It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Then it was the best of times again. And for a short while, the worst of times. But in the end, it was the Best of Times.
Our story starts a week prior to the trip. The Livewell clan is getting very excited about the trip to Charleston Lake. Promises of tubing and camping had the kids foaming at the mouth, and word of lakers had me anticipating a whole new foreign kind of fishing. I picked up some old down riggers and was given a few spare parts a while back from FishForFun and was hoping to put it to the test.
But the worst of times was soon to come. Monday Misses Livewell informed me the van (our tow vehicle) was making some pretty funky noises. A trip to CT for an oil change confirmed the van was sicker than I had thought. So the remainder of the week had me scrambling to find a decent tow vehicle or be stuck using the old taurus station wagon (which broke down on my last long haul fishing trip).
BTS came to the rescue, pulling in a favor and putting me into a brand new f-150 rental. Brian, as I look into my crystal, I see good fortune and a bottle of crown royal coming your way. Thanks so much for your help.
So, we're back to the best of times. And time was the issue. All of the time spent scrambling for a vehicle meant very little time was spent preparing for our trip. It was 10:30pm on Friday before we hit the highway, and 12:30am before we arrived at camp. Fortunately, we were greeted by Fish-Hawk and Paya who were up late to direct traffic and offer light and moral support as we set up 2 tents in the dark. Very nice to meet you Paya! (that printer's gonna have to wait till I get the vehicles straightened out
)
Needless to say, given the late night, we missed the early morning fish. But it sure was nice to be greeted by old friends again.
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No one was terribly disappointed (well I was a little) cause that meant a quick breakfast and right into the tube.
Here's the Fish-Hawks after enjoying a scrumptious camping breakfast. (Enjoy the break now Nancy, cause the Olympics are yet to come
).
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RJ had taken young Nick out for the morning fish, and he came back all smiles. Nick put on a clinic for the kids on how to clean lakers, and throughout the day, Nick was our go-to guy for any work with the fillet knife.
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Muskie Magnet had put out the offer to let use his cottage as home base for tubing. We pumped up the tube and RJ and Conroy jumped in with me for the cruise across the lake. The rest jumped in cars and drove around the lake to meet us there.
What a fantastic set up you have there Pat. MM's cottage is in a beautiful, deep, back bay. As we pulled up, a few were already swimming right next to the dock. After nearly running everyone over, Markus jumped in with me as the spotter and we set up the tube and starting hauling bodies.
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No picture of RJ, but we did make a little movie (17MB guys, having some trouble getting it through the email). Ran out of space on the card in the camera or we would have made one of MuskieMagnet as well - we managed to dump him twice.
A short break for me to enjoy a frostee beverage. The kids were all inside the cottage, but I did manage to snap a couple of the gang shore side taking it easy.
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Just the ladies ... Meow!
Back at camp, it was time for the Kiddy Olympics, and the young athletes did not disappoint.
Meg, armed with the microphone did a great a great job coralling and explaining the events that she and Grace had put together for the kids.
Kids Olympics Event 1 - Putting on and taking off Fish-Hawks old clothes.
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Kids Olympics Event 2 - The Egg race
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Kids Olympics Event 3 - The water/ sponge relay
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Kids Olympics Event 4 - Drip Drip Drop (duck duck goose)
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(highlight was watching my Princess Cassie JUMP onto her butt just in the nick of time
)
Kids Olympics Event 5 - Over - Under with a wet sponge
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(Fish-Hawk couldn't watch by the sidelines any longer and had to get in on the action)
Then, the pandamonium.
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Following the kids Olympics, we grabbed a bite and it was time to hit the water. Finally, daddy gets to put those down riggers to use ... oh oh, it was the worst of times again.
All the Livewells were in the boat. Princess Cassie had fallen asleep in Dana's arms, so she was stranded under my daugther's weight to the passenger seat. Conroy was tasked with keeping the boat straight while I set to the task of setting up these down riggers. And, while I thought I had it all figured out, turned out I didn't. Got awful frustrated as one of the down rigger lines got caught up in the rigger. Managed to get the second one going, just in time for the rain. And believe you me, this was RAIN. We hauled in the gear and raced to the launch, arriving just as the sun came out again. Should we go back out? ... NO WAY. We were soaked, I was cranky, lakers were not on the menu for me today.
(Legend and Mrs. Legend look over MuskieMagnet and the Kehoes to see this fantastic rainbow)
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Back to the best of times. Had a chat with Eye Tracker and Big O following the outting and these boys graciously walked me over their equipment and gave me the 101 and how these things are supposed to work. Thanks boys, looks like I gotta spend a couple more bucks on clips and goodies. I had a renewed confidence for the morning to come.
RJ was very gracious and took Conroy back out as the rest of the Livewells changed into dry close. To my delight, they came home with a fish. Thanks a million RJ, Conroy is still talking about that fish (and that fact that he is the only Livewell to ever catch a laker).
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This Fish-Hawk event left no lack of activities. The evening pinata was a big hit, and hit, and hit. The kids managed to cylce through the line at least 3 times trying to knock down this titanium fish. Here is a shot of Eye-Tracker (his good side) as his son takes a crack with the badminton racket.
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We hit the campire for a while and then hit the hay.
Sunday morning, I slept in a little, but grabbed Conroy around 8:30 and we tried for lakers for an hour or so. No luck, but the equipment worked a lot better (thanks again boys). And even though the only thing we caught was our line, the cannonball fought great.
Back to camp for tear down, shake hands, kiss babies and wish everyone all the best.
Thanks RJ, and Fish-Hawk and the family for another wonderful event. And thanks to my family (and especially Misses Livewell) for not killing me and burying me in the back 40 under poison Ivy.
It sure was nice to see so many new faces and re-acquaint with the others. The kids had a ball and the perpetual smiles on their faces and the "lets do it again next weekend" re-affirmed ... it was in fact THE BEST OF TIMES.
M.T. Livewell