June 29, 2005

June 29, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 43 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 12

 

Today started out cloudy and cool. It started to rain heavily by early afternoon, and continued all day.

This morning I had my telephone meeting with Roger Gran-Ruaz, my investment broker in Ottawa. Joanne and I have spent the money we had kept aside, not invested, for our first year of travel. Now we will have to have a regular source of cash flow from our investments. Roger and I worked out details for a regular income stream for us for the next ten months. Next I phoned the manager of the Bank Of Montreal in Kenora to set up a meeting with her tomorrow, to have her fill out, stamp, and sign some forms to allow electronic funds transfers from our investment accounts to our bank accounts. I also wanted to discuss with her some errors on the first bank statement we received since we set up new accounts at her branch. She was already on top of the errors, and had them corrected. Joanne and I spent the balance of the morning draining the holding tanks.

By lunch time it was raining. We had lunch, I read, and napped. The rain persisted. I read more. We hardly ventured outside the trailer all day because of the heavy rain. I got a lot of reading done. Joanne did a lot of baking and cleaning. We watched a documentary on CBC about the alleged terrorist arrested 2 years ago in our Ottawa neighbourhood. I'm convinced ! Joanne went to shower, and I watched the news. I did today's accounting, and journal entry while she washed supper dishes.

Manitoba's weather is not much to our liking. Our six weeks in Manitoba last summer had poor weather. Our eight weeks or so in Manitoba so far this year have been poor weather. I'm doubtful that we will end buying a seasonal business or place to live in Manitoba any time in the foreseeable future.

DSK

June 28, 2005

June 28, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 42 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 11

 

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Lorri.

 

Today was mostly cloudy and cool. The sky cleared and it warmed up late in the afternoon.

This morning I did my regular preventive maintenance, then drove to Major's Service Centre to post some mail. From there I drove to the park gate to make some phone calls. When I returned to the trailer, I spent some time chatting with one of last night's late arrivals, a couple from England who came to Canada this spring for a year of full time RV'ing around North America. Then I spent some time chatting with Elvira, about errant employees, and stinky dogs. Her lab stinks. That's common for oily skinned dogs, who spend time in the water, during hot weather. Their skin produces more oil to protect the skin from the cold water. The heat and humidity turns the skin oils somewhat rancid. Hence, labs who go in the water will stink in hot weather. She's also experiencing problems with employees taking time off work due to "injuries" that are impossible to disprove, and the recuperation time just happens to be during the period of time that they wanted vacation time, but were denied due to operational requirements. Yes, yes, we know it well. In retail, we had a lot of "long weekend flu". I lent Elvira a bottle of Natural Chemistry Waterless Bath to try on Boomer. I realized, with dismay, that I missed a telephone meeting yesterday that I had scheduled with my investment broker in Ottawa. I phoned to apologize and reschedule. It's not like me to forget an appointment. Out here I never wear a watch, and am somewhat oblivious to what day and date it is.

We had lunch. I read. I napped. That's become my regular routine, hasn't it ? I woke up feeling shitty. I picked a fight a with Joanne. I don't know why I felt shitty. Maybe it's because I was remembering my mother. Today was her birthday. I went for a walk by myself. I sat by the lake, trying to shake off what I was feeling. I wasn't particularly successful.

I worked on the batch of incoming mail Joanne picked up while in Winnipeg last week. Lorri phoned to advise Joanne that their Uncle Luc was dying. Joanne took Bo for a training session. It was the first time she took Bo for a training session without me, and the first time his reward for correct response to a command was only lavish praise, but no dog biscuit. I do not support the idea of a biscuit for every correct response, as many trainers do, but I was so desperate back in January in Texas to get him to begin to respond appropriately, I began to use biscuits. Now he is used to getting a biscuit each and every time he responds correctly. Joanne thinks it's time to discontinue the biscuits. I agree.

We worked on waxing the trailer. We came to the conclusion that we're dissatisfied with the new wax Joanne bought in Winnipeg recently. She bought 4 bottles. We've used less than one bottle, and the product has a money back guarantee if dissatisfied. We're going to return 3 ¼ bottles for a full refund next week when we're in Winnipeg.

Tonight was the first evening the campground office was staffed. The new summer staffing schedule started today. With the office being staffed late, there's not much for us to do in the evening, as campground hosts. I went to the office and chatted with Kristin about this weekend's reservations. The campground is sold out for the upcoming long weekend. Joanne prepared my favourite spaghetti and meat sauce recipe ... again. I love it ! It's my comfort food. Thank you, my dear. We watched a TV show, then the news.

DSK

June 27, 2005

June 27, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 41 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 10

 

Today was cloudy and warm. It rained intermittently this afternoon and evening.

This morning I went to the campground office to remove my phone jack splitter and phone cord. Peggy commented that she had heard I had made other arrangements for modem access. I clarified, and pointed out to her that I had been instructed to make other arrangements. There's a difference ! My hostility about this issue was evident. I drove over to the Manitoba Border Information Centre at the Manitoba / Ontario border a few miles from West Hawk Lake. I asked if I could plug my laptop into their phone line, where they have a computer for public access to the Internet. They allowed it today, but not surprisingly, they need to ensure their political masters have no objection to me plugging in my laptop a couple of times a week. I guess I should focus on how grateful I am that I'm retired / unemployed, and do not need to deal with petty politics and bureaucracy on a regular basis.

When I returned to West Hawk Lake, a Red Hat Society group was arriving for a picnic lunch in the picnic shelter behind our campsite. I wandered over, introduced myself, welcomed them to West Hawk Lake Campground, and offered assistance. They were obviously having difficulty getting a fire lit in the picnic shelter fireplace. Much to my great surprise, one of the old Red Hat women was hostile to my offer, and my presence. The other ladies seemed embarrassed. Okay ... have a nice lunch, ladies !

We had lunch. I read a book. I napped. We worked on waxing the trailer. We went to Crescent Beach Cottages to do some laundry. I dropped Joanne off at CBC and returned to the campground. Today's late arriving campers began to stream in, one after another. Every weeknight, from about 6:00 P.M. to about 8:00 P.M. we get about a half dozen campers arriving. These are "overnighters", who are travelling through and stopping just for the night. Somewhat like us when we are on the road. I'm kept busy most weeknights for a couple of hours getting them situated, and showing them where everything is ; bathrooms, showers, dump station, resident deer, etc.. Our resident deer have a habit of coming down off the granite bluff to graze down in the campground about this time each night. It's always pleasing to me to be able to walk around the campground a bit with late arriving campers, pointing out "here's the bathrooms, that's the shower building, over there is our resident 6 point buck, and over there is a doe with 2 fawns". That's exactly how it was tonight. It causes jaws to drop ! And running back to their campers for cameras.

We had supper, then went back to Crescent Beach Cottages to finish up the laundry. When we came back, we drove around the entire campground to know exactly how many campers were here tonight. There were a couple of deer wandering around our campsite. We spent some time outside watching them graze. We helped more late arrivals. I had an interesting chat with a woman from St. Catharines who is a theatre actress, performing at the Shaw Festival Theatre at Niagara On The Lake. As she and I stood near the washrooms chatting, we saw deer, bats, and fireflies, and listened to Loons calling on the lake. She was fascinated by the evening wilderness experience of West Hawk Lake.

DSK

June 25 & 26, 2005

June 25 & 26, 2005

West Hawk Lake days 39 & 40 of 113

YEAR 2 DAYS 8 & 9

 

Saturday ; Today was partially cloudy, and cooler.

This morning I did my regular morning routines and chores, then worked on waxing the trailer, waiting for Joanne to return from Winnipeg with the Carlson's. They finally arrived about 1:30, and we had a late lunch.

After lunch, we drove over to Star Lake. As I had hoped, we saw a deer on the short drive from West Hawk Lake to Star Lake. It was the first time Madeleine and Amelia saw a deer and it thrills me to be able to witness young children seeing or doing something for the first time. I thought Star Lake would be warmer than West Hawk Lake for the girls to go swimming, and the beach was likely to be less crowded. Well ... it certainly couldn't be colder than West Hawk, which is the deepest lake in Manitoba, and never gets very warm. I expected Star Lake's beach to be deserted, as it is every time I go fishing on the dock there. It wasn't deserted, being a nice Saturday afternoon, but it certainly wasn't crowded. The Carlson's all went playing in the water, and I sat on the beach, watching. After much play in the water, they played in the sand on the beach. It was mostly a sunny afternoon, and the temperature was moderate so it made for a nice beach outing.

When it was time to leave, and I was walking the little nieces back to the car, I saw a downed birch tree on the edge of the forest. Last year at Grand Beach Provincial Park, I had taught Madeleine and Amelia about birch trees, and birch bark. I asked if they wanted to go peel some bark off this old, fallen birch tree, to use in craft projects or whatever. Okay, they thought that was a neat idea. Amelia peeled a small strip of bark off the tree. Madeleine grasped an edge of bark with both hands, and peeled off a larger strip. When little Amelia saw that her big sister had peeled a larger strip, then Amelia thought she would like to have a larger strip as well. Like her big sister, she grasped the bark with both hands, and pulled. She broke a chunk of bark off the dead birch tree, then in her very quiet, little 4 year old voice, muttered "Oh ... bees !", then started backing away quickly. HOLY SHIT ! ! ! She had ripped open a hornet's nest. I started backing away quickly with her, when Madeleine screamed. Oh, damn ! Madeleine didn't see the swarm come up, and was now standing there being stung. DAMN, DAMN, DAMN. I rushed forward a few steps and yanked Madeleine up and away from the swarm, running with her back towards the beach as she screamed that her leg was hurting really bad. I knew she had been stung, I just didn't know where and how many times. As I ran to the lake with her in my arms, I thought if I dunked her in the lake, the cold water would ease the stinging. I ran into the lake, and dropped her, screaming, into the shallow water. Once she calmed down a bit, I carried her out of the lake, and we were able to examine her closely. She had only one sting, on her ankle. Whew... could have been worse !

