We are 2 months late posting news about our trip to Italy, but we feel it's better late than never. So, here is a Cole's notes version of our trip.
On October 11 we flew to Rome and everything went smoothly. After landing we found our way to the train station to catch a ride to Naples. After a few hours speeding along at about 225km/h we arrived. It was then another train ride, albeit much, much slower, to meet our friends who had earlier traveled from Kamloops,BC. We hung out in Sorrento few days and then took the bus to Amalfi. The roads and buildings were amazing as they clutched onto rock faces hundreds of feet above the ocean. We made a number of side trips. It would have been so easy to spend days exploring Pompeii and Vesuvius, Revello was absolutely beautiful (we took tons of pictures at Villa Rufolo), the hike along the Path of the Gods was everything we imagined and we met Pietro who sang for us at dinner and even signed his "limited edition" cd that we bought from him. The Isle of Capri and the Blue Grotto were definitely memorable adventures on several fronts.
After saying goodbye to our friends in Amalfi we hired a car from Sorrento and drove north to Assisi to meet up with some of Julia's family. We rented a spacious villa that sat in the middle of an olive grove. Our trips here involved a bit more travelling by car. There was lots to explore in Assisi and plenty of good food and drink. We sat in a small church that was built in 1166 and wondered about the people built it and what it was like living then. The caves at Orvieto were fascinating and the cathedral, like many in Italy, left us in awe; it took 30yrs to design and 3 centuries to build! We visited the Marmore waterfall. They were made by the Romans in the 3rd century BC and are the highest in Europe, dropping 165m.We couldn't resist taking a winery for a tour. Just outside the town of Todi we found Roccafiori, an organic winery and just 15 years old.
We flew back on October 26, thoroughly touristed-out and glad to be back home. There were many more adventures which we are happy share if you ask us. All in all, Italy was a hit for us!
We haven't done very well with our BLOG lately. The summer seemed to fly by and before we knew it we were off to Italy on vacation.....and then we just got lazy. So, sorry if you kept checking us out, only to see that there was nothing new. We'll try to do better.
Anyhow winter is bearing down on us. Last week the temperatures dipped down to -14C. Now that was chilly, but certainly no where near the -30C that we occasionally see in the winter months. Those cold nights and quiet breezes allowed for the lake to start freezing in the bays and sheltered areas. The main parts of lake will take a bit more time. Usually sometime over the holidays we see it ice over. Lately, with global warming has made things more unpredictable; last year the ice came in later and it went out a month early.
Also, with coming of winter the sun sits lower in the sky. There are still the great sunsets to see, it's just that the sun goes down earlier and slightly more to the south.
The Foxwood nature trails are almost ready for snowshoeing. Guests at Foxwood are welcome to use them free of charge. We'll even take those who want on a evening hike when the sky is black as ever and the stars are shining brightly. It is really quite a memorable experience particularly under a full moon.
The local ski area, Hidden Valley Highlands, just opened last week and they are working hard to get a good carpet of snow down with the aid of their snowmaking system. Over the winter remember that you get 10% off lift tickets when you stay with us.
All of our shopping is done, the tree lights are up and we are getting ready to greet our holiday guests....we have a few spaces remaining over Christmas and New Years.Sometime in the next week or so we'll update you on our Italy trip.
Cheers!
It took more than 3 weeks of patience and a lot of hard work by Luke Bussey and his dad Barry to get the whole court rejuvenated. The weather was a big factor when doing this work and it played havoc throughout with 34C+ temperatures one week and then 1", pea size hail stones on another week.
Luke owns Canadian Shield Surfacing and his specialty is redoing court surfaces. He knows his trade well, he works harder than anyone we've seen, he's honest and he takes tremendous pride in what he does. Does it sound like we're happy?
It took 3 coats of leveler, an amazing amount of patching and sanding to the fill holes, two coats of colour and then the lines painted on. Our guests will be tremendously happy with what they find this summer. The transformation from a rough, tired old court to what we have now is fantastic.
Luke and his dad were each given the honorary first serve to open the new surface.
