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Hollywood Cemetery, VA

Our path back to the boat took us near Richmond, VA and the Hollywood Cemetery. Eric has been researching his ancestry and their service in the Confederate Army.  His research pointed him to the location of the grave of his Great Great Great Grand Uncle who died in a Richmond hospital two weeks after being wounded in the Battle of Frayser’s Farm.

Similarly, ED is a condition in which the erectile arteries and lifting free viagra no prescription continue reading this site up the blood transmission in the male area to support the act of erection. Super p Force: The use of these medicines is mostly seen in their tadalafil uk cheap Katas. Most cialis on line of these issues relate to their sexual life. viagra for cheap Their life revolves around all of this. We were surprised how famous the Hollywood Cemetery is.  This pyramid is a memorial to the 18000 Confederates buried here.  There are also dozens of famous people buried here including Jefferson Davis, leader of the confederacy, James Monroe, our 5th president, John Tyler, our 10th president, and many more.

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Yorktown, VA

To wrap up our tour of the Historical Triangle in the Williamsburg area, we toured the Yorktown Battlefield. Here in 1781, Cornwallis attempted to crush Washington’s army but instead, he surrendered.  As always we participate in the National Park Jr. Ranger program.

It’s like a scavenger hunt around the park digging for facts in the visitor center displays and points of interest throughout the park.  We learned about cannon types and sizes, earthworks which were trenches and mounds dug by the soldiers, strategies and mistakes the generals made, and the unfortunate causalities.

At the end our our trip through the park commemorating the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, the kids earned their patches.

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One of the great bonuses of touring National Parks is wild life.  Roy found this box turtle in the middle of the road.

We’re also finding interesting new plants like the American Beauty Berry.

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Colonial Williamsburg, VA

We had a great time in Colonial Williamsburg.  We really did need three days, the first day we goofed off, looked around in the gift shops, had lunch, checked out the town, and met up with our friends from California.

We’ve known the Gath family since Roy’s homeschool kindergarten year.  This is the second time we managed to cross paths with them while they are visiting their East Coast family.  The photo below is missing two children from our homeschool class.

Horses pull carriages up and down the streets and graze during their rest hours.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living History Museum where visitors can engage in conversations and take tours as if we were there in the 18th Century.  The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and the craftsmen are masters at their trade.  This town exists for us to learn about our American heritage courtesy of generous donations by J.D. Rockefeller who financed Colonial Williamsburg’s restoration.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the history being made in Williamsburg during the period the town presents.  Williamsburg was the capitol of the Virginia colony where wealthy, educated men, who were elected to the house of Burgesses, met to represent their communities and make laws for the Virginia Colony.  They were led by Peyton Randolph and included men such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington as well as other signers of the Declaration of Independence. The only person who could trump their decisions was the Governor, appointed by the King of England, and that’s when the trouble began.

The tour of Mr. Randolph’s house was from the point of view of a servant.  She showed us the wall and floor coverings that demonstrated his wealth, talked about his wife running the household and managing the servants, who and how they entertained and possible discussions that may have gone on in their house.

The house was sparse but beautifully decorated.  Our guide pointed out details that we don’t think of today.  For instance, the bed curtains weren’t for decoration but to keep out the cold in the winter and dust in the summer.  The servants slept where they worked.  If they were the personal servant of the family, they would sleep in the same room as the family member they served.  This way they could take care of their master’s needs at any time of the day or night.  If they were a cook, they would sleep in the kitchen, someone would sleep by the front door, stable men would sleep with the animals to guard them at night, etc.

Mr. Randolph’s house was unique in that there was a hallway between the kitchen and the house.  This display of his wealth was to impress his guests that their food was always covered on it’s way to the table.

An interesting point that the tour guide made was that while the famous people in our history were heroic and brave, they weren’t always 100% honorable.  Like all humans they were sinners and while we put them on a pedestal for their accomplishments in our history, we also mute or forget about any less desirable qualities they may have had.

On to the brick maker.  The exhibits that don’t offer scheduled tours do present information about their trade as an ongoing discussion.

We spent quite a bit of time learning and participating in the brick making process.  The kids had a blast mixing the clay.  It was a very sticky business and required quite a bit of scrubbing to get all the clay out of their toenails.

At the encampment they would collect visitors and run them through the drills of new recruits.  We practiced soldier etiquette and musket loading.