We drove back to West Hawk, seeing another 2 deer. We stopped at Keystone Cottages to buy some snacks at the convenience store. While Doug was trying to make up his mind about which potato chips to buy, I left with the girls to walk back to the campground. We stopped in the campground office, so the girls could see the stuffed bear on display. His name is Sampson. I did not know that before. It's amazing what you learn hanging around with a 4 year old and a 6 year old. We walked over to the docks, and Crescent Beach. We played for awhile in the playground in the picnic area. It was time for supper. I barbecued the chicken and vegetable packs Joanne had prepared, and the little nieces prepared the special barbecued banana desserts we had made last year at Grand Beach. Slice a banana in the skin lengthwise, stuff chocolate chips and tiny marshmallows in the slit, wrap it in foil, and barbecue or place over the campfire for 10 minutes or so. They were great !

Just before they left to return to Winnipeg, Doug and the girls took a quick hike to the summit of the campground hiking trail, to see the view overlooking West Hawk Lake. After they left, I started a camp fire, and Joanne and I sat around for a couple of hours, chatting. Joanne told me that while I was at Star Lake with the Carlson's, our "supervisor" came by to tell us that she had been instructed to instruct us that I can not use the campground office fax machine phone line for modem access any longer. I'm horrendously pissed off ! There is a petty, political, pissant in the district office administrative staff who has had a brush up her ass for the last month over my use of a phone jack in the campground office for modem access. She seems to consider it a personal affront ! Well, she has succeeded in having my permission revoked. I guess now she can take an Ex-Lax and get on with her life. We watched with some amusement as the Park Patrol rendered first aid to a young woman who had spent the entire day sun tanning, and guzzling beer. It was debatable which was worse ; her sun burn or her inebriation. The Park Patrol finally called an ambulance, and had the beet red drunk hauled to the hospital in Kenora.

 

Sunday ; Today was partially cloudy and cooler in the morning. The sky cleared, and it became warm and humid in the afternoon.

After showering this morning, and doing some accounting, I was lazing around, chatting with Joanne about her visit with the Carlson's, when there was a knock on the door. I opened the door, and was very pleasantly surprised to see my dear old curling buddy, Darcy Johnson and his daughter Sheryl. They dropped by for just a few minutes to say hello. Darcy had driven out to pick up Sheryl who was out at the Caddy Lake Girl Guide Camp for the weekend, in advance of her summer job there. She needs to be back there Thursday evening. We invited Darcy to join us for a late dinner Thursday evening after he takes Sheryl to Caddy Lake. A few minutes after Darcy and Sheryl left, Debbie from Maintenance knocked on the door. She was bringing some wild catnip for Teddy. It's a huge hit with Teddy. As I type this, Teddy is sitting beside his dish where I put some of the wild catnip, sneezing and snorting like a junkie, too stoned to respond to me when I talk to him. He's just dropped over onto his side in the middle of the floor, stretched out, "milk treading" in the air.

We had lunch, then I napped. I told Joanne about Bobby Sue's death. We talked about the research Joanne had done while in Winnipeg, on RV Co-ops in B.C.. She found three, one of which we had driven by in May. I want to go back to B.C. this fall, and visit all three of them before we head south into the United States for the winter. I have always thought that living on Vancouver Island, or in the B.C. Gulf Islands, was a very attractive retirement option. In an RV Co-op, one purchases a serviced RV lot, with a concrete pad for the rig, with water, electrical, and sewer hookups, on a small, landscaped "yard", with communal / community facilities like a swimming pool, club house, etc., all on a cost shared basis, somewhat like a condominium concept. Escapees has about a dozen RV Co-op Parks in the Southern U.S.. Maybe we will end up buying into a Canadian RV Co-op to have a summer home base, and a Southern U.S. RV Co-op to have as a winter home base, living for three or four months in each, and spending a few months every spring and fall travelling back and forth between them.

We took Bo on an obedience training walk, as we walked the entire campground to see how many campers were remaining tonight. It was hot and humid, so I took Bo into the lake at Miller's Beach to show his swimming skills to Joanne. He swam back to shore, then refused to allow himself to be caught, to be reattached to his leash. We spent 15 minutes chasing him around, getting more and more angry and frustrated. Bad, bad dog ! I had been in a foul mood all day, and this stunt of Bo's didn't make it any better ! We finally got so disgusted with him, we just started walking back to the trailer. He romped all around near us, refusing to obey any and all commands, until we were almost back at the trailer, when he finally decided to "sit and stay".

We sat at the picnic table, reading the newspaper for awhile. I waxed a small section of the trailer. We barbecued supper, then watched a movie on CBC. When the movie ended at 10:00 P.M., I walked to the bathroom building. Grazing about 20 feet from the men's room door was one of the camp ground's resident deer, a yearling buck. He recognizes me, and so he just continued grazing as I walked slowly past him, talking softly to him. I have watched his antlers grow from bumps on his head about three weeks ago. His antler rack now has six points. In three weeks he's become a six point buck !

DSK

June 24, 2005

June 24, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 38 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 7

 

Today was sunny and warm. The humidity is gone. While I was having my morning cup of coffee, CBC Radio news announced that last night's thunderstorm brought baseball sized hail and winds of 125 km. / hr. in the Kenora area. WOW ... West Hawk dodged a bullet ! The power is out from Sioux Lookout to Kenora to Fort Frances. The evening was quite cool.

This morning I did some chores, then went to the campground office to retrieve e-mail and update my blog. I was very sad to receive an e-mail from Barry Sparks, our former employee who is still working at PET VALU Westgate. Our store budgie, Bobby Sue, died on Tuesday. She was a well trained, very special little bird. She was allowed to be free in the store, and was a constant source of amusement and delight for us, our staff, and our regular customers. Barry had advised us by e-mail recently that Bobby Sue had a tumour. It's not unusual for old budgies to die of cancer. Have a safe final flight, Bobby Sue. You were a great little pet. She came into our Orleans store about 8 or 9 years or so ago, brought in by an elderly customer who was going into a nursing home that would not allow her to bring Bobby Sue. We took Bobby Sue, and promised to take good care of her and give her a good home in the store. The elderly lady used to come into our Orleans store on a weekly basis for a year or so afterwards to visit Bobby Sue. When we sold the Orleans store a few years ago, we moved Bobby Sue to the Westgate store.

Walking back to the trailer from the campground office, I chatted with Elvira, the Maintenance Supervisor. She invited me and Bo over for dinner at her house / cottage at Ingolf. I accepted, then went over to the West Hawk Inn to buy a bottle of wine to bring.

I cooked last night's pickerel for my lunch. MMMMM ! ! ! After lunch, I spray painted the under sides of the sink covers / cutting boards. This is something Joanne wanted done, and she bought a can of spray paint the other day in Winnipeg. It didn't work very well. The under sides of the sink covers are press board. They just sucked up the paint like a sponge. We'll have to come up with a "plan B". Then I waxed another section of the trailer with the new wax. While I was working outside, a helicopter flew over and landed just outside the campground. It took off again after about 10 minutes. I wonder what that wasabout ? I cleaned up, then went inside to wash dishes before leaving for Elvira's.

At the end of her shift at 4:30 Elvira came by to lead us to her cottage at Ingolf, Ontario, about a 15 or 20 minute drive from here. Well ... about 20 minutes driving at my speed, about 15 driving at Elvira's speed. What a bone jarring ride to drive Dee-Dee at that speed over these very rough roads. At Ingolf we drove across the CP main tracks, then followed a single lane trail through the woods for a minute or two, then we drove over granite rock outcrops through the forest for another minute or two. What a remote cabin ! She lives on an acre of forest and granite rock outcrop overlooking Macara Lake. It's very nice. While Elvira ( a 50 year old Italian mom ) prepared spaghetti and meat sauce, and a salad, Bo romped off leash all over the land with Boomer, her big Black Lab. Just before dinner was ready, Debbie and her 2 huge Leon Berger dogs showed up. Debbie also works for West Hawk Lake Maintenance, and lives 1/8 of a mile away from Elvira. She was coming over to talk shop with Elvira. Her power had just come back on after being out for 24 hours because of yesterday’s storm. Bo, Boomer, Harry, and Dick romped all over, including running into the lake. The other 3 dogs are large, so to keep up, Bo had to actually swim out into the lake. This is the first time he's gone further into the water than wading distance, which with his short legs isn't very far from shore. Hey ... you know what they say in the world of business, and dogs. "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch." Debbie stayed to eat dinner, then left as soon as she was finished eating, with her 2 dogs. Elvira and I chatted for awhile after dinner, while Bo and Boomer romped around outside. I was apprehensive about leaving Bo out unattended, but we were out in the middle of nowhere ! Every time I went outside to check on him, I would give a whistle and he'd come running at top speed out of the forest, or up from the lake. He had an absolutely great time running all around with Boomer, exploring wherever he wanted, unrestrained.

At 8:30 I headed back to West Hawk, because I feel obliged on Friday nights to walk around the campground and promote the Interpretive Program at the Amphitheatre. The three young Naturalists / Park Interpreters work so hard to prepare their weekly programs, and their presentations are so poorly attended. As soon as we were back at the trailer, I grabbed a bundle of brochures on tonight's Amphitheatre program, and set off with Bo. We walked quickly around the entire campground, handing out brochures, then headed for the Amphitheatre. As usual, the attendance was abysmal. As usual, the presentation was well prepared, but corny and boring. Maybe there's a relationship there. Beth, Ashley, and Dana try so hard, and put so much work into their programs, but Gawd, they're so awful ! Tonight's program was entitled Endangered Species. Ashley was dressed up as a Woodland Caribou. It was the same costume she wore a few weeks ago as a bear, but tonight it had velour antlers stuck on with Velcro. Beth was a Whooping Crane. Her portrayal of a Whooping Crane mating dance was quite something to see !

DSK

June 23, 2005

June 23, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 37 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 6

 

Today was sunny and hot again. I still like it ! I did, however, use the air conditioner today. It is nice to have a cool, dry place to escape the humid heat outside.

