Climbing

Ivan and I headed up to Alex and Rachel's on Friday night to do some climbing together today. We headed out to TV Tower Crag in Rush Cove, dropped a couple of ropes, and spent the late morning/afternoon climbing. It was a great time! Ivan and Alex did each climb a couple of times and I did them each once. Or I should say I attempted to do them, but could not get as far up as they could. Surprise, surprise. I just don't have the stretch or the strength! But it was a lot of fun! The forecast was for rain, but we had sunshine and warmth for the better part of the day. Later on in the afternoon the sky became grey, but the rain held off until we were on the way home, and even then it was just a drizzle. I'm going to have to get my own rock climbing shoes sometime. I just climb in my running shoes, but that is not ideal. Climbing shoes would give me a better grip with my toes than my running shoes do. Ivan and I will have to head out to MEC again sometime soon :) What a great store! Hopefully we can get out to the Elora Gorge for another climb or two this season.

Going Forward

Last weekend Ivan and I went to the Cambridge Garden Centre and picked up a few plants for our back yard. We dug up a couple of corners and planted some great-looking plants! It adds a nice touch to our backyard. I plan to put in some bulbs in the next couple of weeks so that we will have some beautiful tulips and daffodils in our backyard next spring. With the cooler weather here, it is nice to turn our thoughts to fall, although I am still holding out for "Indian" summer! We had (probably) the last barbecue/party of the season last week Sunday night :). School is back in full swing. It is nice to be teaching again! I'm having a lot of fun. Some days are more tiring than others, but overall it is really great. I have a lot of really neat kids in my class and it is fun to get to know all of them.

Labour Day

Ivan and I had a wonderful time in Algonquin! We had cloudy, but dry, weather for the first couple of days. Our last day we experienced a misty kind of rain for most of the day, and at some points it actually did rain. We were fine with our ponchos, and knowing that we would not be setting up camp in the rain helped! We portaged about 10 km total through some areas that had been hit pretty hard from the storms of the summer. There were fallen trees everywhere! Huge trees that had been toppled over or just ripped apart. It was quite a sight to see! Rangers had tidied up the actual portage trail so we did not have to scramble over trees ;) We saw three otters playing in White Birch Lake. They were very funny to watch, but difficult to catch on camera. In the picture you can see one of them poking its head up out of the water. There were three of them all together. Today we are cleaning up and relaxing before the big BACK to SCHOOL event tomorrow!

Last Long Weekend of the Summer...

Ivan and I are off to Algonquin for the weekend!!! The weather forecast isn't completely promising but it continues to improve. Hopefully we don't get too wet :) We are putting in at the Kiosk entry point at the north-west end of the park. The very first time we went to Algonquin we began our route there - that was in 2002. This is the only time since then that we have ventured back to the northern part of the park. We are looking forward to it! Although the route we are doing is different, we will go into two lakes that we have already canoed in - Kioshkowi and Manitou. As for the rest, it will be brand new territory. Keep posted for pictures!