‘Snowcake’, Raystown fishing and camping trip, lawn rehab (posted from home)

(this post covers 21-30 September, 2007)
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Sunday, 30 September-

Maypo, Orat and I went shooting today while the ladies did some shopping and hung out. We drove to the recently-rebuilt shooting range in the Michaux State Forest and were pleasantly surprised to find a new handgun range. The old rifle range had a position for handguns but it was very limited—you could shoot at 15 yards and that was it. The new range is terrific for a couple of shooters but I’m not sure I like the design for a mixed group. There are three nice, heavy backstops in a line and a stone lot in front of it. The stone lot is the full width of the three backstops by 25 yards deep. Four-by-four posts mark the 10, 15, 20, and 25-yard distances from the backstop. That worked fine for us but I’m wondering what happens when several shooters want to shoot from different distances. I’m afraid someone will think it’s okay to shoot from ten yards while someone else is shooting at one of the other backstops from 20 or 25 yards. I think I’d rather see a hot zone marked out and signs put up to tell shooters not to shoot while anyone is anywhere in the hot zone.
After shooting Maypo insisted that we stop at the ice cream shop on the way home. Good idea! We then drove over to see Mom at the assisted-living facility. She was happy to see us and reminded us (more than once) to come visit more often.
That evening we had a group supper before Labashi and I headed for home around 1930.

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Saturday, 29 September

Today we went to Chambersburg for a visit with my brothers’ families and to attend a baby shower for our soon-to-arrive grand niece (!!!). We had a pleasant gathering (and excellent sandwiches) at the Main Street Deli’s meeting room and then went home to sit on the front porch and watch the world go by. The heat has broken and it was a perfect day. We spent the evening chatting away, then stayed the night in Mocha Joe in the driveway.

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Friday, 28 September–

Ok, enough work already. We took a day-trip to Baltimore today. I wanted to go to West Marine to pick up some electrical items for the fishing boat and Labashi just wanted to ride along. I was disappointed to find the West Marine at Chase (MD) only minimally stocked. Prices have also gone crazy. I was hoping to find an LED-powered bow light to match a nice all-around light I picked up in Florida but no luck. I think I may have found the ‘right’ electrical distribution panel but I want to keep looking to be sure. I ended up leaving without buying anything. We headed for downtown Baltimore thinking we’d visit an architectural salvage warehouse but the instructions were wrong because of construction in the area and it was getting late in the day to figure it out so we headed toward home and stopped at Chili’s in Timonium for Labashi’s favorite fajitas and a margarita or three.

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Thursday, 27 September-

Labashi had a load of topsoil brought in for the south section and last evening it rained quite hard so today didn’t look like much fun. Thankfully the rain didn’t carry away the topsoil or erode the lawn but we have some mud to deal with and the topsoil is a bit clumped and heavy. I spent a few hours wheel-barrowing loads of topsoil for Labashi to play with. By the end of the day she had it all ready for the evening’s storms. I’m ready for the hot weather to be over.

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Wednesday, 26 September-

Finally. I dug through the morning and then another hour after lunch to finish the south section. Late in the afternoon I buzzed in to Starbucks on the bike to relax and read the Times. But my relaxation was short-lived. On the way home I got caught in a traffic jam and it was miserable to be stuck in traffic on this very-hot day (again in the high Eighties). But at least the digging’s done for awhile.

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Tuesday, 25 September-

This morning I had a periodontist appointment then I spent the hot afternoon (88 degrees at the end of September!) on the web. That evening I started digging again around 1730 and dug until dark.

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Monday, 24 September-

Today I got back to digging. We completed the west side of the lawn and now we’re doing the south side. Weather has gotten hotter so the digging today wasn’t much fun. I started around 0830 and stopped around 1330. I was frustrated toward the end when I hit clay and it would take four or six jumps on the shovel to get the shovel in. But—we’re getting there.

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Sunday, 23 September-

After breakfast we again fished for an hour or two and then went exploring. This time we headed south (up the lake). We’ve not been above the bridge at Entriken before and today went up to the south end of the lake past Weaver’s Falls and on to the docks at Heritage Cove Resort. We would have liked to go on as far as possible but we were running low on time so turned around there. We stopped for a quick lunch at Weaver’s Falls before continuing back to Nancy’s. We packed up and headed for the van at Aitch launch ramp. We were pleasantly surprised to find the ramp open and by 1500 we were on the way. This time we drove south along the lake, taking SR26 to US30 and hitting the turnpike at Breezewood. This turned out to be a very easy drive and a bit quicker than our trip up. We made it back to Chambersburg by 1730 and then Maypo and I had supper at the new Moe’s Southwest Grill there before I headed home. Moe’s is a step up from a Baja Fresh but does the serving-line thing like a Subway. The food—at least the chichen quesadilla and the guacamole — was pretty tasty but I’m not fond of the wait-in-line serving method.