It was a slow, lazy day. I slept late today. I spent the morning emptying the holding tanks, and reading. I had lunch, then continued reading a book until I fell asleep. After napping, I walked Bo, then we did a training session. I started on waxing a section of the trailer using a new wax Joanne bought in Winnipeg the other day. It was recommended to us by a neighbour here in the campground. I don't see that it's much better then the bug and tar remover / wax combination we had been using. But we ran out of that before the trailer was completely finished, so we're going to try this new wax on the last unwaxed section, and if it's better then the other stuff, we'll use it on the entire trailer. I waxed a small section, and it began to rain, so I quit. The sky darkened, and it began to thunder and lightning. A late afternoon thunderstorm on a hot, humid day. Teddy hid under the recliner. Of course, while it was thundering and lightning, and blowing and raining, the late arriving campers started to arrive. After I came back to the trailer after helping a late arrival, CBC radio was announcing a severe thunderstorm warning for the Kenora area, which would include here.

By 7:00 P.M. the thunderstorm seemed to be over. I wasn't hungry, so I fed the animals and went fishing to Star Lake. Of course, as soon as I started fishing, it began to rain heavily. It rained for about half an hour. Within another half hour the wind died down, and the sky cleared. I was glad I stayed. The lake was glassy calm. It was a pleasant evening to be on the lake. But the fish weren't biting. I caught one Walleye. When I got back to the trailer, I had a light supper, then watched the news. I washed dishes, did our daily campground host report, and worked on this journal entry. I'm debating whether or not I should go fillet my fish when I'm finished this.

DSK

June 22, 2005

June 22, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 36 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 5

 

Today was sunny and hot. I like it !

Teddy and Bo woke me at 6:30 A.M. to be fed, and I stayed up. After showering and morning chores, I got busy on some projects I wanted to get done while it's warm, and while Joanne is in Winnipeg visiting her sister. First I washed dishes, then I unloaded yesterday's purchases from the truck and put everything away. I checked the trailer tire pressures and the truck lug nut tightness. I did yesterday's accounting and discovered an error on the Canadian Tire invoice. I drove to the front gate to make a phone call to Canadian Tire to get the error corrected. I'll have to actually go into the store next time I'm in Winnipeg to get it completely resolved. I drove to Major's Service Centre to mail my MasterCard payment. Back at the trailer, I drained the fresh water tank. I decided it's not a great idea to leave the water tank full during hot weather, since I'm connected to an outside water supply, and the water in the fresh water tank is just sitting there, getting stale, or worse, stagnant. Next I repaired the alternator to battery cable splice ... again. The connection melts about every few months. It melted last night when I was driving back from Winnipeg. I saw the effect on the ammeter read out on the dash, about 30 km. / 20 mi. from West Hawk Lake. I didn't want to stop on the side of the road and start doing a repair late in the evening. I took a chance that I could make it back here and fix it this morning. I repaired it differently than before, and hopefully this repair will last longer than just a few months. It must be a design flaw. There is a spliced connection between the alternator and the battery, and the connector can't survive the heat that builds up during long distance highway travel. This time, I connected the alternator directly to the battery by installing a battery lug on the alternator cable, instead of connecting two thin cables with a wire splice connector. My investment broker's assistant phoned from Ottawa with details of an investment transaction I made. I spent some time updating my records regarding the trade. Then I tackled the major project of the day. I removed the sacrificial anode from the water heater and flushed the inside of the water heater with a special tool I purchased at the Spring Escapade in El Centro, California. The flushing wand tool worked great,and a great deal of scale and crud washed out of the water heater. I wonder if it's ever been flushed before ? I had a new sacrificial anode to install, but the one I put in a year ago looks like it will be good for another year, so I cleaned it and re-installed it. When I went inside the trailer, I had to clean up the largest hair ball I've ever seen. Poor Teddy. He's been suffering from hairball problems for the last couple of weeks. I hope that's the end of it.

I made lunch, then read a book for awhile before falling asleep for a nice, long, hot afternoon nap. When I woke, I took Bo for a bathroom walk, then took him for an obedience training session. We were pretty hot by that time, so we walked down to Miller's Beach at the far end of the campground and we both went wading in the lake. It was very nice and cooling. I carried Bo out into the lake far enough and deep enough that he had to swim back to shore. We repeated that a number of times. He's a very strong swimmer, with those little, short legs of his. As we were walking back to the trailer, a late arriving camper arrived looking for assistance. That was the beginning of a steady stream of late arriving campers that I assisted. I had a busy late afternoon and early evening getting campers into suitable sites, showing them where all the facilities are located, dealing with blown circuit breakers, etc..

I just assisted a Class C motorhome from Calgary to get set up in section B, then walked down to section D to talk to the high school graduation group that is setting up down there for a few days of camping and graduation celebration. I wanted to read the riot act to the driver of the little blue car that just zoomed through here at about 4 times the appropriate speed for a campground ! Kind of reminds of how a niece of mine drives !

I have been kept busy for the last 2 hours, from 6:00 P.M. to now, 8:00 P.M.. I guess by the time I prepare and eat supper, it will probably be too late to go fishing tonight. Darn !

While I was barbecuing supper, two different campers came to see me about blown circuit breakers. The larger trailer units in the campground are all running their air conditioners, and when they add to the power consumption with large power draws like microwaves, the breakers blow. I don't have keys to the breaker panel boxes, so they'll have to live without power until the Park Patrol come by to do their evening patrol. The Park Patrol staff have keys to the breaker panel boxes. I guess I should ask for keys to the breaker panel boxes. I'm not running our air conditioner yet. I'm content with all the windows being open, and the ceiling fan on. I guess that's a habit I developed in our last house. Our house on Quigley Hill Road was not air conditioned, and we kept all the windows and skylights and sliding doors open in the summer. The previous owner of the house, who had it custom built, intentionally did not put air conditioning in so that they would keep the house more open to the beautiful outdoors of the property. It was a wise decision. While barbecuing I indulged in a Kentucky Sour Mash Bourbon and Diet Cola. After supper, I walked slowly around the entire campground with Bo, visiting all the campers who are here tonight. I let Bo have an off leash play session with about a ten year old boy from Tennessee who is travelling to Alaska with his grandparents from Florida. They wanted to know if it was safe to swim in West Hawk Lake or are there alligators ! No, no alligators in West Hawk. They were all convinced that they found big bear tracks on the beach. I didn't have the heart to burst their bubbles and tell them that was Golden Retriever tracks. Of course, when he was finished playing, Bo was not very co-operative about coming back to be on leash. We're going to have to work on that off leash attitude of his !

I washed dishes, then began watching the news when the Park Patrol came by. I went out to reset breakers with them. I met Gaylene Mischuk, the Park Ranger from Falcon Lake who was working West Hawk Lake tonight. She was part of our telephone interview for the Campground Host position, last December while we were in Livingston, Texas.

DSK

June 21, 2005

June 21, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 35 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 4

 

Today was sunny and very warm, á propos for the first day of summer.

First thing this morning we headed for Winnipeg. We had planned to run a bunch of errands, then visit the Carlson's, and leave Joanne there to visit for a few days. The day didn't turn out quite as planned. About half way to Winnipeg, a car pulled up along side us, caught our attention, and indicated something was wrong with our truck. I pulled over and got out to check. I found smoke billowing out of the passenger side rear wheel. I crawled underneath to look, and determined that it was likely a brake shoe was stuck against the rear drum, and had overheated. Not much I could do about that on the road. We continued driving, watching in the mirror to see if it got any worse. We drove into Lorette looking for the offices of the Rural Municipality of Taché. Joanne had ascertained by making some phone calls last week that we could pick up application forms for Manitoba Health coverage there. We were unable to find the offices, and we didn't want to spend too much time looking because of the smoking brake problem. We continued into Winnipeg, and headed north on Hwy. 59, stopping at Canada One RV to look for a particular type of RV wax. We didn't find exactly what we were looking for. We went to Wal-Mart on Regent, and while Joanne shopped in Wal-Mart I made some phone calls to find someplace to get the truck fixed. Some of the repair shops I phoned don't have a hoist capable of lifting a vehicle as heavy and / or as wide as Dee-Dee. While I was doing that, Bo escaped out the truck door. He started running around the Wal-Mart parking lot, ignoring my commands. Bad dog ! He ran over to visit a lady who grabbed his harness and held him for me. I can't get him to obey commands that could save his life, when he's not on his choker. His attitude is "no choker, I don't have to obey". We need to work on that ! I took the truck across the street to Canadian Tire. They determined that the problem was a seized parking brake cable. Getting at the rear brakes on a GM dually is a horrible ordeal. The dual rear wheels need to be removed, then the wheel bearings, then the axles on each side, before the brake drums can be removed. They changed the oil and filter, and replaced the parking brake cable. All that disassembly of course takes a lot of labour time, and results in the axle seals having to be replaced, and axle fluid refilled. What would be a reasonably simple repair on a less complex vehicle cost $450 on Dee-Dee, and kept me there from 1:00 P.M. until almost 6:00 P.M.. Around 2:00 P.M. I went back across the street to get some lunch, and met Joanne walking over from Wal-Mart with a grocery cart filled with her purchases. We had lunch at Subway, then sat in Canadian Tire's service waiting room with our Wal-Mart shopping cart, looking somewhat like homeless people with our worldly possessions in a shopping cart.

The truck repair pre-empted running the rest of our errands. After finishing at Canadian Tire, we drove over to the Carlson's for supper. We were later than expected, and had delayed their family dinner. Sorry ! We had dinner, and visited. Before dinner, and again after, the girls and I took Bo for walks. They try hard to command him, and actually do quite a good job, but after being cooped up inside the truck while it was up on a hoist in a repair shop all afternoon, Bo was not in a very obedient mood. I left at 8:35 to drive back to West Hawk, arriving at the trailer at dusk at 10:15, dodging deer the last few miles. I sure hope I can make it through the summer without hitting one ! I arrived just in time to help a late arrival select a suitable site, then chatted for awhile with some new neighbours in our section of the campground. By the time I got Teddy and Bo fed, and the litter box cleaned, I was ready for bed. I slept for awhile, then woke up and had difficulty falling asleep again, so I came to work on this journal entry.

