In four days, Dad and I will be heading north for a week-long fishing trip in northwest Ontario – Lake of the Woods. Dad and I took our first fishing trip to Canada in 1989. I was 30 years old on our first trip, but I had been dreaming of fishing in Canada since I was a young boy. I was as excited as a 7-year-old opening a giant birthday present. I’ll never forget the last 80 miles of our drive. The country looked exactly as I thought it should – wilderness with water everywhere. It was love at first sight for me. This trip will be our 20th together. While we started going for the fishing, a funny thing happened: the fishing became secondary. Oh, I fish like heck for five days, but we ended up building a tradition where the time together was the priority. We see each other every week throughout the year, but the trip is something special. Dad’s 76 now, and I’m not sure he has another trip in him after this one. He doesn’t have the same enthusiasm for the 1,100-mile drive, and I think it’s getting hard for him to endure. I’ve gone a couple of times without him, most recently in 2008. He and mom were taking an Alaskan cruise that summer and he skipped Canada. My cousin and I went that year, but it was weird driving out of Pratt without Dad. This year, Dad and his sister are going. Aunt Barbara only recently got the fishing bug, and I can’t wait to see her hook into a big pike. This trip is sure to be special. I think I’ll continue making the trip north each summer because I truly enjoy being in that country, but I’ll sure miss having Dad along. I know I’ll be sad if he decides not to go, but I’ll always be thankful for the 20 trips we took. We have so many great memories – all because we started fishing together nearly 50 years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment