Blind River- Fall 2024

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I am going home.

Megan and I left the house around 3am to catch a flight to Toronto (where we currently are) and then another flight to the happening city of Sudbury.

If you've never been to Sudbury, don't bother- other than a giant nickel, there's not much to see or do!

But, it's just the next leg on the trip to my father's house in a small town called Blind River, where Megan and I will spend the next week or so with my family, doing a whole lot of not much.  Long time members will know Blind River from the many posts I have made about it before, but for those who don't remember or weren't here, its an outdoor wonderland.

We will (depending on the weather of course) spend our time hiking, going out on the ATV, kayaking, relaxing in front of the fire, maybe some shooting... basically my idea of heaven.

Naturally, I will post as much as possible here, because what fun is a bit of time off if you can't share it with those who matter to you?

No decent pictures yet as the sun has yet to come up, but stick around for all of the fun! 

Def

[Chako]

Have fun. My other half has a lot of relatives there as both her parents are from there.

[WhichDawg]

Sounds great to me Enjoy!
and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

[Farmer X]

Happy Thanksgiving, and have a wonderful vacation!

[Grant Lamontagne]

After some seat of the pants style rescheduling, we just arrived at my Dad's place at 7pm, a little later than the noon we'd initially expected.

As Megan and I got up at 2am, and it's now after 8pm (which is 9pm in Halifax) we are pretty beat.

We are pretty beat, bit we are also already having a great time so far.

Pictures soon, I promise!

Def

[WhichDawg]

mmm Canadian ThanksGiving…Turkey stuffed with Beer & Bacon  

[Grant Lamontagne]

The first pic below is exactly why we love it here- a hot coffee first thing in the morning while standing on the river side enjoying the clean, crisp air.

How perfect(Ly Canadian) is that?

Also pictured is my father's shih-tzu, Minnie.

I wrote this last night but apparently forgot to post it, possibly because I may have gotten into the edibles.   

Def

[Whoey]

Happy Canucksgiving, may the turkey be with you eh!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yesterday we all did a bunch of yard work- this time of year there are hundreds of pounds of leaves in the yard that need picking up, so we all pitched in on that with the lawn tractor, leaf blowers, rakes and so on.  My brother and his wife are here as well, so we winterized my father's camper, and of course we played with the new drones a bit.

Then we did some grocery shopping and hit the dispensary.  I am not one to partake usually, but I am not above the odd edible here and there.

After that I went to see my aunt and uncle who are in a care home (Alzheimer's is a smurf and it's rampant in my family) before coming home and watching a bit of TV before we once again suited up and took my father to church.  He's found his faith again since Mom passed away, and it's great that he has that sense of community, even if he keeps getting COVID from it.   

We came home from church, ate supper, watched a movie and I ate my edible and promptly fell asleep on the couch, my loud snoring likely interrupting my brother's enjoyment of the hockey game.   

This morning so far we did a little more work around the house, like adjusting the cupboard doors to give more clearance over the new carpet my father had laid a few months ago.  Then it was off to do some more droning! 

I fired up my Neo for the first time and sent it high above the trees, which it didn't enjoy very much as it's light and gets blown around easily.  That's okay, I have the insurance for it, which is so dirt cheap I don't know why you wouldn't get it- and also might account for all of the "extreme" testing of the Neo online.... but I digress. 

Below is a shot I took of some of the trees- the colors this time of year are amazing.

We haven't quite figured out what we are doing today, but Megan seems to want to take Dad's side by side out, so that will probably happen shortly.

Def

[WhichDawg]

WOW! Amazing colors and picture! Post Card there 

[Farmer X]

  And Minnie is a cute little dog!

[Grant Lamontagne]

We had a good afternoon today.  Megan and I took my father's side by side out on some trails and had a great time.

Then I came home and made spaghetti for supper.

And, thanks to Micah, the side by side is properly branded!

Even this muskrat liked it so much he refused to get off the road!

Def

[Farmer X]

An actual muskrat! For a second, I thought you were talking about a pocket knife...

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well, when he came towards us I thought he was a beaver kit, but there was no mistaking the tail when he turned.

Today my father and I flew our drones, or rather we put drones in the air long enough to crash them... but that was part of the fun!  The Neo is able to take some decent hits and keep going.  There is a nice cluster of trees in my father's yard that I kept trying to fly through.  Sometimes I was more successful than others. 

I managed to get the below pic before crash fest began. 

As you can see, no Neos were harmed during today's entertainment!

Afterwards Megan and I went into town to put some gas in Dad's car and get lunch, then when we got home we realized that the roast beef we were planning to have for supper tonight was in the freezer and not the fridge.  Naturally we had to run back into town and find an alternative, which wasn't easy as most of the stores were closed for Thanksgiving.  We managed to find a pork roast, so that's what we are going to have tonight.

The last pic was spotted on a work truck and I figured I needed to record it for posterity.   

Def

[Farmer X]

 

[SteveC]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours ! 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Thanks Steve!

It was the best convenience store pork roast I've ever had!   

Today we are planning to go on a pilgrimage to the nearby town of Elliot Lake, which is only marginally bigger than Blind River.

It was a mining town, built in the 50's and pretty much abandoned by the 90's, when it rebranded itself as a retirement destination.  At times, you could buy a house there cheaper than you could buy a car.