Then went to learn about the over 400 drum beats used to communicate orders to the troops.

Like all the trades we learned about, the shoemaker took his business seriously. Besides making shoes for Williamsburg employees, he also did projects duplicating historical footwear.


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At the weaver’s shop we watched them twist sheep’s wool into yarn on a spinning wheel.  It was fascinating how a tuft of fluff twisted so easily into thread to be woven into cloth.

Besides these ongoing tours during the day, there were a few scheduled reenactments. At the capitol building they read the Declaration of Independence focusing on comments by people of the period in the crowd and around the scene.  I read somewhere that a great way to learn history is not as a list of names, places and dates but as the feelings, attitudes and concerns of the people of the time that led them to make the decisions they did. These reenactments demonstrated how the common people were feeling about the politics of their time.

In the Capitol Building we got an overview of Virginia’s government. Once again, the tour guides were more like actors who extensively studied their character and history they were representing.  I was really impressed with everyone of these guides.

What trip to the past is complete without some time in the stockade. Naughty people were displayed here for everyone to point at.  Next door is the courthouse where we listened to court proceedings for a hand full of different crimes.

In front of the Governor’s Palace the reenactment of the discussions over the British removing the colonies’ gunpowder was exciting.  There were heated arguments from both sides, the town’s people were in the audience complaining, and men were ready to fight.

On the tour of the palace we saw the contrast between the wealthy Virginians and the King’s wealth and power displayed for the Governor’s visitors.  The hallways were lined with weapons on the richly paneled walls.

Most days ended at the maze behind the Palace.  The kids had a blast running and squealing while playing hide and seek in the hedge maze.

When we were tired of history Roy pointed out wild life. We were particularly interested in this Blue Heron because of its crazy crooked neck.

Caterpillars were dropping out of the trees.  Roy liked to put them on his had and carry it around.

The gardens were at the end of their season but still colorful.

 

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Jamestown, VA

                                 

Within a hand full of miles is the 1607 Jamestown Settlement (England’s first permanent settlement in the New World), Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia’s capitol 1699 – 1780), and the battlefield in Yorktown (where General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington in 1781 ending the revolutionary war).  We began our week with an afternoon at Jamestown.

The road into the park sported a long row of historical landmark signs.  I did a bit of research on these signs. Virginia’s historical marker program dates back to 1926 and includes more than 2,000 markers.

Jamestown’s Visitor Center contained more information than we could read in a day.  One of the volunteers helped Genny catch a skunk, he simply tossed the pelt to her and she caught it.

Outside we cruised through the Powhatan Village.  The Powhatan Indians were the confederation of Virginia’s Native Americans.  The Chief was also called Powhatan and in 1607 was Pocahontas’ father.  Here volunteers demonstrated cooking, arrow head making and other jobs done around the village.


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Next we walked down to the water front.  Re-creations of the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery are moored on the James River. When the two larger ships returned to England, the Discovery stayed behind for the settlers to use for further exploration.

At the fort we learned about armor, their weapons and life in Jamestown.

The many volunteers were knowledgeable and didn’t seem to mind repeating the same information over to each person that walked in.

 

 

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Relaxing

Within about a week we drove from Buffalo, NY to Solomons, MD, then to Williamsburg, VA, spent a day driving to Kitty Hawk and Cape Hatteras, NC and back to Williamsburg.  By now we’re all exhausted and looking forward to a day to enjoy this fabulous resort we’re staying at.  The kids had a blast at the mini water park.

The pool includes a slide, lazy river, fountains and even a lap pool.

With the night time temps dipping down into the 50s, the outside pool water was in the low 60s, way too cold except on maybe the hottest days.  The inside pool temp is around 85 degrees and plenty fun, so we spent time playing in here.
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The resort has a list of daily activities which includes glitter tattoos as well as pizza parties, and Zoomba dancing. While we didn’t participate in everything offered, everyone had a great time at the pool and relaxing in our apartment.

 

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Outer Banks, N.C.

We’re off on vacation!  From the marina in Solomons, MD to Williamsburg, VA is a 3 hour road trip.  All along the road were historical points of interest signs.  I had to think about how this area was dotted with farms and towns. People were living their lives and over the first 400 years since Columbus discovered this new land most significant events in United States history happened within a few hundred miles here on the East Coast.  That accounts for dozens or hundreds of such points of interest.  In this location a scuffle to apprehend a criminal resulted in law enforcement killing him while he resisted arrest.  While this happens all over the world every day, on April 26, 1865 it was John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln’s assassin.

