Cannon Falls Trail - Cycling

Cannon Falls Trail from Cannon Falls

Distance - 20.19 miles
Time - 1:30:31
Max Speed - 24.5
Average Speed - 13.3

Again, taking it slow and easy. Two days on the bike this week. Yay!!

Sakatah Singing Hills Trail - Cycling

Sakatah Singing Hills Trail - out and back from Faribault, MN
Distance - 20.06 miles
Time - 1:31:35
Maximum - 19.5 mph
Average - 13.1

So I'm back on the bike. Finally! I'm taking it slow. 20 miles. That's it! My calf has felt better but I'm very aware of it when I'm pedaling. I know it takes time and I need to build up. For now, just happy to have the option of riding. Next... swimming. Then, with a little luck... running!

Myre Big Island State Park - Day 2

I was up early again today. I don't know why! I am definitely not a morning person. But being outdoors does get me up a little earlier than usual much of the time. Well... and the dogs wanted out too. So I got the fire going and made some breakfast for us. Then we relaxed a little while. Definitely the theme of this weekend! I've gotten more reading done on this short camping trip than I usually do on longer trips where we're active the whole time. At some point, a dog (a hyper hunting dog type that I don't know the breed name for) came running to our site and right at Tori. She's blind remember. So we get pretty protective of her. Lorrie and Emma Blue were collecting some kindling but Emma heard something going on and pulled Lorrie out of the woods and ran over to check on Tori and look for the intruder. It was cute. The dog's owner apologized and everything. So that was fine. But I still felt compelled to suggest he put his dog on a leash as is the law/rule/expectation/etiquette when camping.

Around noon, we decided to go for a little hike. So we loaded Tori into her stroller (she has difficulty walking), got Emma Blue situated with her leash, and took off. We walked out toward the backpacking sites and made it to the entryway before turning around. It had gotten in the high 70s so it was pretty warm and very sunny. Awesome! We turned back and spend some more time reading and relaxing before packing up around 4pm to head home.

It was an awesome albeit short trip. We ended up being the only people on our loop and the only people aside from the camp hosts in that campground within the State Park. There were many more people in the Big Island campground. There were few bugs at all. Which works great for me as I seem to be the bite magnet! Lorrie saw one tick, which freaked her out. But it was as we were packing up so it didn't last long. It did initiate a very thorough checking of all of us when we got back home though.

Can't wait to get back out there for more than one night!

Myre Big Island State Park - Day 1

We had planned to go camping on Friday, April 15th. But for some reason, the knowledge that it was supposed to get below freezing through the night deterred us. I think we both blame it on Tori... the blind elderly dog that we are so gentle with. But the truth is, she has so much hair that she'd stay warm in the Antarctic without shelter. And, she's got so much gumption that we never actually need to be *that* gentle with her. So. It's us. We. are. wimps!

So today...


I was up at about 5:45am feeding and emptying the dogs. We had wanted to get going early so I just stayed up. If I'd gone back to bed, I probably wouldn't have woken up again until 9am. Or later. As it was, with finishing packing, eating breakfast, showering, stopping at the bank, and stopping for coffee, we were on the road by 9am. Good job gang! We got to Myre Big Island State Park a little after 10am. We drove around the White Fox campground and also the Big Island campground before agreeing we wanted the same site from last year. White Fox Campground #89. It was very cold when we got here. I don't know the temp but I know I put on my big down winter coat for a little while before I warmed up as we set up camp. We got the Queendom up with little difficulty except deciding which way to orient it. Then I realized I had forgotten the vestibule. Oops! Once that was done, we (*I*, really) decided to put up our new Kelty Noah's Tarp 9. Now *that* was a challenge! Took between 45 minutes to an hour to get this "simple" shelter up. The main problem with the Nite Ize Figure 9 attachment thingie that makes tightening it a cinch. I had a Youtube video on my iPod with instructions that we watched over and over pausing, rewinding, fast forwarding until we could finally see what the heck he was doing. Just a suggestion... when making an instructional video, DO NOT cover your work by placing your hand between the work and the camera. Here are some instructions for the Figure 9. Once I got the knot thingamajig figured out, we had to work out the two poles. I'm still not sure it's right as the middle is a big sunken. And I had to support one of the poles with a tree. The other 2 corners are tethered to the ground and a tree. I'll have to practice with it at home. I'm just not sure how one person could put this thing up if there are no trees around. Once we got that up and everything into the tent that needed to be, we got a fire going and set about relaxing.

It was pretty windy but the temp got warmer and warmer. I graduated from my down jacket to my down vest then to a sweatshirt and finally just a t-shirt. That's my temperature gauge! We did some reading then I took a nap. Can it get much better?? My parents came to visit and for dinner around 5:30pm. Hot dogs and burgers over the campfire. Well, except for the 1 hamburger Lorrie dropped into the campfire! LOL Potato salad, fire grilled vegetables, sun chips in their new noisy compostable bag, and chocolate cake for dessert! My mom sure knows how to camp! (= We sat around the fire and chatted while we burned papers from my EPPP studies. That was fun! My parents have been gone all winter so this is the first time I've seen them since Christmas. They left when it started getting cold. Smart! It was a nice visit and great to be outside away from TVs and computers.

