Annual Camping Trip 2014

The First Day - Sunday, July 20th

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.   --Gen. 1:1-3

So it was like that on the first day of our camping trip.  We arrived around 3 pm to rain, thunder and lightning that lasted two continuous hours.  Then by 5 pm, the sun broke through, and it was a beautiful day!  There was light!

Before the transformation: "Fish on!"

Around 3 pm, no sun in sight.

Around 5 pm, we see hope at a distance.

"Yeah, baby.  Light has arrived!" Said the Trooper.

Wait.  May be we need the clouds back.  It's getting hot.

We are not yuppy girls...

I love this place.

We are not yuppy boys.

Fishing 101: How to string your lines.

Quick before it gets dark.

First cast, first fish: 2 pounder rainbow trout!

The Second Day - Monday, July 21st

Then God said, "Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other."  And so it happened:  God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.  God called the dome "the sky."  Evening came, and morning followed -- the second day.  -- Gen. 1:6-8

Not to be outdone by Miss Mystic, JU arose early the second day while everyone was still asleep and took the Ave Maria out by himself.  By 7 am, JU missed 10 strikes, but managed to boat 2 rainbow trout and 1 brown trout.  The big 3 pounder rainbow succumbed to the yellow-banana-red-poka-dot Z-Ray.  As a matter of fact, JU got them all on the same Z!

Around 1 pm, Miss Princessa, grandma and grandpa came for a visit.  The grandparents are in their mid-eighties.  They decided to grace us with their presence for one night.

Master Fisherman holding one of JU's 3 catches in the AM.

Charlie's Angels.

Tres amigos.

Where's JU?

Who?  Me?

Fish fry!

Mrs. Miracle and dad.

Wow.  They don't look their age.

The second day.

Princess K holding one of JU's 2 catches in the PM.

The Third Day - Tuesday, July 22nd

Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear."  And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared.  -- Gen. 1:9

The third day was full of fun.  JU and the Wiz went out on a dark thirty run.  JU managed to boat another three.  Once again, the Z did the trick.

In the afternoon, the group went to El Dorado Beach at Lakeview Commons.  We enjoyed the beautiful view, paddle boarding, swimming and a picnic lunch.

In the PM, JU took out dos amigos in the Ave Maria to show them how it's done.  By the end of the session, Combat managed to boat two rainbow trout, the first ever trout that he had caught.  The Fortitude and JU were not as successful for the evening.  Both trout were caught on the Z!

Dark Thirty

Da Wiz.

AM catches.

Brown trout.

Rainbow.

College bound!

Your hair is wet?  Did someone fall off?

Finally, there's cell signal in Tahoe!

I didn't fall off :-)

Take a picture of me quick before I fall off.

It's better to just sit on da board.

Here I come.

Tres amigos.

My favorite gal.

Charlie's Angels.

Where is Miss Twinkle Star?

Say, "Hey, my first rainbow."

The Fourth Day - Wednesday, July 23rd

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night.  Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years, and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth."  And so it happened: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night; and he made the stars.  God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.  God saw how good it was.  Evening came, and morning follow -- the fourth day. -- Gen. 1:14-19
I would do an injustice to describe the beauty of the stars at night.  The milky way can be seen clearly.  It is a blessing I do not take lightly.  But from a fishing stand point, the best times to land fish is arguably early morning and late evening.

In the AM, I took out the Determinator for a fishing trip.  He was too quick on the draw and missed some good hits.  He managed to play the fish for a few seconds before it shook off.

In the PM, the Amigos left.  However, Grandmaster Fisherman, Young Master and  the Scout Master came to camp with two kayaks.  Our plan was to fish at dark thirty again on the fifth day.

Sunrise.

Two brown trout.

The Fifth Day - Thursday, July 24th

Then God said, "Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky."  And so it happened; God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds.  God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, "Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth."  Evening came, and morning followed -- the fifth day.  -- Gen. 1:20-23

One of the awesome things we witnessed was the Ospreys and Bald Eagles diving for fish!  Free nature TV!

On this AM, I took Mr. Pickles out to fish.  He had the middle seat, and I, the top gun.  We must very stealthy because the top of the canoe was only two or three inches above water at most!  We got out to our favorite spot and Grandmaster Fisherman was also there.

Mr. Pickles asked me, "Who do you think will catch the first fish?"

"I would put my money on Grandmaster Fisherman because he has the most experience," said I.

So Mr. Pickles threw out his first cast.  "Wait, where did the top of my fishing pole go?"

JU:  "Don't panic.  It's still there.  Just slowly reel in your line and you will retrieve the top of your pole."

Mr. Pickles: "Okay, I see the top of my pole now.  Whoa, something is pulling it back.  Whoa, it's fish on right by the canoe!!!"

I reached out and netted up a beautiful one pound brown trout.  There you go.  Mr. Pickles landed the first fish of the day: a NATIVE brown trout.  He must have paused while trying to retrieve the top of his fishing pole and created a motion on the Thomas Buoyant that the brown liked.  What a miracle!

We ended the morning with Grandmaster Fisherman with two brown,  JU with two rainbow and one brown, and Mr. Pickles with the lone brown.  Mr. Pickles couldn't duplicate the throwing out the top part of the fishing pole technique :-)  "I love you, man!"

Do I get paid for holding all this fish?

After breakfast, we were joined by Miss Joy.  The group went to our secret spot at Silver Lake.  It has a nice beach for swimming and big rocks for fishing.  We did very well here as usual.  Mr. Pickles managed to catch two rainbow.  But the funny thing is... one of them was two inches long?!?!

Anyhow, after all the fun, Mr. Pickles took us all out to dinner in Tahoe.  It doesn't feel like camping at all.

Fish on!

Scout Master is scouting....

Mrs. Miracles.

Make sure to look at your fishing pole.

Princess K's first fish!

Hint of our secret fishing spot.

Fishing, Ace style: Take a nap, wake up, fish on!

Charlie's Angels.

Meditating Monk.

I love my sister.

At least this one is longer than two inches!!!

Thank you, Mr. Pickles!!!

I thought you guys were camping?

The Sixth Day - Friday, July 25th

Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over all the wild animals and  all the creatures that crawl on the ground." -- Gen. 1:26

On this day, JU and Miss Mystic managed one last attempt at dark thirty and landed a brown.  This is the last fish caught for 2014 ACT.  We had a fabulous fish fry for breakfast with the fresh brown and the fish caught yesterday at Silver Lake.

Sunrise.

Brown trout are known for their nasty sharp teeth!

Um, fish fry!

"If I am blessed, our paths will cross again."