We were pleasantly surprised at the end of our road trip to be greeted by this lovely apartment.  Courtesy of the Aanonson family’s timeshare getaway perks, we rented this spacious, modern, comfortable two bedroom villa for a week at a rate that we could have easily been the daily rate.

The villa has two bedrooms with huge bathrooms.

The girls are enjoying the makeup counter.

Enough of this pampering in the villa, lets go on another road trip.  Our first stop is two and a quarter hours down the road to Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers made their historic first flight.  After that another one and a quarter hours to Cape Hatteras.

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This is the site where 110 years ago the Wright brothers made their historic first flight. Throughout the visitors center the walls are lined with pioneers in aviation.  One thing they all had in common was that they were the first to do something.  While many other people were developing flying machines, Wilbur and Orville had the witnesses, telegrams, and worked hard to maintain their position as the first to fly.

Before the 1930s, when conservation efforts prevented saltwater from washing over this land, the area was barren sand flats.  Because of the terrain and prevailing winds the Wright brothers selected this site.  On December 17, 1903 Orville and Wilbur took turns with their flying machine.  First Orville flew 120 ft., then Wilbur 175 ft., Orville 200 ft., and lastly Wilbur flew 852 ft. in 59 seconds.

 


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They practiced with kites and gliders developing wing shape and the four forces of flight thrust, lift, drag and weight.  Within 66 years these fundamental principals took us to the moon.

Next stop on our road trip is Cape Hatteras.  Without cell phone service I followed our track using our iPhone navigation charts.  It was a bit scary seeing the boat icon on land.  This shoreline boasts hundreds of shipwrecks in its treacherous waters.  The combination of shallow water, shifting shoals, strong colliding currents and high winds is a disaster for mariners.  In May we passed the cape 30 miles safely off shore and still had a miserable day with confused seas.  We’ve been researching and planning our trip south this November and have been advised to stay 10 miles off shore to avoid the current further out and shoals closer in.  I’m shaking in my flip flops thinking about the 200 mile/2 day journey from Virginia Beach, VA to Morehead City, NC.

 

 

The van was the best way to get in for a closer look.

We arrived after hours so all the visitor centers and the lighthouse were closed.  The Cape Hatteras light house and four of it’s buddies have guarded the outer banks for more than 200 years.

Roy is always on the lookout for critters.  Here a poor lizard was stuck in wet cement.  A modern day fossil I suppose.

The outer banks is a long strip of low land, dunes, scrub bushes and surprising multitude of houses.  Most all of them are built several feet above the ground.  I don’t want to be anywhere near here when a storm hits.

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Back to Maryland

We spent just over a month at my mom’s house in Buffalo.  Besides a few chores it felt like vacation.  The water comes out of the tap when you turn on the knob, the toilet flushes with the push of a lever, Mom has a big spacious refrigerator, couches to lounge on in the evenings, air conditioning inside and a pool outside, and a nice big washer and drier in the basement.  Who could ask for more, all the comforts.  But now the vacation is over, time to get back to work.  Eric left a week before the kids and me so he could take care of a few boat projects without interruptions from the peanut gallery.  On the way out he came across the Glenn Curtiss museum.  Apparently he is one of Eric’s heros in aviation.

Once back at the marina, Eric dove into fuel tank installations.  Many years ago on our old boat, he had to dig a leaking fuel tank out from under the engine buried in the keel.  With that memory permanently etched in his mind and knowing our tanks were at the end of their life span, replacing the tanks is at the top of the to-do list. Luckily, Makai’s designers provided easy access to the two aluminum tanks.  After removing the tanks, Eric found a small hole in one of them, whew it was a good thing they’re being replaced.

With help from some of the neighbors Eric was able to remove the aluminum tanks and drop in the new ones.  Eric requested several features on these tanks after talking to Tim on Jetstream.

The tanks have two huge inspection ports so you can get in there and clean them out.  They also make it easy to see the fuel level.  How much fuel we had in our tanks was always guess work because the gauges were never accurate.