We stayed out just a little longer until about 10pm and then made our way in to the tent. Lorrie is doing some reading but I am too tired. We tried out the new REI candle lanterns and they worked great! Emma Blue is bundled up in her sleeping bag on a dog bed and Tori is in her big orange personal tent. Everyone seems content!

Montreal - Urban Hiking - Day 4

A travel day. I've seen all I can see this time around. But I definitely would like to come back. I know there are some places outside the city that I would like to backpack and camp. It just wasn't time for that yet so I got to hone my urban hiking skills. Haven't had to use those for a little while! Flights were all on time and travel was SO easy. People were friendly for the most part and it all went smoothly. I noticed right away how noisy Americans are and how attached we are to our devices. I think the French or the Canadian or the French-Canadian way suits me better.

Not bad for a last minutes "what's on sale" kind of trip! I'll definitely be doing that again!

Montreal - Urban Hiking - Day 3

Got up early again. But after breakfast I slept a little more before I got going. I think my subconscious was protecting me from the cold it knew was out there waiting for me! I was up and out by about 10:30am and headed for Vieux Port de Montreal (The Old Port of Montreal). It was 18 degrees. I was thinking Celsius. But no, that was Fahrenheit! Yikes! There were a few people out running but not many tourists like me taking photographs of everything. I walked as far as I could get along the trail. But at some point I must have veered wrong because I ended up at a construction site. There are still photos to be taken there but not exactly what I was looking for. Then, I saw a few people on the other side of the tracks (heheh) and knew that's where I was supposed to be. So back I went a little bit. I finally saw someone running where I thought I wanted to go so I followed him. I made my way to the Quai de l'Horage, which is a clock tower at the end of the Prom de Vieux Port. Spent some time there taking some photos and looking all around. There was a Molson plant nearby, which to me screams, "CANADA!" There was the Pont Jacques-Cartier, a bridge in the distance and a roller coaster (La Ronde). I walked back closer to the water and got a glimpse of some ships. It's clear there is not nearly as much activity today as there would be on a warm spring or summer day. But that's okay with me! As I was finishing along the Prom de Vieux Port, I came up some Cirque du Soleil tents. Things were being adjusted just enough that it seemed they'd not been there long. I'd seen no advertisements for shows so maybe they hadn't started yet. Then I thought perhaps this is where they train. It is a Cirque afterall and why not Montreal? I never found out the answers to my questions. Seems no one was paying them much notice at that time. But on their website it shows they will be performing toward the middle of April. Guess that's why I didn't see much advertising just yet. That would have been a nice surprise for myself! Anyway, it was cold and I needed to stop standing there contemplating. I made my way up Jacques-Cartier where the street was being blocked off for something. The weekend maybe. And then went back to my hotel after several hours out in the cold along the water. My fingers were frozen and I needed to thaw out and plan something warmish for my afternoon.

After an hour of thawing, I headed to the subway and the Stade Olympique. I had to switch trains at one point. Yikes! But I did fine. It still amazes me how quiet this subway station is. Partly because the people are quiet but also because the train is on tires. They look like regular truck tires. Seems the cars are held into place by metal wheels going sideways. But as far as braking and such, the tires seem to be the focus. So there's none of that metal screeching sound. Quiet. I was taking photos of the station and signs once I got off and a young man followed me. "Madam! Madam!" He thought I'd been taking his photo and I had to assure him that I was more interested in the structure than him. (=

The Stade Olympique was amazing! I spent a good amount of time in the Centre de Natation (Natatorium... swimming pool). I just kept thinking about all the amazing things that happened there in 1976. A lifetime ago. I didn't get to see the track & field or the gymnasium. I think I might have broken down in those. Bruce Jenner's heptathlon win and Nadia Comenici's perfect 10 were the big events during that Olympics. I did see the soccer stadium, which now belongs to the professional soccer team of Montreal, the Impact. Unfortunately I got to the auditorium just a little too late to ride up the tower. But just seeing it was amazing enough. The Biodome is also on the grounds. After a couple hours meandering around the grounds, it was time to leave. I wasn't sure about this neighborhood but I didn't think I wanted to be there at night alone.

Heading back to where I transferred trains, I decided to jump on yet another train and see where that took me. It ended up taking me across the Fleuve Saint-Laurent (river) to Ile Saint-Helene (island) and then to Longueuil where the Universite de Sherbrooke is. As we stepped off the train, I heard the most noise I have heard since I've been here. There were about 10 teenagers waiting for us to disembark and they all had flowers they were trying to sell to raise money for something. I couldn't understand that part. It was also the fastest I'd seen people move since I'd been there! The noise died quickly and it went back to it's usual quiet. I spent a little time there and realized I was on the other side of the Pont Jacques-Cartier (bridge) and the La Ronde (roller coaster). That was a nice surprise. There wasn't much around there within walking distance so back into the station I went.