DSK

June 20, 2005

June 20, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 34 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 3

 

Today was sunny and hot.

This morning as I was walking back to the trailer after taking a shower, I saw what I thought was an empty beer can in a campsite. I wondered how I hadn't noticed it yesterday. I walked over to pick it up to throw it in the recycling bin. HUH ? ? ? The beer can started to scurry away ! It was a large Painted Turtle sunning itself. I wondered why it was such a long way from the lake. I got my camera and took a couple of photos.

I drove out to the park gate and made some phone calls. First I phoned about the water sports equipment rental operation at Grand Beach that is available for lease. They want and need someone to run it this summer. Whoever had agreed to lease it for this summer backed out, somewhat late. I'm interested for next summer, not this one, so maybe we'll talk again in the fall. Then I phoned about a trailer park co-op in the Lake Of The Woods. The man I spoke to is trying to be a catalyst to get a group of interested people together to form a co-op to purchase or develop a trailer park co-op on Lake Of The Woods. I left him my name and phone number and we'll see what comes of it. Then I phoned Roger Gran-Ruaz, my investment broker in Ottawa to discuss my financial needs for the next year, and to set up a meeting time to conduct a detailed review by telephone of my investments. Joanne went off to Falcon Lake for a few groceries while I went to the campground office to get online and retrieve my MasterCard bill. I sat in the sunlight reading a book until Joanne was back from Falcon Lake, then we had lunch.

I'm still feeling a bit run down, with a low grade cold, so again I took a long nap in the afternoon, while Joanne washed the trailer windows. When I got up, we took Bo to the handicapped shower and gave him a bath. He's easy to bathe with such short hair, and he certainly dried quickly. He seems to enjoy his new, short hair. He seems cooler. Everyone who has seen him since his haircut thinks it's very cute. After bathing Bo, I printed, reconciled, and paid the MasterCard statement. By then it was time to start to working on supper. Joanne got everything ready inside, and I barbecued.

After supper, I went fishing to Star Lake. I caught my limit of 4 Walleye in 65 minutes. That will be tough to beat ! I'm finding that my fishing skills, and general outdoor skills and abilities, are returning after not being used for 15 years or more. On the short drive from Star Lake back to West Hawk Lake, a distance of about 3 km. / 2 mi., I had to slam on the brakes twice to avoid hitting deer. While filleting the fish back at West Hawk Lake, in the picnic shelter behind our campsite, the mosquitoes were quite bad. I guess after 10 or 12 days of rain, followed by a few days of sunny, warm weather, it was inevitable.

DSK

June 19, 2005

June 19, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 33 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 2

 

Today was mostly sunny, hot, and humid.

The animals woke me at 6:20 A.M. to be fed. After I fed them and walked Bo, I decided I might as well stay up. I wasn't feeling particularly well, and was having a bit of difficulty sleeping anyway. I went and showered, then did a bit of clean up of some very littered camp sites. The Park Patrol were also out early, evicting last night's trouble makers and cleaning up the messes they left behind. These "young adult" campers get themselves drunk by about 9:30 P.M., then head to the bar beside the campground and drink themselves into a stupor by the time the bar closes at 2:00 A.M.. They roll back through the campground from 2:00 until 2:30 making as much noise as seems humanly possible, and the Park Patrol are right here to quiet them down, or evict them if they won't. The Park Patrol can't send them out of here driving drunk at 2:30 A.M. so they try to get them to sleep, and then are back to roust them out between 6:30 and 8:00 A.M.. This morning the Park Patrol were also taking photos of the horrible messes left behind by the drunks. They will attach a photo to the tickets they send the campers, and they keep copies of the photos as evidence if these hoodlums decide to plead not guilty to the violations. It's hard for me to admit this, but I'm at a point in my life where I'm thinking the solution is to ban campers below 25 years of age !

I made some café au lait, using my New Orleans Café du Monde chicory coffee, then sat on the sofa reading a book. A violent thunderstorm blew in suddenly around 9:00 A.M., with much thunder and lightning. There was a lightning strike somewhere here in the campground. The power went out for a few seconds. Bo and Teddy bolted for safety. Bo into bed with Joanne, Teddy under the rocker / recliner. After the thunderstorm, I went to the campground office to get online and download investment data. I want to do an analysis of our investment portfolios after exactly a year of travel, to see how we fared, expenses versus investment growth. I returned to the trailer and read some more, until I felt sleepy. I went back to bed until noon. After napping, and a late lunch, we had a slow, lazy day. The sky had cleared, and it became hot and humid. We assisted quite a few over night campers arriving this afternoon, helping them to select sites and get set up, etc.. Teddy's screen tent was all wet inside, so we had to drain it and dry it. I wrote some postcards. We have a few people that we promised a year ago we would send postcards to every 3 months.

We had fresh perogies for supper. The Falcon Lake grocery store occasionally has fresh perogies for sale. I worked on my journal and investment files outside at the picnic table, watching deer walk by from time to time. The young buck that had little stubs on top of his head 2 weeks ago, and about foot long antlers a week ago, now has a small rack. I didn’t know their antlers grow quite that quickly.

We accepted a neighbour's invitation to join them around their campfire. Then I worked on investment analysis while Joanne baked muffins. She's going to spend a few days with her sister in Winnipeg this week, so she's leaving me a stock pile of muffins. The stock market growth in the last year has resulted in growth of our investments quite in excess of what the first year of travelling has cost us. That dampens our enthusiasm for buying another business.

I have just returned from walking to the bathroom shortly after midnight. The near empty campground is silent. The warm night air is still. The sky is clear. The moon is full. A shooting star streaked across the sky. Fireflies are flitting around. The doe and two fawns crossed in front of me, visible in silhouette in the moonlight. Moments like that make life worthwhile. Well ... that and the money we made in the stock market. HA HA HA !

DSK

June 18, 2005

June 18, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 32 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 1

 

Happy Anniversary re ; first year of full time travel

Happy 13th birthday, Teddy Cat

Happy 3rd birthday, Bo Dog

 

Today was sunny and very warm. Since we started our full time travel adventure one year ago today, I have used last June 18's weather as a benchmark for the ideal. This year June 18 lives up to that reputation.

This morning I walked over to the local convenience store to buy today's newspaper, and some postcards to send to mark our first anniversary of full time travel / RV living. I sat around for much of the morning drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Late in the morning Joanne went off to Falcon Lake to buy a few groceries, and I started on giving Bo a haircut. I used to give haircuts to Misty the Poodle and Nikki the Bichon Frisè, so I have experience cutting curly haired dogs, but I had never given a haircut to a dog with soft, straight, long hair. It went fairly well. I was able to complete most of the haircut without help. When Joanne returned from Falcon Lake, she assisted by holding Bo while I clipped his feet and face. He was not very accepting of the clippers around his face. Everything else he accepted well. As a result, the face is not quite satisfactory to me, but Joanne convinced me to declare it "good enough" and finished.

I've come down with a mild cold which I caught from a beaver ( ha ha ha ) so I wasn't feeling particularly well, nor particularly ambitious today. Yesterday Beth the Park Naturalist was dressed in a beaver costume for their Park Interpretive Program presentation at the Amphitheatre. I think I caught a cold from her when she led our tour of the Whiteshell Fish Hatchery a few days ago. After giving Bo a haircut and having lunch, I was feeling ill so I took a long nap. I awoke when I heard the sound of a diesel truck right outside the bedroom window. I peeked out to see Joanne trying to assist a 33.5 foot fifth wheel and one ton diesel dually into a campsite. I went out and helped guide the big rig into a site. This old campground, like most older, public campgrounds, is really quite unsuitable for such large rigs. Once we got the big fifth wheel into place, which was a lot more difficult than it sounds, I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in our campsite reading the newspaper. I mildly regret not making more of a celebration today to mark our travel anniversary and the animals' birthdays, but I wasn't feeling great. We've arbitrarily decided that today is Teddy's and Bo's birthdays, as well as our travel anniversary. They were both born in June, so the 18th seems like as good a day as any to declare as their birthdays.

We barbecued a late supper, then spent the evening walking slowly all around the campground, playing campground hosts.

It was a great day to just laze around and enjoy the nice weather.

DSK

June 17, 2005

June 17, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 31 of 113

DAY 365

 

Today was another warm, sunny day. Surprisingly, the campground is not very full tonight. There are only about 30 campers here tonight. The staff were hoping for a "campground full" weekend.

This morning I went out to the park gate to make some phone calls, then over to the District Office to get some Whiteshell Provincial Park Junior Naturalist booklets to hand out to children. Then I took the laptop into the campground office to retrieve e-mail and update my blog. After lunch, I washed the truck while Joanne sanded and varnished the dinette table top. I napped, then we took Bo for an obedience training session. We're trying to add wrinkles to his sessions to challenge him and keep him interested. Our latest wrinkle is the "hidden come". While one of us heels him, then stops him, sits him, and stays him, the other goes around a building or trailer or large tree before commanding him to come. He's thinks it's great fun. We were quite busy today being campground hosts, lending tools, chatting, walking around the campground, etc..

