When I was young I was introduced to camping in the Boundary Canoe Area. We would portage our canoe from island to island until my dad would finally say, "No white man has ever stepped foot here." He was always pleased when we got to that point. The rest of us, not so much. We would then busily set up a tent and have dinner. Then it was time to build a fire and sit under the stars.

That was probably the best part. Sitting under the stars. It was usually too cold for bugs at night. Even in August. Sometimes we could even see our breath in August. Then to bed in the big old family tent. Off to dreamland laying not on a floor of pine needles to cushion us to sleep, but tree roots and rocks under the floor of the tent.

In the morning it was usually sunny. That is when the noseums would come out. They are the worst. They were so small they could get past your clothes to vigorously sting you everywhere. ( I don't think they have the sting once plan like the mosquito's.) To get away from the noseums, it was time to jump in the canoe and drift all day. Fishing or just talking. But we always had to go back to the island. And the noseums.

I would tell you about using the facilities. Let's just say it involved bringing an ax and finding a place in the weeds. Not the blueberry bushes, bears lingered there. There are countless stories of poison ivy, mosquito's, and little creatures there to keep you company. But let us say some things are better left unsaid.

One particularly cold and difficult Boundary Canoe Area Trip I had so many noseum bites on my face my eye swelled closed. We had forgotten our winter coats and in August we saw our breath and shivered. My Dad bought me an eye patch and said something funny about me being a pirate. (I didn't feel like laughing.) I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I just wanted to go home.

Well my Mom, sister and I jumped ship that last trip. The guys went up north and we went to a hotel with a poolside room. When I grew up and my husband and I decided camping would be fun, we bought an RV and went to an RV resort. It had a pool, fire rings, and best of all, not a noseum in site.