Nowadays they are largely the same price.

Def

[Farmer X]

I'm unsure what surprises me more: that convenience store pork roast exists, or that you may have had more than one.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'm unsure what surprises me more: that convenience store pork roast exists, or that you may have had more than one.

I actually wished we had been closer to Quebec so I could pair it with some excellent gas station wine.   

We went into Elliot Lake this afternoon, a little later than intended because my cousin and her husband stopped by.  It was great to see them. 

We didn't do much in Elliot Lake as there really isn't much to do in Elliot Lake.  It's about 20 miles on the highway to the Elliot Lake turnoff from here, then another 20 miles off the highway to get to it.  It's basically as much of an afterthought kind of town as is possible to exist.

I bought my father a new ladder but he hasn't seen it yet.  I broke his the other day, and I know he is going to continue to try to use it.  He's gotten to his mid 80's more because he's stubborn than because he's smart sometimes.   

Sadly no decent photos to share.  After supper we pretty much have been just sitting around watching the Santa Clarita Diet- Dad hadn't seen it yet, and I am not sure how much more of it he is going to see.

Def

[Vidar]

Canadian nature seems to have more colors!

He's gotten to his mid 80's more because he's stubborn than because he's smart sometimes.   

Sounds familiar.. My father once fell off a roof. Not for lack of safety harness or rope because I had given him that, but because safety is for other people. Anyway, we were inside the house when we heard some rumbling and bumping as he slid down the roof, then a bit of silence, and then a thud outside. When we got there he could hardly stand on his feet but still denied ever being on the roof at all...  All the bruises and bumps betrayed him though.

[Farmer X]

Your father sounds a bit like my maternal grandfather. He was in his late 80s or 90s by the time he could be convinced that it was no longer wise to haul out the ladder and clean his roof gutters himself. Though in his case, it was habit... he'd been working hard pretty much his entire life.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Canadian nature seems to have more colors!
 

Canadian nature does have some amazing colors this time of year.  Several times in the past week I've had the discussion about how we take this scenery for granted and yet people travel from all over the world to see it.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

And yes, my father was a Combat Engineer in the military, before that he worked on the railway.  Prior to that, he grew up in logging camps and on farms.  I don't think a day has gone by in all his years that he hasn't been working on something or other.  Now he lives out in the woods and spends most of his time puttering around the house doing this and that.

He was actually cleaning the gutters when I broke the ladder. 

He has a bad habit of miscounting the steps on the ladder and stepping off it too early (don't tell him I said any of this!) which causes problems.  My brother distracted him, and I went up on the ladder to finish the gutters for him and the ancient ladder broke.  Apparently I am too fat for it.   

The really annoying part is that I had sent him an extension for his hose that should allow him to spray out his gutters while standing safely on the ground, but he has never used it, then promptly misplaced it.   

We all spent a significant amount of time the other day looking for this vague description of a box.

It was found today in a box that looks very much like a plastic bag hanging in the garage.   

Anyways, that will be a tomorrow job.

We went to the grocery store today, came home then went back into town to pick up some things we forgot to get the first time we were in town.  We did a bit of drone flying and I discovered that the Neo really, really doesn't like to fly in the dark!  It was all over the place as the sensors searched for something on the ground to lock onto to maintain it's position- a ground that it had no chance of seeing.

I still managed to take some halfways decent photos with it though.

But yeah, it definitely prefers to fly in the light.  I have flown most of my other drones in the dark without issues, but the Neo seems to rely very heavily on visual sensors.

Def

[SteveC]

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

This morning my father and I went for a nice walk with his dog.  We didn't talk about anything much- at least nothing we wouldn't normally talk about, but I really appreciated that my father is still around to walk and talk with.

Once we got back to the house I updated the software on the Neo and set it up for direction tracking, which is like follow mode, but the drone leads you instead of following you.  I set Dad's Neo to follow mode and everywhere he went he had one drone in front of him and one behind.  It was kind of neat, although easy to see it as quite terrifying if you are the tinfoil hat type.   

I'll get into the Neo stuff more in the drone thread though.   

Def

[Whoey]

This morning my father and I went for a nice walk with his dog.  We didn't talk about anything much- at least nothing we wouldn't normally talk about, but I really appreciated that my father is still around to walk and talk with.

Once we got back to the house I updated the software on the Neo and set it up for direction tracking, which is like follow mode, but the drone leads you instead of following you.  I set Dad's Neo to follow mode and everywhere he went he had one drone in front of him and one behind.  It was kind of neat, although easy to see it as quite terrifying if you are the tinfoil hat type.   

I'll get into the Neo stuff more in the drone thread though.   

Def

Yup, either of my parents right now...

[Grant Lamontagne]

I know man.  I actually agonize about posting that kind of thing.

Sorry man.

If it helps any, I consider you family, even if you have better things to do than come visit me in Greece.   

Def

[Whoey]

You should enjoy it while you can, we both experienced that nothing lasts forever.

I'm pretty sure we are a family of some sort even if it's not blood.

Work tends to interfere in everything.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well, we are over 35 years together- that's got to count for something.

 

Def

[friendliestdoggo]

Canadian nature does have some amazing colors this time of year.  Several times in the past week I've had the discussion about how we take this scenery for granted and yet people travel from all over the world to see it.

Def

Woah the scenes there are phenomenal!