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| Road Trip- somewhere in Northern Ontario |
Fast forward to this summer, today is the first day the laptop has been on since my last post on July 12. This summer has been a completely different one. We have travelled to see friends and family, we have hosted friends and family, we have fished (and now I am hooked!) and swum in lakes, hiked on roads and trails, seen parts of North America for the first time, and made memories. And here are a few highlights
Week of July 10-16
We visited three of my husband's siblings at their homes in the area, replaced the transmission in the Jeep, and celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary with a fine Korean dinner prepared my my daughter and her boyfriend.
Week of July 17-23
We spent July 20 on the road to and from Cambridge to partake in a picnic honouring our grandson's fifth birthday. The setting was a beautiful park and the characters included Son #1, Grandson #1, Grand daughter #1, Husband #1, and a few friends. The story included a lovely picnic lunch and an afternoon of hunting for crayfish in the stream. We were up to our knees in water which ended up looking at the creatures through magnifying glasses.
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| This boy is now five years old! LOVE LOVE LOVE! |
July 24th
July is a month of birthdays in our family and we celebrated our daughter's a couple of days early. Dinner included my husband's butter chicken, naan bread, Sri Lankan vegetables, and my grandmother's chocolate cake.
July 25th-26th
Up bright and early we drove from Maberly to the Best Northern Motel near Wawa, Ontario. It was a gorgeous twelve hour drive up highway 17. We landed in Wawa in time for dinner and a great night's sleep.
The next morning we shopped for our fishing trip (more about that later) visited with our friend Emily and her family and spent some time hanging out at Hawk Air.
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| Hawk Lake |
July 27th-31st
Remote Fly-In Fishing at Mozambik Lake and Trout Lake in Northern Ontario was amazing! Three solid days of sunrise to sunset sunshine, clear blue sky, fantastic fishing, beautiful boating, and a little bit of swimming brought peace to my heart and calm to my spirit. I even caught one BIG one!
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| Sunrise! |
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| My pike netted by my husband. |
After returning to Hawk Air and saying fond farewells to Kelly and his nephews, we headed west toward North Dakota. We stayed overnight in Fort Francis at the Copper River Inn. This border town was within four hours of our destination in Grand Forks, where our daughter is moving for the next two years.
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| Sunflower field in Minnesota |
July 31st
Crossing into the USA was interesting as we had all of our fishing gear, a cooler, our dog, and a packed truck. It must have sounded strange to say we lived in Maberly, but were coming from Wawa and heading to Grand Forks to help our daughter move into her new house. After several questions and consequent answers, we were allowed in to Minnesota. The farmland there was wonderful. At around 2 pm we pulled in to a motel in Grand Forks and met our daughter, who had travelled directly to Grand Forks from Ontario. We shared a meal, and enjoyed swapping stories from the previous week.A few fish tales were told, but we had picture evidence!
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| These two on a new adventure in ND |
August 1st
Our daughter's house purchase closed on this day and we were able to help her move in a few things. The rest of the day was spent decided what work could be done on the house in preparation for the bigger move in a week later.
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| Chestnut Street |
Our original plan to drive to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and The Badlands was replaced with helping clean the kitchen, prepare walls for painting, and taking up old carpeting in the above house. We enjoyed helping out, as each day brought new problems to solve and more coffees to drink.
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| Tim's in Grand Forks ND- two medium with mild + two extra large ice coffees, to go! |
August 4-5
After saving approximately 20 hours of driving (to South Dakota), we headed12 hours east from Grand Forks and spend the night in Janesville, Wisconsin. Again beautiful farmland countryside. The next morning we were up bright and early and headed to Kalamzooo, Michigan. My Uncle and Aunt moved there nine years ago, and it was the perfect reason to stop in to see them. Because they are not on email of Facebook, the trip was planned through regular old fashioned mail service and telephone calls.It was so exciting to see them after so many years. We also visited with my cousin, his wife, and met his daughter for the first time.
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| Me and my hubby and my uncle and aunt |
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| My cousin and some of his family |
After a great visit with extended family in Kalamazoo, we drove fourteen hours to Cambridge, ON for a visit with our son and his two darlings. Grandchildren are amazing. lovable, and engaging. We had a superb breakfast at a local diner, after which we continued our trek home!
Upon arrival at home, we looked at the list of things we had not yet accomplished, and number one on mine was picking up my "bike" from the shop and going for a ride. After remembering the locations of the brakes, clutch and accelerator, I ventured out on the road for the four kilometre ride. The hills and curves on a sunny Sunday morning were exciting, and I made it home in one piece. I am still not totally comfortable on the bike, but the next few days will give me time to practise for next summer's anticipated and more frequent rides.
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| My favourite mode of transport- besides swimming! |
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| My little sister visits |
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| Golds -100 Freestyle- Canadian teenager ties with American! |
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| Our friends' daughter- going in to grade 1! |
This past weekend we enjoyed the visit from former neighbours here on the lake. I believe it is about to become an annual tradition (similar to the fly-in fishing experience), where our sweet friends come to spend some well deserved time "back" on the lake. It is an honour to watch their young daughter growing up.
Moving forward, I am down to just four more days of holidays before heading back to the Middle East to continue my teaching. It is with mixed emotions that I write. I am thankful for a calm and restful summer holiday. I am excited to return to a steady job doing exactly what I love to do. However, I am sad that the best summer ever has almost ended, and that once again I will be away from my family for an extended period of time.
But, I have promises to keep, a contract to fulfil, and several health related goals to achieve.
Hoping to write more regularly during the 2016-17 school year, I am visualising a successful first semester and a return trip to Canada in time for Christmas holidays.
Until next time, wishing you well, and as always,
Bee Rich
PS Parting shot and thought...
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When we are apart, it is good to remember this.... We all live under this same beautiful sky with the same Sun shining down upon us. -Bee |