I made my way back to the Place d'Armes stop and got out from under ground. It was getting to be dusk so I figured I should eat something. I decided to try out the oldest bar in North America. It's actually the place where the first liquor license was granted in North America. Le Saint-Gabriel, depuis 1754. I just had seared tuna and a Crown Royale and Coke. They were actually full but were nice enough to take a small table from a large group to let me sit there for a short while. Who says the French are rude?? They were very nice to me!

I wasn't there long as I wanted to make the last show at Basilique Notre-Dame. That sounds funny! Like it's Vegas or something. But no, it's actually a Basilica. Yep, Catholic. And yes, I chose to go there. They were having Et la Lumiere Fut (And then there was light). It was a history of Montreal and the Basilique Notre-Dame using actors (cheesy acting I might add) and beautiful lighting. As they described how each part of the church was designed, they would light up that portion in a variety of colors. It was quite dramatic and very difficult to describe in words! After the show, they gave us some time to wander around taking photos. Most amazing to me was the organ! It was the original. With some improvements and repairs of course. But it was monstrous and so beautiful. And there I learned the history of Montreal and the Basilique de Montreal. Fascinating!

Coffee. Then back to my hotel. Twelve hours running around town makes a girl tired!

Montreal - Urban Hiking - Day 2

I am not a morning person. Though I think that may only be when I'm working because when I recreate, I do tend to wake up earlier than usual. Today was no different. I set my alarm for 8:15am to be sure I got my free breakfast by 9:30am. Hey... I'm on a budget. Give me a break! I woke up about 7:00am and got up by 7:30am. So I started my whole day ahead of schedule. This is a good feeling! The two things I had planned for today were the Leonard Cohen Artworks exhibit and an Edgy Women performance. And so I started walking. I walked from rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste to rue Notre-Dame to rue Saint-Laurent to rue Saint-Catherine where the Cohen exhibit was. I got my first real glimpse of Basilique Notre-Dame of Montreal on that walk. Wow! I am not Catholic and the Catholics don't like me. But that structure is amazing! The minimalist side of me sees the disgusting excess but the artistic side can see how amazing it is. On Saint-Laurent I walked through Quartier Chinois (Chinatown). A colorful and dirty surprise. I hadn't looked at the details of the maps so that I would have this exact experience. Surprise! The foods on the sidewalks were varied and beautiful. The graffiti was creative. There was no particular smell. I get the feeling I was there too early for the sweet scents of food cooking. Saint-Catherine is known as Gay Village. But that wasn't on my map for some reason. What's cool about Canada is that even a Gay Village looks just like everything else. Gay people don't stand out there. Two men holding hands is no big deal. But I suppose it's still nice to have "a safe place" where one can say her community congregates. What I saw was mainly working people and students getting where they needed to go. Most of what I heard was French. There was very little English. It enveloped me in my own bubble and I loved hearing the singsong of their accents. Even the homeless people asking me for change sounded beautiful. I usually like to urban hike with my iPod on. I think of it as my soundtrack to the place and moment. But here, the soundtrack coming from the streets and the people was so much better than anything I could have created in a playlist. I also noticed that there weren't as many others on their phones or with headphones on as I have seen in other major cities.

I like the city sounds
Rhythmic
Cacophonic at the same time
It's soothing to move with it
To be part of it
Maybe I'll cause a honk!

The highlight of my early morning was happening upon a place that served bubble tea. I don't know why. But I love bubble tea! I used to drink it as a treat when I lived in LA. But I haven't found a place in Minneapolis or St. Paul that serves it. It's been a few years. So I went in and ordered myself a Watermelon Bubble Tea. The bubbles weren't fresh, they were a tiny bit hard on the inside. But since it's been a few years, I still ate them. Or do you drink them? As I sat there, I looked over my map to see where I was and where I might like to go before Cohen. I was close to University of McGill so I headed up rue Guy to Boul de Maisonneuve and then up McGill College to the main entrance. I visited Musee Redpath where they were exhibiting dinosaur artifacts and a monstrous Japanese crab.

Then it was time to make my way toward the Cohen exhibit. I worked my way through the city streets to find the Galerie Lounge TD. I spent a little over an hour looking at his works. They also had his music playing. Good combination! His work is sarcastic and funny. Sometimes a little serious... usually when it comes to women.  I enjoyed it immensely. I also thought that this artwork would never have been shown or been ranked so highly if it had not come from him. Does that make sense? Because of his music and poetry, he is sort of a shoe-in in the art world. But still... I'm glad. Because, like I said, it was enjoyable. I bought the exhibit poster as well. That's not significant. Except that the woman minding the exhibit spend a good deal of time trying to find something workable to hold the poster so that it would not be ruined in my flight home. I realized quickly I was dealing with a perfectionist. Which was charming in French. Yeah, everything seems charming in French when you don't know the language. She could have been calling me a selfish rude American for all I knew. lol But I don't think so. She finally figured out a box situation that seemed suitable to her. I took a few more moments in another part of the galerie to look at some photographs mainly regarding breast cancer and mastectomies. There were some other photos too... mainly nudes. But the most poignant were women who'd had single or double mastectomies. Clearly still women with intact "womanhoods." It was beautiful! And then... I headed back to the hotel. I meandered mostly but did make sure to go down a side street within Chinatown. A funny thing happened on my way. I stopped to take a photo of a fire escape dragon painting and a woman pulled over and asked me directions in French. I didn't know how to say I didn't know. lol But I heard "Notre-Dame" so I put up 2 fingers and pointed left... it is two blocks to the left. She nodded, said "Merci" and was on her way. I had given directions in French on my first full day in Montreal. A proud moment! heheh I walked 5 hours this morning.

