We spent the final week of July at Camp Du Nord family camp. This was our third trip, and we all agreed that it was our favorite one. The weather was fantastic, despite the wildfire smoke, and the kids were at good ages to maximize their fun. Oliver had no separation anxieties when he joined his age-group for morning activities, often scampering off to get there early before Sarah and I were ready.
Some highlights of the trip included:
Polar bear plunge — we woke up every morning to run into the lake with a bunch of other howling campers. The kids were extremely excited about this.
Seeing the kids being increasingly independent and excited about being outdoors.
Numerous hikes on the North Arm trails. This area is on a triple continental divide. Depending on where you hike, water may flow north to Hudson Bay, east to the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River, or south to the Mississippi.
Canoeing in a 25-foot replica of a Voyageur canoe.
Playing a spooky role-playing game adventure on our screen porch during a thunderstorm.
Intense Yahtzee and Farkle games.
Ice cream at the camp store.
Seeing our friends, the Browns, as well as a number of Andrew’s former students (some of whom are Du Nord staff now).
Watching Oliver scamper over the “Goat Trail” at high speed.
Swimming in the cool lake after spending time in the sauna.
Finding the fabled “Bonzo Block” on our last day. (It’s hidden somewhere in camp with a cryptic clue released every morning.)
The only bummer about the trip was the smoke in the air from the Canadian wildfires. It was pretty intense, often making the sun and moon appear orange or red.
We also had some insane red squirrels who would drop pine cones on our cabin every morning at around 6:00. They sounded like gunshots as they ricocheted off the steel roof!
I know that I should be posting more about our trip to Du Nord, but I wanted to provide an update about some of the wildlife that we’ve seen and/or heard at our new home.
I recently posted about the wild turkeys that Piper an I encountered on a nearby trail. It turns out that the turkeys are pretty ubiquitous. It’s a rare day where we don’t see or hear some of them in the yard or on the trails. We frequently see a family of nine strutting through the yard. Here’s a list of other wildlife that we’ve encountered recently:
Coyote (not my photo, but this is similar to the ones that I saw)
A buck with fuzzy horns on a trail behind our back yard.
Two coyotes trotting through the yard while I was taking laundry off the line. They came within 20 feet of me before noticing that I was there and scampering off into the woods.
Barred owl (again, not my photo!)
Numerous garter snakes.
We hear lots of songbirds and frequently see cardinals and goldfinches in the yard.
Hummingbirds enjoy our flowers.
Last night and this evening, we heard loud hooting from a barred owl in the woods across the street. We have yet to spot it, but have high hopes. It seems to vocalize around sunset.
We’ve also spotted lots of scat in the woods, much of which we don’t recognize yet. We’re learning quickly, though, and intend to continue developing our understanding of the local fauna.
We discovered a large colony of bumblebees living in the mulch at the back of our house. I’ve spotted other ground hives before (e.g., yellow jackets) but never bumblebees. The picture doesn’t include any of the drama, but there are numerous entrances hidden in the bark. They depart to visit the flower garden and return visibly laden with golden pollen on their rear legs.
Back in 2015 we documented the life journey of a monarch butterfly from egg to adulthood. This year, Sarah set up her iPad to film the entire process. The first video documents the caterpillar forming  a J-hook and then transforming into a chrysalis. The second video shows the butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.
