Yesterday I joined my two kids with the school ski club at a local ski hill. Like others we brought our own food, snacks, etc. The other kids were scrambling to find table space to eat while my two (10 and 13) calmly made sandwiches on their knees while seated on a bench. I figured it was from training them to eat around a campfire while seated on a log that allowed them to do that.

One more thing, bungee dealie bobs work great for keeping skis and poles together.

What lessons have you seen transferred from canoe country?

1 Cherish beauty
2 Silence is a good thing
3 Less can be more- fewer clothes, less garbage, etc
4 Watch every sunset
5 Rely on each other

What my kids have learned? (15,16,18,22) they have gone every year with me since age 10

Do your fair share, you are not above the rest!

The rewards will present themselves!!

Do the work and consider it a learning experience, theres always plenty of time to play after!

Be responsible for yourself, if you cant help yourself, you cant help others!!

Everyone cooks, and everyone does dishes at some point!!

Dont bother Dad when he is "sleep" fishing
LOL, ok maybe not a worldly lesson, but I like it

all of these lessons........cept maybe the last one, translate perfectly to real life, but the last one is my favorite
:O)

- "Could be worse. Could be raining." -- Marty Feldman (as Igor)
- how to tie knots
- we don't really need all that
- yeah it's a helluva portage, but easier to get it over with and behind you.

Actually, I noticed that my youngest learned some of the same lessons in canoe country and in the Marines. He'd always enjoyed camping in any conditions, but the Marines had really honed the ability to ignore discomfort, so that he didn't even notice rain or wind or mud or insects, etc. And that really allows him the opportunity to enjoy every little thing like hearing a loon, or watching the mouse or squirrel in camp, etc. On our last trip, I'm not sure I ever saw him stop smiling. He'd recently gotten back from Iraq and was really enjoying just seeing green things.

My 3 boys all learned lessons last summer.

Erik (15 years) learned to clean fish from our guide. He is now more willing to jump in and do unpleasant tasks like this without being so squeamish.


Mark (13 years) learned to enjoy a good book. At home, he never wants to read, but spent some quality hammock time between fishing on last summer's trip. Since then, he reads regularly at home now.


Zane (9 years) was really disappointed when I wasn't there to catch pictures of his first fish of the day. He was convinced he wouldn't catch any more fsh the rest of the day. However, within 15 minutes, he had caught a few more bass and was all smiles. So he learned a good lesson about perseverance and hope.

Fishing with a jig and a leach works better than pitching crank baits.
Team Work
How to get a rock stuck in a tree with a bear rope attached to it.
How to get it down.
How to play pine cone baseball
How completely stupid some people can really be. (we all stood and watched as someone told us that taking his canoe down a set of small falls would be easy)