Bears and Catfish

 Two of my kids have birthdays within weeks of each other. This year they were old enough to tell me what they wanted to do for their birthday and they said they wanted to go camping. I was all for it. It had been a while since I went camping. We picked a place in Cherry Valley called Bogart park because it was pretty cheap, close, and there was a fishing pond. I thought it would be fun to try to catch some fish while we were there. Not long after we got there, some of the men and boys headed out to the pond to see if they could catch anything and the women and other kids were going to catch up later. While we made our way over to catch up to the boys, some people kept warning us that the bear was at the pond. Apparently there are some bears that live in the area and are frequent visitors to the park. I was not aware of this when I booked the campsites. When we were almost there, a few of the kids saw the bear and we decided to head back to camp. When we talked to the guys later, they said the bear had come to the pond and tried to take some people's bait and then crossed the path about 10 feet from them.

At this point I was pretty freaked out. As we got ready for bed, I tried to make sure all the food was cleaned up and put away. I even put the trash in our car. I did not want that bear anywhere near us while we slept. After we put the kids to bed, the grownups talked for a bit and then we headed to bed ourselves. I was confident that no bears would visit us that night. Oh, how wrong I was.

I kept hearing footsteps all night and was freaked out. Then we hear a loud bang - - our trash can getting knocked over. This trash can was 6 feet from our tent. I huddled inside my sleeping bag and prayed the kids wouldn't wake up. Our friends in the next tent over got out and looked (they're crazy!!) and it was a HUGE bear looking around in our trash. It finally went away and the people across from us packed up their campsite so fast, I think they put the tent in their car fully assembled.

A few hours later, I heard rustling, and sure enough, the bears were back. This time it was a mother and her 2 cubs. Even more scary! Day could not come soon enough. That morning I found candy wrappers in the trash that I had missed. Doh!

 Craig said this was the best camping trip he had ever been on.

Before we headed home, we went to the pond again to try our luck at catching some catfish. We used our leftover hot dogs for bait and I caught the fish you see above. When we got home, Craig filleted it and I cooked it.

I found a recipe online that looked pretty good. I mixed some mayo, butter, and parmesan cheese, poured it over the catfish. Then I put some sliced tomatoes on top and broiled it until it was done. It was an exciting camping trip and one that I'm sure will not be forgotten.