Minnesota Milestone: Inaugural Trip to the Boundary Waters

Like any good Minnesota boy (or so I've been told), Eli grew up canoeing and camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. He ventured there countless times over the years, with family and with the youth group. His experiences left an indelible impression.

Two months after we married he took me on my first trip to the BWCAW. It turned out to be my only trip, not because it wasn't a beautiful place to be or a lovely time together in nature, but because we soon moved to Cameroon, then Chicago, and by the time we came back to Minnesota Eli was in residency and I was having babies (neither of which is conducive for getting out to do much of anything let alone camping and canoeing).

With that said, my one and only trip to the Boundary Waters was rather memorable because we went in May, which is decidedly not a guaranteed spring month in northern Minnesota. The first day was warm and perfect, and canoeing down a miles-long lake was simply enjoyable. On the day we needed to canoe out, however, the weather was windy and rainy and downright cold. We were against the wind and it took approximately one thousand years for us to get out of the Boundary Waters, in part because halfway through the return journey my hands were so frozen I could no longer hold the paddle let alone do the actual work of paddling and I simply gave up. I curled into a ball in the front of the canoe and tried my best to retain any amount of body heat while my husband soldiered on alone to get his new bride back to civilization without any regrets that he'd brought her to the middle of nowhere in the first place.

He did get me back in one piece, and neither of us regretted the trip. I learned an important lesson that day: I'm not nearly as strong as I'd like to think I am, and my husband is actually as strong as I always believed him to be. I'm perfectly okay with the first truth, and intensely thankful for the second.

Every time the Boundary Waters are mentioned, I think of that trip in May 2006 and I smile.

When Eli told me that he and his cousin/bff Josh had decided they wanted to take all the kids on their first trip to the Boundary Waters during our HMA, I knew we had to schedule other commitments around the trip. It was a top priority. An inaugural trip to the Boundary Waters is a rite of passage, after all. And Eli and Josh were willing to do all the work of making such a trip happen and were willing to take all seven kids by themselves, meaning the mamas did not have to go and pretend that sleeping on the ground is totally still okay for our bodies to endure.

Most wives/mamas would rejoice at the idea of dads and kids being out of the picture for a few days, leaving nothing but time and peace in their wake. I, however, will gladly confess my nervousness with this plan. Although I truly had no desire to join them, the prospect of two dads wrangling seven kids, three canoes, and all the accoutrements that are required for camping for three days did not automatically garner my praise, not least of which because they would be out of cell phone range.

They were adamant, however, that it would be fine. They've been to the Boundary Waters more times than they can count. They know the Boundary Waters, and the kids aren't that little anymore, and besides, one of the kids is a 14-year old who's basically like another adult. (Cue eye roll from the mamas).

Despite my misgivings, the trip was shockingly smooth and I was so proud of these dads and kiddos for going on this adventure. There was only one mishap that I was really glad I didn't know about at the time. Otherwise, everyone came back whole and happy!

The night before they left, the two Grandpa Horns joined us all for supper, to tell stories of their own adventures in the Boundary Waters decades ago. Eli and Josh really wanted to honor this rite of passage, and listening to the grandpas talk about the Boundary Waters demonstrated how significant this family tradition is. The evening was full of anticipation and a few tall tales.

Early the next morning, they were off!  They set up camp at a pristine spot on a lake, and thus the inaugural camping trip to the Boundary Waters began.

The kids learned that trail pizzas exist and are the best kind of surprise while camping. They also learned that mosquitos and gnats reign supreme in the north woods in June, but also that sunsets in northern Minnesota are hard to beat.

More than anything, they learned that camping and canoeing in the wild for a few days is a marvelous way to birth joy into the world.

On the day they portaged out, the dads didn't call the moms anywhere near the time they said they would. In this age of cell phones, mamas expect a phone call to confirm that everyone made it out alive and they are safely on their way home! But no call came. Jamie and I waited and waited, and tried calling both guys but never got through. Finally, when we'd waited more than long enough, we called the outfitters they'd gone through to see if they had any intel on the whereabouts of our families.

