Camping at Bon Echo

For the long weekend we went camping at Bon Echo Provincial Park with friends from Toronto. It's between here and there, under 2.5 hours of driving if all goes well. For about the second time ever, we hit bad traffic in Ottawa on the way out, slowing down our trip by a whole half hour.

We had reserved the site in April, and already then there weren't many left to choose from. Fortunately the spot we got was in a great location and very private. They had their trailer and we had our tent. Here are the kids relaxing by the non-fire.


Yes, the non-fire. The wood they sell in these parts tends to be very green hardwood, not exactly ideal for burning. We hardly managed to get a crackling fire with a decent flame the whole weekend. Grumble grumble.

The electrical cord on our friends' trailer happened to drag on the road for half the drive up, leaving them without trailer brakes or lights. A quick trip to Home Hardware and a bunch of fiddling later... tada! Yes, I know, is it really camping when you can run to the store to fix or replace stuff you broke/lost/forgot??


Bon Echo is well known for its massive cliffs. There was talk of the existence of Indian petroglyphs (carvings) on the cliff walls, but apparently they're merely pictographs (paintings/drawings). What a letdown. We did see a couple of red splotches, but I'm quite confident I could have produced the same by squishing a ketchup packet in the general direction of a rock.



One day we rented a couple of canoes so we could see the famous cliffs up close. Despite no cool Indian art, we did enjoy the rest of the scenery.


A stop during the canoe trip.


After canoeing got boring, a couple of us traded them in for a two-person kayak. I've never been in a kayak, and it turned out to be quite fun, albeit a tad wet. Still no idea how to steer one of those things... the only solution seems to throw one person overboard; I guess I'll have to try a single next time. Yeah no pictures... forgot my ziplock bag at the campsite.

Carrie and Merced were the water rats. I think I touched the lake once... do I get a ribbon or something?



We spent a full day at the beach. Fun for some I suppose. On the bright side (haha!), I got some sun. Lobstery forehead is peeling as I type. The beach is quite nice with good sand, but it's not terribly big. It helps to stake one's spot there early in the day.



Tomorrow we're off to BC for three weekends. Maybe when we get back I can pull out my snowboard! YAY! Let's face it, summer's as good as over.

Hi Claire

Woohoo! Another niece! She's 3 hours old as I write this. Happy 0th birthday Claire (spelling not verified...).

happy 6th

So last week was our 6th anniversary. And what does one get for a 6th anniversary? That's right, you guessed it! I bought myself a bike so Carrie doesn't have to go on bike rides alone. It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped; turns out most bike stores only sell bikes for short people. But I managed to find one that fit after a couple of adjustments. It lives in the basement right now, until I replace those silly easy-open fasteners that let you steal the seat and front tire more easily.

Last Saturday we went biking down along the river and back up along the canal. Quite nice to have designated trails all over the city. Unfortunately Carrie was setting the pace so it all went by quite fast. (Until we get Carrie's bike tuned, it has two speeds: fast and zero.) After all these years of not biking, it's not easy to go rip-roaring fast on the first day out. But as they say, it's like riding a bike: you never really forget.

Our snazzy wheels.


A stop at Hog's Back Falls on the Rideau River.

nothing much

How 'bout them Olympics? Watching Canadians in the games over the last week has been like pulling teeth. (Wouldn't it be more like having teeth pulled?) No disrespect to those who made it that far, but it certainly is surprising that so many hopefuls came up short. And then the first guarantee of a medal came out of Hazelton, BC when a wrestler made it past the semifinals on Friday.

♫ O little town of Hazelton... ♫

Hazelton?!? (Anyone from Smithers will know where that is.) The wrestler Carol Huynh no longer lives there, but it's all about about where you're from, isn't it? And little towns will boast the success of anyone who's ever lived there. So, way to go Hazelton.

I didn't plan to watch too much of the Olympics. That worked at first for several several reasons: Beijing time is a 12-hour time difference; the games start with many events I couldn't care less about; and Canada remained medal-less (that of course keeps us humble and is 'good' for our ego). But now with track and field under way, things are finally interesting to watch. Running, for instance. I enjoy running. Not actually running, but watching running. And thinking about maybe one day possibly considering taking up running. But I'm not holding my breath. Back in high school I used to enjoy running, even if I wasn't necessarily the top contender. There was the Loop, the Turkey Trot, the 800m run... good times. My various nemeses during such runs were the likes of Derek, Dave, Jon and Jeremy. Incidentally, Dave and his family are moving to Ottawa shortly; we'll have to reminisce.

Speaking of moving, we just received the Rev. G. Vanpopta family this week. After many weeks of volunteers giving their evenings, Saturdays and even weekdays, the manse looks pretty good. The basement is still being renovated, but at least the rest of the house is inhabitable. Welcome Vanpoptas!