Meanwhile back in Buffalo the kids and I were playing with friends, getting school work going, finishing up with Dr. appointments, and helping mom with chores like garage and basement cleaning and closing the pool for the season.  On the last day it poured but since I cleaned little girl debris up from all over the house, they were banished to play on the side porch.

Finally we headed out in a rental car.  Our first stop is 5 hours away in Penn State, Pennsylvania. Remember the family we met in Delaware at the end of July?  They were on vacation at the time and when we headed north to Buffalo, we stopped by for brunch.  We had so much fun, I could barely tear the kids away, so we made plans for a sleep over on our way back to the boat.

 

In the morning while the boys were out fishing, the girls all went to see KayLeigh’s cows.  KayLeigh (16) shows cows with the 4H, and after listening to her tell me about the work she does on her uncle’s farm caring for these critters, I was super impressed.

KayLeigh answered my cow questions and I learned all kinds of stuff about breeding and maintaining the herd.

We also learned about electric fences.  We worked on proving the idea that a short blade of grass laid on the electric fence will give you a shock.  This myth was confirmed.

The afternoon was spent at a cool playground around the corner from Penn State’s football stadium.  The kids tried out disc golfing.
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And the playground equipment.  We all had a great picnic lunch and then returned home because all the girls wanted to do was play.

Play, Play, Play.  The playroom is American Girl Doll heaven.

The boys were content with video games and TV.  Thanks to Jodi, Kristi and all their family for a wonderful weekend.

Bright and early the next morning we continued down the road for another 5 hours to Maryland.  The pre-dawn air was crisp so everyone bundled up in blankets.  I got a big cup of coffee for the road trip and everyone napped.  It was a wonderful drive through curvy roads with farms on either side and beautiful little houses with gardens the size of my boat. I selected a route that took us a little out of the way to avoid Monday morning traffic in some of the bigger cities, but we still had to pass by Washington D.C.’s traffic.

It’s time to get to work on the boat.  We really love the marina.  It’s small, clean, has a great pool, bar/restaurant with dollar beers 4-7pm, nice showers and an air-conditioned lounge.

My projects are mostly sewing for right now.  Eric got me a new Sailrite sewing machine for canvas work.  I spent years struggling with my old Pfaff 150 but the new boat deserves a new sewing machine for better looking canvas.

The hard top we had installed in Fort Lauderdale needed side curtains to keep the sun out when it’s low in the sky.  So that was my first project.  I did most of the sewing at Mom’s house and finished it up here.

Our new favorite hang out is the upstairs lounge.  We’ve been having a heat wave here this week so theair-conditioned lounge is the place to be. This room is right in front of the boat, it’s upstairs and has a great view.  In the morning we do our school work up here and in the evening we watch TV.

Here’s Roy with his middle school math book.  It’s the biggest book our homeschool has ever had.

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Hanging Around in Western New York

One of the nice things about Mom’s house is just hanging around.  We go on little excursions, exercise the dogs in the pool, hang around with friends and family, and just plain relax in comfort.  Compared to cruising this life is easy.  The first day after Rice Lake we had a photo shoot at a local park with my brother and his family.

Mom had fun dressing us all up in jewelry and bling for the photos.  The girls colored their hair and put on make up.  The house has one bathroom and everyone was fighting for the mirror.

Another favorite outing is Burchfield Park and the Buffalo Creek. The shallow water flows over large flat slabs of shale.  The kids can submerge themselves in the occasional holes, and flip over rocks looking for crawfish.

The shoreline has plenty of shade trees and flat shale to sit on.

Under the Union Rd. bridge there is a fairly deep fishing hole for Roy.

The creek is always a fun day, we just never have enough time to spend the entire day.

Those crazy sisters team up with their pals and get into mischief.  The dogs never make out very well when they are the girl’s target.  Poor JJ often gets dressed up.

Martin’s Fantasy Island on Grand Island is a great little amusement park.  We went with Kelly, my pal since we were 13, her girls and Maria, whose mom I’ve known since 4th grade.  I love this park because the tickets are reasonably priced, it’s small enough to get on all the rides, the lines are short, you can bring a cooler with your own lunch, and they have a great water park.

My Mom’s street ends at a wooded area between us and the freeway.  At the end of the street we regularly see animals like deer and Turkey roaming around.  When I was a kid there was also a fairly large pond that we would ice skate on all winter.

