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[1:18 AM EDT - Not left yet.]
Argh! I forgot to bring the ice cream. I knew I forgot something. That and the fact that I didn't leave Dangerman's place until midnight meant that there was no way I was driving up to Muskoka tonight. Oh well, as long as I get up early today, things should be okay right?
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[Sunday, June 30, 2002: Going out and getting bugged.]
I wanted to get up early so that I could beat the rush and make it to the cottage at a respectable time (i.e. before lunch). Well, let's just say that things never go the way you plan them and the better that you plan, the worse your plans will go awry.
So I left the house a little later than expected. I didn't bring a map either, and I didn't fill up on gas. The map I really didn't have too much of a problem with, although it would've helped me in the end. I'll explain why later.
The gas issue was different. I tend to run my tank as dry as it'll go before filling it up. It's a bad habit I know, especially when you're out in the middle of nowhere and you're due for a refill. Traffic going up wasn't too bad. It was heavy yes, but at least it was moving. It's just crazy the fact that there's only one major highway that goes up to these parts. Speak of a huge bottleneck! (Is that an oxymoron?)
So, looking at the map I had printed out the day before, I knew I had to look for a certain road number six. So I drove, and drove, and drove..
Strange, the highway seems to be shrinking. Odd, I seem to be going past the city. I could've sworn that I was supposed to be near it. I decided to turn around, and realized to my dismay, that I had passed a number of landmarks that were written on the map. But because the road I was looking for was the first landmark (which also was the road I was supposed to get off on), I never paid attention to any of the other landmarks until I double checked the map. I ended up taking the long way out to the cottage, taking the northern route instead of the southern one.
It was only while I was already in the bush that I realized that the number on the map could be construed as a three. *takes closer look* Still looks like a six to me.
I arrived at the driveway and looked up. WAY up. This, has got to be one of the steepest driveways I've ever seen. No wonder why they had a spot for "winter parking". I was a little worried that my poor car would lose grip and slide down, but fortunately, some bricks and wooden planks were laid down in the road to provide better grip. If it wasn't for that, I'd hate to drive up on a rainy day..
I made it to the house at half-past twelve. There were already a number of cars around and people were milling about inside. The cottage was really nice. It's fairly large, and it's situated at a nice spot overlooking the lake. The one thing that bothered me were the bugs. There were a LOT of them, and they included black flies and mosquitos. They must've been delayed by the cool weather or something, but they were out in force when I arrived. It was nigh impossible to breathe without one of these critters getting near your face.
I had arrived just in time to join everyone else in going down to the water.
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[Monday, July 22, 2002: Tying the knots.]
After throwing my stuff into the cottage, I followed the group and headed down to the lake. The cottage was built at the top of a rather large hill that overlooked the lake and surrounding area. (It was on a penninsula actually, but because of the trees, you can only see out the back.)
I was amazed to find out that I wasn't the youngest one there. One of the kids had shown up and proceeded to bounce around us as we headed for the water. The population of bugs decreased as we neared the shore, but I still complained bitterly about the huge number of pests, the girl (LB) quiped,
"Don't use soap or shampoo."
So I complained,
"So how am I supposed to get clean?"
To which there was no reply. Besides, she was already thirty paces ahead by then. *puts hands on hips*
I guess the perfume in most soaps and shampoos will attract the bugs, but the stuff I use (Ivory and Herbal Essences) isn't scented. At least not to my knowledge.
![[Overlooking Lake Vernon.]](../Pictures/2002-03-03/2002-06-22a.jpg)
At the end of the broomball season, I (along with the rest of the broomball players) was invited out to SS's cottage up in the Muskokas. I figured that I take up that offer and visit the back country since I haven't vacationed up there in a long time..
The first thing one notices when you start wandering around the property was the view. There was a great view of the lake from the back of the house, and the lookout post situated halfway down to the water is an ideal spot to relax and enjoy the scenery.
This is a picture taken from the lookout point on the way to the dock.
Anyway, we made it down to the dock after stopping every now and then to enjoy the view. The view was spectacular from the various spots along the path, and the weather, although a tad humid, wasn't so bad. If you removed the bugs, it would've been quite nice.
After hanging around the dock for a while, PK, JT, and I went out in the canoe to paddle around for a while. Since I was the last one in the boat, I ended up in the middle and didn't get to paddle. That was unfortunate since I haven't gone canoeing for many years. I think the last time I went canoeing was in grade eight. Ah yes, that trip ended in.. muck, but that's a story for another time.
Anyhoo, we paddled around for a bit, enjoying the bug free lake, until we headed back to the dock. As we disembarked, LB jumped in with the intention of going out in the canoe and wanted people to go along with her. This was a good time for me to get my paddling time in, and LH joined us in the ballast position. I sat in the back and LB asked me,
"Can you steer?"
Uhh.. maybe. I decided to give it a try since.. what can go wrong right? (Flip.)
Well, no sooner did we leave the dock when we began to head dangerously close to the shore. LB kept yelling back at me to steer, but I was to intent on conserving energy that we scraped by the rocks. After that, we stopped off at another dock where she kicked me out of the back and I ended up in the front position.
So off we went (again). This time we went in the opposite direction as my first sortee and eventually lost sight of the dock. We paddled around for a bit, with LB in the back trying to play some word games with the reluctant elders in front of her. (LH wasn't in the mood, and my brain was fried.) But she was undaunted, and kept talking, and talking, and talking and.. (Where does all of this energy come from?)
