Category Archives: CANADA

Canada 2010 – Day 3

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“Brisk” would be the word for today.

I woke up precisely at 7:00 (I have no idea why), and knew immediately that the outside temperature was fairly cool.  As it _MG_3675turned out, it was in the low 50s, and it stayed in the 50s all day.  The boathouse this morning was wrapped in a thick fog bank, making the islands in the lake pretty much invisible.

Not to be deterred, I made my way to the lake and splashed in for a bath – which wasn’t at all bad.  The water temperature was quite a bit higher than the air, and it was really sort of interesting to be swimming around without being able to see more than a couple of feet in any direction.

Had a bagel for breakfast, exchanged pleasantries with everyone _MG_3682 else, and then set out in search of cemeteries at about 10:30.  Rather than going through town, I headed in the opposite direction (south) and found a small cemetery about 6 miles down the road, in the Midlothian region – I’m not sure if that’s an actual town or not.  Spent some time there, then headed east down a dirt road and quickly found another graveyard, which I photographed for another 30 minutes or so.

Not knowing what else to do, I continued east and eventually ended up in Burke’s Falls – the “big city” (of about 2000) near Magnetawan.  From there, I continued east to Sundridge, then looped back to the west and ended up on the outskirts of Parry IMG_3651 Sound (the *real* big city in the area) before heading back towards camp.  Found one more cemetery on the was back to town, then took a short sidetrip through Ahmic Harbour.  Eventually made it back to the camp at about 3:00 this afternoon.

I failed to mention that during all of this circular driving, the weather was gorgeous.  The temperature was always between 55 and 60, but the skies were a brilliant blue, the sun was shining, and it was very comfortable.  Back at the camp, however, it remained cloudy and drizzly and it felt very chilly.  For the first time since I arrived, I was not comfortable wearing shorts and had to put on a pair of jeans._MG_3683

I did some reading, then watched as Dad, “T” and Don made intricate plans and replans in their attempt to re-attach the flagpole to the dock.  The last I heard of the plan was that they needed to go to town (tomorrow) for 24 two-inch screws, a hex driver, and I don’t know what else.  My idea was, I thought, quite a bit simpler: drill a hole in the dock.

I took a walk while they continued to refine their plans, and ended up missing a call from Betsy.  Called her back 90 minutes later and had a nice chat, then headed up to the main cabin to eat.

Dinner, created by Don and Julie Peddy, consisted of fresh corn on the cob, tomato and cucumber salad, steak, and venison that Don shot in North Carolina sometime last spring.  To call it amazing would be to undersell it – and considering that I hadn’t eaten since the bagel, I thought I did a great job of stopping myself at two helpings._MG_3705

After dinner, the seven of us chowed down on brownies (baked this afternoon by Cy) and ice cream in honor of “T”’s 68th birthday.  His presents included a new Magnetawan sweatshirt and a bag of almond M&M’s – I didn’t get him anything, as I had no idea that it was his birthday.

The evening’s entertainment came in the form of a spirited game of _MG_3717Mexican Train (dominoes), which was won by, I think, Julie Peddy.

The party broke up at 10:30 (funny – when I first started spending my summer vacations at Ahmic, we’d play cards until 1:30 AM every night), and I made my way down to the dock for my evening pitch- black dip in the lake, which was quite nice in spite of the remaining chill in the air.  The water temperature is still holding at 72…I don’t know how long that’s going to last if we don’t get some sun soon.

TWD  

Canada 2010 – Day 1

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Well, it took an extra 2 months, but my vacation has finally arrived.  I’m currently sitting in the left-side living quarters over the boathouse of Camp Ulvik on Ahmic Lake in Magnetawan, Ontario.  My sister Dianne is residing in the right-side quarters, Dad is in the honeymoon cottage, about 100 yards down the lake, and Cy and T are in their usual cottage near the main cabin.  As far as I know, no Cy catches up on some reading in the main cabin one is in the farmhouse at this point, but I think Dr. and Julie Peddy are due at the camp tomorrow.

I rolled into camp at about 2 o’clock this morning after driving for just about 19 hours from Duluth.  I’m not sure exactly what took me so long this year – I usually plan on around 17 or 18 hours.  Originally, I’d planned to leave the house at about 3 o’clock Sunday morning, but Chris and I went to the LSU/UNC football game at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, and I didn’t get to sleep until about 2:00 AM Sunday.  Got up at 6:30 and was on the road within an hour.

The drive up was fairly uneventful, although the weather was absolutely gorgeous the entire way.  My check engine light came on a couple of times,  but I was able to check and clear it with the handy-dandy OBD2 scanner that I got for my iPhone, which was really nice.  Not knowing why the light comes on tends to make me crazy, so it’s great to actually SEE that it’s nothing important and just make it go away.

I talked to T when I was still in Ohio and he told me that it had been raining for most of the day, but sunshine was forecast for the rest of the week.  When I finally arrived at the camp, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the stars were unbelievable.  IMG_3575 For those of you who haven’t had a chance to see a night sky with virtually no light pollution, it’s an amazing sight. 

But I digress.  The sky was nice when I arrived.  The temperature was 38 degrees and there was a very slight breeze blowing.  I crawled under the down comforter in my boathouse room and was asleep in seconds. 

I slept until about 11 this morning, when I awoke to light drizzles and overcast skies.  So much for the forecast.  The temp was probably in the 50s and there was NO WAY I was going in the lake, so I took a shower in the farmhouse and them joined the family in the main cabin for greetings and lunch.  Then we broke up for “quiet time.” 

I had intended to take a nap (no kidding), but instead spent an hour or so practicing my tuba, which I brought with me this year.  I’m glad I did, as I sounded pretty good.  The boathouse gives a reallyIMG_3561 nice warm rich sound somehow.  Between etudes, I laid on my bed and listened to the rain and wind whip around the boathouse – a very nice late summer storm helped to make it a perfect boathouse day.

Later in the afternoon, everyone reconvened at the main cabin and chatted awhile before being joined by Dexter and Carol Kelly who spend a few months every year at Indian Point, just across the lake from Ulvik.  They livened up the evening talking about nothing in particular over cheese and crackers, and we talked them into staying for dinner, which was prepared by Dianne and T and consisted of some sort of beef stroganoff thing over rice, a mixed salad and a corn/onion/tomato salad.  Very good stuff.

Dinner and dessert lasted until about 9 tonight.  There was some IMG_3576discussion about playing cards afterwards, but I begged off – still tired.  I did get in my first skinny dip of the season about a half an hour ago – the water temperature is lovely.   I wouldn’t begin to guess what it is, but it’s not at all cold.  It’s actually another beautiful night.  Air temperature is in the high 60s and the ever-present Ahmic breeze is wafting through my boathouse as I type this.