Day 7 -Thursday- was our day off to go fishing. JS's #1 highlight.
It takes some doing to organize a large group & 4 boats.
That results in waiting around for said group.
(And why exactly are the guys the ones "laying out" while we wait?)
So. much. fun. #worththewait
A. almost didn't go along, then she was the one reelin' 'em in
- for this boat anyway.
Yes, I did catch a couple walleye. And no, I don't mind touching fish.
This is the one that almost got away. Slippery booger.
I cut my finger on the gill trying to keep hold of it long enough for a picture.
(Don't worry, I evened the score at suppertime.)
(And yes, I did eat a sandwich after this despite the fish smell on my hands. No hand sanitizer.)
I am more of a fisherwoman than my son gives me credit for!
Then the rain starts and out come the orange trash bags we bought for rain ponchos.
Hey, don't laugh; they work pretty good.
3 hours & 50-some fish later, and a shower that didn't blow over quickly...
we sped back to the dock and some of the group called it quits.
The hard core fishermen went back out to fish in the rain.
A's luck changed and she didn't catch much.
JS's luck also changed and he caught this-
26.5" walleye!
Appropriate that he should be the one to get the biggest fish of the day.
The plan was to do a shore lunch. Fillet & fry the fish right there on the shore. Cook baked beans in the can over the fire like the natives would do. But the rain... flexibility, flexibility.
Plan B- fillet & fry in the garage instead...
...with neighbors to show us how it's done authentically.
(And claim the fish heads we Americans throw out.)
This is the makings of a rained out Shore Lunch-
fried fish with tarter sauce, potatoes, baked beans and bannock.
(What I wouldn't give for some of P's raisin or sweet bannock about now!)
JR, who does NOT fish under any circumstances, stayed behind that day to mow lawns and other chores for our hosts. With the shore lunch getting rained out, he never did get his boat ride.
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Day 8 -Friday- most of the men went fishing again. They ate all the fish they caught, for lunch when they got back. Nothing like fresh fish!
I went along with our hosts to a funeral on a reserve. For the cultural experience. I found out what "Indian time" is.
The rest of the group did some cleaning and assorted odd jobs -like making these posters.
Then we explored the stores & shops of Sioux Lookout.
This is one awesome little coffee shop!
I, being nostalgic of my first trip to Canada as a child, was in the market for a pair of moccasins. But alas when I found ones in my size I didn't care for the beadwork design. We purchased Kit-Kat bars (of a chunky variety that are unavailable in the USA). JR & A also purchased souvenir shirts and JS a souvenir hat. Netting us some leftover loonies & toonies for additional souvenirs.
While the guys cleaned the vans for the return trip (unbelievable how much sand gets drug into vehicles!)...
the girls prepared the food...
...and it was a birthday cookout for the lovely lady in blue (daughter of our host family).
Next we went to the dump to look for bears.
There were 2 out when we arrived but they promptly retreated into the bush.
And the youth promptly bailed out of the vans.
R & I were fairly sure the bears wouldn't come back out with so many humans in the vicinity, but the smaller one did emerge and resume rooting through the trash.
How close can we get? they said, easing forward toward the bear.
Quite close actually.
Does anyone else feel just slightly apprehensive that all these youth are milling around freely in the bear's territory? Could be slightly awkward to explain to the parents how we allowed their kid to get mauled by a bear...
Is it poised to charge? they asked.
(Nope, just urinating.) Hey, can't a bear get any privacy around here?!
Almost as fascinating as the bears, was the trash. The folks in this generation of this culture have not retained their "living off the land" heritage. Nor do they come from our thrifty German "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" heritage. Not wrong, just different.
Then it was off to the lake for one last beautiful Northern sunset.
How can guys stand on a rocky shore like this and not skip stones?
JS's handiwork
Awe-inspiring beauty! Doesn't it just make you want to say "Good job, God!"?
Then it was back to the house to load up as much of the luggage as possible into the minivan, which was departing early in the morning for the airport.
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Day 9 -Saturday- it was time for good-byes.
Our hosts did an outstanding job! Of making our time in the north interesting, fun, busy, memorable.
It was awesome to get a taste of their world.
Quick stop for a last group photo...
...just in time before the sky broke loose with yet another rain shower.