"Oh, you mean the dads and all those kids? Yeah, a few groups have seen them already this morning and they should be here soon."

Apparently "the dads and all those kids" had turned some heads with this adventure! There was no question who we were inquiring about, and it was so memorable to see such a troupe that several people could confidently say they'd seen them and knew where they were at. What a relief to the mamas!

They did make it out of the wilderness in one piece, and they did finally call us to tell us so. With that initial and important information out of the way, the phone was passed off to Asa because "he wants to tell you something."

"I have some bad news and I have some good news. So...one day I wanted to help chop firewood..."

My Mama Heart seized.

"So I grabbed the machete and was pulling it out of its sheath, but my finger was in the way and I sliced my finger."

My Mama Heart stopped. In the measure of a millisecond, my heart questioned if he meant he sliced it open or sliced it off.

By God's grace, it was the former.

As the story goes, everyone was milling about after a pancake breakfast when Asa suddenly said, "Dad, I'm bleeding."

Eli and Josh didn't overly concern themselves with this declaration, but when Asa made it clear he needed help they meandered over and, upon seeing the finger and realizing this was no small scratch, immediately knew that Asa needed stitches. (I'm told he was crying, and rightfully so, but hardly anyone remembers that detail, either out of solidarity with how brave my boy was, or because his early cries paled in comparison to the screaming that happened when the numbing medicine was injected!).

Thankfully, Asa's doctor dad had what was needed on hand and also was an experienced stitcher.

A painful numbing shot and six stitches later, Asa was all patched up and on the mend. "But here's the good news," my son continued with the story. "Not everyone can say they got their first stitches in the Boundary Waters!"

Good news indeed! Oh, how I love a positive spin on a nerve-wracking experience. I later told him it was like Wilderness Medicine: Live! (Eli taught a Wilderness Medicine Class at the beginning of the year as a homeschool elective and the idea of surviving in the wild is of great interest to the boys.) Asa learned what to do when someone slices a finger in the middle of nowhere, and he lived to tell the tale!

The stitches looked kinda nasty at first, but they did their job and Asa's finger healed beautifully.

The kids' first trip to the Boundary Waters was a huge success. They came back smelling like stinky woodsmen and declaring they wanted to do it again. I was so proud of my wilderness adventurers, and so thankful to the dads for planning and executing the idea. The memories will undoubtedly last a lifetime.

Washington Wonders and Woes

Since the cruise to Alaska came/went from Seattle, we took a few extra days to visit with folks in Washington.  We made sure to have one day with just our family, which is a rarity when we travel.  We were relishing the chance to be together, just us.

On our drive toward the Olympic Peninsula, we passed a sign for a roadside beach.  We decided to turn around and see what it had to offer.  It turned out to be the best thing we could have done because 1) it was stunningly gorgeous and soul-satisfying, and 2) by the next morning Caleb was puking which ultimately led to all three boys sharing and receiving a stomach virus that completely altered what our time in Washington looked like.

The following day was a long exercise in reorienting our expectations and figuring out how to take care of a vomiting kid while being hosted in someone else's house, but this one afternoon was pure bliss and it is our most cherished memory from our quick trip to Washington.

The beach was big and broad and packed down enough that walking across it was easy.  And there were tide pools!  We couldn't have asked for a more exciting random roadside stop!

This giant rock offered a fun climb followed by a splendid view of the shoreline.  Can you see Eli and a couple boys sitting on top?

Two bald eagles were perched on the treetops behind us.  One of them swooped down once and circled around before returning to the tree.  Their presence added majesty to the whole experience.

We lingered.  Having the freedom to linger because you can and want to is a blessing not to be taken for granted!