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Saturday, 22 September-

We arose a little late for fishing and were on the water by 0830. We spent an hour or so fishing the cove above Nancy’s campground then took the boat into the James Creek area to explore all the little bays. That’s a spectacular area and would make a good kayaking area for newbies given the many areas to explore, all of them are in the no-wake zone. In late morning we started down the lake and had lunch at the picnic area at Seven Points. We saw a lot of traffic but our boat did very well jumping the boat wakes and we were able to buzz right along despite our relatively meager 20-horse motor. We stopped at Susquehannock Campground to see if there are ANY flat campsites in that silly place. I had stopped at this campground on my kayaking trip a couple of weeks ago and found nothing even remotely like a flat spot for my tent but I had wanted to stay near the water so didn’t check out the sites further back. Good thing I kept going: today we found only two spots flat enough for sleeping and I had seen campers in that area last time so I don’t believe they were available. Even if they had been available it would have been a hassle to make multiple trips up and down the steep hill to carry gear between the kayak and campsite and I’d have had to leave the kayak unattended overnight.
We then explored the beautiful ‘rabbit ears’ area near Snyder Run launch ramp and fished for another hour before starting back to Nancy’s. The ‘rabbit ears’ are two long coves which look like rabbit ears from the nearby Hahn Overlook. They are very pretty with their extra-clear water and small, private areas for a boat or two to stop for the kids or dogs to swim or for us fishermen to enjoy.
Around 1500 we started back and decided we’d go up Trough Creek to the park for a walk. We walked to the state park campground and there saw two older guys with kayaks on their car roof preparing supper. We asked a question or two about their kayaks and that led to a long and interesting conversation about their kayaking experiences on the Delaware River and in Alaska. Our long conversation earned us a late start for our return to the campground and it soon became apparent we should have navigation lights on the fishing boat. I had intended to bring my little clip-on kayaking nav lights but had forgotten them. We had to be extra-careful as we left Trough Creek cove to cross main navigation channel and at the last minute had to divert away from the channel because of a fast-approaching boat but then made it to the campground with no problem. We soon had a fire going and then had a pleasant night around the campfire before a nice, quiet sleeping night.

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Friday, 21 September-

After I posted my blog update last night we watched the movie ‘Snowcake’. Now that was an interesting movie. I picked it up at our local video store after seeing the photo (on the DVD case) of a hitchhiker holding a sign for Wawa. We had lunch in Wawa (Ontario) on our recently-completed trip so I was interested to see if we would recognize it. (The word ‘Wawa’ came from the Ojibwe word ‘wewe’, meaning ‘wild goose’. This town of about 4000 people lies above Lake Superior on a scenic stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway, halfway between Sudbury and Thunder Bay. Its main industries are forestry, mining, tourism, and government services.)
‘Snow Cake’ did not disappoint. Both Sigourney Weaver and Alan Parkman were terrific. The plot seemed a bit of a stretch but the feel of northern Ontario seemed right on (at least to us tourists!). We loved seeing the establishing shots of the area and picking out little things like this: The storyline begins in Timmins and travels to Wawa. There are two ways to make that trip—more-or-less straight west for 200 miles across Route 101 or up to the Trans-Canada 11 and down through Hornepayne for 365 miles. The problem with 101 is there are very few services and it feels very remote. But the trip via the Trans-Canada is a LOT longer and you still have some long stretches of remote-feeling road. The movie takes the long way. We know that from the establishment shots which show, for example, the very distinctive flying saucer at Moonbeam (http://www.embargo.ca/highway11/JamesBay/JB-13-Moonbeam.htm) which lies along the Trans-Canada. I just loved seeing that and knowing what the heck it is. There’s no explanation for it in the movie—you just see the characters driving by a flying saucer. Same at Wawa. Wawa is famous for its gigantic Canada goose statue (in fact, two of them). The protagonist is shown at the goose statue but there’s no explanation what it is or why it’s there. (http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Ontario/Wawa_goose.htm).

