October 13th - That was quick

Well, the geese are migrating, so it's nearly time to hit the road again.  The summer went by in a flash.  We did a couple of short trips with the Brave, including one to Hecla Grindstone Provincial Park.

The campground was great, private sites, good facilities, and well maintained.

Nancy and Kirk hiked around quite a bit, including the village of Hecla.  I spent some time trying to figure out where Great Auntie Malvina's house used to be, having memories of an early childhood visit.  Her husband captained a freighter on the lake, and her son captained many vessels, including the former island ferry (now there's a bridge) and one of the riverboats out of Winnipeg.  It's a beautiful place, reminding me of the south shore of Nova Scotia.

Kirk, thrilled with being posed up on the old wooden boat

Nancy did some fishing off the wharf one calm morning.

While I read and Kirk harassed a squirrel.

I was amazed to find a rare home-built Bolger AS-39 on the hard at the harbour.  While unconventional in appearance, it is capable of ocean crossings.  My father, brother, and I have built several of Bolger's smaller craft, so it was an interesting find.

Nancy talked to several American's who were smitten with the island, and couldn't believe that such a beautiful place was not packed with people.  

Next trip was to Bird's Hill Provincial Park, for a family camp.

Bird's Hill is only 20 minutes from Winnipeg, but manages to provide a great camping experience, with many trails, a beach, and private sites.  This site was a little tight for the Brave, which required much cryptic hand waving and backing directions from Nancy, which were all the more urgent due to the sudden downpour. 

 

Everyone had a good time hiking about and swimming

It was excellent having early risers in the group, meaning that when we got up, the fire was burning, the coffee was built, and the cinnamon buns were on the fire.  Thanks, you two!  Around the campfire, world problems were solved, future plans discussed, and many s'mores consumed.  A new variant was invented, Cinni-s'mores, which involved replacing the graham wafers with a strip of unrolled cinnamon bun.  Unlikely, but delicious!  It's not often we get the clan together these days, so it was wonderful to spend some time together.