~Camping~

When I lived in Upper Michigan, Stambaugh, to be

exact, which is no longer there, but was annexed in

with the neighboring town at the bottom of the hill,

Iron River. Beautiful area, about 20 or so miles from

the Wisconsin border. Lakes everywhere, and with

in a half hour drive from our house there were at least

10 or more lakes that I can name, possibly more.. One

our favorites of course was Lake Ottawa that I wrote

about one of our walleye fishing trips there.. The photo

up there is at the same lake, but we decided to camp

out at the lake. Why, I guess to save driving back and

forth, it was easier and we thought might be fun..
(Diane, Me, David,Tommy)

Our friends Tim and Diane and the 3 kids came out

every day and we grilled and fished but sadly most

of the time was rainy and wet and cold and I myself

asked myself that quite a few times, why wasn't I

at home, warm and comfy? I felt like I was abusing

my self, specially at night in that tent that I wasn't

really keen on sleeping in.. In these campgrounds, at

times black bears have been seen.. Usually they post

warnings or the DNR guy will come by the campsites

and warn people about food, to make sure its sealed

up.. a bear will break into a car to get at food.. I made

SURE we did NOT eat anything inside that tent!! If

you look at the tent, closely, you will NOT see the door.

Because its on the side opposite the firepit.. We didn't

pay attention when we were setting it up to make sure

the door faced the fire, mainly for light.. as cold as it

was, warmth too!
(Clara, Diane, Me)

Before bed one night we had a small bag with a

can of beans or something in it..nothing a bear could

open and eat and hung it up high on the tree....

It was very cold that nite and rainy and we had

no choice but to sleep side by side close as we could

:-) I woke up to feeling David trembling just awful,

I was shaking from him laying right next to me.. I

turned at looked at him and his eyes were WIDE

open and he looked TOTALLY TERIFIED, I said

:WHATS WRONG??!!!" David looked at me and

whispered "shhhh, listen". I listened close and I

heard the plastic bag on the tree rustle..and I

said with out thinking "My GOD ITS A BEAR!!"

David turned WHITE.. I didn't MOVE and in fact

I held my breath so long I thought I was gonna

pass out! :-) We listened some more and heard

this SNIFFING that went ALL around the tent out

there, and we both were scared to death..
(Gorgeous sunset on Lake Ottawa)

I whispered to David, "did you bring your gun?" He looked at me,
closed his eyes and slowly shook his head NO... I almost cried...
I said "what are we gonna do?" David reached down along side of
him and lifted up the axe we brought for wood to chop it up.

I saw the short handle on that axe, wasn't one of those LONG kind
you see, this was more a hatchet... I looked at that and knew we
would have to be with in striking distance of that bear to be able
to hit him with that axe. I just put my head down and listened, hoping

the sniffing would stop.. I bet it circled that tent 3 times, and we
were shaking so bad the tent had to be too..We heard the bag rustle
some more and then it was quiet.. ... We looked at each other and
both said at the same time with a huge sigh of relief, "I think its gone".
We sat for I know at least another hour, just in case, we didnt want
to be stuck in a sleeping bag....finally we laid down and slept..

When we got up that morning we searched the ground

for telltale signs of the bear so we could warn the game

warden about it... When we got up to the tree and

expected to see huge holes in it.. was nothing.. we looked

at the ground to see the footprints.. well ... I looked at

David and laughed... They were RACOON tracks... :-)

Its needless to say that was our one and only camping

trip.. I told David if we ever go again it will be in a

METAL trailer, then I would feel better.. All of the

UP is mostly National Forest so you know you have to

share with the animals.. But bears.. well.. no.. I will keep

my distance, I know some bear hunters up there and I

have been on a bear hunt, with the dogs and all..... so

nope.. deer is about as wild as the game I can handle

being around... We did go back home later that day

though.. We decided we would make the daily drives

if we wanted or felt the need to fish every day...:-)

We are squeaky clean, Penny did a good job today. Of

course the boys had to help.. It was the beasts' day to

vacuum and when Penny hauls that thing out of the

closet both the boys make a mad dash to their favorite

hiding spots.. LB under the bed and Dutch in the bathtub.

Penny, before she leaves makes sure both are around, we

couldn't find them so she knew where to look but BOTH

were in the tub today... Big scaredy cats... :-) I'm done

for today and ready to watch some TV, I watched my

netflix, 10,000 BC...was pretty good.. It could easily have

been made into a better movie...Specially with the animals

in it.. well maybe they will make a sequel... I will have a new

one back by Wednesday I bet.. I don't know whats next

on my netflix list, but I know whats on my daily list scheduled

for now.. a snack and some spider, then out of this chair..
Penny found the Dibs today, Meijers had them.. and Donnie

is due to come by..he will be pleased, since that is always the

first place he heads to, to the fridge.. :-) This GORGEOUS
WEEBLE bids you "nitey nite"....

Y'all have a good one now, Y'hear? love ya and thanks !!!

Always, Lois ****

God Bless You, is my prayer today,

I'm so honored to call you "friend"

I pray the Lord will keep you safe,

until I write again .....