Today, I packed up the van and boat and headed out for the weekend. Maypo took a half-day off from work so we met late in the morning at his house. By 1500 we were at the Hahn Overlook, taking in the spectacular view of the south end of the lake on this beautiful summer’s day. Today is the first day of Fall but it feels a lot more like summer.
We then drove on to Seven Points and checked out the visitor’s center I had missed on my kayaking trip up here earlier this month. By 1700 we were at the Aitch ramp launching the boat. After motoring out to Nancy’s Boat-In Campground we set up the tent, had a quick supper and started looking for firewood as the sun set. Pickings were slim for firewood at the campground so we motored across the cove to a likely-looking spot and that paid off. There was plenty of dead wood lying about within easy reach and by dark we had a nice fire going.
About 2200 we found we had a problem. There were only a few other campers in the campground but one group decided it was party-night. We went over and asked them to turn down the radio and they did for awhile but by 0200 they had it cranked up to full volume and they were all well-lubricated. Finally, they shut it off at 0300.


======== end of 30 September post =====

‘Shortbus’, ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’, T and D Cats of the World, zoysia woes, ‘Desperate Housewives, Season Three’ (posted from home)

(this post covers 9-20 September, 2007)
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Thursday, 20 September-

We felt much better this morning but we’ll have to change the work plan. We can’t just keep going as we had been—we just don’t have the stamina, especially now that it’s getting hotter. I continued digging the south side through the morning but then took a break after lunch and rode in to Starbucks for coffee and the Times. Labashi spent the afternoon prepping the northwest corner for planting—not digging but still a lot of work. She seems better able to work in the heat—probably because she does a lot more of it than I do!
That evening we watched the kickoff of ‘Survivor- China’.

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Wednesday, 19 September-

Today we bonked. We were trying to keep going to take advantage of the good weather but by mid-afternoon we were so exhausted we had to give up. We thought we’d just take the rest of the afternoon off and start again after supper but that just didn’t work. We can barely walk, much less dig. We finished ‘Desperate Housewives, Season Three’.

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Tuesday, 18 September-

More digging today. Thank goodness for the nice weather and low humidity. This is a big hassle and we apparently underestimated what it’s going to take. We were hoping to get the west side done today but came up way short. The digging was going pretty well but now has bogged down as we hit an area with lots of clay, stones, and tree roots. Yikes!

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Monday, 17 September-

Today we started a not-so-fun project. The previous owner of our home had fallen for the zoysia-grass ads. You know—the ones in Parade Magazine which show the ‘miracle’ of zoysia grass (see http://www1.zoysiafarms.com/). The one detail they don’t mention is zoysia turns brown when night-time temperatures go consistently below 50 degrees. It looks like some vandal went wild on your lawn with Roundup. The zoysia people say the grass goes ‘dormant’ and ‘this is a natural process’. They don’t mention it’s very, very ugly. And spreads uncontrollably—even across the street into the neighbor’s yards.
About ten years ago Labashi hired a contractor to help her eliminate our zoysia grass and she and the contractor stripped all our grass and replanted anew. But about two years ago we saw the zoysia was back. So before we went away this summer Labashi used Roundup to kill an eight-foot swath the edge of our lawn. And now we’ve got to do something about it.
We spent the day digging. We first have to use a pitchfork, running it under the zoysia and lifting to peel back a two-inch-thick mass of roots. After kicking out the dirt from among the roots, we toss them aside to be wheel-barrowed away for later burning.
Then we dig in and overturn the soil, picking out stones and tree roots. What a hassle.
After an exhausting day, we watched three more ‘Desperate Housewives, Season Three’ episodes.

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Sunday, 16 September-

Today Labashi and I went to ‘T and D Cats of the World’, an oddly-named small- animal rescue facility near Penn’s Creek. We’ve visited several such facilities recently —one near Orlando, one in the Keys, one in Ontario— and always find something interesting. This one apparently started out specializing in cats and then grew. They have something on the order of 200 animals. We saw monkeys, black bears, tigers (including a Siberian!), wolf-dogs, deer, coatis, parrots, servals, cougars, leopards, lions, a fennec fox, emus, (and others!). And this is the first time we’ve seen a large number of the same animal. They have 19 cougars (and 19 servals)! Absolutely incredible! What a great place.

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Saturday, 15 September-

Today I took the KLR to Starbucks and then on to Lowe’s to buy a door strip to fix an occasional rain leak at the mud-room door. I see the strip will take some time to fit properly but I think it will do the job. The leak hasn’t really been causing any damage but has allowed a half-cup or so of water to pool on the concrete floor after a heavy rain coming from the east. Not exactly an emergency but I’d like to get it resolved.