We spent the latter part of the afternoon sitting around reading, enjoying the lovely weather. We barbecued supper and ate outside at the picnic table to allow the fresh varnish on the dinette table to dry. We kept Bo outside on his chain, and Teddy outside in his screen tent for much of the day to eliminate the risk of one of them jumping on the table, which Teddy does regularly and Bo does occasionally. People stopped by our site regularly to chat, or ask questions. After supper we did a walk around the entire campground, checking that everything was okay, and promoting the 9:30 P.M. Park Naturalist presentation at the Amphitheatre. We attended the show. Tonight's presentation was entitled Beaver Tales. So far they've covered bears, sturgeons, and now beavers. The beaver one was the best one so far. When the show ended about 10:15, I became very busy for about an hour and a half. It was odd. Many late arriving campers. Campers arguing because one late arriving camper is setting up in another late arriving camper's reserved site, and the one with the reservation doesn't have the common sense to just accept the next site over. The first camper was a single father with two young daughters. The girls were cranky because they were over tired. The second camper arrived when the first one was already partially set up. The second camper demanded his reserved site instead of just smiling graciously and taking the next site over. Then a couple pulled in with their brand new trailer that they've never backed up, and the water tank was empty. They needed help getting their water tank filled, then needed help getting into their site. Good plan ... pick up your brand new trailer, and try to back it up for the very first time into a tight fitting campsite in the dark, with no walkie talkies to communicate between driver and guide. Having walkie talkies probably wouldn't have made much of a difference anyways. The wife really had no clue about how to guide her husband backwards into their campsite. At least he knew how to back up a trailer. With me as a guide, using my walkie talkies, I got him in and positioned in the site with one attempt. Then I had the drunk, hysterical group of four who were terrorized by the sound of an animal near their site. Geeeez, guys, what you're describing was probably just a raccoon ... go have another beer and while you're at it, turn down your car stereo. Then I had a beat up old Ford pickup truck full of kids looking for their friends. No, they don't know what site their friends are in. No, they don't know what they're camped in. Yes, they do know what kind of vehicle they're driving ... maybe ... probably. I earned my keep tonight !

Gee whiz ... I just went out with our lantern to help set up a tenter who arrived at 12:45 A.M. and was trying to set up in the campsite next to us, without a light ! ! ! Joanne had already gone to sleep and I was still up working on my journal. The bar patio is quite noisy tonight.

DSK

June 16, 2005

June 16, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 30 of 113

DAY 364

 

Another beautiful, warm, sunny day.

Today's wild life good news story is I saw a doe in the campground with 2 very small fawns. They were cute. I did not know that when fawns suckle, their tails wag furiously. When the doe stood still to munch on some low hanging leaves, the fawns ran under her and began to nurse, tails wagging and front legs waving in the air. Today's bad news wild life story is the Park Patrol had to shoot a yearling bear ( again ! ). Apparently it was having some difficulty placing its order at the Night Hawk Café 's take out window. HA HA HA ! If it had been a different sort of bear, I guess you could call that grisly humour. HA HA HA HA HA < SNORT > !

This morning I just drank coffee and read the newspaper outside, enjoying the wonderful sunshine. After lunch, I remounted the spare tire underneath the truck. The tire that was flat a few days ago is now the spare. Then I drained all the holding tanks while Joanne worked on cleaning and waxing the last section of Harvey. What she did today will have to be redone, because she ran out of the bug & tar remover / wax. I cleaned and culled my fishing tackle box. I threw out some junk lures that have been in there unused for probably the last 40 years. I realized today that some of the junk in my tackle box is stuff my dad gave me when I was a boy, because it was such useless tackle he didn't want to keep it in his tackle box. Might as well give the crap to the kid, eh ? HA HA HA ! Late in the afternoon Joanne went to Falcon Lake to buy some groceries, and I took a short nap. When she got back, we chatted about her phone calls with our sisters. HMPH !

I did today's accounting and started today's journal while I barbecued supper. After supper, I went to Star Lake to fish for an hour and a half. I caught 2 Walleye. While continuing to fish, with 2 pickerel hanging in the water, attached to my fish stringer, which was attached to a ring on the dock, I heard the metal fish stringer clanging. I wondered why my captive fish were being restless. I pulled up the stringer to check. HEY ! ! ! A large turtle had its mouth clamped around the jaw of one of my pickerel. I had to bonk it on the top of the head with the tip of my fishing rod to make it let go. It had mangled the jaw of the fish, so I wasn't able to harvest thepickerel cheek on one side. Stupid turtle !

DSK

June 15, 2005

June 15, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 29 of 113

DAY 363

 

Finally ... a warm, sunny day. First time I've been able to wear shorts since ... February ! HA HA HA ! ! ! Saw 11 deer today. Limited out at Star Lake tonight. Four walleye in an hour and three quarters. Guess I'll be able to feed pickerel to our friends Erbon and Lorraine Dickinson when they come out from Ottawa in about a month to visit us.

The vet in Kenora phoned this morning. Teddy's blood tests show an extremely high level of thyroid hormone. He's got hyperthyroidism, all right. He'll have to be given medication twice a day. She'll mail the prescription to Winnipeg and we'll pick it up at Sharon's next week.

I did a bunch of chores outdoors this morning. It was so great to be out working in the sunlight. After lunch we decided to go on a tour of the fish hatchery located on the Whiteshell River between Caddy Lake and West Hawk Lake. It was interesting. It's been operating since 1942. They are hatching and rearing mostly trout and some walleye for stocking. From the hatchery we decided to drive just a few more miles east and see Ingolf, Ontario again. Elvira the Maintenance Supervisor here at West Hawk lives at Ingolf. Ingolf is a cottage community on Long Pine Lake. She told me there was another lake across the CP main tracks that run beside Ingolf called Macara Lake. We drove across the CP main tracks and found just a path into the bush. I switched Dee-Dee to 4 x 4 mode, shifted into low gear, and headed off into the bush. We're really impressed with Dee-Dee's capabilities for off roading. A short distance into the bush down this trail brought us to Macara Lake, a lovely little lake. Well, actually, all the lakes around here are quite beautiful. This part of the rugged Canadian Shield country is very attractive to us. We drove back to the CP tracks, and Ingolf, then headed back towards Caddy Lake. We had to cross the temporary repair on Hwy. 312 between Ingolf and Caddy Lake where the road was washed away last week when a beaver dam broke. We drove up the access road on the east side of Caddy Lake to see Green Bay Cabins, a small resort and trailer park. We've never been to the east side of Caddy Lake before.

On the way back through West Hawk townsite I stopped at Major's Service Centre to buy fishing worms and leeches. They had "green" worms, which are night crawlers injected with a small amount of nitrogen. Itturns the worms fluorescent green, and enhances their visibility to fish. Cool ! I bought some. They certainly worked well tonight.

Back at the trailer, we spent the balance of the afternoon and the early part of the evening working on cleaning and waxing Harvey. We're almost done. Maybe one more day of working on it. We're almost finished the fifth and last bottle of the bug and tar remover / wax that we're using. I'm not sure we'll have quite enough to finish. While we were working on Harvey, the axeless couple walked by. They were the only other campers here today. They had walked to a nearby lake to do some fly fishing. Apparently, he caught a Manitoba Master Angler sized trout both today and yesterday. I don't know why they walked all the way to the lake that they were fishing at both today and yesterday. I haven't walked all the way to the back of the campground where they're camped, so I don't know whether they have a car or not. Maybe they hiked in or biked in.

We barbecued for supper, then I went fishing to Star Lake. They sure were biting tonight !

Life is good !

DSK

June 14, 2005

June 14, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 28 of 113

DAY 362

 

Yet another grey, dreary day, with light, misty rain for most of the day.

We headed for Kenora first thing this morning, bringing Teddy with us, and leaving Bo in the trailer. It was the first time Bo has been left completely by himself since we got him. He was a good dog all day. No damage to anything, nothing chewed, etc..

First stop was Kenora Hospital where I dropped Joanne off to have a series of cancer screening tests. I went to the Post Office to buy postage for a letter to the U.S., then to the Bank Of Montreal to see if our cheque order had arrived yet. It had not. I went to Canadian Tire across the street from the bank, only to discover that it was now closed, and their new location on the east side of town was now open. I went to the real estate office to follow up on last week's meeting. The agent I wanted was out for half an hour. I drove to Canadian Tire on the other side of town and bought some Lucas diesel fuel additive that I needed. Then it was back across town to the real estate office again. I had a quick meeting with the real estate agent, then headed back to the hospital. Joanne had just finished and was waiting at the front door. We drove to Wal-Mart, and before heading in I phoned the vet to see if we could get an earlier appointment for Teddy. It was 11:45 A.M., we didn't have too many more errands to run, and Teddy's appointment was for 3:00 P.M.. The vet office said they just had an 11:45 A.M. cancellation, and if we came right down, they would take us right now. We rushed over to the vet office.

Teddy needed his annual examination and vaccinations. He has lost weight in the last year, and the vet discovered a thyroid tumour. The weight loss and thyroid tumour suggest age related hyperthyroidism. We agreed to a bunch of blood tests, not realizing how outrageous the charges would become. When the bill was presented, my knees just about buckled. Immediately upon getting back into the truck, Teddy became ill, vomiting all over the truck. Poor, baby Teddy. Needles always make him sick, although usually not quite as quickly as today. I guess he's getting old. We headed back to Wal-Mart, deciding to have a quick lunch in the MacDonald's inside Wal-Mart. We did our Wal-Mart shopping, then walked across to the new Canadian Tire for my second shopping trip of the day there. From there we walked over toMark's Work Warehouse and I bought some new jeans. In this new travelling lifestyle I seem to be particularly hard on shoes and jeans. We drove over to Safeway, and while Joanne went into Safeway to buy some groceries, I wandered over to the waterfront laundromat that is for sale to take a peek at it. It's not really what we're looking for. It's on a $300,000 piece of Kenora waterfront real estate, with a large boat dock on Lake Of The Woods. I guess much of its business comes from water access cottagers.

We drove back to West Hawk, and before pulling into the campground, we drove around exploring some of the cottage access roads around West Hawk Lake, and a few miles away, Hunt Lake. Deer, deer, everywhere deer ! Back at the trailer, Joanne put away our purchases while I took a very excited Bo out for a walk. WOW ... full bladder ! I read for awhile, then around 6:00 P.M. there began a steady stream of late arriving campers. We try to meet late arriving campers while they're still puzzling over the closed registration office, before they drive their 40 foot motorhomes down into the swampy sections of the campground. I guided the late arrivals into suitable spots, then began working on today's journal and accounting while Joanne went off to Crescent Beach Cottages to do some laundry.

