Mighty Lakota

Hoya, Hoya, Mighty Lakota! Okay everyone, imagine this cheer in the voices of Chip n Dale, “da nah nah nanana nah, da nah nananana nah, Lakota.” Yes indeed, this was not only a ‘mini’ 1 day event, it was a Mini-Lakota showing, with only the Regans, Graus, and Jones making the ‘long’ drive to the Carlsbad Lagoon. Duhrn traffic!

The Ponies put on their traditional Taco Feast for dinner. Man, those guys are good! Frank finally had a chance to taste a Painted Pony 10 o’clock taco. I think he’s hooked and may just shed his Teflon coating for the rest of the season…like a snake in the springtime. Time will tell, my friends, time will tell.

As different of an event as this was, the activities were great! Water bikes, paddle boats, kayaks, and sunshine from the Medman made it a great afternoon. The highlight had to be the jet skis! I can still hear Ryan and Liam’s squeals of joy as we screamed across the lagoon at over 30 mph. “Faster Dad, FASTER! Catch some air again!!” Liam summed it up best when he said, “Dad, that was SICK!” I’m still laughing!!

Princess Idol did not disappoint, yet again! Albeit the Y gave the soundman his THIRD new sound system to navigate in as many events. Kudos to Big Bruce (Looky what he can do) for stepping up again with some sound expertise.

As with any Princess event, the goal is to make a memory with your kids that will last a lifetime. The Lagoon didn’t disappoint! Hoya Hoya!

Swims with Sea Turtles, Squee Squirrel, and Sneaky Spider

Hoya, Hoya Wildcat Friends,

Chief “Blue Wolf” asked me to provide a short summary of our Catalina experience. Well, as I’m Swedish, I’ll try to write something in perfect Swenglish. If translations are needed, just ask our Chief what really happened at camp. Well here it is, Catalina campout 2007 highlights from Lakota:

Despite fires, ash covered houses etc, Lakota rounded up a big troop to Catalina. I think we had ~30 dads and princesses at camp. Great Spirit!! Lakota was the biggest tribe in #’s, but unfortunately not in %.

The boat ride to the Island offered a lot of excitement, got to see a lot of dolphins and even some whales. Captain further reported that one of the whales could be a “Blue Whale”, i.e. the largest animal to have ever lived on earth. Wow…that’s impressive, even for a Swede.

After regrouping to smaller boats in Two Harbors and a short ride, we ended up at Howlands Landing, a camp that provided a “Cottontail style” camp experience. We all got to stay in rustic bunkhouses, a food service center serving excellent meals (mostly organic) covering the whole nutrition chart. I still remember that steak from Saturday night. “A well fed camp is a happy-camp!” Great beach, magnificent views and a lot of activities, everything you can expect out of a resort style camp. The only trauma for many dads (and moms) was cell phone coverage, many running around at camp in hunt for a signal and only after a small climb up the hill could dads find relief and connection to the world.

The activities kicked off with Lakota’s “Sweet Friday” in combination with “Princess Idol” where the girls showed a lot of talent, including many “Knock-knock jokes” to our Med-Man’s delight. Our Nation Chief’s now traditional splits was also included in program.

Lakota’s designated Euchre cabin had a good turnout Friday with 13 of 13 dads attending. Mr. Swims with Sea Turtles experienced some success thanks to new talent from the Great North, but was almost squashed by the Viking pair!!

We had many activities to choose between during the weekend: hiking, kayak, fishing, archery, and climbing wall. To mention: - Lakota got to the top of Catalina, as did Shawridge, thanks to Mr. Figueroa & Mr. St Amour with Claire and Veronica. Great job! A number of Lakota’s actually started the hike with them, but returned to lower ground when our Canadian dad increased the speed for the top. We got reports from the fishing group that our Chief/daughter caught a stingray. We also spotted a group of Lakota’s rafting together in kayaks, relaxing. We had 10 o’clock Tacos as always with Ponies. Yumm! Bear claws!? Anyone know if there was an event this time?

When returning to the mainland and waiting for the ferry at Two Harbors, dad’s finally could make cell calls without climbing the mountain and girls could enjoy ice-cream from the store. On the ferry back, we could see three Catalina Bison resting on the hillside. Local island paper further reported on results from Catalina Bison DNA analysis, which indicates they are part cow and not pure Bison. Well, the islanders still love them as their Bison.

The Nation Cup went to Chumash tribe, based on some random criterions Nation Chief and Med-Man develop on the go. Tight game with the Shawridge, Lakota mentioned in top three. Good job Chumash!

In summary, Great Campout! Howlands Landing would actually be an excellent location for our moms and family campout, i.e. “A well fed mom at camp is a happy camp.” We just need to manage the cost.

Regards //Lars-Erik.