Def's extended long weekend

[Grant Lamontagne]

In case you missed it on FB, Megan and I are visiting the small town where my parents live.  It's a much smaller journey than it used to be from Halifax where we used to live, but it's still an 8 hour drive.

I'm so far out in the woods that I only have a mobile connection, and even that is a bit spotty so I haven't been around as much as usual.

I'll be heading home tomorrow, and I'll post photos then.  Megan and I had a run in with either a coyote or a coy-wolf, which is a wolf and coyote hybrid.  Megan wouldn't let me get close enough to be sure which it was....

Anyways, try to play nicely till I get back!

Def

[Corwyn]

[Aloha]

Say HI to mom and dad for us.  Their town sounds great also, I like the idea of being tucked away in the woods.  I'm sure getting some time in with the parents is going to be great.  Being disconnected also sounds pretty darn nice too. 

Safe journey boss. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, it is nice.  Really nice.  This is the area out own Syph007 hails from as well, so of you think I'm exaggerating how nice it is you can ask him. 

Disconnecting is an adjustment for sure, but we have an excellent team of moderators and admin here, plus members generally govern themselves quite well (with a few exceptions, you know who you are! ) so it's not too bad.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

We left early this morning and are about halfway home now, in the wonderful city of North Bay.

We've stopped for a few minutes to grab lunch after letting the dogs out at one of the worst rest stops I've ever seen.  Apparently the hippies who were illegally camping there had smoked some bad granola judging by the state of the washrooms there.

How can you pay such close attention to shaving only specific parts of your head, then let the rest of your hygiene slide?

Def

[Syph007]

I'm still planning to buy a cottage back that way some day.   When I tell people the prices up there they dont believe me!   But I also dont think they realize how remote it is compared to southern Ontario.

The appraised price of my parent home where I grew up is 35k.  For reference the avg house price in this area is 10x that. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

We looked at a cottage that was $1.5 million.   In the end we didn't end up getting it.   I didn't like the sconces. .....

Anyways we are back home now, emoting a glass of wine.

Def

[firiki]

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'll post some stuff tomorrow.  I'm completely beat right now.  A glass of wine probably wasn't in my best interests physically, but mentally it worked wonders....

Def

[Syph007]

I'll post some stuff tomorrow.  I'm completely beat right now.  A glass of wine probably wasn't in my best interests physically, but mentally it worked wonders....

Def

Do you still have to hold your breath when driving through espanola?

[Chako]

Yes, it still smells. Depending on the wind, you can smell it for quite some time on the highway.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I know I promised pictures, but I had a bit of a fail.  I put all the photos on a flash drive for my mom since internets are limited at their place and emailing or Dropboxing them doesn't work so well.

Unfortunately I removed them from my phone to put them on said drive....   

Until I can get my photos, here are some of the ones Megan took, and a few that I put on FB.

This is me at the Cataract Falls:



You can see a small shadowy lump on top of the rocks at the top of the falls- that was a turkey vulture.  We went back there later that day again (it's not far from where we live, and we were chased away the first time by bugs) and went much further up the falls.  Once again I didn't make it all the way up as there was a coy-wolf sitting where the the turkey vulture was in this photo.  Megan seemed to think that, especially with my limited mobility, facing down a coy-wolf was probably not a good idea.  If you don't know what a coy-wolf is, you should consider yourself lucky.  Basically it is a cross between a wolf and a coyote, with the strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither, and no fear of man.  There's a slightly better pic of it below.  I wasn't allowed to get closer for a better pic.   



This is looking down the falls, pretty much the opposite direction of the above photo.  The water here is super clear and there are some deep pools with some large fish in them.  I'm looking forward to doing some snorkeling here when the water warms up a bit.



This is the yard, and more importantly, the steps down to the dock where the pontoon boat lives. 



Of course, kayaks were brought out.  Mine are still in Halifax, but luckily my father and brother are also into kayaking.  That's my father's Riot Tour Lite 15 (blue/white), my brother's Current Designs Whistler 14 (green) and the spare Pelican (blue one on the right).  The Pelican is lovingly referred to as the B*tch Boat, since it is pretty pathetic compared to the other two.  Whoever gets stuck paddling it is the b*tch, and that is usually me.  In their defense, I usually paddle a lot longer and a lot heavier than they do, so the Pelican isn't much of a handicap and I can still keep up.



Relaxing in the sun after paddling.  Every day was 25-30 degrees Celsius and I loved it.  Of course I got sunburned, but it was worth it. 

I also managed to find a present for Whoey in the Bargain Shop:



I'm not sure if he has one of these or not, but for the money I figured it was worth a shot. 

Below are a few other photos- one shows a blob that I'm claiming is a coy-wolf) and the other two show how Megan felt about taking some time off and going out into the woods.

Def

[Aloha]

Looks like a rough time for poor Megan 

That area looks wonderful.  What a terrific place to call home. 

[Syph007]

Looks like a rough time for poor Megan 

That area looks wonderful.  What a terrific place to call home.

I was just going to say from your pics it looks like Megan had a weekend at Bernies style vacation where you moved her around to various activities! Lol

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, she had a good time for sure! 

I had taken other photos where she was conscious, but these ones were saved on my phone only because I'd sent them to her father to show them how badly I was mistreating their little girl!   

Def

[Weasel]

Looks like you fantastic weekend buddy

[Grant Lamontagne]

I did indeed.  With dogs and stuff it's about a nine hour drive so I can't go that often, but compared to the 25 or so hour drive from where I used to live it is much more manageable!

Def