What is going on here. Over the May Long weekend the weather was glorious -
temperatures reached upwards of 30C, sunshine and guests enjoying the lake. Then a few weeks later we had a tremendous hail storm. About an inch of hail with pieces the size of a marbles came pounding down. It was very localized but it knocked the power out for hours and made quite a mess of our roads and walkways. We even had to delay our tennis court resurfacing for a few days until everything dried up. We are now back to resurfacing the court and temperatures are back up into the 30C's. What's going on?
For now it looks like the next week or so will be great. The new court surface should be down by the weekend if we are lucky. So bring your rackets and get ready for some good tennis. The new Moomba ski/wakeboard boat is looking good too! We were out for a ride tonight to test things out.
It was almost 32 years to the day when the two of us set out from Canoe Lake for our honeymoon. And now, many years later, here we are setting out again for a paddle in Algonquin Park...albeit heading in the opposite direction down Smoke Lake to Ragged Lake.
Although we were gone for only two days and an overnight it felt much longer, which was a good thing. We had an easy paddle in calm-ish waters to start, then a short portage and then we reached Ragged Lake. Lots of bays and interesting points of land made up the shape of Ragged Lake, much like Lake of Bays.
Along the way we spotted several beavers swimming, a painted turtle sunning itself on a log, and a couple of eagles soaring overhead. The temperatures were about 27C and because of the little moisture around the bugs were really not a problem. Annie, our boarder terrier, didn't take long before she felt comfortable back in her saddle, riding the packs and balancing with her forelegs on the gunnels of the canoe
There was nobody on the lake anywhere and so we checked out a few camping spots and had our pick. We settled on an idyllic point with a nice sandy landing area for the canoe and a good SE exposure for the morning sun. It didn't take long before Julia was in the lake for a swim. She thought the water seemed a bit warmer than Lake of Bays, which was about 66F or about 15C.
Dinner was beautiful. A bit of smoked salmon with crackers, followed by one of Julia's interesting concoctions of beans, onion soup, chili and rice. We topped it off with an amazing bottle of 2007 Chateau des Laurets sipped out of a pair of plastic coffee mugs....ah, camping is still so very romantic!
On April 22 Meg decided that after 6 years of growing her dreadlocks that it was time for a change. So, she had them cut off.
Sitting on the picnic table in front of Chinook cottage her mum snipped them one by one 'yil they were all gone. What a difference it made and what a reaction from all who know Meg. The new look was great and Meg enjoyed the new feel.
In our last blog, we felt there were too many people who could not believe Julia went swimming in the lake last week. To throw water, so to speak, on any of you "doubters" out there Julia did it again, albeit with a swim suit on.
We headed down to the dock at about 2pm on March 21, armed with a sudoku, a crossword puzzle, a cup of tea, a bottle of Birra Moretti and a camera. We basked in the sun...the temp was 26C, perhaps a bit cooler on the dock...and enjoyed the start of spring.
With some coaxing from the photographer, Julia again made a splash. Admittedly, her svelte figure made a rather feeble splash, but it left the lake ice undisturbed allowing me to take a picture to prove that in fact she did go swimming with ice all around.
Lake of Bays is known by many as a very special lake. It's quiet, clean and largely undiscovered compared to the other Muskoka lakes. It's so clean that we took a picture of the bottom of the lake from our dock. You can see our reflection on the water surface, however the bottom is almost 6 feet down and it is as clear as a bell.
It has been the most perfect Family Day weekend at Foxwood. Brilliant sunshine, a gentle breeze and just below freezing temps. We had fun on the trails checking out all of the footprints left by the different wildlife found in our forest. The old beech tree that had claw marks left from a bear was quite interesting.
We are a little past winter's half way point and spring break is only a few weeks away. The skiing at Hidden Valley has been remarkably good despite the lower snowfalls and we hear that the snowmobile trails are half decent. We've noticed lots of people on the lake ice fishing as well.
If you are thinking about a winter getaway, and even if you are not, consider a trip to Foxwood. We are only a few hours and a bit from TO. Come on up the snowshoeing is great!
We are 2 months late posting news about our trip to Italy, but we feel it's better late than never. So, here is a Cole's notes version of our trip.
