Frances May Long

One of our very favorite camping spots is Frances Lake. This gem in the wilderness lies between Watson Lake and Ross River on the Robert Campbell Highway. On some maps, you will find a marker labelled, "Hudson Bay Trading Post", because there once was one there. There isn't much of it left, and it is off the lake so you would have to hunt around and have some GPS coordinates to find it. This was our view from our camper for 4 whole days:



Could it get better than this?



We absolutly love it here. The ice melts here about 3 days before May long weekend, and the fish are hungry!



Lydia caught a lake trout!



And die hard Dustin was up at first light and up till it got dark (which is about midnight this time of year) with his rod in the lake.






Thank goodness the Ristau family joined us, because they brought June's best bud, Emma, and the girls played together all weekend. They spent hours throwing rocks into the water. June calls the rocks her money. Too bad that couldn't come true!



I bought these strollers in the sale bin at Walmart for 5 bucks each, best deal by far this year. The girls walked their babies all around the campground.



Our Auntie Yo Yo came camping with us too, and she's so smart, she brought bubbles!



The second morning, we were sitting around the campfire with our morning coffee's and watched this caribou swim across the lake.



June had fun throwing sticks for the dog.





Emily liked throwing rocks, too. The rocks were a hit!



Our girls relaxed in the hammock.



And Lydia barely took her favorite "cap" off the whole time. I like that she calls it her cap.



I think I'm going to put this picture on our wall. When Dustin was younger, he loved those "Where's Waldo" books.



When we go to Francis Lake, something always goes wrong. Once the bearings went on the trailer, once we forgot diapers, once we got so close to a head on collision that our side mirror hit the oncoming truck. This time, TJ was obsessed with the tires. I guess he had reason to worry, because 2 hours into the drive on our way there, the rear tire blew. So on our way home when the other rear tire went flat, his eyeballs just about popped right out! Lydia asked, "Mommy, why is Daddy kicking that tree?"

Thank goodness for Sat phones. We were able to contact the Conservation Officer in Ross, and she brought several tires that she scavenged from around town for us to try. After 6 hours sitting on the side of the road with 4 kids and 2 dogs we were ready to be rescued. I wonder what disaster awaits us when we go back for Labour Day weekend?!