Tempus Fugit

View from the chair
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

We’ve been summer residents for over 23 years and this is the first time I’ve explored Tunnel Island and it’s almost in the heart of Kenora.

This is some of the best hiking and biking in the area, very similar to the Minaki trails only more technical and difficult. I rode two basic loop, one to the east of the trail head road and one to the west. I posted a route map here.

The  east loop took about 1hr with lots of stops to get over fallen trees that we too big to hop, at least for me, and some un-ridable sections, again for me anyway. This photo is at a spot called the Voyageur Lookout on a high spot on the island looking over the Winnipeg River.

The east loop took about 1.5 hrs and was even more challenging. This must be where all the local hard core riders come out to play. Part way around this loop I fell and whacked the camera pretty hard, but it still seems to be working OK.

The trail provides some excellent views of the Norman Dam,  a railway bridge and the Winnipeg River system. There are also bald eagles nesting on the island which are visible from the trails.

It was a great ride on a very hot day. It definitely rates a return visit.

Last night there was a fairly strong storm. Lots of wind, quite a bit of rain, and many hours of lightening. In the morning the floating dock was gone!

I’d wondered how it would fair in some extended rough weather, and now I had my answer. Fortunately, it was waiting for me at the neighbors dock which is in a bay just next to us. Unfortunately my new 8′ swim ladder was now only 4′ long after grounding in the shallow water. Still usable, but not quite as nice.

Floating Dock #2
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

Your wondering what this picture has to do with wildlife, and I’ll get to that in a minute.

While we’ve been at the lake this week we’ve seen quite a bit of wildlife. There have been the usual deer, chipmunks, squirrels, loons, bald eagles etc. and then some more unusual critters like otters, beavers, wild turkeys and turkey vultures.

Today, I was working on fixing up the second of our “free” docks that were recovered a couple of weeks ago. Earlier in the week we were in Kenora at a store that specializes in dock systems and learned that replacing the flotation in this dock and getting a ramp and hinge system to connect it to the main dock would run in excess of $2,000. It seemed to me that there should be a less expensive option as a Phase 1 approach. So, the excess Styrofoam from dock #1 was used to bolster up dock #2 and the tires re-installed and then I tied the floating dock to the fixed dock. So far, so good. This dock will come in quite handy since the water level is currently 4′ below the top of our fixed dock.

Back to the wildlife. In the process of getting ready to push the extra bits of Styrofoam under the dock I needed to get into the water and push the dock forward to get it off a rock. While doing this I feel something by my right foot in the water and I kick it out of the way. Then I think, “Hey, there’s only rocks down there and you don’t just kick them out of the way”. That’s when I decided to have a look only to see a very large turtle cruising around my foot. Everybody out of the pool! This thing was at least 12″ across and the head and neck were the size of my wrist! (Sorry. no picture).

This is never a really good sign at the lake especially when there is a severe forest fire hazard and all burning is restricted.

We had been outside from about 7-9pm and had walked up the road and out to the point on the trail I’ve been working on and enjoyed watching the sun go down. I’d taken a few photos, watched a beaver swim around the point and then we headed back to the cottage on the east side of the trail. We’d just settled in to watch a movie when I noticed a strong smoke smell. Not the fireplace kind of smell, but something much bigger. We had a look around but couldn’t see anything. The wind from the west had picked up and I guess smoke from one of the may forest fires had blown in. A couple of hours later, it was like nothing had ever happened.

Experiences like this  makes me  think about what might have been and appreciate my surroundings even more.

Sioux Narrows Bridge Replacement
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

Yesterday, we went by boat to Timber Island in Whitefish Bay on Lake of the Woods to track down the geocache called Kanchenjunga placed by my friend Adam. It was a sunny day with near calm winds, which made the 58.6 km boat trip quite enjoyable. You can read about more about that part of the adventure here.

The photo is the new bridge construction in downtown Sioux Narrows which is replacing a rather historic old wooden bridge which was the world’s longest single span wooden bridge. Click the photo for a few more details on my Flickr site.

After checking out the various gift shops in town and gassing up the boat for the return trip we headed out to find one more cache. Then it was up Long Bay to the main track for the trip back home. Our friends Ken & Linda retired to Sioux Narrows several years ago and we’d been to their place just once by car. So, as were heading up Long Bay I’m on the lookout for what I can remember about the front of their house. The main feature I remembered was the large double doors on the lower level that opened onto Ken’s enormous and well equipped workshop. As we boat by house that fits the description and notice two folks sitting on the dock we decide to turn around and check it out. Sure enough, this was the right place and we spent a little time catching up on what had been happening in each other’s lives.