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Friday, 14 September-

After spending the morning on the web, today’s major event was a jog at Rocky Ridge. With the cooler weather and a bit of a breeze, it went well and I made it under the 90- minute mark for the end-to-end course.

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Thursday, 13 September-

Not much going on today. I’ve been doing some trip planning on the web and mowed the lawn. That evening—more ‘Desperate Housewives’--- uh, the TV series.

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Wednesday, 12 September-

Today I took the fishing boat to Lake Marburg to add some more break-in hours for the motor. The little Honda 20 has 8-1/2 hours of the ten-hour break-in on it and then I’ll give it it’s first oil change.
I did a silly thing today. I ran the boat out of gas. I didn’t want to use the old gas I had put in the tank back in June so I dumped that into the storage tank for my lawnmower. At the gas station I filled up the van but only put about a gallon into the boat’s tank, thinking I had only used about two gallons to put seven hours on the motor. I spent an hour and a half zooming around the lake and, sure enough, ran out of gas. That’s when it occurred to me that most of that other seven hours had been done at much lower throttle settings. Duhh!
Fortunately I had the electric trolling motor along so it was a simple matter of putting the motor down and using it instead. The electric motor supposedly will last for an hour and a half at full throttle and I figured I was about to find out if that’s true. But a half-hour later I made it back to the launch ramp. That would be a good thing to test (when I have the gas motor working!).
That evening we watched three more episodes of ‘Desperate Housewives’. Funny!

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Tuesday, 11 September-

This morning I had an appointment with the periodontist for the next step with my dental implant—uncovering the implant and prepping for the permanent cap (will this ever be over?). Afterwards I spent a few hours at the local Borders bookstore browsing. Book prices have gotten so high that I don’t really consider buying books any more but I did notice that they don’t seem to be as high as book prices in Canada—and that’s before adding on Canada’s high taxes. That evening we watched ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’, an HBO movie with Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, August Schellenberg, Anna Paquin, Wes Studi, and Gordon Tootoosis. Well worth a look. I see RT says it doesn’t have enough reviews to rate this film. I’d give it a 65 overall and something like a 75 for fans of Native American history films.

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Monday, 10 September-

I had some business with our bank to attend to so took care of that this morning and then spent a few hours at our regional library. After seeing many small libraries in our travels (most of them surprisingly good) I wondered how this one matches up. I was glad to see they have computers and have just recently added wireless. I spent most of my time browsing through the local and PA history area and found some very interesting books I need to borrow. But overall the collection is a little haphazard. They have some decent books but compared to libraries we saw in even the smallest towns in Manitoba this summer and small-town libraries in Florida we saw last winter, our local one is behind the times.
That evening we started Season Three of ‘Desperate Housewives’, one of our guilty pleasures.

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Sunday, 9 September-

I spent the morning updating the blog and working on the web. Later that afternoon Labashi and I joined my brother and his wife for dinner at Olive Garden.
My brother trailed our shared fishing boat to the restaurant so I could take custody.
That evening Labashi and I watched ‘Shortbus’ by John Cameron Mitchell. I see RottenTomatoes gives it a mid-50’s number. I’m not sure I’d go that high. The premise bothers me. Usually we are seeing someone’s ‘vision’, some story they want to tell. In this case the producers recruited actors for a movie which would include graphic sex. Once they found the ‘right’ people, they developed a story. The whole thing just seems too contrived.

========== end of 20 September post =======

Raystown kayak-camping, ‘Zodiac’, ‘Wild Hogs’, Concours 14 (posted from home)

(this post covers 3-8 September, 2007)

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Saturday, 8 September-

Today I rode up to Koup’s cycle shop and was pleasantly surprised to find a Concours 14 in stock. NICE bike! I’ve been reading about them since they were announced almost two years ago and now see the motorcycle press likes them. Motorcyclist has given it the Motorcycle of the Year award in the sport-touring category. Motorcycle Consumer News has only done an intro ride but says it will likely become the new standard for sport-touring once they’ve done their full test. And what’s not to like? It has 156 horsepower (my Concours—now called the Classic-- has about 90), fuel injection, super-quiet engine, electrically-adjustable windscreen, greatly-improved suspension, ABS braking option, good looks, and a pretty reasonable price tag (around $13K with ABS). But it’s still too early to buy (and then there’s the little detail of not being able to afford one right now). I’d love to have one but I can’t help but think back to Yamaha’s FJR1300 which turned out to have heat problems which didn’t get corrected until the third model year. I’ll wait for more feedback and hope to ride one at Daytona next March. In the meantime I only have 30K on mine and for a Concours, that’s nothin’.