As I mentioned, by the next morning we woke up to a puking kid.  Any parent will tell you that a vomiting virus is tricky because you never can tell at first whether it's a one-time incident or will prove to be an ongoing ordeal.  This particular situation proved to be the latter, but of course we didn't know that right away.  So we continued with our original plans, which was to hike through the Hoh Rain Forest at Olympic National Park.  We weren't scheduled to be at our hosts' house until supper time, so we figured we had time to see how this sickness would unfold.  Besides, it could've been a simple upset stomach from something he ate and then he'd recover quickly and we'd all move on.

If only.

Caleb was moaning a couple hours later when we entered the park and had zero interest or ability to do anything but lay in the car and rest.  It was a huge bummer because vomit is always a huge bummer, but also because this was going to be a new location on our national park list and Caleb was the most excited about being in a rain forest.  He saw none of it except what he happened to see when he opened his eyes from the car.

But we technically made it to the Hoh Rain Forest, which was a beautifully marvelous place to behold for the rest of us.

And because this kid was going into 4th grade, he got our whole family into the park for free!  And this was not a cheap national park to enter.  The Every Kid Outdoors Program is amazing and has saved us decent dollars more than once!

We left Caleb in the car while we went into the Visitor Center, checked on him again to confirm he was still unable to join us for a hike (he wasn't), then left him with my phone while we ventured on a short hike to the Hall of Mosses.  It was incredible.  What a unique environment with green, wet everything everywhere.  Also, poems were written on signs along the way, which was a nice touch I haven't seen before.

Our boys are great hiking companions.  We are simply thrilled to be at a stage of life when we can go for hikes and have everyone keep up and do well!

We missed having Caleb with us and were hoping that he was feeling better after resting in the car for a bit.  But it was not to be.  Shortly after we returned to the car to check on him and get our food for a picnic lunch, he started vomiting again.  So I stayed with him after that while Eli took the other two on a longer hike.  It was only the beginning of our sickness woes.

Eli called our hosts to let them know we had a puker, and they amazingly and graciously brushed it aside and said it didn't change anything on their end.  So we arrived with a bit of trepidation and a lot of gratitude since our only other option would have been to find a hotel which is neither convenient for caring for a sick kid nor cost-effective when needing to find a room last-minute.

We arrived in Port Angeles and got everyone tucked in for the night, hoping for a better day on the morrow.  Caleb, as it turned out, was bedridden for three days straight.  I can't remember a time I've seen him so sick.  It's discouraging, baseline, to have a seriously sick kid, but it's even more discouraging to not be at home during such a time, and more discouraging still to know you're imposing on someone else's kindness and hospitality while at the same time not being able to do the socializing you flew across the country to do.

The only thing that brings the discouragement to its lowest low?  When you discover the sickness has decided to make the rounds and take out Kid #2 and Kid #3 in succession.  It was a perfect storm if ever there was one!

But before Kai and Asa were laid low, Eli took them for another hike while I stayed at the house with Caleb.  We had already been forced to cancel our original plans with another set of friends in the same town, so in an effort to seize an opportunity to get out and see more of the Olympic Peninsula, Eli found another hike he could do with Kai and Asa to see Sol Duc Falls.

Again, any parent will tell you that a vomiting virus is tricky because there's no way to know if it will spread until it either does or doesn't.  Well, by that night Kai started puking and was down for the count.  In the middle of the night, Asa decided he didn't want to be left out (classic Asa!) and he needed our attention as well.  To say the least, it was a verrrrrry long night.

After sleeping all morning to make up for next-to-no sleep overnight, I told Eli I needed to leave and get some fresh air.  He held down the fort with all three zonked kids and I found my own hiking trail to explore.  The Olympic Peninsula is gorgeous.  We had been there six years before and have never forgotten how beautiful it is nor how much we wanted to find a way back there someday in hopes of exploring more.  Well, turns out we still have the desire to go back there someday and explore more because this trip plummeted as soon as we got there.  But our little forays were enough to whet our appetite anew.  Hopefully someday we'll be back again, healthy and whole and ready to hike to our hearts' content.