I just answered a knock at the trailer door. A young woman camped in section G wanted to borrow my axe. Geeeeez ... we just watched The Royal Tenenbaums last night. I have visions of this city bimbo chopping off half a finger.

I just assisted another late arriving, incoming camper, from Ottawa, the second one tonight from Ottawa.

When Joanne returned from doing laundry, we had supper, then watched the one show a week on CBC that's worth watching.

DSK

June 13, 2005

June 13, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 27 of 113

DAY 361

 

Another grey, dreary day, with light, misty rain for most of the day.

This morning I felt too lethargic to do anything other than read a book and drink coffee. I'm starting to feel sun light deprived. I wandered down to the campground office and chatted with Carol for awhile. I walked Bo. We had lunch. I read some more, until I fell asleep again. I sleep. It rains. I read. It rains more. I sleep more. It rains more. I read more.

This afternoon I took Bo for another walk. He had his nose down to the ground sniffing, and didn't even notice a young buck deer walking by us about 50 feet away. I went to the office, plugged into the fax machine phone line, retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. I did my regular daily preventive maintenance, which on Mondays is checking truck tire air pressures. DAMN ! The inside rear tire on the driver's side was flat. I changed the tire. I have had to remove and reinstall the rear dually tires so often, for one reason or another in the last year, I have come to really hate that job. After getting the spare and outside rear tires back on, I suspected a faulty valve extension was the problem. I drove over to Keystone Cottages and filled the flat tire with air. I'll know in the morning whether the valve extension was the problem or not. During the time I was working on changing the tire, I assisted 3 late arriving campers find a suitable site, and get set up.

We had supper. Yuck ! Not Joanne's finest. We watched a movie on CBC. I watched the news while Joanne went to shower. We have to leave fairly early in the morning for her appointment at Kenora Hospital.

DSK

June 12, 2005

June 12, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 26 of 113

DAY 360

 

Today started out cool and raining AGAIN, but cleared and warmed by late afternoon.

Today's big excitement in the campground was a bear. While we were having lunch, Bo started barking furiously, looking out a window. I looked out the window to see a yearling bear wandering through the campsite behind us. I went outside, and it ambled off into the forest. I reported it to the front office, and within minutes 2 truckloads of Conservation Officers showed up. Apparently the bear had arrived in the campground last night, and was already a problem. It took a camper's pack last night. When the Conservation Officers showed up and fired their "bear scare" gun at it last night, it just climbed up into a tree and tore open the pack to see what was inside. The Conservation Officers had already set up a bear trap at the far end of the campground this morning, before I saw the bear behind our campsite. They left, because the bear was now gone. A few minutes later, it showed up again, checking out the picnic shelter behind us to see if there was anything good in there, then wandering over to the garbage shed behind our trailer to check that out too. Elvira, the Maintenance Supervisor drove by, jumped out of her truck, and recruited me to chase the bear back into the forest. She was previously a zoo keeper, and has good animal skills and knowledge, so I figured she knew what she was doing. We chased the bear back into the forest. While we were standing around talking, her explaining her rationale to me for chasing the bear back into the woods, as opposed to calling for the Conservation Officers, it wandered back out of the woods and headed for section A of the campground, the lakefront section that was packed with campers. We ran over and chased it away from section A. Elvira asked me to keep chasing it back into the forest if and when it appeared, because the Park Conservation Officers have a mandate to destroy campground bears. Alas, 2 hours later, it was in the bear trap, and being hauled away. Goodbye, little bear < sniff >. At least Elvira and I managed to keep it out of section A of the campground, where the Conservation Officers would probably have had to shoot it right in front of Mr. & Mrs. Suburban Camper and their kids.

Because of the weather, I felt lethargic for the early part of the day. Joanne went to Falcon Lake to buy some groceries and return a phone call to her sister, and I read my book all morning. After lunch, and my bear chasing escapade, I napped. Finally, late in the afternoon after the sky cleared, and it warmed, I felt like getting outside and doing something. We walked Bo for an obedience training session. We cleaned and waxed another upper section of the trailer. This seems like the endless job from hell. We're about 3/4 done. We drained the kitchen holding tank into the waste tote, and then took the tote to be emptied. I did some "spring cleaning" in my fishing tackle box. We barbecued a late supper, then accepted an invitation from some neighbouring campers to join them around their campfire.

DSK

June 11, 2005

June 11, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 25 of 113

DAY 359

 

Finally, today was warm and sunny.

As I walked back from having a shower this morning, there was a young buck deer walking through our campsite. His little antlers were covered in velvet. I don't know what it means when a deer's antlers are covered in velvet. I spent the morning doing routine chores. I worked on repairing a corner of the dinette table that needed a small amount of sanding and varnishing. It seemed to have gotten scratched when some little rat shit terrier jumped from the back of the sofa onto the dinette table to see something out the window ! I took an empty propane tank over to Crescent Beach Cottages and had it refilled. Wow ... their price on propane is outrageous. Next time I need a propane refill, I'll take it elsewhere, maybe Kenora. I bought today's newspaper. I cleaned out the inside of the truck tool chest, which after a year of travel, needed a spring cleaning. I varnished a dozen oak mushroom plugs I bought to replace the ones Bo pulled off of various locations in the trailer and chewed. Bad dog. I'm somewhat reluctant to replace the missing plugs, in case he decides once again that pulling off the little wooden plugs and chewing them is a fun thing to do. Maybe it was just a phase ?

After lunch, I read today's newspaper until I fell asleep. Nice work if you can get it ! This Campground Host gig is definitely not the toughest job I’ve ever had. After I napped, we took Bo for an obedience training session. He's back to doing extremely well. He performed flawlessly, surrounded by the distractions of campers, dogs, cars, and motorcycles. Good dog ! We cleaned and waxed another section of Harvey. I repaired a section of road rash on Harvey that I had previously repaired, but didn't have quite the right materials the first time around. I barbecued a nice steak for supper.

After supper, I decided to go fishing at Star Lake for a couple of hours. Sure enough, 5 minutes after I arrived at the Star Lake dock and started fishing, it started to rain. Gee whiz ! It looked like it might stop after a few minutes, so I didn't bother going back to the truck for a rain jacket. I ended up sitting in the rain for 2 hours. I caught a jack ( Northern Pike ) and a pickerel ( Walleye ). I released the Pike.

I returned to West Hawk, filleted the fish, changed into dry clothes, and did my journal.

DSK

June 10, 2005

June 10, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 24 of 113

DAY 358

 

Well ... today was a bit warmer, but still cloudy, and at least it didn't rain. At least not by the time I started typing this at 1:00 P.M..

We slept in a bit, waking when the phone rang about 10:00 A.M.. It was my investment broker in Ottawa calling to give me the details of yesterday's trade. After showering I took Bo for a long walk. He's been inside more than he would like this week. Then I did some investment analysis and planning on the computer. As we approach the first anniversary of starting our travel adventure, we're trying to figure out whether this lifestyle has cost more or less than our investments have grown in the past year. If the investments grow faster than we spend it on this lifestyle, then theoretically we can do this forever.

We had lunch, then I read a book until I fell asleep. We worked for quite awhile on cleaning and waxing another upper section of Harvey. We chatted with neighbouring campers who are camped here in section B. They are here for 3 weeks. They've been coming here to West Hawk for 26 years. They are camped in an old, restored, Prevost camper bus. Prevost buses are the cream of the crop of RV's. New ones are in excess of half a million dollars. The campground started to fill up late this afternoon. From mid-afternoon to late afternoon there was a steady stream of incoming campers. We kept busy helping trailers find suitable sites, and helping them get positioned in their sites. This is an old campground, and wasn't particularly designed to accommodate today's larger trailers. And with all due respect to the campground office staff, when they assign sites, they aren't aware of some of the constraints of trying to squeeze a 30 foot trailer behind a 20 foot truck into a 45 foot long campsite, set at 90 degrees to the narrow access road, and filled with trees with low hanging branches !

We barbecued supper, then walked all around the campground with Bo, visiting with campers and "pitching" the interpretive program presentation at the amphitheatre. We chatted with a retired couple from Idaho who are travelling around the country by motorcycle. At 9:30 we attended the one hour interpretive program presentation at the amphitheatre. It was an educational information session, and short documentary style video on sturgeon. Yeah ... sturgeon ! Hey ... this is "Family Fishing Weekend" ! Entryto the Provincial Parks is free this weekend, and fishing licenses are not required to fish this weekend. The interpretive staff have scheduled a presentation at West Hawk Lake campground amphitheatre every Friday night at 9:30 P.M., and an interactive session on the West Hawk Lake main beach ( Crescent Beach ) every Sunday afternoon at 1:00 P.M.. I guess it's good form for the campground hosts to promote and attend these activities. These very young interpretive staff are well intentioned, well prepared, and work very hard, but gee ... sturgeon ? ? ? Cute, little, green eyed blonde Ashleigh in a sturgeon costume ?

DSK

June 9, 2005

June 9, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 23 of 113

DAY 357

 

Today was cloudy and cool again, but at least it wasn't raining this morning.

After showering and having breakfast this morning, Joanne went to Falcon Lake to buy groceries. Bo and I went for a walk around the campground. We visited with a couple towing a boat behind a fifth wheel. I chatted with the gentleman about the difficulties of backing up with two trailers behind the truck. Then we visited the divers here for the week doing training. The Winnipeg Police, the Regina Police, and the Military Search And Rescue from Winnipeg are all here this week for diver training exercises. West Hawk Lake is a meteor crater lake, and the deepest lake in Manitoba. It's very popular with divers.

After lunch, I read a book for a couple of hours until I fell asleep for awhile. After I got up we spent the rest of the afternoon working on cleaning and waxing another upper section of the trailer. The sky remained cloudy, but there was no rain and no wind. I decided to go fishing for an hour and a half before supper.

