Sofia's Island Exploration

The adventures continue, this time with Sofia. The day was her eighth birthday, so certainly a fine adventure was warranted. According to her mom she loves camping and outdoor adventures. When I offered her the chance to explore an uninhabited island in the middle of the 'famous' Mississippi River, she jumped at the chance. She wanted her adventure to include building a fire and cooking barbecued chicken.

I have always wanted to visit the Islands of Peace, a series of Mississippi islands just north of the 694 bridge.

The island we landed on proved to be remarkably pristine. We found no human tracks of any kind.

The islands are subject to alternate bouts of flood waters and dry spells. We were there during a dry spell.

There were several channels that divided our island into sections. Just about everything was sand, so walking in the water was very safe.

Sofia is a natural climber. She was up this tree in just seconds, and quite confident.

Walk first in mud. Then walk in sand. Presto! New shoes!

Many children might be inclined to grab my hand when forging into an unknown, wild space. Not so with Sofia.

As we headed back to the car Sofia obviously had great sense of 'mission accomplished.'

While I was packing up the kayak, Sofia went for a spontaneous, joyful swim. While I didn't recommend it, it was a sign of her being completely in the moment.

For a more complete version of the trip, including our barbecued lunch with wild rice soup, we have posted a high-definition video on my YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elTq1rY7Qmg

Bryson

When I casually asked Bryson what kind of things he'd like to eat on our Grandpa Adventure he was pretty specific. He said when his family went camping they would always buy Campbell's Chunky style Chicken and Dumpling soup. They'd put it in the fire and watch the label burn off. Then they'd watch for bubbles on the side of the can to know if it was hot enough - and then they'd stir it to heat it evenly and watch for more bubbles. Fortunately, I didn't ask him what kind of firewood they used.

Adventure guys. We packed our gear and our Campbell's Hearty Creamy Chicken and Dumpling soup and got ready to roll.

I offered Bryson a number of different length trips. All would include bike riding, kayaking, camping and exploring. He chose a ten-mile adventure. I warned him that his five-mile bike ride would include a mile-long stretch of uphill, dirt-road riding. This sandy road would be harder than what his older brother did. He was eager to prove himself.  

We started by paddling a couple miles to one of my favorite island campsites.

This view, looking north from our island campsite, is one of my favorite's on all of the St. Croix.

First question when we were planning what we'd do: "Can we build a fire?"   With next to no help, Bryson started and tended the fire.

We complemented the chicken and dumpling soup with fresh-baked, hot blueberry muffin-cake.       Breakfast brought a Grandpa special: pancakes and Spam. Every American boy should learn to eat Spam.

I think I know how to tell when Bryson is happy. He makes little 'chirping' sounds - and he dances. When I told him I like camping the simple way, with just the bare necessities, he immediately launched into the Disney Bear Necessities song from Jungle Book. 

When we were breaking camp I challenged him to make as many 'letters' as he could from our shock-corded tent poles. After creating a number of letters he launched into other creative uses for the poles. This one was a single-rotor helicopter. I gave him ten points for it.

After a short paddle, I asked Bryson if he'd like to drink some fresh, cold spring water, right out of the ground. Without hesitation, he dropped down and drank his fill. My kind of boy.

As we paddled the last couple miles down to our bikes, we stopped on the Minnesota side to explore.

The biking portion was a challenge on the soft sand - with several tumbles - but he hopped back on and kept riding.

Bryson also wanted to visit the site of the old paint mine like his brother. Here he poses on the steps of a long-lost building. (See 'St. Croix Tri' - immediately below.)