On the day we had to leave to catch a flight back to Detroit, we finally got to connect with our other friends who live there.  We met at a park and kept all the kids away from each other during our brief lunch near the Salish Sea.  These dear folks are friends from our med school years in Chicago.  Eli and Ben helped keep each other afloat while Jamie and I did the same for each other.  Let me say that bonds formed while surviving medical school are strong bonds indeed!  We shared many adventures with these amazing people, road tripping over many a weekend to wherever our school loan budgets could afford.  We're grateful for their ongoing friendship!

When reflecting on our time in Washington, Eli and I were humbled and amazed all over again at the kindness and generosity of our friends who hosted us in their home with sick kids.  It is no small measure of hospitality to host a family of five to begin with, but to let us still come with the full knowledge that we had a stomach virus in our midst was an added dose of grace, and then to assure us it was okay to hunker down and essentially turn their house into a sick house when the virus spread went above and beyond gracious hospitality - their open arms entered the territory of Jesus-Level Compassion, the kind of love that reflects the Savior's readiness and willingness to do what others wouldn't do.

Being the recipients of that kind of love is a gift.  We've had a lot of experience over the years of being hosted by many people in many places, and it's always a practice in learning to receive love and kindness - something that American culture, quite frankly, isn't great at.  American culture places a higher value on being the giver more than the receiver, on being the one with plenty to spare and share over being the one in need.   But being on the receiving end offers an opportunity to be blessed with the knowledge and experience of being loved.  It creates opportunities to choose contentment over comfort, and to choose the building of relationships over all else. 

I often say that the only things going to heaven with us when we die are our relationships with God and our relationships with each other.  Pouring into relationships - by both giving and receiving - is an eternal investment.  We are deeply grateful for our time in Washington of being poured into, and of experiencing a beautiful example of love and grace extended without question.  Not everyone can or should make the same choice in the same situation, but it was a choice that left a profound impact on us.  Jesus-Level Compassion will do that.

Alaskan Anniversary Adventure

As an avid John Denver fan, I'm embarrassed to admit that I never knew about his song "Alaska and Me."  I stumbled upon it while listening to a playlist on Spotify, and it quickly became an anthem of sorts as we built momentum for our trip to Alaska:

Here's to Alaska, here's to the people,

Here's to the wild and here's to the free,

Here's to my life in a chosen country,

Here's to Alaska and me!

We also brushed up on our Alaska wildlife trivia and began reading Sweet Home Alaska, a middle grade chapter book about the Palmer Colony in the 1930s.  We were stoked about our upcoming Alaskan adventure!

The whole reason we found ourselves enroute to The Last Frontier was because Eli's parents wanted to go on a family vacation to celebrate their 50th anniversary!  We were so blessed to be in the States during their golden anniversary and to join in the festivities of an Alaskan cruise.

How to sum up a cruise to Alaska, an adventure of a lifetime?  Memorable.  Of all the places we went and things we did during HMA, the trip to Alaska has been the most-mentioned experience on our lips.  And for good reason.  It was truly memorable, in a myriad of ways.

The beauty of the Alaskan wilderness, which surrounded us on all sides as we cruised along, is unmatched.  We didn't understand just how beautiful of a landscape it is.  The mountains really do meet the sea and the colors are somehow vivid even when the clouds hold back the sun.  The soul-filling calm and quiet scenery reminded us how big the world really is - there are vast wildernesses that are essentially still untouched, which left a mark of deep contentment within us.  When we hiked through a moss-covered deciduous forest, we breathed perhaps the cleanest air on the planet and caught a glimpse of heaven on earth.  In a word, Alaska is stunning.

The week was also memorable because of the cruise ship itself.  It felt like a cross-cultural experience, not only because of the novelty of essentially traveling on a floating city but also because of the opulence.  Coming from rural Africa, the cruise ship felt like we'd traveled to some other world or dimension or something.  We waffled between feeling starstruck, spoiled, and completely out of place.  Ultimately, we were deeply thankful for such an experience and our boys couldn't get enough of the all-you-can-eat ice cream and also loved riding elevators on a ship!