Sometimes our lives seem like something out of a Chevy Chase movie. I fished for an hour and a half, deciding to head back to the trailer when I caught my second perch. Plus, I ran out of worms. That's odd. I thought I had more worms than that. I was hooking the second perch onto my fish stringer when I fumbled it. It hit the dock, and flipped back into the lake. Geeeezzzzz ! ! That's getting to be a bad habit ! I headed back to West Hawk with my one lonely perch. When I got back to the trailer, Joanne had set up the barbecue, and I started barbecuing burgers for supper. I cooked the burgers and brought them inside. When Joanne opened the fridge to get condiments ... uh-oh ! Worms crawling around the bottom of the fridge ! She was not very impressed ! My styrofoam worm container, which I keep in the fridge, had a crack in it, and 4 worms escaped into the fridge, crawling around the lower part of the fridge, leaving worm residue trails. We cleaned that mess up, then sat down to eat dinner. HEY ! There's half a burger bun missing. They were on a plate on the counter. Apparently while we were cleaning the fridge, Teddy jumped up on the counter and pulled down half a burger bun. Once something hits the floor, Bo figures it's up for grabs. We found Bo in the bedroom, just finishing up the half burger bun.

After supper I filleted my perch, then guided a late arriving large trailer into the pull through sites in section A. They were a family from Fort St. John in northern B.C. returning home after visiting P.E.I.. They've been on vacation for a month and are rushing to get back home. They had driven 1000 km. / 600 mi. today.

I finished the day by doing my daily journal, today's accounting, and downloading some photos of deer in the campground.

DSK

June 8, 2005

June 8, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 22 of 113

DAY 356

 

Today was cold, windy, and raining ... again !

The animals woke me at 5:30 A.M. demanding to be fed. I fed them, then decided I might as well stay up and go fishing. I was on the dock at Star Lake fishing by 6:00 A.M.. I fished for an hour, caught nothing, and decided to give up. I was freezing. There was a strong wind that wasn't as evident back in the campground, but out on the end of a dock, unsheltered by trees, it was brutal. I did, however, have the pleasure of watching a Bald Eagle soaring over head, fishing in the lake around me.

I found out from the park staff today that yesterday we had 2 noteworthy events in the park. First, a truck hit and killed a deer, and the truck went off the road. Second, a beaver dam broke up by Caddy Lake, and the resulting rush of water washed out a section of Hwy. 312 a few miles from here. Today the lower sections of this campground were closed because of how wet the ground is. The campground host's site, B-8, is the highest camp site in the campground, so no water collects in our site, and the ground dries quickly when it stops raining. Sections A and B are the only sections of the campground that aren't turning into a marsh.

This afternoon we did some planning. We needed to decide whether or not we're heading for Newfoundland in September, and where we're going from there, if we head east. After much discussion, and pondering over maps and calendars, we've decided to head west in September, and target Newfoundland for the spring of 2006, about a year from now. I drove over to the park gate, where the elevation is high enough to get a good phone signal and called my investment broker in Ottawa. We're out of money. I needed to transfer some money from investments to our bank account. I did some work on my fishing tackle. Joanne went off to Crescent Beach Cottages to do some laundry. I chatted with a couple of the Park Patrol staff for awhile about fishing. It became evident to me while we were talking that I'm not completely up to speed on fishing regulations that are specific to Whiteshell Provincial Park. I'd better pull out my fishing regulations and study them a bit closer. I went to the campground office, plugged into the fax machine phone line, retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. Late in the afternoon, the sun began to peek out.

I decided to go fishing since the sunwas peeking out. I fished for 45 minutes, caught one walleye, watched the Bald Eagle soaring over head again, and watched a female Mallard Duck bathing and preening while her male stood proudly beside her, guarding. A Mallard Duck bathes and preens remarkably similarly to how our store budgies used to. A bird is a bird, I guess. I watched a mother Loon with a very small chick. The adult kept diving and surfacing over and over while the chick paddled nearby. Finally, the chick “got it”, and every time the adult dived, so did the chick. A thunderstorm blew in suddenly. It began to rain heavily. By the time I gathered up my fishing gear and walked back to the truck, I was as wet as if I had fallen in the lake. I returned to the trailer, and changed into dry clothes. After we had supper, the rain had stopped, so I decided to go fishing again for another hour or so. Sure enough, as soon as I started fishing on the dock at Star Lake the rain began again. I fished in the rain until I was soaked again, then headed back to West Hawk, disgusted with the ongoing bad weather and empty handed. I filleted the walleye I had caught earlier, then chatted with the evening shift Park Patrol for awhile before calling it a day.

DSK

June 7, 2005

June 7, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 21 of 113

DAY 355

 

Another cold day of rain. This is becoming tiresome. However, after meeting with a commercial real estate agent in Kenora this afternoon, I realized that another summer of bad weather, like last year's, might work to our advantage as we consider tourism business opportunities in the area. Two summers in a row of bad weather will drive tourism business selling prices downward. BRING ON THE RAIN !

I have just returned from an evening campground walk around, at 8:30 P.M.. Two yearling buck deer were feeding behind the picnic shelter behind our camp site. They allowed me to get within 50 feet, to take photos. The wild life population is high in Whiteshell Provincial Park and area this year. We saw deer frequently today on our drive to Kenora and back.

This morning we drove to Kenora to run errands. First stop was the GM dealer to check on a part that I thought I needed, based on the advice of Mechtronics in Tillamook, Oregon, when they rebuilt the transmission. They said I was missing one of the two transmission to engine braces on Dee-Dee. Turns out that one ton diesel duallies only have one transmission to engine brace, not two, like the 3/4 tons and 1/2 tons. Next stop was the Bank Of Montreal to order cheques. When we opened the account 2 weeks ago we felt we didn't need cheques, but upon reflection, we decided we do. We shopped at Wal-Mart for some groceries and supplies. We stopped at a flooring place to discuss removing the carpet from the trailer and replacing it with some other kind of flooring. When Joanne spoke to this shop the other day by telephone, they sounded as if they had experience changing flooring in RV's. They don't. Changing flooring in RV's is specialized, due to design features like the slide outs. The only place that we've found so far that truly specializes in RV flooring is in California. I bought beer. We shopped at Kenora Shopper's Mall, in a Dollar Store and Zeller's for some throw cushions for the sofa. Didn't find what we want. We went to four different hair stylist / barber shops. We rejected the first three for various reasons. We got haircuts at the fourth, me at the men's barber shop on one side, Joanne at the women's hair stylist on the other side. Kenora is not exactly at the forefront of social evolution. While I waited for Joanne's hair cut to be finished, I walked over to Landry Real Estateto have a discussion with a commercial real estate agent about our possible plan to buy a seasonal business in this area in a year or so.

We drove back to West Hawk. While Joanne put away our purchases, I drained the trailer holding tanks. The kitchen grey water tank was full after Joanne washed dishes last night. I chatted with an over night camper. He's recently retired, moving from Toronto to Ladysmith, B.C. on Vancouver Island. He's sleeping in a small tent as he drives across the country. It's a pretty cold and wet night for an old man to be in a tent. I suggested he cook his supper in the relative dryness of the picnic shelter. He took my advice. I did today's accounting. We had supper. I walked Bo, and helped an incoming camper couple select a suitable site for the night.

I gazed at feeding deer. We watched a TV show. Geeeeezzzzz ... every night the CBC broadcasts 2 hours of Coronation Street reruns. Has the CBC run out of money ? Did their entire programming department quit ?

DSK

June 6, 2005

June 6, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 20 of 113

DAY 354

 

Today started out cloudy, cool, and drizzling. The rain stopped in the afternoon, and it got humid and warm.

The weather was poor again this morning, so we decided to go exploring. First we drove to Falcon Lake to fill up with diesel and make some phone calls. On the way back to West Hawk, a deer jumped out on the road in front of me. It was a close call. Thank goodness for anti-lock brake systems. I slammed on the brakes and veered toward the ditch, and missed it, but not by much. If I had been towing Harvey, or didn’t have ABS, there would be one less deer in the world.

We saw a total of seven deer and a fox in our travels today. From Falcon Lake, we drove back to West Hawk, then west on Hwy. 44 to the town of Rennie about 30 km. from West Hawk Lake. There’s not much at Rennie. We thought there would be more of a town. At the southwest gate of Whiteshell Provincial Park, we stopped at the Alf Hole Goose Sanctuary. There’s currently about 200 geese and goslings at the sanctuary. We drove back to West Hawk, had a late lunch, then I napped.

By late afternoon, the rain finally stopped, and we were eager to get some outside chores done. Joanne worked on cleaning and waxing the upper portion of the rear of the trailer. I installed my rebuilt rear mud flap. This job required me to remove the dual rear wheels off one side. Removing and reinstalling the dual rear wheels on Harvey is such a large job. I hate doing it. I removed the wheels, drilled the edge of the fender / dually hip, drilled the remade mud flap, installed the mud flap, and reinstalled the wheels. Joanne and I both finished our jobs about the same time. While she prepared supper, I did a campground walk around, then took Bo for an obedience training session. After supper, we watched part 2 of the movie on the Halifax explosion.

DSK

June 5, 2005

June 5, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 19 of 113

DAY 353

 

Today was another miserable day of rain. Cloudy, cool, and constant rain. Bo refused to go outside last night because of the rain, so he woke me up at 6:00 A.M. this morning to be taken out. While I was walking him, campers were already leaving. I guess it was another pretty miserable night to be in a tent.

After walking Bo, I decided to stay up. I went to shower, then read the newspaper until mid-morning when I fell asleep again. We're all getting a little bored with reading and napping. There's not much else we feel like doing in this weather. I spent most of the afternoon working on the computer, reconciling my May bank statement, updating and analyzing investment files. I sure am grateful to my brother-in-law Bud for building me such a great desk in the trailer. I walked Bo, who was suffering cabin fever today. He's got too much energy and spirit to be content cooped up inside the trailer day after day. I did a campground walk around, meeting and greeting. There's only about a half dozen campers in today, and only one couple in a tent. They are remarkably dry, and well organized, with a fire burning. I chatted with them for awhile, complimenting them on being dry and achieving a camp fire. They were the only tenters this weekend who managed to achieve building a camp fire. The woman said she learned her camping and fire building skills as a brownie and girl guide, and those skills continue to serve her well. I know exactly what she means.