After the visit, it was 6:30pm and a 2hr trip to get back home. The weather was still good and the trip back always seems longer that going out and our rear ends were a little sore from all the sitting. Probably why today we broke down and bought boat seats with back rests for the boat.

It was a great day on the lake as always and the tan is a little deeper after all the wind and sun.

Floating Bliss
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

We’re at the lake for a couple of weeks of vacation and today was picture perfect weather. clear and calm at at 25-27C with a very light breeze.

Yesterday, as we drove out, the temperature fell from 28C to 15C as it clouded over and rained a little bit. This made it nice and cool to sleep and quickly cooled off the cottage as we opened up.

This morning, after some reading and a couple of cups of coffee at the dock I pressure washed our “new” floating dock. I hefted a near by rock (150+ lbs) onto the dock an secured it with a line to be used as an anchor. We’ll see how well this holds up in rougher weather as the week goes by. some adjustments may be required.

Tomorrow I’ll probably build a ladder as some folks would like a little assistance in getting out of the water and onto the dock.

Well, here is one way. Thanks to Bill at achievable ends for pointing this out. Scott will be interested, but he has an iPod so this one might be for me!

Apple – Back to School

When you buy a Mac by September 16, 2006, you can get a free 2GB iPod nano after mail-in rebate. Or choose another iPod and enjoy big savings after mail-in rebate.* Plus, use your education discount to save even more.

Or is that Got Gmail?

Actually this is about your inbox. Do you read all your email? Do you file or archive everything? Or, perhaps you’re more like me and just let the clutter build up in the inbox and hope you can find stuff when you need it. And, typically with the Gmail search, you can!

Things must be a little boring right now. I actually read and/or dealt with everything in the inbox. Well, maybe not “dealt” with everything as some stuff was vanquished off to the abyss of the archive with a thought of doing something with it in the future. Really interesting stuff was marked with a star, but time will tell if it ever sees the light of day again.

So, what happens when your Gmail inbox is empty? Well, our friends at Google have an idea about what you should do next.

No new mail! There’s always Google News if you’re looking for something to read.

Len & Eric work on the dock

Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

This past weekend we had Len & Darlene and Eric & Dez at the lake and had a blast.

On the Saturday after a leisurely morning of puttering around and fixing up a couple of things Len & Darlene arrived and we had some lunch. Then there was no more sitting around. Len was looking for a little exercise so we cut up & split about 15 six foot tree sections that I’d recovered from some downed tress a couple of weeks ago. This was something I would have put off until the fall, but the help was ready, willing and able. So, in 28C+ we spent a couple of hours stocking the wood pile.

Later in the day I mentioned that there were a couple of sections of floating dock that had washed up on the point after a storm and had not been claimed in over 2 years. I thought that they might be of some use in our dock system. That was all it took, and the adventure was set in motion, Operation Retrieval was on! So, on Sunday Len, Eric & I retrieved the two 6′ x 16′ dock sections and I “retrieved” a sprained ankle.

Well, I thought that just getting them back to our dock was a good days work, but then Eric wanted to renovate the flotation system which had been damaged. So, after a quick trip to Kenora for materials, and an afternoon of construction, one of the sections is float worthy and will most likely get used as a floating swim platform anchored just off shore. This will allow some sleepy head sun tanners to get that late afternoon sun.

Dune Jumping
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

We spent a day at Victoria Beach with our friends Chris & Elaine and no day at the beach would be complete without a stroll on the beach of course! This guy & his friends were having a great time performing death defying leaps off the top of the sand dune. OK, maybe not death defying a s they all seemed to live to do it again, but there was no mom’s in sight.

Along with the beach walk was a trip to the bakery for Dream cookies, a bike ride to look at the latest cottages and a stop to visit some friends in a vintage 1910ish log cottage, which was very cool.

Speaking of bike rides, somebody (Shirley) on their first ride of the year, hooked her handle bars on a chain link fence and went for quite a spill. No permanent damage, but a few scrapes and bruises. The local tennis pro was quick to run over with his new first aid kit the size of a small suitcase, eager to administer something, anything. Good think he didn’t have a portable defibrillator!

After a wonderful dinner and some relaxing and some good conversation we packed up and headed back into Winnipeg. Good times with good friends. Thanks.