As July wrapped up, the summer is rollin by and Tall Pines has made it past hump week. What rain lacked in June, was made up for these past few weeks, and finally the fire ban was lifted. Fishing has been pretty solid- some big number days, and other big size days, but plenty of fish stories to go around. My Dad must have told his near-huge pike catch story to everyone in camp, him gesturing "the size of his face with THIS big", and hearing the stories like these told around the campfire is priceless.
While couples and guys groups are still immersed up here, there are also so many families over the past month with numerous Clark Griswald moments! One Mom even played the "Holiday Road" song from the classic "Vacation" movie. From hooks getting hooked into an eyebrow or hat, to the brand new boat Dad got to come up here that had a leak in it, to the kids that would rather play laser tag than go fishing on the boat, to the Dads captaining their families of four or five on one boat with an eye roll or two from the wives- and lucky to get his own line even wet, to Dad saying "Come on kids- lets travel to 5th lake today" only to get a torrential downpour and drenching everyone, to the son telling me that he doesn't catch fish with his Dad so he's gonna go troll for perch in the peddleboat (which was successful!), to a day "roughing it" (a.k.a. no power), to the infamous long car rides sprinkled with a few kids' calling out from the rear seat "Are we almost there yet Dad"... its all part of the experience. And yet its all worth it in the end, Tall Pines and the Wabaskang becoming our own version of Walley World. With Earl as our John Candy, we feel we have arrived.
Lots of fish pics to share:
Kurt, Chad, and Jamie enjoyed their time together and layered up to catch some nice fish:
Reese and buddy Ryan have been planning this high school graduation trip for over a year; Reese captained the boat and netted while Ryan landed this 46" musky!
And Dad, Andy, got to be a part of his other son's catch of a lifetime; Jacob landed a 51" musky:
Reese had a memorable catch- this 25 1/2" walleye beauty:
A camp wiffleball game gave us all a good workout and laugh:
Bear's Den kids Easton, Tucker, and Colton got some boy time fishin off the docks and hangin with Earl:
Easton got into some nice fish with Dad Blake, including a 17 1/2 " smallie:
And Colton had a blast on the boat as well:
Keegan has grown since last year's famous pic that landed him on the cover of the Sunset Country Tourism Catalog, and it seems like the fish he's catching have grown too:
Jeremy landed his personal biggest walleye at 27":
Great fishing boys, and Mom too:
Pete brought his family back this year, and Maddie endured the cold with Dad in order to catch some dandy walleye:
"Southside Jim" had some family fun with Christine and kids:
And shore lunch created some time to re-connect with friends and nature:
Ryan never gets to fish anymore, but occasionally Earl tells him to go out so Earl can have a break from him :)
This Dad, Ryan, was used to doing guys trips to Canada for years, but wanted to give his family a taste of the Canadian experience, and they were a joy to watch as they took it all in from shore lunches, to yoga on the docks, to blueberry picking, and lots of fishing:
And another Clark Griswald, Jim, brought the family back for more adventures:
And to one of the ultimate Clark Griswald's out there visiting last week, whom I call Dad, thanks for all the memorable vacations both past and present:
Our Potluck nights have become a great blend of folks mingling, some not-really-but-sort-of-competitive bags, great food, desserts, campfires, and now live music. Thanks to Brian and Kevin, from a Dad band the Illinois, who treated us to an impromptu concert under the pavilion:
And here are a few of the Mrs. Griswald's out there that inspired this blog's theme:
Earl's Pic of the week features Maddie in a moment of solitude:
He chose this one as he says it encapsulates his office view at Tall Pines International
Leaderboard action:
We are thrilled so many of you got to experience this "walley world" over the last month! To all the teachers and kiddos out there- enjoy your last few weeks of summer vacation. And to all the Clark Griswald's out there- while the reality of your family vacation may play out differently than you envisioned in the months of pre-planning, this holiday road is one to treasure; you might just need to make a sequel up here. Enjoy those holiday roads and God Bless :)
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