Eager to get the long drive over with.
Yup, that's the direction we want to go!
And about that time every one's phone started chiming with incoming texts that piled up while we were out of the country.
In spite of hearing it can be more difficult crossing back into the USA than getting into Canada, we crossed in about 10 minutes. From the custom official's response, I don't think she gets very many 15 passenger van loads on her watch. :) The only real question she asked is where all our luggage is. First we said there is a storage box attached to the back of the van. She said "Wow! You guys travel light!" so we 'fessed up that another van crossed ahead of us with most of our luggage.
JS did quite a bit of driving on the way home.
Around 11pm we hit a traffic jam. R has an app on his tablet that we used on this trip to keep track of traffic flow. We estimate the accident happened about 1 minute ahead of us. We had just switched drivers because we had a sleepy driver. So, so very grateful it wasn't one of our vans involved in the crash!
What happened next was something we have never seen before in our lives! The police moved the 2 lanes of traffic as far to the outside as possible and created a center lane down the middle of interstate going the opposite direction. Traffic was routed back to the previous exit and detoured around the scene. Isn't that just the oddest thing to have headlights coming at you from both sides?
The amusing irony was we detoured right through the WI Dells. We had talked about stopping there to break up the monotony of driving -get out and stretch/hike a bit. But both times we drove through that area after dark. So while we really didn't see anything besides motels & water parks at midnight, we can say we were at the WI Dells!
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After driving all day Saturday, all night... Day 10 -Sunday- we drove some more. R's eyes were totally red & bloodshot when we stopped for breakfast, so he slept and I was driving when we crossed over into the Buckeye state.
We were 1 hour from home when we got word that one of the girl's grandma had passed away. We knew the chances were good she might pass while we were on this trip but had been praying about the timing. We didn't have a backup plan but were prepared to come up with one if needed. Thank God we were almost home instead of 22 hours away!
At 11:30am, after 26 hours of driving, we pulled into the church parking lot. Welcomed by parents and a few close friends. Not wanting to attract the attention of the entire congregation when we were exhausted and less-than-fresh, we quickly & quietly sorted out our luggage and departed for home.
On a side note: we did travel to the calling hours for the girl's grandma 2 days later. Even though I had to shudder at the thought of more hours in a van. In 12 days time, we traveled more than 3300 miles and spent 60.5 hours on the road. A month later, we're still not ready to think about taking a trip! It will be awhile till we recover.
We get asked the same questions repeatedly.
Did we have a good time? Yes.
Are we glad we went? Yes.
Would we do it again? or When are we going to do it again? Maybe. I don't know.
I suppose the best way to learn how to do something is to jump in and do it. Experience is the best teacher, they say. So we jumped in as greenhorns and learned as we went. We would do several things different next time. Definitely. We went into it with no idea that the opportunities for missions trips were not there for our kids -not because no one ever tried, but because others had tried and given up in the face of similar opposition. There have been those kind souls who have thanked us for "breaking the ice" and "paving the way" for future trips. I never intended to be a pioneer, but we have come to an understanding that we need to give ourselves grace for the lack of experience, for things we could handle better next time.
The "negative publicity" still makes me sad. I wish we could've gotten here without that. It's like this- when you have a bad experience with something, let's say a root canal, it's not easy to shake it off. For the rest of your life when you hear the words "root canal", you cringe. That's what the words "missions trip" do to me now. In the thick of the drama we said "never again!" More than once R & I looked at each other and said "let's just get through this and shake the dust off." But then a kind friend reminded me "Better not tell God that." [He has a way of making you "eat" your words.]
For me, the break-through came after the 2nd kids club. I thought over the day and I got tears in my eyes. I said to myself this. this is it! this is what I wanted the youth to experience. This is why i kept fighting to make it happen when the going got tough. For R, the break-through came when we did a recap the last evening -each one of the youth shared their highlight of the week and what the trip did for them personally. To hear that- somehow it made all the effort worthwhile. Maybe, just maybe, some day we will have the courage to try again.
Just the other day I read a quote by Thomas Paine "That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly." Maybe the whole purpose of the drama was to make us grateful. If everything had fallen into place the way I originally envisioned, would we appreciate the trip?
To God be the glory!