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Friday, 7 September-

I’ve been wanting to see the new Concours 14 and my KLR needed an inspection so I rode the KLR down to Don’s Kawasaki today. I was able to get the inspection but they’ve sold the C14’s they’ve gotten so far though they do have one due in. On the way home I stopped by to see my buddies at Starbucks and the Eastern Market, then picked up some movies. It was another hot one today so I talked Labashi into breaking in late afternoon for a movie. We watched ‘Zodiac’ with Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey. We liked the re-creation of the Seventies time period and were glad to see the gore of the murders somewhat constrained. The story was a bit confusing and long but with it being rooted in actual events, the movie is a good one.
We then couldn’t resist and put ‘Wild Hogs’ into the DVD player. I knew this motorcycle road-trip comedy with John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William F. Macy (!!). I knew it was going to be silly but boy, what junk this one is. I see RottenTomatoes gives it the lowest ratings I’ve ever seen – 6% on the critics scale. Jump on your motorcycle or into your car and zoom away from this one. Heck, walk if you have to. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to ask for a refund of your rental fee.
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Thursday, 6 September-

Today was supposed to be a hot one and I’m not willing to spend another night with my new friends at the campground. I decided I’d paddle up nearby Trough Creek to the state park, then explore the little bights of James Bay before returning to the van and heading for home.
I got underway shortly after 10:00 and found it a very different day today. Where I had a breeze I was comfortable. In Trough Creek I had a following breeze and soon heated up too much but that didn’t last long. Further upstream I reached shade and shortly thereafter felt a cool breeze rolling downstream at me from the densely shaded valley around the state park. I paddled as far upstream as I could go and then walked a bit through the picnic area at the park. I see there’s a trailhead here for Terrace Mountain Hiking Trail. I’ll have to look into that one some. The trail apparently runs the length of Lake Raystown, mostly on the mountain ridge to its east and should make for nice Fall hiking.
After lunch along the stream, I paddled back out and across the main part of the lake into James Bay. But by that time the breeze had died out completely and I had to seek out small areas of shade for cooling off between paddling stretches. I passed the turnoff for James Creek and headed on to the launch ramp at Aitch. I unloaded the gear from the kayak and somehow got it up onto the roof rack by myself but the heat of the day was rapidly wearing me out. But by 14:00 I had Mocha Joe underway. I drove into Huntingdon to an internet café for a well-deserved coffee before heading home.
While retracing my route back down US522 I decided I’d take ‘the back way’ (PA641) at Shade Gap rather than go down so far south on 522 just to get to the turnpike entrance; I’d pick up one to my east. But as I neared Roxbury on 641 I realized I could easily divert and go see my brother. We spent the evening catching up and went out for wings and a beer before I headed on home.


