Day 1 | Voyageurs National Park

Be Where Your Feet Are

There is something different about beginning a STEAM in the PARK adventure when there isn’t really an “arrival” at all. There is a boat. There is a pile of gear. There are new tents and Pelican boxes and food and fishing poles and paddles and people looking at all of it wondering, “Is this REALLY all going to fit?” And somehow, aboard the Ne-zho-dain it did. For the first time, our entire group came over early, and EVERYONE jumped in to help build our home for the week. We unloaded, hauled, carried, organized, raised our new tents from ROMO Family Camp, created our kitchen, and turned a little piece of Voyageurs National Park into STEAM in the PARK.

And then we got to enjoy it. Before dinner, fishing poles came out and canoes slipped into the water. We started looking around and realizing just where our feet had landed. Water in every direction. Eagles overhead. Beavers doing what beavers do. A sunrise that reminded us why waking up in a national park is worth every uncomfortable sleeping position imaginable. Voyageurs was already showing off, and we had barely begun.

After dinner, things got a little more…secretive. There was an initiation. There were Eastern White Pines. There was sniffing. And just like that, another group of unsuspecting educators entered the highly prestigious and slightly ridiculous Secret Society of Tree Sniffers. If you know, you know. If you don’t, find yourself an Eastern White Pine, get your nose in there, and perhaps someday you too will understand.

But underneath all of the laughter and adventure was our intention for this week: Be Where Your Feet Are. We talked about what it means to really be here—not thinking about what is happening at home, what needs to be done next week, what email is waiting, or what comes after this. Just here. Right now. On this island. In Voyageurs National Park. With these people. We exchanged our Book Buddies, began learning about the history and stories of this incredible place, and settled into our tents as the day finally grew quiet. Day 1 wasn’t about rushing through a schedule. It was about building something together—quite literally. A campsite. A kitchen. A community. And maybe the beginning of a week where we practice being fully present in the place where our feet happen to be.

It was a beautiful first day at Voyageurs National Park. Eagles. Beavers. Canoes. Fishing. White Pines. Laughter. A boat packed with more gear than seemed humanly possible. And a group of people willing to jump in and make this place home.

For this week, our feet are at Voyageurs.

And that is exactly where we want to be.