Now for a lot of photos!

We disembarked from Seattle and were granted a gloriously sunny day on which to take off.  Kai and I went for a walk in the morning and enjoyed seeing the Space Needle up close.  Our hotel was right across the street from it, and the park surrounding it provided a nice place to walk.

I wish I could've recorded the kids' reactions as we pulled up to the dock and first saw the ship!  They were nearly speechless.  It really is a huge ship and no one could believe that we'd be spending the week on board such a vessel.

The rare sunny Seattle day provided exceptional views of the city skyline and Mt. Rainier in the distance.  (I have to say, though, that our flight from Sacramento to Seattle had the best views of all - the Cascade Range was on full display outside our plane windows and we could scarcely believe all the stand-alone snow-capped peaks showing off.  Mt. Rainier is just one of many, many similar peaks!)

A couple "at sea" days gave us opportunity to explore and enjoy life on the ship.  We were amazed at how many activities were available to entertain passengers.  One activity the kids really enjoyed was making paper airplanes.  They learned several ways to fold paper airplanes and then participated in a competition in the atrium.  It was such a random but fun idea!

We mostly relaxed on "sea days" - playing games and watching movies.  We celebrated Mother's Day during the cruise and the one thing I wanted was to watch The Princess Bride with my crew.  Kai and Asa had never seen it before, and it was time!  They loved it, as well they should, and it has quickly become a family favorite which makes my heart immensely happy 😊

The food on the ship was its own experience.  Several restaurants were available to choose from, but we mostly ate at the all-you-can-eat buffet (read: kids are easier to manage at a buffet than a sit-down restaurant).  We maintained an "anything goes" attitude for most meals because trying to monitor your kids' food choices while they are literally running and skipping around a gigantic floating restaurant is too much to handle.  Which is why their plates sometimes looked like this:

Breakfast of Champions!

One night Eli and I enjoyed a date night at an Irish Pub.  We have fond memories of going to an Irish Pub most weeks during the med school years - a place called Molly Malone's that had trad sessions every Thursday night.  We would get something to drink and sit and enjoy the music as a way of starting the weekend early and connecting with each other after long days where we hardly crossed paths.  All that to say, the idea of going to an Irish Pub is always appealing to us, and the cruise ship had one!

The first place the ship docked was in Juneau.  It was a chilly, rainy day but that did little to dampen our spirits as we headed to Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls to hike around. What a gloriously mossy environment!  We spent a few hours exploring the visitor center and hiking the trails.  The taxi driver who brought us from/to the cruise ship said he'd never had any other visitors spend as much time there as we did!  It was a paradise on earth - we had to stay and savor it as much as we could.

Another day we docked in Skagway and enjoyed a long excursion with multiple activities: a train ride up The White Pass, meeting a family that has participated in the Iditarod and now raises sled dogs, and gold panning.

The train ride was a combination of a scenic ride and history lesson.  Our tour guide was fabulous!  She was "in character" and told stories from the Yukon gold rush, explaining how miners climbed the very pass the train was now chugging up.  Such fascinating history!

The scenery was stunning, with plenty of waterfalls along the way because of recent snowmelt.  But there was still plenty of snow at the top of the pass, which we saw for ourselves when the train reached the turnaround point.  It was actively snowing when we got there!  In May!  What a treat!

The sled dog experience was so fun.  Learning about how people train for the Iditarod (and the dangerous perils they face during the race) was eye-opening.  These are the hardiest of Alaskans!  I kept thinking of Iron Will (which we recently watched with the boys for the first time, which they loved, because duh, and also did you know that the movie was filmed in northern Minnesota very close to where we lived in Duluth???  So fun!).  The Iditarod racer told a couple memorable stories: 1) he once started hallucinating on the trail due to severe lack of sleep and saw his 3rd grade teacher in the trees, and 2) a friend of his suffered a serious medical condition when he got freezer burn in his eyes because a blast of wind shot ice shards (created by his breath in the scarf around his mouth building up condensation that then froze in the freezing temperatures) into his eyes.  Yikes!