Back in the hotel I took a short nap, showered, and got ready for my theatre outing. But more importantly, I had to get ready for my first subway ride! I'm not sure which I was more excited about! lol The subway was SO easy. My only problem was I couldn't read the ticketing machine. These kind of experiences are good for me. I have a Ph.D. so I don't have much trouble getting around in my world. What must it be like not to be able to read or find things easily. Now I know. Though I understand I still have privilege even when I don't speak the language. Anyway, I had to get help from an attendant. He was very nice. I explained myself way too much! But I got my ticket. And off I went. I didn't have to change trains at all so that was good. The theatre was very close to the station so I got there very early. Which was good because I hadn't purchased a ticket yet. I didn't want to charge it because I didn't want to give Wells Fargo the satisfaction of their idiotic surcharge. (= Then I walked around the neighborhood, which was more residential than anything. Across the street from the theatre... a bike shop! I knew I would find one at some point. I went in and Rocky Mountain mountain bikes were the main attraction there. Makes sense to support the local bike maker. It was tiny and crowded. I loved it! They didn't speak much English and were very busy so I just browsed. I kept trying to find something.... ANYTHING... that I need or might ever need. But I couldn't. So I left empty-handed. I am questioning the truth of my bike addiction if I truly couldn't find anything. lol Afterwards I walked down to rue Saint-Denis, which is supposedly a beautiful street with lots of shops etc. I found a nice enough looking park that was not well kept. Though it is spring and the melting snow may be revealing this dinge. Garbage day is clearly tomorrow so there were lots of garbage bags along the curb. I left the area pretty quickly.

En On was the performance I was seeing. It was 3 women doing different individual performances. The first was Yumiko Yoshioka who did what I interpreted as a birth, life, illness, death, and spirit performance while wrapped in saran wrap and Halloween webbing. I found it frustrating! All that trying to release herself from the webbing and saran wrap. Arrgh! Just cut it off already! But that is part of the struggle of life, right? The next was Karen Sherman who is actually from Minneapolis. She did a performance about awkwardness that I think I need to bring to my college for students to watch. It was quite funny! Finally was Lise Vigneault whose performance I'm not sure I can explain or describe. Basically, it was about her boyfriend having a lot of stereotypical gay characteristics and her denial of his true sexual orientation... and possibly her own. That's the best I can do. Ya just had to be there! (=

And then I went home. At night. Alone. On the subway. And it was fine. I felt pretty safe. It was about 10pm or so on a weeknight. So there were not many people out and about. The walk from the station to my hotel also felt pretty safe. I feel like my American city living has tainted me for trusting urban areas. LA, Houston, and Denver did me no favors in that regard. But I lightened up a little... whilst keeping my wallet tucked away. I stopped at Starbucks (boooo) on my way in because I couldn't find a local cafe that was open. And that is where my first full day of urban hiking in Montreal ends.

You can find more photos at my Flickr.

Montreal - Urban Hiking - Day 1

Today was mostly about traveling to Montreal. I haven't flown internationally in awhile. Though I figured going to Canada would be a good place to start. So here I am... in Montreal. Dropped everything off my suite in Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) then took off walking. I started by going east on rue Notre-Dame and then down Jacques-Cartier. I was getting dangerously to the Vieux Port de Montreal (old port) and decided to avoid that area for now. So I headed back ouest (west) on rue Saint-Paul. Beautiful old building on narrow cobblestoned streeets. I love that! Just walked around getting my bearings and looking for some food. I eventually found it in an Italian restaurant. I was so hungry, I forgot to look at the name of the place! lol But the meal was great. I slowly made my way back to my hotel, grabbing a caffe' along the way,  got myself settled, and am making a plan for tomorrow's adventure.

Cross Country Skiing - maybe the last

Possibly our last ski of the year. The weather is getting warmer and warmer so the snow is becoming less ski-able. There was a bit of ice on the bottom of the more worn tracks. But the tracks were still deep so we went FASSSST on some parts. Fast for us anyway! ha! That, of course, made the downhills interesting. It was dusk so the top layer of snow which had been melting all day, became a crispy layer. Just another speed inducer! Yay! It was a beautiful end to the season. But I'll hold out a tiny bit of home for another snowfall that will allow us to get out there again. In the meantime, I need to get our bikes in for maintenance!

