Boundary Waters Canoe Area

I spent all of last week in the holy of holies, the sacred ground on which few dear to tread, the space in which you look all around you can't help but meet God there, I was up in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in northern Minnesota. A couple friends, one 5 month old, and myself spent four nights loving every second we had together in the boundary waters in northern Minnesota. We went into BWCA through Duncan lake, over the staircase portage (no small feat), and found ourselves on a campsite on Rose lake overlooking Canada. It was glorious. I couldn't have asked for a better vacation.


A view out of our campsite - we had a 3 tiered campsite

 One of the quirks of our campsite, which we loved, was that we were right across from the portage so we watched people coming and going from Rose lake. It provided hours of entertainment, checking out what people packed and how and what type of boat they were using as well as what time of day they were coming and going. We also were able to talk to many people. One day while out swimming we saw some day trippers who had probably come over to admire the water falls as we were swimming in the bay and realized they were from Brainerd, so they jumped off the rocks with us and swam around.


Hammock Village - we overlooked the lake and bay from here

What did we do you may wonder? We spent our days:

• playing with the baby
• laying in our hammocks
• reading
• napping
• paddling around
• hiking
• swimming
• relaxing
• enjoying one another
• watching the wildlife: beavers, bears, bats, mice, bald eagles, and countless other birds
• laughing
• cooking and eating well
• chicken pesto pasta
• chicken with Thai peanut noodles
• beans and rice
• crackers and salami and cheese
• chicken, broccoli, and cheesy rice
• popcorn
• brownies
• oatmeal

Love these three

It was delightful. We had a blast. Our cellphones had no reception and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way [there are rumors of a cell phone tower going up in BWCA and I think even if one does go up I will continue to shut my phone off while up there]. Yes, I did miss being able to talk to people and know what was going on, but it was also very good for me to disconnect with the world for a while. It was glorious and now I am back to work dreaming of my next trip north.

Prevacation Brain

   Sunday, Sunday I leave for vacation and couldn't be more excited, I am headed up to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area [BWCA] with a few good friends! We all are rejoicing that we have survived the summer grind (we all serve in churches and work closely alongside youth, meaning our summers are nuts). I haven't been on vacation all summer and am thrilled to be going. However, there is work to be done today (tomorrow is my regular day off) and Sunday I still get to preach and lead worship and then we are off!
   I have a list that is sitting in front of me structuring exactly what needs to be done before I leave for vacation, and a sermon that needs to be finished (it is getting close) but my brain is in the boundary waters, with thoughts of sitting in my hammock and reading a good book or going for an afternoon swim and even on brownies made over the fire. Yes it will be good and long overdue. I am excited that there is absolutely no cell phone reception. I am excited that we won't have internet connection and no one is hauling a computer (there will be no blog updates). Although there are certain people I will miss talking to and hear from but it will be a marvelous week!
   I.Must.Try.To.Focus. on things other than BWCA. In fun between now and then I am running the Dru Sjodin Purple Elephant Run in Pequot Lakes on Saturday. Saturday evening another group of friends and I are having what we have dubbed "bacon fest" - we all are bringing some type of bacon related item. I am bringing bacon wrapped water chestnuts. I hear another friend is making bacon bowls to put salads in and what not. The last exciting piece is my brother is coming up at some point, he is going to stay with Dakota for the week while I am up in BWCA and he is going to putz with my house (YAY!). It will be wonderful to see him again. Although when he leaves he is taking Nala with him and I am certain Dakota isn't going to know what to do with herself as Nala has been around all summer and we have gotten up to 6 dogs in the house this past week. She will be one lonely puppy - we'll have to spend lots of time with her best friends Gus and Luther to help her cope. I am thrilled to be going back down to a one dog house!
  Now I must go back to work and attempt to focus on work not all the excitement coming up shortly.

Potential

     I am excited about Saturday. I think I am going to have a seriously wonderful day. I have absolutely nothing on my plan. I have already finished my sermon for tomorrow and have my run in. I have a list of pintrest projects I want to try today as well as massive amounts of cleaning to be done. I love that I have absolutely nothing on the to-do list other than stuff by myself and with the puppies (I am currently dog sitting for a couple friends). I love that I finally have a day to just get stuff done.
    I am hoping to just be able to chill and work on all those projects that I frequently say that I would love to have the chance to do. I couldn't be more excited.

Project ideas today:

• clean
• make headbands
• finish labeling quilts for church
• make bread
• work on shutterfly books
• walk the puppies
• take pictures
• read a book in the hammock
• make muffins
• make a bag