On the weekend when Eric isn’t slaving away at the computer and the rest of us aren’t struggling to get a minimum amount of book education into those kids, we get to go on field trips.

Buffalo is at the south end of the 35 mile long Niagara River. Half way up the river is Grand Island and Niagara Falls, and then the water flows 325 feet lower the rest of the way to Lake Ontario.  This is a perfect situation to use the Falls’ awesome power to create electricity. The visitor center does a great job explaining how water is diverted upstream of Niagara Falls through a 4 mile pipeline to the power plant where it flows through turbines which light up the grid.

The visitor center also had great displays explaining how electricity works.  No matter how many times it’s explained to me and how many displays I read, the whole idea of amps, watts, and Ohms just escapes me.  It’s a good thing Eric is an Electrical Engineer, he can teach that course when the time comes.

I love this picture of Father Hennepin at Niagara Falls in 1678.

After the New York Power Authority Visitor Center tour we headed up the road to the other end of the Niagara River and Old Fort Niagara. This fort has guarded the north entrance to the Niagara River since 1826 and has been occupied by the French, British and Americans.  It also played a role in the lives of nearby Canadians and the Iroquois Nation.

We always get to enjoy at least one evening and Jim and Ania’s house.  They set up a very civilized camp fire in their back yard with comfortable furniture, tasty snacks and cocktails.  This evening after a great dinner and game of Apples to Apples, we told scary stories by the fire.

We also enjoy evenings at Kelly and Bernie’s house.  Kelly and I have been pals since we were 13 years old.  They have a fun backyard.  A swing set, adult sized tree house in an old elm tree, a trampoline, garden, pool, pool table, and Bernie’s bar.  We sit around the bar, on cold nights he builds a cozy fire, have tasty dinners, and watch the kids play.  A new activity in their yard is sprinkling hose and soap on the trampoline.  Everyone got all bubbly, rinsed off and went for a swim.  That’s the cleanest the girls have been all summer.

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At my Mom’s house the usual bunch of girlies look for mischief.  I can never keep up with them.  They go from one activity to the next.

First there is hose jump roping in the front yard, then spa treatments in the back yard.

Finally after an exhausted day of cleaning up after girls, we headed off to Maria’s Mom’s house near Lake Erie.  This is where Eighteen Mile Creek meets Lake Erie. They get in a little raft to paddle across the creek to the beach on the other side.

Visiting Kelly’s Dad is great fun.  He has several acres near farmlands.  The girls get a ride down the path to the creek and around the pond.

Roy gets quiet time to fish in Dick’s stocked pond.

Catch and Release is the name of the game here.  Since this pond was stocked several years ago the fish have been growing.  They are easily caught and all a nice size which brings satisfaction to the fishermen.

After fishing in a stocked pond, Jim took Roy to his secret spot on the Genessee River.  This river runs 157 miles from the northern edge of Pennsylvania through Rochester and into Lake Ontario.  My Father learned about this location from his uncle, it was then passed to my brother and now Roy gets to fish there as well.

Roy’s fishing hobby has given him a chance to explore the great outdoors.

In around 1970 the Jakubowski family lived with their Grandmother next to the apartment we lived in.  Since then we had many family picnics as children, my Mom spent the last several winters in Florida with Paulette and Joe, and we have great summer picnics at their property in East Otto.

Our favorite BBQ is a trash can turkey.  The bird is mounted on a post with coals around it and on top of the can.  After about two hours the bird is crispy, smokey and moist.

The kids enjoy riding ATVs around the paths on their property.

Roy got to fish in the pond and the dogs swam and swam and swam.

Plenty of critters can be found.  Everything from snakes and hornets to toads and salamanders.

The girls start thinking about their Halloween costumes on November 1st.  By the time Halloween rolls around they’ve changed their minds a dozen times and sometime in September I lock in the decision by sewing them up.

 

Now our vacation is ending.  Eric left to do boat projects in peace without us trampling on his tools.  Soon we’ll join him and get going on sewing projects.  We have several adventures planned for September as well.  We’ll visit places like Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Kitty Hawk, Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Corning, and any other interesting place in our path.  Then back to Buffalo to retrieve Topaz who will be staying with Mom while we tour museums.  Eric is posting photos of some of his projects, so look for repair and replace posts.