Cross Country Skiing

I had Friday off so I took the opportunity to go cross country skiing in the Carleton College Arboretum. There was no one around since it was during a weekday. It was beautiful and quiet. I'm definitely getting better at skiing. Though definitely not where I was many many years ago when I was skiing all the time. What I'm having the most trouble with is skiing downhill within the tracks. As I pick up speed, I start to get scared that I won't be able to stop because I can't snowplow within the tracks. So I step out of the track to snowplow and slow down. But stepping out of the track seems sometimes more dangerous than just going with the speed. When we first started skiing this year, I would stop at the top of every hill, even the small ones, and get my courage up. At least now I don't pause before going. Progress! It's just nice to be out in the fresh air... 10 degree air no less!

City of Lakes Loppet

We purchased our new cross-country skis from REI and with them got free entry into the City of Lakes Loppet REI Tour. The REI Tour was a 10K recreational ski amidst the much more competitive races through the Minneapolis area. We had to park pretty far away but they had buses organized, very well organized I might say, to get us to the start.

We took our time and enjoyed the scenery. There were a few racing jerks who snapped at us for being in the way. But that's whatcha get when you put first-time tourers with racers. We were just part of their course. Most of the racers did not fit that "jerk" category. One guy even said we were doing great in his speedy fly past us! lol

The volunteers along the route were awesome! There were firepits to keep them, and us if necessary, warm. It was such a nice day out but I still can't imagine standing there for hours handing out drinks to the racers.

So we finished in a couple hours. Because it had taken us so long to finish, there were a ton of spectators there to cheer us on. Well... not us really. But we were finishing not long before the freestyle racers. So we got our medals and were politely escorted to back of the finishers area. lol BUT, because we were in the finishing area, we got to see some awesome finishes up close. That was very cool!

Afterwards, they provided a warm tent with great soup and freshmade bread by Great Harvest along with some vendors. So we stuck around for a little while before getting back on the bus to head home.

Cross Countrying Skiing New Year's Day

We decided to bring in the new year on cross country skis! What a great plan! It was about -15 by the time we got out there. We decided to go into the Arboretum so maybe we'd be blocked from some of the wind. Even with the cold, it was SO beautiful to be out!

Merry Christmas!

Cycling Root River

We decided to take advantage of the nice, though cool, weather and took a trip to Lanesboro, MN to experience the Root River Trail we have been hearing so much about. We took the back roads to Lanesboro through Chatfield. As we were driving the rolling hills up and down and around, it occurred to us how great it would be to have a group ride go through here. The hills are not for the faint of heart... or thighs. And there isn't much of a shoulder so it would have to be something organized to avoid traffic. Anyway, we pulled into Lanesboro and immediately wondered why neither of us had been there before. The Root River Trail goes right through town! We parked in a Library/Town Park lot, which felt very safe and then rode to the trail head. We decided to go toward Fountain. There was no logic to the decision. We just went. But it ended up being a good choice. Neither of us are in the greatest shape of our lives! So the trail was about 11 miles gradually uphill to Fountain, which apparently is one end of the trail. Cool! It's not high tourist season so that town was pretty dead on this Sunday! We turned around and headed back almost right away. Then came the best part of riding uphill for 11 miles. Downhill for 11 miles! It took so much less time getting back than it had getting there. Lorrie was even flying! We could tell when we started getting close to Lanesboro again as there were more and more people out enjoying the warm afternoon. I still have a hard time with people who take up the entire trail and then are surprised when someone comes up on them. I never try to startle anyone but they often seem totally in their own world. Which is a great use of being in nature! If you stay off the side out of people's ways AND stay in the same basic line so people don't have to try to predict where you're going to be walking. Just a little rant. The leaves has already changed and mostly fallen off. So the ride was a little stark. Though I still thought it was beautiful! We got back in to Lanesboro and were immediately on a quest for food! We went back to D'Azul where Emma Blue was sleeping soundly enjoying being out of the house. We changed clothes then drove downtown for food. We walked around a little checking out menus and such. But you know how it is after exercising in cool weather. We started getting chilled. Not fun! We needed to get inside, get warm, and get some food relatively quickly. Maybe lunch earlier would have been a good idea eh? Anyway, we decided on Pedal Pushers Cafe because it was all local fare, family owned, and we wanted meat! That ended up being a perfect choice for us! Great food and service! I wasn't sure about the decor... a mixture of bicycles and 50s. I understood, of course, "Pedal pushers" as a double entendre. Just seemed a little scattered to me. Lorrie liked it though... and she's the one with style. So there you have it! We walked around town a little more. Checked out the Little River General Store where the people were not very friendly. That was surprising! After our experience in Wabasha and their incredible hospitality, this seemed almost rude. I am in the market for a single speed rear gear but they weren't interested in my business. Again, I'm a little more sensitive to that but Lorrie agreed with me. We walked around a little more but it was getting late enough that shops were beginning to close or were already closed. So we took one more little detour, by SUV, up to Church Hill Condos. Nice! Great view! Then we headed home, mainly by highway this time. One remaining question has lingered... is there tent camping anywhere near Lanesboro? We saw a lot of RV sites in town and 1 rugged tent site along the trail. Something more for us to explore! We will definitely be going back.