Joanne made my favourite spaghetti meal for supper. We watched TV all evening. How much of my tax dollars goes to CBC programming ? Can I get a refund ?

We're all bored ! We need some nicer weather.

DSK

June 4, 2005

June 4, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 18 of 113

DAY 352

 

Today was cloudy and cool, with light rain during the day, and heavy rain in the evening. We feel sorry for the weekend campers who only have a couple of days to enjoy their camping experience.

Today was another day conducive to doing very little. We listened to some interesting CBC Radio programs. I read a lot. Joanne baked. We napped.

During the brief period this afternoon when the rain stopped, Joanne went to Falcon Lake to buy a few groceries, and I went to the campground office to plug my laptop into the fax machine phone line, and get some online work done. I retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, got my May bank statement, and downloaded investment data to work on later. We had a supper of leftovers. Moussaka, pistolettes, and pickerel po' boys. It rained very heavily all evening. We watched 2 movies on CBC. HA HA HA ... Hockey Night In Canada became Movie Night In Canada this year because of the NHL strike.

I feel sorry for all the campers here tonight in tents, in the dark, in the pouring rain.

DSK

June 3, 2005

June 3, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 17 of 113

DAY 351

 

Today was cloudy and warm, with rain on and off for most of the day. The kind of day that's conducive to napping and reading books. After 6 weeks last year, and 3 weeks this year in Manitoba, we haven't been very impressed with Manitoba's weather.

I spent the morning working on the latest batch of incoming mail. I spent most of the afternoon reading a book and napping. We cleaned and waxed the final lower section of the trailer, and are now ready to begin working on the upper half. I gave the truck a quick washing. More of a rinse, actually. I wanted to get all the tree droppings off. I'm afraid that sticky pollen and tree sap stuff will harm the paint finish. We took Bo for an obedience training walk. He's back to doing quite well.

The campground started to fill up a bit this afternoon. There were 5 campers left over from last night, and 15 with reservations expected for tonight. There are a couple of larger rigs in our section. I helped one get into their site, and the other one declined my offer of assistance. Fine ... back it into a tree ... see if I care.

I cooked fresh pickerel for supper. MMMMM ! ! ! The medium size one I caught last night was more than enough to feed both of us. The smaller one I caught yesterday morning was left over, to be eaten cold tomorrow. Maybe I'll make a pickerel "po boy" sandwich for lunch. I had harvested the cheeks from both fish, for Teddy and Bo to eat, but they were so appetizing, Joanne and I ate them.

After supper, we did a walk around the campground, meeting, greeting, offering assistance, playing campground hosts. Then we went to see the first interpretive presentation of the season at the amphitheatre. Three young naturalists, one in a bear costume, performing skits about

"the bear facts". By the way, we have a bear in the campground. Neither of us has seen it yet, but the maintenance staff have. As the park naturalist staff were performing their bear song, a deer came wandering by. Bo started barking at it. I had to rush away from the amphitheatre, and take him back to the trailer.

DSK

June 2, 2005

June 2, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 16 of 113

DAY 350

 

Today was clear and cold in the morning, warmer and heavy rain in the afternoon, and clear and cool in the evening.

I had trouble sleeping last night. I tossed and turned until 2:30 A.M. thinking about "the one that got away". At 3:45 A.M. I got up, and went fishing. I was on the dock at Star Lake fishing by 4:30 A.M.. I fished until 8:00 A.M. and caught one small walleye. It was smaller than the one I dropped off the dock last night, but it felt great to finally get one after all these years. I returned to West Hawk, filleted the fish, and went back to sleep until noon.

This afternoon I drove to the park gate to make a phone call where the cell phone signal is stronger. I phoned the TD Bank next door to our first PET VALU store in Ottawa and arranged to close Misty Venture's bank account there. Then I went to buy some fishing bait. I had used up the last of my worms this morning. I bought worms and minnows, to see if minnows get any better results. I found out tonight they apparently don't. Back at the campsite I fabricated a new dually mud flap using the rubber I bought in Winnipeg the other day, and salvaged parts from the original. The end result is pretty good. Joanne worked on cleaning and waxing another section of the trailer. We're almost finished the lower part of Harvey, and can soon start on the upper part, using Bud's ladder.

Joanne made pistolettes for supper, a Cajun recipe she got from Sharon. After supper, it had finished raining, and I was torn between working on a batch of incoming mail we picked up at Sharon's the other day, or going fishing. Fishing won out. I fished at Star Lake from 8:30 P.M. until 10:00 P.M. and caught a very nice, medium sized walleye. WOO-HOO ! ! ! Fresh pickerel for supper tomorrow. The mosquitoes were biting while I was fishing, so I applied some 20 year old Muskol that was in my fishing tackle box. EEEEUUUUWWWW ! I think Muskol has a life span of something less than 20 years. I returned to West Hawk, and filleted the fish in the picnic shelter behind our campsite. The picnic shelter has overhead lights. I thought it would be best to fillet the fish tonight, while it was fresh, rather than leaving it until morning.

DSK

June 1, 2005

June 1, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 15 of 113

DAY 349

 

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN ! ! ! I just dropped a very nice walleye off the dock at Star Lake.

Today started out cloudy and cool, with light rain. It warmed up in the afternoon when the sun came out.

This morning I drained the holding tanks. It's the second time I've done this draining process using the 32 gallon waster tote. It was easier this time than the first time. I'm getting the hang of it. I did it without Joanne's help today to see if it's more of a one person job, or a two person job. It rained for most of the morning, so I didn't feel like doing any more outside work after draining the holding tanks. I spent the rest of the morning working on photos I had in the camera, downloading them to the computer, and working on them. I napped after lunch, then did some more outside work after the sun came out. I had to lubricate the tailgate latches, and in the process, I broke the latch on one side. What poor quality workmanship on this after market fifth wheel tailgate I bought right after buying the trailer. Now I need to pull the latch on one side with a pair of vice grips to open it, while I pull on the lever in the centre of the tailgate to open the latch on the other side. < sigh > And it's not really repairable. I'll just have to live with it that way. Oh, well, I rarely open the tailgate. I guess that may have contributed to the corrosion that resulted in the latch breaking. I sawed a couple of inches off the bottom of my Kentucky hillbilly walking stick. I used it on our hike the other day, and every time I use it, my arthritic shoulder hurts afterwards. I think it was a bit too long for my height. I hope I'm right, because I can't exactly lengthen it after cutting it shorter. I cleaned and waxed another section of the trailer. I really need to keep chipping away at this job, because I borrowed a step ladder from Bud yesterday to use on the upper part of the trailer. I'm about 3/4 finished the lower half of the trailer, and I want to be able to finish the upper half and return Bud's ladder in a couple of weeks.

Joanne went to do laundry, and make some phone calls. She made an appointment with a dentist in Kenora for each of us for an examination and cleaning. The charge for 2 dental examinations and 2 cleanings is $350. We discussed this over supper, and decided this is so outrageously expensive, compared tothe cost of dental work in the Mexican border towns, that we're going to cancel our appointments in Kenora. Like most other full time RV'ers, we're going to start having our dental work done in Mexico. What costs $350 in Kenora, is about U.S. $40 in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, if my memory is accurate.

After supper, I drove to Star Lake to fish for a couple of hours. I caught a very nice walleye, the first walleye I've caught in over 15 years. I mishandled it pulling it up onto the dock, my line snapped, and it fell back into the water, with the hook still in its mouth. I lunged for it, but missed. I'm very annoyed ! That's what I get for not replacing the fishing line on my reel. It's probably about 20 years old. < FUME >

DSK

May 31, 2005

May 31, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 14 of 113

DAY 348

 

Today was sunny and very warm. We spent the day in Winnipeg.

After getting ourselves ready this morning, we left for Winnipeg. It's an hour and a half drive. We stopped at PET VALU in Southdale to buy Teddy some hairball treats. He's been a little ill the last few days, suffering from a hairball blockage. We ran out of his hairball treats a few weeks ago, and haven't gotten around to buying more. I guess he really does need hairball medication on a regular basis. PET VALU didn't have what we wanted. We went to Carlson's to have lunch. We waited in the porch for Lorri to return from picking Madeleine up from Kindergarten. When Lorri and the girls arrived, Lorri and Joanne went to the kitchen to make lunch, I went online to retrieve e-mail and update my blog, and the girls played with Bo. He's really quite good with children. We had lunch, then we all walked Amelia to her pre-school afternoon. After getting Amelia into pre-school, we walked back to Carlson's, said goodbye to Lorri and Madeleine, and headed off for a day of shopping and errands.

First stop was Goodall Rubber in St. James where I bought some rubber material to rebuild the dually mud flap. Then over to Foam Solutions to begin comparison shopping for a new memory foam mattress for Harvey. Our inner spring mattress needs to be replaced soon, and I'm inclined to replace it with a high quality foam mattress. Next on to Staples for some office supplies, then a linen store called JYSK for some new cushions and cushion covers for the sofa in the trailer. They didn't have what we wanted. We stopped at a Best West Pet Foods looking for hairball treats for Teddy. They didn't have any either. Finally, Wal-Mart for supplies. We decided to stop looking for hairball treats for Teddy and just buy him the hairball medication at Wal-Mart. We drove back across the city during rush hour. We drove down Broadway to see the Bears On Broadway displays. This is a cancer fund raiser. Huge concrete bears all along Broadway, each painted differently by local artists. They were very interesting. We had seen a special section in the weekend newspaper about this Bears On Broadway project.

We continued driving through the city, and out to the east, to Lorette. We had supper with Sharon & Bud, then visited briefly in their back yard. We left there at 7:30 and were back at the trailer atWest Hawk at 9:00 P.M.. First thing we did was give Teddy some of the new hairball medication. He took it quite willingly. He's resisted hairball medications in the past, so that's why we've given him hairball treats instead. We unloaded and put away today's purchases, then I worked on today's accounting and journal entry.

Teddy seems to be feeling a bit better tonight.

DSK