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Boat Fixes – New Refrigerator Gasket

The boat work never ends.  One of this weeks projects was to replace the old refrigerator gasket.  Here is the old seal:

 

Here is the new seal

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Rice Lake, Canada 2013

This is our 5th year fishing on Rice Lake in Canada.   The cottages at Willow Bay in Harwood are about 3 hours away but the traffic stretches it to at least double that.  Before 9/11 we used to pause at the border and simply state our nationality, and intentions.  Now the wait time to cross the border is usually at least an hour.

We enter Canada by crossing the Niagara River on one of three bridges.  For us in Buffalo, the Peace Bridge in downtown or the Rainbow Bridge at the Falls are our best choices.  From the Rainbow Bridge you get a view of the Falls and mist from the crashing water.

Arriving in Rice Lake is always a relief after the 190 mile trip, at least 100 miles of it is in very slow traffic.  As soon as the car is parked Roy runs out to the dock with his pole.  I have to reign him back in to help unload before he gets to work teasing the fish with a worm.  The first day Jim likes to ‘Test the Equipment’.

We test the boat out, set up the fishing poles,

and get the bait together.  Bait can be as expensive as $5/dozen worms or minnows, so Jim brings a giant box from a bait shop he found around home.  This year we learned that 200 worms and 4 dozen minnows is the perfect amount of bait for the whole crew for the entire week.

Jim started it all for us here.  In the 1970′s we came to these cottages as kids for our family’s late September vacation.  After a few years it became a ‘men only fishing trip’.  Six or so years ago Jim and I were trying to come up with a fun trip we could do together while the kids and I were visiting Buffalo.  With Roy’s interest in fishing and Jim’s expertise, Rice Lake came to mind.

The camp is set up with seven two-bedroom cottages along one side, a cleaning house and docks in the middle, and then a row of six or seven apartments.  Off at the end of the camp is a house that also rents out.  We rent a pontoon boat that lives in a little boat house at the end of the dock.  We like the space and stability of the pontoon boat and it can easily accommodate our family plus a guest or two.

 Our first day out is always jam packed with riders.  Soon the non-fishing people find things they would rather do than watch the fishermen squish worms on a hook and wait patiently or impatiently for a fish.  Our pal, Nicholas comes with us occasionally.  This year the boys rowed Nick’s Grandfather’s boat a hundred feet or so off the dock, anchored and fished by themselves for the day.  One morning Marie and I eased the pontoon boat out there and delivered breakfast since these young fishermen sometimes forget to eat.

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Now the fun begins.  We have a few locations on the lake where we’ve had luck before, but the results seem to change from year to year.  Here Roy has his first bass of the week.  This is a small mouth bass, it’s mouth does not extend behind the eye and has faint vertical stripes on it.

You can find places where you can pull sunfish (bluegill, sunfish, and pumpkin seed) out of the water all day long. They are a lot of fun to catch and quite delicious, although each fish provides only a small amount of meat. Most of these guys get tossed back, the biggest made it to the table.

Nothing is more rewarding that scooping up Roy’s bass in a net.  This year he had a big struggle over whether he wanted to fish for sunfish one after another, or he wanted to seek out bass and have fewer fish on the line.

Marie was interested in fishing for a short time.  After she gets one, she’s finished and wants to goof off with Genny.  Genny, doesn’t even waste her time with fishing, she prefers to play around in and around the cottage and visit with neighbors.

This is Patryk’s second year with us.  Being a working man, he can only get a few days off so mid week Jim and Ania take him out for Chinese food in Toronto and send Patryk off on a bus back to Buffalo.

It’s nice when everyone gets a big fish.

Jim has all the tackle.  Different lures for different fish.  The Erie Dearie is for catching Walleye, although we didn’t see any of these fish this year. The Rapala lures hope to attract a bass.  They also used the Hula Popper which floats on the surface and makes a sound as you jerk it along, and various other arsenals.  I stuck to the standard spinners and jigheads.

While I didn’t catch the most or the biggest fish, I did get a much talked about Crappie.

According the the buzz in the fish house, this guy is rarely seen any bigger than a sunfish, but my jumbo crappie was about three times that size.

The pontoon boat is equipped with a live well which keeps the fish alive and swimming with fresh water.  When we return to the dock they are transferred to a basket in the water until Jim cleans them at the end of the day.

The basket is a nice reminder of how many fish we caught when we start complaining about them not biting.