I also recommended Lanesboro to a co-worker/friend who has two young children. There are a lot of different styles of bicycles for rent there as well as the river to keep young'ns busy.

I forgot to charge my camera battery. So the only photos we have are from my phone. I will get them uploaded soon. Most of them will be at TwoTireDoc's Flickr.

Review - Freezer Bag Cooking

Freezer Bag Cooking – Review

Author: Sarah Svien Kirkconnell
Softcover; 90 pages
Bay Street Publishing; copyright 2005

Great dishes for backpacking, camping, and even easy at-home preparation. I found that several called for what seemed like too much water and ended up being runny. But for the most part the recipes seem pretty accurate. Particular favorites of ours are CyndiH’s super oatmeal, fruity morning couscous, ramen stroganoff (with dehydrated noodles rather than ramen), creamy spinach chicken rice, clam chowder, mocha au lait, and tiny peach pies.

Another problem I’ve experienced is difficulty finding pouches of chicken. So I have generally used pouches of tuna, which is not my favorite. Also, some of the other ingredients are pretty specialized. If you don’t have access to a co-op or other extensive specialty store, it may be difficult to complete a lot of the recipes. My final issue with freezer bag cooking in general is the use of so many plastic freezer bags. I threw so many of them away on a 7-day backpacking and camping trip that I felt really guilty about the environment. It would be great if there was a more environmentally conscientious way of using the recipes!

Tori

We slept in a little and got on the road around 11:00am. That was planned… not me futzing around! The drive was uneventful. We got to Eau Claire in about an hour and then had interstate the rest of the way. That was a nice change. Tori did well last night. Lorrie slept on the floor with her while I had Emma Blue in a bed with me and her leash in my hand so I knew when she moved. I know she’s curious about Tori and definitely wants to sniff her out. But we are understandably nervous about them being together. Tori is still eating and drinking well. It’s amazing the comeback she has made. The vet was even a little surprised how well she was bouncing back, especially for her advanced age! The tragedy of this whole situation is that Tori is scheduled to have surgery on her cataracts on Tuesday so that she could see again! And then she loses an eyeball! Figure that one out!

One lesson learned… have a first aid kit readily available while traveling. We have a great first aid kit. But it was packed away in our camping gear. ‘Cause camping is where any kind of emergency might happen, right? Wrong!

Tori

We called around 9:30am and were told that we could pick Tori up to take her home between 11:30am-12:00pm. Wow! We had made it clear that we wanted them to keep her overnight if traveling would be too hard for her right away! But they seemed to think she would be okay and the only thing they would be doing if she stayed is giving her medications. So they felt comfortable with letting her go. So we took her! Gladly! She had a lot more energy! When she smelled us, she got really excited! That was good to see. (= We set her up on Lorrie’s lap… sans cone. We blocked the back so Emma couldn’t come up front to smell. And off we went. We had to cross the border again in Sioux Ste Marie. Emma, again, did very well at the border with her muzzle on. They didn’t even ask for their papers that time. Although he did tell me that my passport is not valid because it’s not signed. Oops! He let me through anyway!

Back in the USA, our main goal was just getting home. Of course, there’s no interstate heading our direction. So we took a very scenic drive along Lake Michigan. Construction and all. Of course. Tori was doing great. Sleeping most of the time. She ate well and drank a lot! Which the vet told us to expect.

We drove all day and much of the night until we stopped at Wausau, WI for the night. It took awhile to find a room as the Wisconsin State Fair was in full swing! We ended up in the Days Inn near Hwy 29. It was great actually! They took pets with a $15 deposit that we would get back in the morning if there was no damage. We’d never gotten that deal before! They also had free wireless and very clean rooms. I gave them 5 stars on my phone navigation!

We left the eyeball in the garbage at Macinac Straight Rest Area. And just to be clear, it was in a garbage bag with other garbage. I’m too squeamish to just be carrying around an eyeball.

Tori

Tori – August 4, 2009

We were able to visit Tori today late morning. She looked SO good! Her eye is sewn shut and she was a little out of it. But she seemed to recognize us. She had a cone, aka Elizabethan Collar, on her head to keep from running into things. But they took that off for our visit. We were only there for about 15-20 minutes. But it was so good to see her awake… and alive!

The rest of the day was spent in the motel. In shock. Crying. Distracting ourselves. Lorrie cleaned out the car a little as there was blood in various places. However, I went out later to get something from the car. And I found the eyeball. Yeah, I know, that’s gross. But it’s real. I couldn’t do anything about it. So I just ran back to the room and told Lorrie. So we stood there trying to figure out who should take care of it. I’d already seen it so it should be me. I didn’t want to do it alone. Lorrie didn’t want us both to have to do it. But she didn’t want to do it. If it hadn’t been so horrible, it would have been a hysterical conversation. We both ended up going out there, but Lorrie did the dirty work. We decided to hold on to it temporarily in case the vet wanted to see it or something.

