MeAdOw LaKe

"I smell fish!" 

That's what Cody said as we rounded the corner to Meadow Lake. He absolutely loves this place (I think mostly because it's the only place he has never gotten skunked while fishing). I love it too, but for different reasons: 

It's in the middle of nowhere

It's Quiet

There are trails to hike

The water is crystal clear

and last but not least,

It's B-E-A-U-tiful! 

Here's some proof that I caught with my little pocket Nikon

*Note the boat, it will come up later!

Like I said earlier, we NEVER go away without at least one fish, even though this was our slimmest trip yet, at least fish wise. This is what everyone caught:

Cody's first catch of the day

(he had 3 total)

Gavin caught Mason

I thought it was only his sleeve when I was taking the picture,but it ended up being hooked to his actual arm too! I felt terrible, but Mason didn't seem to mind other than I made him hold still while I got it out (without making him bleed!)

Connelly's catch

My Catch!

Yep, that's right, I caught a boat!!

Don't believe me?

Here is a picture of me reeling it in with nothing but a fishing pole and a really big hook. It took me three casts to get the hook inside the boat (it was farther out when I started). There were 2 boys scouts on the other side of the lake and I heard one of them say, "that lady is trying to catch that boat with her fishing pole" and they both laughed. I wish I would've yelled over, "hey this lady just caught this boat with her fishing pole" afterwards but I didn't.

(stay tuned for the rest of the story)

P.S.S. Look closely in the background of the pictures and you can see the boat prior to it's capture

As soon as we got here the boys grabbed their fishing gear and headed to the lake leaving me to unload the cooler, etc.  BRATS!!

What do you mean this isn't the Meadow that Edward Cullen is in?

Gavin is a GREAT caster. The only thing he needs help with is putting the worm on the hook and that's because we won't let him try because we don't want him to hook himself.

Watching Uncle Connelly fish

Little Miss Jo-Jo

Brotherly Love

This melts my heart!

Mase and Uncle Connelly

We are going to be known as Fry Family Fishermen!!

Mason's first time "fishing"

He didn't have a hook on his line for safety reasons but he didn't seem to know or care

Gavin wouldn't leave the fish alone once we caught them. He was amazed that they wouldn't blink after he poked them in the eye and wouldn't believe me that they didn't have eyelids

Baby Butts!

All that fishing worked up an appetite

The men were so excited to actually have a boat so they could go fish in the middle of the lake, only problem was it  didn't come with oars so they had to paddle!

Chilling with mommy on the log

Gavin thought this was the coolest "high chair" and had to get his and the kids pictures in it

Mason was obviously not as excited

I caught Chloe in the water...

...which is why she looked like this by the time we left.

Our Annual Photos

Brother's

Connelly & Cody

He graduated from High School this year and he wanted us to take him to Meadow Lake for his graduation gift.

 Connelly, Mason, Cody, Gavin, Teri & Chloe

And now the rest of the story which I have titled:

 The Cone of Shame

After the men were done using the boat they pulled it up onto the shore. (By this time we had been there all day and no one, meaning us and the boy scout troop that was up there, had claimed it). A Fish and Game officer showed up and Cody told him about the boat. The F&G officer went and looked at it. There were no identifying stickers/numbers left on it and he asked Cody if he wanted the boat since it was abandoned property. I didn't think much of it because after all we brought our minivan instead of our truck and we had no way to get it home...or so I thought!!

Cody and Connelly scavenged everything they could to get this puppy home. They used 2 towels, Connelly's sweatshirt and  diapers to pad the roof of the van to protect the paint. Then they used some rope and water wienies to tie it to the top of the van...no kidding!!

It started out as a long trip because the boat kept sliding. Luckily (for them) they found some bailing twine along side the road when we were watching the "cantelope" (Gavin thought that's what the antelope were called) to secure it a little better after I refused to surrender my bra to the cause. 

We FINALLY made it to Lone Pine were we stopped at the only restaurant/convenience store for miles to buy some more rope. We ended up with a package of bungee cords instead, but they did the trick.

It was shortly thereafter that the humiliation began. We had not one, but 3 (maybe more, we only caught three in the act) people taking pictures of us and laughing as they drove past us in our minivan with a boat strapped to the top. 

One guy after pointing and laughing gave us a thumbs up as they drove by! Thank goodness I was in the middle seat and thank goodness we had tinted windows! Oh the stories we have to tell and pass down generation after generation of Crazy Cody and his new toy!!

This is by far the most memorable trip to Meadow Lake thus far!