Fly-In Fishing

Considering that a fishing trip to Ontario has been a yearly tradition in my family for years, you'd think I'd have gone more than once in the last ten years. But nope. Leslie and I went in 2014, as posted here, but haven't made it back since. Well, until this year. My lovely wife was nice enough to let me go on a week-long vacation while leaving her to take care of Owen - I think I married a good one.

While the traditions of this trip haven't changed much since I started going, this year was a little different. We still made the same stops we usually make on the way there, but our final destination by car was different this year - Hawk Air. The train we used to take to camp has stopped running, so the only way to access the lake is to fly in. This has some pros and cons. First off, flying in is much more convenient. It was always a hassle to unload everything from the cars when we got to the train station, then load everything onto the train once it arrived, then unload the train at our stop, then carry everything down to the dock and load it onto a boat, then take the boat to camp and then unload on the beach there, then carry everything up to the cabin and finally start unpacking. And then we'd get to repeat that whole process in reverse on the way home. With the plane, we pulled our cars to the dock where the plane would be, unloaded and weighted everything, then they loaded it up in the plane, and we flew right to camp and just had to carry our stuff up to the cabin. So much easier! It was also faster - a 20 minute flight beats a 90 minute train ride for sure. But flying also makes things a little more complicated. There's only so much room on the planes and they can only handle so much weight. Typically bring a bunch of food, especially canned goods. See how these don't mix well? So we had to rethink our entire menu and packing strategy to accommodate the weight restriction. This meant a lot more "instant" food options like packaged mashed potatoes, quick rice, and things like jello and pudding. It was definitely a change from what we're used to doing, but it all worked out and we still had plenty to eat.

Past that, it was our usual trip with our usual stops. We... left from Fort Wayne, met up with the others in Angola, bought fishing gear at Jay's, stayed overnight at the Voyageurs' Lodge, explored the Canadian Carver, skipped rocks at the rock beach, resupplied at the General Store, and then caught our ride at Hawk Air from there. Now at camp, we got things organized and then worked on getting all our fishing gear ready. The flight got us in earlier than we used to arrive on the train, so we were able to get out that night and caught a good amount of fish. After just a few hours of fishing we had enough for the next day's meal and then some. The fishing remained consistently good for the remainder of the week. Yes, we had some days where we did better than others, but both the pike and walleye (the two species we fish for) were biting and I don't think anyone ever came back in without catching a few. By the end of the week we had our limit frozen to bring back with us and had eaten our fill everyday. And you really can't ask for more on a fishing trip than that.

Group shot after breakfast at the Voyageur
Ed, Bob, Stan, Dennis, Tyler, Jeremy, Floyd

 

The stream leading into Lake Superior at our rock beach

Hard at work collecting rocks

Our airborne travel accomodations

Enough food and fishing equipment to sustain seven guys for a week

Just a friendly little loon

One day was pretty cool and foggy, but we still caught a lot of fish!

Well, they can't all be big fish...

Northern Pike - 33.5 in., 9 lbs.

One of the camp staff's dog: Tiger

My big one! Northern Pike - 35.5 in., 9.2 lbs.

Ed on fish frying duty

Our daily feast!

We had hot dogs on the menu one night and figured we'd roast them on our own little bonfire

Morning from the beach at camp

The traditional end-of-the-trip picture

But I think that's good enough for now. Thanks for reading and see ya soon!

Owen Scott Miller

Oh hey there. Yep, been a bit... but that's because our little boy is here! Owen Scott Miller was born at 1:31am on July 4th weighing 6 lbs 8 oz and 19-3/4" long! Everything went really well and it was so exciting to finally meet him. And what a cool birthday, too!

He was due on the 8th and I think Leslie and I were both expecting him to be a bit late, but clearly he had other plans. Everything went so smoothly and quickly that I still can't believe it. We went to the hospital around 5pm on Tuesday night and in just about eight hours there he was! Our nurse was so great, the epidural did its job, Leslie's doctor was able to deliver him, and I even got to cut the umbilical (had to, really - the doctor made me do it). It really couldn't have gone more smoothly. The only "unusual" thing was that we had him on a bilirubin blanket for a few days after we took him home, but even that wasn't a big deal. Otherwise, he's been doing really well!

