We were overdue to go on a camping trip with Nathan, Melinda, and Hadley, so we all went together to our favorite lake: Deadwood Reservoir. This lake is amazing for several reasons.
Reason #1 (and Sasha’s favorite)
The fishing is amazing.
You can catch cut-throat trout, Rainbow trout, and Kokanee salmon to name a few. Each fish fights a little bit differently and are abundant in this lake.
I always joke that Michael and I wanting a hunting dog, but got a fishing dog instead. Whenever Michael stands up and heads toward the line he has cast out, she perks up and gets very anxious. She will sometimes pace until he has brought the fish in. In her short one year of life, she has already figured out her calling. Sasha has become our ‘Resident Fish-Reviver’. She gently and patiently stokes the fish until they swim away. When the fish eventually gets the hint and takes off, she will turn and look at Michael as if to say, “Okay… Next?” Watching the two of them work together is one of my favorite things to do at the lake. 
What a great team!
Sasha working her Magic paws
Reason #2
Canoe Rides!
Another of Sasha’s favorites takes the form of a canoe. When we brought her to Deadwood as a puppy, she would get very upset if Michael took off without her. Wait, she still does this. Anyhow, the great thing about Deadwood is wind predictability. No, seriously. Every morning, the lake is like glass and you can paddle out to one of the islands on the lake. (It’s great exercise. Besides, you feel like you have really accomplished something when you get there and know that you did it all with your own two hands.) But I digress. The water is calm and relaxing all morning long. And when the heat of the day finally hits, so does the wind. It’s terribly convenient.
Michael and the Sasha-bear
Nathan, Melinda, and Hadley
Even Hadley went with Mom and Dad on a ride over to the island. I hear that she did pretty well. The canoe rides are so peaceful that she even caught a nap on the way back! Yep, that’s some good R&R.
Reason #3
Swimming!!!
Did you forget that we are a family of SCUBA divers? Swimming is in our blood. The water is the perfect temperature for swimming. It’s cool enough to be refreshing, yet warm enough to be enjoyable without losing the feeling in your extremities. It’s no bathtub, but it certainly hits the spot. 
Whole Family (minus photographer, Michael) checking out a pollywog that Nathan caught. Hadley was trying to smush it between her thumb and forefinger. She is not grossed out by squishy, slimy things.
Nathan is a blast to go camping with because he always brings some diving gear. I wish I had brought my own mask and snorkel because someone had hit about a dozen or so golf balls into the lake (and those were just the ones we could find). It was nice to have an objective and a chance to brush up on our free diving skills. Thanks for the idea, Nate. I’m going to remember that for next time!
Nathan also is an eagle scout and worked down in FL f
or a while at a scout camp. Never one to let his skills get rusty, he also swamped our canoe. I had never heard of such a thing, but it turned out to be awesome fun. The best part was Nate’s interaction with Sasha during this process. He would swamp the canoe, turn it on it’s side and call out to Sasha to swim to him. She’d jump off the shore and swim for the boat. After she had climbed inside, he would proceed to dump her out. She’d paddle her little butt right back to shore. This went on for at least an hour. She was shaking with cold (her hair is very short and isn’t much good at insulating her in the cool water), but she never stopped and never seemed to mind. I think at one point she was actually underneath the boat as it was upside down. She didn’t really care for that much, but she didn’t freak out either!
Nathan and Sasha
Getting all four paws in the boat
Jumping from shore
Michael and I enjoy camping outside of the crowded campgrounds, so we have one or two spots picked out as our top choices on the lake. The downside is pooping in the woods. Fortunately for us, this year was our first with the Green Monster. We were able to camp where we wanted to and still enjoy the campground facilities by taking a short ride down the road.
Which leads me to Hadley’s favorite part:
Reason #4
ATV Trail Riding!!
She thought this was the coolest thing ever! She was always trying to convince someone, anyone, to take her for a ride. I couldn’t help but snap a couple of shots.
Hadley and Mom
Hadley and Dad
Hadley and Grandpa
Dude, I love the built in child seatbelt.
In fact, most of her time outside of nap time was spent climbing on the green monster.
That, and chopping down trees with Grandpa’s hatchet.
Observe:
This portion of the blog is brought to you by:
Other Camping Moments with Hadley
“MMmmmm, I can still smell the cookies on this wrapper”
“This looks like a good place to hide”
“… don’t put me down, don’t put me down…”
“You’d have nap hair too…”
“Hey, that’s me!”
And now back to our regularly scheduled Blog:
Nathan pulled out the Hammock from our box (we had forgotten it was even in there. This thing was old. When I say old, we were to the point where we were beginning to question it’s structural integrity. But Nate wanted to try it out.
Will it hold his weight?!
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Wait for it…
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The suspense is killing you, isn’t it?
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YES!! It will hold his weight!!!
(with the help of the ground).
Hadley even wanted to try it out:
But my favorite reason of all:
Yep, It’s that awesome.
2 comments:
looks like fun! LOVE that last picture.
Too bad you broke your ankle and had to give up camping!
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