The kids continue their nonstop chattering, feeding off each other’s energy as we get farther from town. Even Lily starts to sound excited.
I lean my head back and take several deep breaths. “How long is the flight?” I ask Digger.
“About a half hour.” He flicks one of the switches.
“That far?”
“It’s pretty close, actually. If we were going up in a jet at fifteen thousand feet, we’d get a couple hundred miles away in that time. But this baby only flies at a hundred and fifteen miles per hour and we’re only going to be a couple hundred feet up.”
“So how far in miles?”
“About thirty-five,” he tells me. “Flying is the only way to get there.”
I close my eyes, letting the sound of the engines and the chattering of the children lull me. I must fall asleep because I don’t open them again until we land on the surface of a crystal-clear blue lake surrounded by pine trees. It’s like arriving in heaven.
“Holy crow!” Liam shouts. “I’ve never seen anything so cool. Can we swim here?”
“Of course,” Wyatt tells him. “We can take the rowboat out too and go fishing.”
“Are there more bears up here than down at the lodge?” I interrupt.
“For sure!” Ash says. “We’re totally in the middle of nowhere up here. There’s no running water or toilets or anything!” He sounds super jazzed about this, which is a sentiment that neither Lily nor I share.
“No toilets?” Lily gasps. “Where are we supposed to, you know, go potty?”
“We dig holes and do our business. Then we cover it up,” Wyatt tells her.
“Mommy,” my daughter whispers. “I want to go back.” Her eyes are brimming with tears.
“Wyatt’s just teasing,” Digger says. “There’s an outhouse.”
Still not great, butmuchbetter than an individually dug hole in the ground.
As we pull up to the dock, Digger jumps out to tie up the plane. Then he leans his head into the back seat and says, “Princess Lily, your own personal ride awaits you.”
She gets out and lets him put her up on his shoulders before nervously saying, “If I don’t like it, will you take me back?”
“Not like it?” he exclaims. “That’s not possible. This is the most beautiful place on Earth. You’ll never see another place like it.” He instructs the boys, “Grab whatever you can carry. You’ll have to come back to get the rest.”
The boys and I pick up backpacks and coolers before following Digger up a narrow path through the woods. I have never been in such a remote place in my whole life, and that includes the time I hiked to Machu Picchu in Peru. While it was certainly isolated there, we were surrounded by other tour groups doing the same thing we were. Out here, we’re totally alone.
Once we reach what I suspect is the cabin, my stomach drops. It’s nothing like the one we’re staying in down by Whistler Lake. That’s more of a rustic house, while this is a shack.
“Um, by any chance, is that the outhouse?” I ask.
“Ahahaha.” Wyatt laughs. “That’s the cabin! Isn’t it cool?”
“The coolest,” I say, doing my best to sound positive. It is not in the least bit cool, but I don’t want to spoil my son’s enthusiasmorfeed my daughter’s trepidation.
“Moooooooommy.” Lily runs to me once Digger puts her down. “I don’t want to be here. It’s not very nice.”
Crouching, Digger says, “Lily, my nephews over there are assuming you and your mom will hate it here just because you’re city girls. They think you’re a couple of delicate flowers who need to live in the lap of luxury. But I think they’re wrong. I think you’re tough-as-nails and are just as capable of roughing it as anyone else on earth. What do you say? Do you want to prove them wrong?”
Her expression vacillates from “heck no,” to “maybe.” She ultimately gets a very determined look on her face and gives Digger a firm nod. “Yes, I do.”
“Good stuff,” he says, offering her a fist bump. “Now, do you want to help me fish for our supper?”
“I want to help!” comes the chorus of young boy voices.