Summer 2006

 I was drinking coffee this morning, reflecting on times past. I'm not exactly sure what made me think of this memory in particular, but it surely brought a cheesy smile to my face :)

 June 2006, I was fresh out of high school; my family and I (when I say family, I mean the whole motley crew of about 16 of us)went on vacation to Itasca State Park (which is located at the very northern tip of Minnesota, bordering the land of Bon Iver). I was actually conned into going......I was not privy to the fact that our cabin was in the middle of nowhere.At 18, stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with my entire family.....I couldn't think of anything more horrifying (Where we were located would be a perfect set up for a horror film). 

 I thanked my lucky stars that my cousin Alex (who is like a sister to me)also got conned (or was it forced?) into going. Being the rebellious jaded duo that we were, we decided to set off and explore the park. Alex had arrived earlier in the day and had set out a surveillance of the area. There was a bike trail and a lake nearby that she thought might be worth checking out. 

 My bike had a flat tire, and I being the lazy teen that I was, decided to not put air in it before setting off. The bike trail was surrounded with thick trees, and led to a lake (which turned out be a laugh, because the "lake" smelled like raw sewage and was a cesspool for mosquitoes) about 2 miles from our cabin. 

 In any event, we came, we saw, we conquered and threw rocks into the lake, watching with sick fascination as the gunk swallowed them up (which lasted all of ten minutes)before turning around and returning to the house on haunted hill....oops I meant cabin.

 The return journey was turning out to be as entertaining, not very. Halfway back I saw something moving in the bushes.It had not dawned on me what it might be, so I said "Alex what is some fat chick doing in the bushes?" It took Alex even less time, I looked back at her and her eyes had gotten big "Bear, bear, bear," she muttered and turned her bike around as fast as she could,headed in the opposite direction. I turned for one last look, confirmed,then followed Alex in hot pursuit. 

 We were all in a flurry about how we were going to get back, with there being a bear loose on the trail (honestly it probably ran off the same time we ran off.)Finally we found the main road which ran along the bike trail. By this point Alex and I were feeding off each others fear. We had convinced ourselves that if we got near the bike trail that this cannibal bear that ate obnoxious teenagers was going to jump out and eat us. 

 This is where I wished I had put pumped air into my tires earlier before heading out on this adventure. Alex sped ahead of me, with me shouting "Hey wait for me!" 

"No, no," she yelled over her shoulder "I'll go ahead and get help!"

"Over my dead body," I thought, so I had to pump twice as hard just to keep up with her. 

 We made it back to the cabin in record time. Throwing our bikes on the ground and ran into the cabin. My Grandma was sitting on the couch conversing with my Aunts (Monica and Melissa). To be honest I think she was quite frightened at the sight of us! She held out her arms and we ran to her, our hearts beating; about ready to jump out of our chests. 

 There was a lot of ridiculous wild hand waving and huffing and puffing before we caught our breath. "Bear", we said in solemn unison. I sure my Grandma was relieved that no one had died.

 The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. Well except for my Mom telling stories of Bigfoot, how each tree might conceal one, she was sure she would see one on this trip. Oh, there was also the consumption of S'mores.I never saw Bigfoot, only a bear with its big bulbous butt sticking out of the bushes. As Paul Harvey says "Now you know the rest of the story."