Zeke and I went on a road trip last Friday. Jeff and Anne have a lovely cottage on Cow Island, which sits in Rice Lake. Basically near Peterborough, Ontario, which means a 4.5-5 hour drive for me.
Thursday was a rainy morning and I got a text from my boss telling me to stay home. Woot! So, technically, I could have extended my stay at the Charnleys but I didn’t want to overstay my welcome and I figured I’d do all that needs to be done so I can leave early and upon my return on Sunday, not have to worry about washing my work clothes. Plus the rest of the day was beautiful so, I did lovely day things 😉
Did I leave at the time I said to myself I would? Of course not. I left an hour later. Seat pushed down so Zeke can be closer to up front, within petting reach, blanket laid with towel on top, bottle of Hertel in case he pukes – can’t find paper towels so grab a box of tissues, pack the car, load Zeke and off we go at 10 am.
The day was bright, the sun was shining and the roads were clear for the most part. As I got closer to my destination, I became fascinated by the clouds. They were so low and varied in texture from cotton candy to whipped milk topping a cappuccino to rich and thick whipped cream. It felt like I could reach out and touch them, they were so low.
The skies started to darken and I could see there was rain ahead.
Then this big block of black started creeping in from the left. Strangest thing ever.
The last hour or so of my drive was through sun and cloud and rain and sun. By the time we got to Islandview Road, we were back in the sun. I called Jeff once I reached
as that means I was about 15 minutes away and he could time his pick up! His cottage is, after all, on an island in the middle of Rice Lake.
As I turned onto the final 500m drive, Zeke stood up and I saw him lick his chops. I pulled over. Ran around the car to open the door and. Too late. Fluorescent bile slid down the headrest into the floor mat below. All I can say is, thank you, Zeke, for aiming so beautifully. Thank you, Dale for being too lazy to change from winter mats to summer ones because all I had to do was pick up the mat and rinse it off in the lake while Jeff wondered why I was not returning his wave. No worries, I’m not that weird that I would take a pic…
We no sooner dock and open the door that Zeke jumps out and into the lake. Divot chose not to join his buddy – coz they had to get reaquainted. It had been four years, after all.
We lugged my stuff to the cottage and were greeted by Anne and Dylan (unfortunately Griffin had other places to be, so I missed him once again), got ourselves a drink and sat out back, away from the wind that was gusting big time. But first, one must take note of the rules. I intended on following some of them for sure.
We sat on the front porch and caught up.
Jeff and Divot
I wish I could remember what the hell was so funny, and why I almost tipped over, but it’s nice to have someone else take pics 😉
Anne and me
Their neighbour Gord, joined us for supper – in return, he fed the boys. After said delicious supper, we all went down to the firepit. Now, Jeff has been posting some spectacular sunsets. Did we get one of that ilk? No. But it was still kinda nice.
At one point, Anne and then Gord disappeared and it was just us two old friends (to think we’ve known each other for almost fifty years, though in honesty, we reconnected thanks to FB about nine years ago). The fire was lovely and after more than a few beers, we put out the fire and called it a night. It was, after all 3:30 am!
The next day was bright and sunny but oh so windy! Jeff got a call from his buddy, Bristow (birth name has totally escaped me as even his wife calls him that), telling him he and Kristin, along with Jackson and Riley (their cockapoo) were coming by boat. They were going to go through the locks and felt they would be there in a couple of hours. Well. I was NOT expecting this itty-bitty boat, lemme tell you!
These two and their adorable son were so much fun. The clouds rolled in and besides a spit or two, the rain mostly stayed away, allowing for the dogs to have lots of fun. Zeke took a liking to Riley who thought he was such a pain in the ass, she ran to the dock and jumped into her boat!
I have just gone through my pics and have realised I don’t have a decent picture of Kristin, so this little video of the dogs chasing each other is the best I can do. Plus, she has the greatest laugh! And we get a sneak at Laura, Gord’s wife and owner of that crazy beagle, Jersey.
Jeff and Bristow were having a game of Bocci and Riley was only too happy to help.
I dunno if I should bug you with another video but suffice it to say we determined that Jersey was the equivalent of a veloceraptor attacking the T-Rex in Jurassic World… She was after Zeke non-stop and he was quite good about her over-exuberance!
After all that nonsense, it was lunchtime. We had delicious nachos and some of us had Bloody Caesars made with my special vodka concoction.
Believe it or not, there is 40 oz of vodka in there!
Kristin was a big fan, as was Jeff. The dogs entertained us a bit more, each of them going for a swim and making us laugh.
By 4:00, the Bristows had to leave as the locks close and 6:00 and they didn’t want to take any chances of missing their passage.
Gord, Bristow, Jeff
Kristin was driving the boat back and I wish I had my phone ready to catch her exit. It was Don Johnson in Miami Vice Days worthy! Lucky she didn’t clip the dock!
We, on the other hand had another delicious meal of a fabulous roast chicken, roasted corn and tomato salsa/salad, roast potatoes. Gord and Laura joined us for dessert of roasted pineapple with ice cream. Oh yum.
I played with my camera settings on my phone, trying to get a proper picture of the sunset. I was having a blast (seriously, who needs a camera?)
Back to the fire we went till Anne put the three boys (Jack and Liam (the neighbours’ son) slept over) to bed and we lost her. This time we were quasi-reasonable and ended the evening at 1:30.
The next day, we took our time, having breakfast at 11:00. Jeff and I were across the water before noon and off Zeke and I went. We Quebecers used to laugh at Ontarians for not knowing how to drive. Man, times have changed! I drove most of the way home at 130-135kmh (80-85mph) most of the way!
I was home before 5:00. Waited around for one of the boys to come home and gave up, throwing in a frozen pizza for supper by almost 8:00.
Thank you Jeff and Anne for sharing your little slice of heaven with me!
xoxo
A Dalectable Life 