My summer vacation didn't turn out the way I planned it to. Most of the summer I stayed here in Marshall. I went on countless boat rides up and down the river. I also spent almost half the summer sleeping after staying out late.

Once I went camping with my grandparents, which meant that I had to get up early with them. I had no choice but to go and pick berries with them. I really didn't want to go because I had nobody to hang out with. All the people who went were too old or too young.

My sister Crystal and I left with them on the 15th of July. My grandpa came up the beach and packed my stuff in his boat, then a couple of minutes later we were on our way. I was kind of angry because I needed to use the bathroom. And to make it worse it was kind of rough on the river.

That evening we made it to where my grandparents usually pick berries. I was very grateful because I was tired and needed to get some sleep. We pitched our tent near a couple of other families who were also camping. Within half an hour I fell asleep listening to the wild animals that were making noise nearby. At the crack of dawn my auntie Mary woke me up to have breakfast before we went berry picking. It wasn't the usual bacon and eggs, only crackers frosted with butter and a cup of Kool-Aid. Before we left, though, my grandma took some things to eat for lunch and to snack on. We checked for salmon berries on the tundra which stretched for a couple of miles. There were hardly any berries, but I managed to pick one whole gallon of them. I knew if I picked faster than the others and filled the five gallon bucket I could relax in the boat while the others were breaking their backs picking berries. By the end of the first day of picking the bucket was half-full, thanks to my sister Crystal. My grandparents picked quite a bit themselves.

The day went by fast because we rode around in the boat most of the day checking for berries. We had to pitch the tent again because we'd have to use too much gas going back and forth to the campsite. After the tent was pitched again my grandma made goose soup which tasted good with the fresh bread she made a couple of days before. When I was done eating I went out and watched the kids play a game of tag. Soon the day turned to night and everybody was asleep. I couldn't sleep because I was too cold, so I cuddled up with Crystal and fell asleep.

The last day of camping was pretty cool. We picked where there were lots of berries, and Crystal and I filled the five gallon bucket. My grandparents filled theirs too, but my auntie Mary picked only two and a half gallons. Maybe that was because she was picking where there were hardly any berries.

Towards the evening we put everything in the boat and headed for Pilot Station. On our way out we passed a couple of boats tbat were heading to the place where we'd camped. They were out of luck, though, because I think we picked almost all the berries there were on the tundra. When we got to Pilot Station I took a shower and called a couple of my friends. I wanted to see them after we got back from camping. They came over and made my trip complete.

Cheryl Hunter