Anyhoo, we made it back to the dock in one piece, despite having a novice rower in the front and a kid in the back.
I can't remember how it started. I think she challanged me to something and I chided her, or maybe she tried to boast and I didn't believe her. In any case, she took out some rope from the canoe and began to tie my legs together. I looked at PK, who I was talking to at the time, and commented,
"This can't be good."
I was right. I figured that if I resisted a bit that she'd relent, but that only made her tie more fiercely. So as I tried to untangle myself from the strands of rope, I began to realize that this kid wouldn't stop! Well this meant war! I decided to fight fire with fire and began tying her legs together with the other end of the rope. So the battle was waged, with me tying and her trying to escape or visa versa. Eventually, we were so entangled together that RD quiped,
"I'm going to tell SS that the two of you have tied the knot."
Of course nobody came to my rescue, so I was to fend for myself.
This war continued for a good half-hour before the two of us were too tired to continue. Well, at least I was. I think she was ready for another round! In any case, after that knotty incident, she stuck to me like glue.
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[Wednesday, August 21, 2002: Three pitch black.]
On the way back up from the docks, someone (I forgot who it was) recited the saying:
"Leaves of three, let them be."
Apparently she had found some poison ivy growing next to the path. Great, and I wanted to wear shorts too.
A bit further up the path, they also found some Trilliums growing in a patch. For those of you who don't know, the Trillium is Ontario's provincial flower. It's illegal to pick them, but LH wanted to "transplant" one back to her home. That would be cool, although I doubt it would survive.
After we got back to the cottage, LB dragged me upstairs to show me her room and do some water colouring. I figured that I might as well take part since she didn't have anyone else to play with. We went to play basball soon afterward. I ended up being the last car out, since we were waiting for someone who had apparently left on another car! We zoomed on after them but didn't find any trace of the other cars. Fortunately, one of the cars did stop and we were lucky we didn't make a wrong turn. Soon, we had joined up with the rest of the convoy and headed towards the diamond. They were driving awfully fast on those small, windy country roads. I was a little worried that there would be some sort of oncoming car which would eventually crash into one of us. RD, W, and LB were in my car, and LB kept talking, and talking, and talking.. Wow, that kid was unstoppable! She started telling jokes (most of which made fun of Chinese people) and asked if we had any to share. Unfortunately, all of the ones I could think of at the time were not appropriate for her, and I think RD was in the same boat. She then tried to get us to play word games and anything else to pass the time. The drive was long, and it took us basically near Huntsville, but the diamonds were pretty good quality, with night lights and all, and they were deserted. This meant that we had the place to ourselves, and played five innings of three pitch.
When we got back, LB dragged me back upstairs to continue with water colour painting. This time we were drawing pictures of ourselves or anything else. Let's just say that her rendition of me wasn't very flattering. *bops her on the head* But after I was up there for maybe half-an-hour, N came up and told LB that I was supposed to be relaxing and not to be entertaining her. That was my cue to go downstairs, but only after we finished the painting we were working on (basically the scenery outside the window).
There was a hot tub in the back, and I was itching to go in, except that it was pretty crowded most of the afternoon. I decided to wait until most of the folks cleared out before I tried for a dip myself. (Which meant that I'd have to soak in the grime that the previous soakers had sloughed off. Eww.) Anyhoo, the tub cleared out eventually and I got changed and took my shirt off. While hanging onto my shirt, I took a tentative step into the tub.. and promptly fell feet first into the tub. Shirt and all. That was a little embarassing. It was a little deeper than I thought it was. In any case, I sat in the tub for the next half-hour soaking up the heat and relaxing in the water. LB had fun splashing me with water and other water related activities that you usually see in pools. I don't think they happen that often in hot tubs though.
Soon it was time to eat so I got out of the tub and dried off. The food was good, we all had steak, and the dessert was excellant. My chocolate ice cream was very, very creamy, and some of the other desserts were fantastic! (Most were homemade.)
![[Midnight over Lake Vernon.]](../Pictures/2002-03-03/2002-06-22b.jpg)
I stayed up late the first (and last) night that I was up there. The weather was amazing, and the serenity (if you exclude the antics of a very energetic twelve year old) was refreshing. The moon was out and nearly full, so the lake and surrounding forest was bathed in the warm glow of the moon. My camera didn't have film that could take proper night pictures, I tried my best and this was the only one that came out.
This is a picture of the full moon over the midnight waters of Lake Vernon.
After eating our fill, we all sat around to talk and relax before going to bed. I decided to stay up late so I could watch the stars and enjoy the night air. The view of the lake was marvelous. The moon was full and easilly illuminated the lake and surrounding forest. I tried to take some pictures but the lighting was still not good enough for my film to capture anything decent.
![[The Crackling Fire.]](../Pictures/2002-03-03/2002-06-22c.jpg)
After most of us went to sleep, I hung out in the backyard with a couple of guys to watch and nurse the fire.
Here's a picture of the camp fire.
I watched the fire with GJ and G for some time. A raccoon came by as well. Whoever he (she?) was, he wandered around the patio and actually fell off! I was so stunned that the rodent lost it's footing, but it got back up again and wandered around the back, looking for food. My poor attempt at taking it's picture resulted in a very blurry photograph.
It was past midnight when I decided to go to bed. I wanted to see the sun rise that morning so I need to get a good night's rest.
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