At any rate, we learned a lot.  Namely, that we won't ever aspire to race in the Iditarod!

The highlight for the kids was meeting a new batch of puppies.  These specially-bred pups were beyond adorable and will grow up to be sled dogs.  We got to see a demonstration of the adults pull a sled around a track and their energy was impressive.  This particular breed of dog loves to run and pull more than anything else, hence why they're bred to be sled dogs!

If you haven't seen Iron Will in a while, let this be your encouragement to rewatch it!  It stands the test of time.

After that, we learned about gold-panning and were awarded a chance to pan for our own gold.  It's not the most intuitive process, but everyone ultimately came away with tiny slivers of gold.  We were all impressed with how much the gold was worth in the current market!

Another one of our "sea days" was cruising around Glacier Bay National Park.  Because we were spoiled with seaside staterooms, we had perfect viewing from our balcony.  How to describe the snow-covered mountainous terrain where the only thing sometimes separating the mountains from the sea were glaciers?

Majestic.

Grand beyond words.

Indescribable.

But Kai knew how to describe it, and I stand with him: "This is where mountain dragons would live."

We were outside for a long time because of the scenery, but it was quite chilly and we needed to bundle up.  Thankfully, the ship provided complimentary blankets on the top deck...which also happened to be where the free soft serve ice cream was.  Kai and Asa would not listen to my explanation that eating ice cream in the freezing cold air would only make them colder.  They simply bundled up like hobbits and enjoyed their sweet treat!  Grandpa Horn was crazy enough to join them 😊

I love these moody photos.  The clouds were indecisive (as you can see comparing the photos above with those below) but it meant we got to see the glaciers in varying light, all of which was beautiful.  Blues and grays have a calming yet mesmerizing quality to them.

Here are the grownups!

And here's the whole crew!

And because I can't resist a couple more photos...  Where mountain dragons live indeed!

Towards the end of the week we finally saw sea otters!  They were floating right beside the ship, cuddly and content.  We saw them many times and it was such a treat to add this amazing animal to our "life list."

At the end of the week we docked in Ketchikan and attened The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show.  Half the fun was watching our boys cheer for the lumberjacks!  The emcee split the audience in two, each side cheering for one team of lumberjacks.  The competition was great!  It had all the typical lumberjack events - chopping logs, sawing logs, scaling trees, etc - and it was a lot of fun.  I mean, can ya really go wrong with red-flannel-wearing lumberjacks around?

We couldn't have asked for a better time in Alaska.  The combination of the people and the place made for a perfect week.  The best part?  Knowing that Tim and Sandi were happy as we celebrated them together.

Their marriage has always been a marvelous example for us, a demonstration of steadfast love and commitment.  They have modeled how to be faithful partners to one another and devoted parents/grandparents to their children/grandchildren.  They have kept their gaze fixed upon Jesus and have pointed each other back to Him for the past five decades.  We are humbled and honored to call them ours, and we praise the Lord for their unswerving love and loyalty to their faith and family.

Fifty years is a long time.  Fewer and fewer marriages seem to make it that far down the road, but this marriage has stood the test of time and we are all the better for it.  The trip to Alaska was a celebration that Tim and Sandi have stayed the course for fifty years, overcoming hurdles and obstacles along the way as they remained side by side, leading the way for others to follow in their footsteps.

Fifty years is a long time, too long of a time to be summed up in a one-week celebration, but I suppose the communal joy of our week together in Alaska encapsulates their legacy of love as much as anything can.

In the vein of John Denver:

Here's to Alaska, here's to the parents

Here's to saluting an anniversary

Here's to the milestone of reaching fifty

Here's to Alaska memories!