We are staying at Satelite Motel in The Soo. I don’t know if that’s Canadian spelling or if they just spelled it wrong. But it was spelled with only 1 L. (= It was relatively cheap, very clean, and offered free wireless. And they take pets. I would recommend it.

The only place we ate was Tim Hortons… double double! We had sandwich combos, which there means coffee and a donut! lol

Superior Circle Tour - Day 2

Across the street from Nays Provincial Park was Nye’s Diner and Camping. We stopped there to get some ice then decided that we were actually very hungry. The pups were OUT! I’m not sure they slept very well last night. It was a little cold. But we’ve been in colder. Lorrie had eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast while I had a burger with fries. The place was very clean! The owner was cooking and did a great job! He also loaned me a couple wrenches to try and tighten my bike rack. They weren’t terribly busy but he said they have a lot of business in the winter with snowmobiling and snowshoeing in the park across the street. It was a small convenience and souvenir shop as well. I would definitely recommend stopping there.

As we were driving, we somehow missed Pukaswa National Park. Not sure how except that there was construction in the area and maybe the signs were down. Instead we stopped for a hike at White Water Provincial Park and were directed to Clear Water trail, which was an out and back to Clear Lake. As soon as we left the car, mosquitoes and gnats swarmed us. We’ve spent enough outdoor vacations being eaten alive by bugs and that was not in our plan for this trip. Besides, I couldn’t find the Deet. So we left to find Lake Superior again where it’s chilly and windy enough to keep the bugs away. We stopped at Agate (?) Provincial Park but they didn’t have any sites along the water. So we pressed on toward Superior Provincial Park.

Once there, our trip was over. And this becomes more of a personal than “outdoor” blog. We parked and went in to get information about sites. About 10 seconds after I left the car, I heard something. Can’t say exactly what that something was but I knew to run back. Which I did. Emma Blue had bitten Tori. She’d been excited when we stopped but I’m not sure what happened after that. I can speculate. I went to the other side of the car and moved her to her own window. Then started working on separating them better for the small drive to the site. Lorrie came to Tori’s side and saw that she was bleeding. I hadn’t seen that from my angle. Well, she was bleeding very badly. And it was around her eye. Lorrie ran in to get help from a ranger. They were quite ill-prepared for as out in the boondocks as they are! They didn’t know first aid. But at least they had a kit. Some campers were walking by and asked if we needed help. Lorrie told them what was happening and someone said something about some kind of vet training. Who knows? Anyway, this woman checked out Tori and put gauze on her eye and wrapped her head to hold it in place. It was not enough. She bled so much! Lorrie also called 411 to get the number for a vet in Sioux Ste Marie. They had an emergency system where there is a vet on-call all the time. We were a 90-minute drive away. With nothing in between. NOTHING! I drove like a crazy woman while Lorrie held Tori and told her it would be okay and to hold on. At one point, Tori moved around a little much and blood got everywhere. It was horrendous! We were crying, Lorrie screamed once, and we were trying to keep in touch with the vet who we kept losing because of the mountainous roads. To add to all the stress, the gas tank was nearly on Empty! Meanwhile, Tori. Was. Asleep! Snoring! Perhaps she was in shock. But I know her mellow nature saved her life! An anxious dog, like Emma, would have been flipping out and probably would not have made it. We finally got a good enough connection to the vet so we could get directions. Of course, his street was completely under construction. So we had to go a round-a-bout way. Gas light went on just before we got there. Lorrie ran in with Tori and then came back out to the waiting area. Her front was completely covered in blood so she got out of those clothes immediately and we left them there for the vet to discard. Tori weighs in at about 25 lbs. She had to have lost half her blood. We waited awhile, filled out the paperwork, and waited some more. They cleaned her up some but needed to do surgery to see the state of her eye… and likely to remove what was left. Lorrie asked me to leave so she could talk with the vet about something she had seen and didn’t want me to hear about it.

We went in to say goodbye to Tori and she was all wrapped up and on an IV. But she recognized our smells and gave us licks goodbye. The vet called us around 11pm, after surgery, and said she is doing well and the surgery went well. He said they did have to remove her eye as it was too damaged to save. We are to call after 10am tomorrow to see what the plan is at that time.

Emma Blue kept a pretty quiet and low profile the entire time.