Perch are another favorite from Rice Lake.  Most of the time they are the size of my finger and no longer than my hand, but the keepers are beautiful.

This is such a great week to spend time with Jim, Ania and Patryk who we rarely see more than this one month a year.  After a long day of fish, we like to play games in the evening.  This year Apples to Apples, Pictionary, and Monopoly  were our favorites.  We also played a bit of badminton and lawn darts.

 

The cleaning house is always a source of afternoon entertainment.  People in there are busily cleaning their catch and telling fish stories about the day.  Last year Jim added an electric fillet knife which works great on the smaller pan fish.

 

It’s a messy operation with scales and fish parts everywhere, we’ve very lucky Jim doesn’t ask us to rotate this job around.

When we were kids I remember pulling the perch out one after another.  In the last few years, we only bring in a few keepers, over 8 inches or so.

Here are a few photos from 1973 when I was Marie’s age and Jim was but a tot.  We always went in late September when it was freezing out.

The lake and the cottages are the same, but not the fishing.  Most of our neighbors at Willow bay have been coming here for decades and talked about how 20 years ago the lake was full of boats.  Now not only are all the boats gone, but stringers of fish like my dad has here are gone too.

Roy got a bit upset this year thinking about his fishing future.  Hopefully, with conservation minded regulations and fishermen, and the reduced number of people on the lake the fish will regain their populations.  We also discussed how 40 years ago walleye and perch were the most common fish, and now it’s bass and sunfish, maybe there is a cycle.  Roy says he wants to run a fish hatchery and be a conservationist when he grows up.

So with that in mind we try to make our week about more than harvesting fish from the lake.  This beautiful area has more to offer than just fishing.

Rather than taking home coolers full of fish, we eat fish dinners every day.  Jim, Ania, and Patryk are all great cooks.  They prepare the most beautiful and tasty side dishes and fish recipes.

This year we also brought an inflatable kayak borrowed from Maria’s dad.  I relaxed in the back while Marie paddled us around.

We also went on strolls.  The town is little more than an intersection with a store, gas station, restaurant and fire house.  The kids are always interested in a trip to the store for ice cream and candy.

About a half hour south of Harwood is Cobourg on Lake Ontario.  This town can fulfill all of our needs with grocery stores, Home Depot, a Walmart, and many other services.  Their downtown area is close to the beach and a small marina.  Walking by the marina we immediately spotted a catamaran which reminded us that we are boaters.  All of this time on land put boating on the back burner.

Victoria Park at the beach has a campground, fountains for the kids to play in, a playground, occasional events, and a beautiful beach.

The weather had been a bit cool and windy so we didn’t come prepared to get wet, but digging a hole is always a fun activity at the beach.

Cobourg also has a street with a handful of thrift shops.  Every year the kids look forward to popping in to search for treasures.  This year our hottest purchases included a few games and toys, a hand full of souvenir spoons to be used to eat treats like ice cream.

There were a few days too windy to go out on the water, so we brought out kites.

Friends are another attraction in Rice Lake.  Nicholas and Evan are part of Roy’s posse.  They run around shooting sling shots, fishing, searching out bugs and toads.

One of the many islands on the lake has a sand bar.  This popular destination is a great swimming hole on a hot day.  The kids climbed up one side of the pontoon boat, ran three steps across it and jumped off the other side.

The 14 or so abodes accommodate about five groups of friends or extended families. One of the families at the camp also offers tubing on one afternoon. They are kind enough to take our pre-teen crowd first and then their teen and young twenties kids next.

Everyone looks forward to the thrill of speed.  There is also a big potluck fish fry hosted by one of the families, nightly bonfires the young people organize, and plenty of chit chatting about what’s happened over the last year.

Harwood, being a quiet little town, hosts quite a bit of wild life.  The lake has big patches of lilly pads, the flowers are beautiful.

Cormorants, an invasive species, can kill a small island.

The camp’s cat is a regular in the morning.  By afternoon, he settles into a chair in the sun to spend the rest of the day sleeping.

The Blue Heron silently wait by the water’s edge.

Rows of birds can be seen in the marshes looking for their dinner.  Canada Geese are another easy to find bird by the lake.

Each year we look for the mating dragon flies.

Sometimes there are as many as a dozen on the side of the boat.

We love our week in Canada.

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