Sprinklers and Giggles
By Denise Janus

Today was a glorious day!  It was the last day of paddling on Lake Erie!  We did the last 7 miles of the lake, portaging across Presque Isle.  We finished pretty early and went back to the Bayfront Center for lunch.  A few re-enactors from the Compagnie Franches de la Riviere au Boeuf (Compagnie LeBoeuf) camped out with us today and made lunch for us!  They did a presentation for the students at the Bayfront Center, teaching them (and us!) about the tools of, and life in general, for the fur traders.  After lunch we did a not-so-glorious-but-necessary thing — laundry! Camping is dirty business! 

The audience was fantastic at our 7 p.m. presentation at the Erie Maritime Museum.  It included the Captain of the Niagara. Thank you Mark Weber, director of education at the Erie Maritime Museum for the use of your beautiful auditorium. After the presentation we headed to Applebee’s to watch game 7 of the NBA Finals.  After a nerve-racking close game, we headed back to camp pretty disappointed.

Tomorrow is day one of our 14-mile portage from Erie to Waterford, Pa.  When we got back to camp, the sprinklers were watering our tents. Laura got soaked trying to put a cup over one of the sprinkler heads. Some of our things got soaked but we had a pretty good laugh. My and Laura’s tent was right on top of a sprinkler! Because it had been such a long day, it didn’t even bother us.  One last thank you goes to Mr. Eisenberg and the Bayfront Center for all of your hospitality!