Superior Circle Tour - Day 1

Relaxing breakfast with Karen, Gary, and Yvette. Karen and Gary were heading off to Duluth so they left before us. Lorrie is a morning person and could easily be on the road before sunrise. I am not naturally that kind of person. But I would like to be. Any tips would be appreciated! I’ve tried lots of different things. But somehow I am always about an hour late in leaving. This is dicey when I have planes to catch… and a penchant for making early flight reservations. Okay, I digress! We got on the road around 11:00am EST and our tour formally begins! Canada Highway 1 going southeast to Eagle Canyon Adventures. On the way, we saw five women on touring bikes. But they had SO much stuff hanging off their bikes. Anyway, Eagle Canyon Adventures has 2 suspension bridges, one of which they claim is the longest in Canada. They also have a zip line, which they also claim is the longest in Canada. As soon as we got there… my sunglasses broke. Damn! They were cheapy $12 glasses that had lasted about 3 years with almost daily use. Bummer! After walking across the bridges, we stopped and watched people on the zipline. I decided that should be a bucket list item for me so I went back down to pay for it. Then we had to walk back up to the deck again. The real challenge was dodging the 4-wheelers with crazy drivers behind them. That was a sport in an of itself! Honestly, they are going to hurt someone. At the top, more people had lined up to use the zipline. So the wait was a lot longer. Slightly more than an hour. Enough time to get my stomach all riled up. Watching person after person go didn’t really help. It seemed like they would be silent at first, which I interpreted as “stomach drop,” and then would scream, which scared me too. There were a couple kids in front of me, one was too light so they had to add weight to his gear. I figured if he could do that without being scared, that I could do it too. Then there was a woman who looked the way I felt. And she did it. So I thought I could too. Lorrie was there trying to figure out the best angle to shoot my experience. She decided to stay up there at the deck to get it. [insert video] It ended up being amazing! It was pretty windy up there so the wire was swaying. Yikes! The operator said, “3… 2… 1… launch” and opened the gate. And I stood there an extra 2 or 3 seconds before lifting my feet and flying away. I screamed out my fear… and then it was awesome. There was no stomach drop at all. It was just a consistent downhill through the valley and over the river. At the end, I had been told to spread my legs so “something” could hit the seat and not me. As I was getting closer to the dock, the operator down there spread his arms wide to indicate I should spread my legs, which I did. What I didn’t expect was the major CLANG that happened when the mechanism on the wire hit the stopping mechanism. That was shocking. Then I heard someone say, “How was it?” “Awesome!” I said. And then, after looking around, “Where are you?” He said, “Down here.” lol He was below me pulling on a rope that had been attached to the stopping mechanism so that I could be pulled back over the dock to stand up. I didn’t realize how far above the ground I still was… at least 10 feet. And that was that. It was over! I’m so glad I did it but I wish I could do it again to enjoy the scenery just a little more! On our way out of the park, we saw those cyclists I mentioned before and they were just getting into the park. Some of them were walking their bikes up the last painful steep hill. Really, just too much stuff! Not that I could do any better! (= I’m sure the wind didn’t do them any favors either! Since we’d been at Eagle Canyon for four hours, we decided that we should skip Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park. But we can go back there another time.

Kept driving along Highway 1. It’s amazing how little there is along that road! And a lot of what was there in terms of motels and restaurants are now abandoned. That becomes a problem when you’re hungry! We started seeing signs for “Gus’ Restaurant” in Nipigon, which we thought might be a possibility. When we got there, it was very rundown… and it said “John’s.” We were going to skip it. Until I saw 6 motorcycles out front. Just a hint… cops and bikers know where to eat! If it had been a motorcycle cop, we’d have hit pay dirt! (= So we went in. It was run by a Greek woman who was very friendly with everyone! Lorrie and I each ordered chicken souvlaki sandwiches… she with fries and me with a Greek salad. Wow! They could not have been better! And the servings were huge! 5 stars for sure on the food! The décor is grungy… so close your eyes.

Make a note if you’re traveling in this area… there is very little gas on the North side of Lake Superior. So fill up when you can! Even if it’s expensive! Because it is all expensive!

We had planned to stop for the night at Pukaswa (sp) Provincial Park but stumbled upon Nays Provincial Park, which Karen had mentioned. She said the white sand beaches were incredible! We checked out the few free sites and settled on a corner site, which was the last one that backed to the beach. It was also right next to a major trail so that is probably why it hadn’t been taken yet. But it was awesome! We got the pups fed and got the tent up before taking Emma Blue for a little walk on the beach. It was full of drift wood… huge, like still trees, and small. Seemed a little dangerous actually. Lots of sticks poking up out of the ground. A child could fall on them… hell, an adult could fall on them. I was worried about Emma running into one so we kept her walking. Just something to consider if you’re traveling there. Once we were back at the campsite, I tried to build a fire and was relatively unsuccessful. It took forever to get anything really going. And once we did, it was pretty late and time for bed. lol So I just thought of it as ash for a fire tomorrow morning.

Something we both noticed about Canadian campers was their creative use of tarps! MONSTROUS tarps! I know it’s been rainy in the area for awhile so if they’ve been camping for awhile, I can understand using so many. They had these huge tarps spread out above their entire tent sites. They wrapped tarps around the ends of their pop up campers. And they’re very good at getting them up. Some are like origami… with lights and everything. Maybe you saw the photo of my first attempt at tarp hanging! LOL