Top 10 from Boundary Waters Trip

I love hanging out with high school kids! Especially in the middle of nowhere. Especially in a pristine wilderness. Especially without cell phones. Especially without texting.

We put our canoes in at Isabella Lake. From there we started our 5 day journey down the Kawishiwi River and traveled through Quadga Lake, Bald Eagle Lake, and Gabbro Lake. We survived portages (our longest portage being about 1/2 mile), rapids, mosquitoes, and sand flies. From what I understand, sand flies are similar to "No see 'ums." They itch terribly- worse than mosquito bites.

Well, here you have it folks...

Aleycia's Top 10...achem...11...achem...12...List from BW

12. Nearly falling asleep in the girls' tent and hearing "TIMBER!!!" by the boys who were out chopping down a tree for firewood (after midnight sometime).

11. Mocha-Joes...a staple on the Boundary Waters.

10. Our "scenic" route that brought us to northern MN at midnight. Gotta love setting up tents in the dark!

9. Latrines. Definition: a toilet or something used as a toilet, as a trench in the earth in a camp, or bivouac area. Our latrines happened to have no walls...the only coverage we had were the trees and brush. The fancy ones were up on a 3-4 step stone "pedestal." Nothing like a princess having her pedestal!

8. The rapids! It was great seeing the kids get down the rapids. If a canoe would get stuck, a whole handful of kids would pitch in an help out, making sure everyone made it through.

7. Swamping the canoes after going through the rapids.

6. Cliffs. I overcame my fear and jumped off a cliff. The one I jumped was probably 15 feet only. A few days into our trip, others jumped off 20-30 foot cliffs.

5. First night in our hotel...having a shower after 5 days!

4. First night in our tent. Our sleep was rudely interrupted by a crazy dream that one of the kids was having! Let's just say I thought we were being attacked by a bear!

3. Daily Devotional and Quiet time with the Lord. There was nothing that compared to having quiet time with God in the quiet. No noise. No interruptions. I feel like my fire was re-lit!

2. "Canoe-knees" Can we say Red-Hot knees on almost everyone after the first day?

1. Getting to know the Charity high school youth better. What an awesome bunch of kids!