Summer of Excitement - Family Camping - [a case of the summer]

As you might recall from a couple of years ago, my family has a yearly tradition of driving out to the Adirondaks and going camping on this little island in the middle of Floodwood lake.  Unfortunately, last year we couldn't go (there was a last minute scheduling conflict), but this is the 10th year (but not 10th time) since we started going.  I proposed that this makes it the 10th Anniversary, but not the 10th Annual.  Is that fair (or accurate)?  Anyway, moving on....

Our view from the island

This tradition began the year of my sister and brother in law's engagement.  My uncle, my brother, my to-be brother in law, and his brother decided to go camping on this little, mostly unknown island in the middle of the lake.  While there aren't any Smoke Monsters (both "boo" and "hooray!" for that one) it is pretty awesome and perfect.  It's relatively small, which means there's only enough room for one group.  That means we have this entire island for ourselves.  Yet there's plenty of area for as many tents as you'd like, and there's a great view of Floodwood Mountain just past where we all sit for our campfire.  Oh, and I rocked a mustache specially for the trip -- a first for me (we're back to the less creepy stubble, though).

Out on the water

Perhaps my favorite thing, though, is that we don't completely rough it.  We bring good food, which we either cook on our stove or over the campfire.  And there's beer.  Lots of it.  It's like King of the Hill -- we just sit around, enjoy the scenery, and drink cold beer (it's also close enough to Canada that you occasionally find a market that sells "Labatt's Bleu").  It's quite the life.  At least once a day we'll also take the kayaks and canoes out on the water.  It really is quite peaceful and fun.

Incidentally, this was the first year EVER that we had any wildlife on the island.  Since it truly is an island detached from any other pieces of land, we never have to worry about beers, wolves, coyotes, or anything else.  I guess over the winter, when the lake freezes, a few squirrels managed to make their way over and never got around to leaving.  You can tell how spoiled we are, because these three or so squirrels were driving us crazy.

With Caddy

Overall, though, it was a wonderful time.  The group has dwindled over the years (due to pesky things like having kids and work inflexible responsibilities).  At one time we had eight people with us -- this year it was only me, my uncle, my brother in law, and our family friend.  Then again, we did have a rather awesome new addition in our family friend's dog, Caddy.  This little fella made the trip even greater!

My one (minor) complaint:  Believe it or not, the one thing I truly love about this trip is turning off the cell phone, leaving it in my car, and just completely separating myself from my typical life.  No going on Facebook.  No checking Twitter.  No sending out texts or making phone calls.  No responding to e-mails.  And that was the general idea with everybody.  Now, a lot of my older family friends and relatives have wives and kids, making this a bit more difficult.  Don't get me wrong, I completely understand that.  I can see why you have to call your wife to make sure the kids are doing well.  But I feel like that creates this slippery slope.  Now that you have your phone out because you were just checking up with your wife, you begin checking your work e-mail and voicemails.  I still leave my phone in the car and don't check it until I'm on the road to go home, but just being around that still kinda kills my vibe.

Oh, and a forewarning:  This week's Summer Of Excitement may very well be the best one yet!