In the past six weeks he's grown so much! Owen was such a little guy at birth, but is already up to almost 11 lbs and is out of newborn clothes! So clearly eating isn't a problem for him. Lately he's not been much for sleeping, but apparently he's in some growth spurt or something. Still, even with as fussy as he's been lately, he's a pretty great baby - not a lot crying for no reason, no feeding issues or digestive issues, and no other complications! He's also just so freakin' cute! I know I'm biased, but he does seem to be truly, objectively, a pretty cute baby. But hey, you can judge that for yourself by checking out some of these pictures from the hospital and our first week at home!

 

Our little glowworm at the hospital

First time in his car seat - he was so tiny!

First walk at the park!

First bath at home

And I think that does it for now. We're so glad that he's finally here, that he's healthy, and that we've had such wonderful friends and family around to support us. So thank you for the cards you've sent, the meals you've brought, and the love you've shown. We really appreciate it and I'm sure Owen does too. Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Baby Boy's Room

Well, it's two weeks before our due date and no baby yet (thank goodness... not sure we're mentally prepared for him to come early). So how about a quick visit to the nursery?

Somehow Leslie and I have managed to have a theme picked out for years. In fact, we had it in mind when we painted the room waaaay back in 2013. We decided to go with an arctic theme! Well, also antarctic, since there are penguins in there too I guess. This worked well with the color we already had for the walls, so getting it ready to be a nursery wasn't too hard. Since it's been painted for five years it was mostly a matter of getting furniture and decor picked out. Oh, and eventually adding a baby.

We kept it pretty basic with the furniture. The crib, end table, and ottoman are from Target, the dresser and bookcase are from IKEA, and the chair is from Buy Buy Baby. A lot of other stuff is from Etsy. I had actually gotten the reindeer print for Leslie this past Christmas knowing we'd need stuff like that for the nursery walls. We also found the alphabet print on Etsy as well as the mobile (which is handmade and came all the way from Ukraine!). I did end up making the mobile arm holder thingy myself since we couldn't really find anything we liked. I modeled it after one that Pottery Barn Kids sells, but we didn't like theirs well enough to buy it. Mine is much bigger and, since it's so tall and is adjustable, we can keep moving it up as the Wee Baby Miller grows and keep it over the crib longer.

The two new shelves are from IKEA, as are many of the frames. We've intentionally left some frames empty so we can put baby pictures and stuff like that in them once he's here. The two stuffed animals are actually from our childhoods - the dog's name is Muttsy and she was Leslie's childhood companion, while the bunny's name is... Bunny... and clearly I was a very creative child to give him a name like that. The string and nails Indiana thing is Leslie's handiwork that has been sitting in a drawer for a few years waiting for somewhere to be displayed. Really, besides the non-existent pictures, the only new things on this shelf are the two wooden toys that I picked up for our little guy while we were in St. Joseph, Michigan. They're pretty much the best.

We'll be using the dresser as a changing table as well, which makes me glad that it's a little bit taller than the standard dresser so I won't have to hurt my back every time I change him (hashtag tall people problems). And yes, I'll be changing him too. I know how to do things, thank you very much. But so far the changing pad has been very popular with the cats, especially Luna. It's high up and soft - everything a cat needs to be comfortable. We also got a lamp from IKEA and, for now, have one of his old ultrasound pictures up. The baby monitor camera will probably stay here as well.

In this house we're all about books, so we went ahead and got a full-size bookcase from IKEA for the room so we could hold everything. We've filled it with classics that we enjoyed when we were small and some fun, new books we've received from friends and family. We've also decorated it with a few small things like a clock and a stuffed narwhal. Now, when is a good age for us to start reading Harry Potter to him?

Really though, I think that's it. We still need to get a trash can for next to the changing station, organize the last of the baby registry stuff we bought, and you know... have the baby. I suppose it's also worth noting that the furniture really at risk of tipping, the dresser and bookcase, is firmly anchored into the walls. Safety first, folks!

So thanks for reading! I'm guessing the next update will have something to do with a baby boy being born. Just a guess. See you then!