. When we got to the beach we explored it again. Ron and I checked out the wolf tracks and then examined a track we thought maybe could be a moose track but really it was Mom’s shoe track from the day before!! Scott and I loaded up our kayaks and we all set out underway. Mom and Dad headed to the walleye hole to fish through Canoe Narrows. Ron the same but the opposite direction between Boat and Canoe Island. I took off toward Canoe Narrows and realized Scott was not behind me. He was working on his fishing pole and he ended up trolling all the way to the Narrows in his kayak. It was a beautiful paddle. We saw ducks, loons, seagulls, turkey vultures and eagles but no mooses :( It took us about an hour to get to the point of Canoe Island. With the pontoon boat in sight we headed around the tip. The rocks under the water were incredible. I was sure I was going to get hung up on them but to my amazement I skimmed over them each time. When we made it to the hole, the whole pontoon boat looked like it was going to tip over and Dad was leaned way over the boat trying to take Mom’s fish off the hook. None of us saw it but supposedly she caught a pretty big walleye. She had hooked two perch and two walleye on her magical ultralite pole. There was one minnow left so Scott hooked it on and started fishing. I casted for a while but no one had any interest in my green fake Rapala which I suppose I was a bit relieved especially since they had seen a rather large Muskie in that area a couple of days before. I decided I better get paddling after about a half hour of a break so I pointed my kayak to the middle of Tivo and Paradise. Pretty soon Mom and Dad came up behind me and told me that Scott had caught a small walleye. Knowing we had two hours before “brownie stew” on the McCarty point I told them to go ahead home and finish packing. I told them to come back for us if we weren’t back by 5:20pm. We were well over ¾ of the trip home and I was sure it wouldn’t be an issue to do it in an hour. I waited for Scott to catch up because my back was starting to hurt. As we started to paddle again the tiredness hit us like a load of bricks. I finally just laid down on my kayak. I paddled laying down, sitting up, halfway down my kayak. Paradise didn’t seem to be getting any closer. I finally asked Scott what time it was and he said that it was 6:05pm. I said, “What happened to 5:20pm come pick us up???” I was so tired I actually started to fall asleep. I was parallel to the tip of Paradise and decided that if I took my scuppers out maybe I could go faster and the water would pad my butt a little so my tailbone wouldn’t hurt as much. It was like an elephant got in the kayak with me! Bad idea. Then I looked at where I was and I was almost to Tivo – I had lost quite a bit of ground and there wasn’t even any wind! Go figure!! So I bared down and paddled as hard as I could. Scott got his lure caught in weeds so he was reeling in at the tip of Paradise closest to the cabin. Then he exclaimed that he had a fish. I paddled up and took a couple of pictures while the Northern lay still so we kind of figured he had drug him awhile. Scott proceeds to pick the weeds off the lure and the Northern fights sticking the lure in Scott’s hand and removing itself. We continue to paddle and we are about half way between the island and our dock. About this time Dad who can see that we aren’t even a half mile away decides to come out and offer us a tow. Again I say, “What happened to 5:20pm come pick us up???” He said, “Oh sorry I didn’t hear you say that.” Then he kept offering to tow me in and there was no way I was quitting that close after all the pain I had suffered. 
Three hours later I was in the water taking a bath twenty minutes before the party. I was in pretty slow motion. So we all got dressed and headed down to the McCarty’s. When we arrived Kulbum’s, Groves and Meiers were there. We visited in the house for a few minutes and headed down for dinner which couldn’t have come soon enough because we were starving after our paddle. We sat on the McCarty Point and marveled at how still and incredible the water was. Dad even commented that he may never have seen it this calm. We toasted those who have passed those who were here, told old stories, told new stories and talked some sports and politics. It was a great visit. Mom and Dad left to go finish up so they could leave at 6am the next morning. Scott and I followed shortly behind promising to return after we had helped Mom and Dad so that we could see the Canadian stars. When we got back everyone was leaving because the mosquitoes were so incredibly horrible because there was no breeze. Michael wasn’t ready to leave the fire so we went down and visited with him for about an hour until we just couldn’t take the mosquitoes any more but we did see the stars and they were incredible. So many of the stars were visible that it was hard to pick the constellations out BUT I did find the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, and Cygnus the Swan as I swatted mosquitoes. Scott and I tried to sneak into the cabin quietly around 11:30pm “tried” being the operative word. I don’t think there is anything you can do quietly in the cabin. Dad was up at 4:50am so we got up and helped them finish packing and loading up. They were out by 5:35am. They called at 9:30am from Eveleth, Virginia. They had seen two moose on 502 on their way out of Canada!!!