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Wednesday, 5 September-

I didn’t sleep well so I didn’t get up until 08:30. I was surprised to find a dense fog hovering over the lake but it didn’t seem to stop the fishermen. I heard a boat at dawn (around 05:00) and several others in the intervening hours. As I made my oatmeal the fog began dissipating and by the time I was packed up I had a clear, sunny day. I paddled off to the north into a wonderful light breeze—just right for paddling.
After two hours I reached the Seven Points area and stopped for lunch at the public picnic area, taking a nice, long lunch break to refuel the paddling muscles. My original plan had been to paddle to the primitive Susquehannock campground but I found I was making much better time than expected so I decided I’d paddle on to the Snyder Run launch ramp area and explore the inlets I’d seen there from the Hawn Overlook yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed seeing the Overlook from below as I passed as it helped orient me. By 15:00 I was at Snyder’s Run ramp and then turned back toward the campground, figuring that would work out about right to end my paddling day.
But I had a little surprise coming at the campground. As I walked around through the sites near the lake, I found they were far too steep to sleep comfortably. The picnic tables all had big rocks under one side to get them anywhere near level. I looked at a dozen sites and there wasn’t any level ground anywhere. I could probably have walked a few blocks to additional sites and perhaps have found a suitable site but that would also mean I’d have to make several trips back and forth for my gear and would have to leave the kayak unattended overnight. No way!
I thought I’d paddle on to one of the two lakeside campgrounds at Seven Points but as I approached each of them I saw they were infested with big RVs with noisy air-conditioners and it would be like camping in the back yard. By that time it was 18:00 and I was missing my nice, secluded site at Nancy’s. I decided to load up on the carbs and go back there, even thought it would mean I’d have to paddle the last hour in the dark (another adventure!). I have portable navigation lights for the kayak so I could legally do that—it would just mean I’d have to stop somewhere to dig out and mount the lights.
The late-evening paddling was fantastic. The nice breeze I had had all day had switched direction and was still in my face. The sun slowing set as I passed mile markers 11 and 12, bound for 15. I stopped again around 12 to re-fuel my rapidly-tiring arms with granola bars, peanut-butter crackers, slim-jims and water and pressed on in the twilight. Despite the long day I made excellent time and soon could see the campground. I didn’t bother with the nav lights at that point. The twilight lasted longer than I had expected and I did have both a headlamp and an extra-bright flashlight I could use to warn off any rapidly-moving boats headed my way.
As I paddled the last hundred yards to the campground I saw three men walking through the campground, apparently looking for firewood left by previous campers. I had left an evening’s worth beside my fireplace and hoped they wouldn’t find it but sure enough they did, just as I arrived. The guys had seen me coming and I’m sure they wondered what was going on. As I pulled up I said ‘Well, there goes my firewood’ thinking, well, they have as much right to it as I did; I had done exactly the same thing last night.
They offered to leave the firewood to me but I told them to go ahead and take it- I had been paddling all day and was too tired to bother with it. At that they said they’d take it, but only if I’d come over for a nice, cold beer. Now that’s a deal!
After quickly setting up the tent I walked over for a beer. I was surprised to see a very large encampment being set up. Now I could see eight guys, four large tents, and a cooking area under a pipe-awning—the kind sold as garages for boats and RVs.
As I met my neighbors I began to get an uneasy feeling—these guys were here to party-hardy. They must have had four beer coolers and cases of it sitting around. And they had boom-boxes—the ones too big for one guy to carry. Sure enough, they connected up a boom box to one of the car batteries they had brought in and cranked-er-up. So much for conversation!
I made my excuses and headed back to my tent, thinking this is going to be a long night. The loud music continued until midnight when, to their credit, they turned it down. But the drunker they got the louder they talked. At 02:00 the talk stopped when one of them got out his electrified guitar and they began singing! Thankfully they called it a night at 03:00 and I finally was able to sleep well. To be fair, though, I do have to admit that some of my sleeping problems came from my aching arms. If you can believe the mile-markers, I had paddled over 30 miles for the day but several of those don’t look to be a mile apart so I’d guess it was more like 24 miles. In any case I was very happy with my paddling day.

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Tuesday, 4 September-

This morning I loaded up Mocha Joe and headed for Lake Raystown. Labashi wants to continue her fall gardening work but I’m ready for some paddling. I’m not sure I took the most direct route to Raystown (turnpike to 522, then 22 to Huntingdon) but I wanted to visit a couple of areas which I had bypassed in earlier visits. I first drove up to the Ridenour Overlook and walked out to the Hawn’s Overlook for a spectacular overview of the northern end of the lake. I had a great view on this sunny day but it must be incredible up there when the leaves have turned color.
I then drove to ‘The Point’ which is a launch area for the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. I remember being in this area shortly after the dam was built in the mid-Seventies but it looks very different today. I remember there were free Corps of Engineers campsites along the creek but I couldn’t pick out where they had been. I drove to the outlet gates for the dam but nothing looked familiar about the area.
I then drove on past Huntingdon and south on PA26 to the Seven Points Recreation Area. Unfortunately, I made it to the Visitor’s Center just minutes after it closed but I was able to get a current map from the security guard at the Seven Points Marina. I was somewhat dismayed to find a chain link fence and a security guard at the marina. Even more distressing is a sign at the launch ramp telling me there’s a $20 fee to use the launch ramp and signs in the parking lot showing a $5 per day parking fee for your vehicle and trailer. There are warning signs at each of the docks warning you that the docks are private property and demanding that you stay off. To my way of thinking this is an excellent example of why government should not allow private enterprise to take over a facility. The good news is there’s a public ramp nearby where the launch fee is $3 and there’s no daily parking charge.
With map in hand and evening looming I decided I’d drive on down to the Aitch launch ramp and paddle out to the Nancy’s Boat In campground for the night. I was happy to find Aitch a nice little ramp and parking area, i.e., somewhere I didn’t mind leaving the van for the night. I struggled a bit taking down the kayak by myself but it wasn’t all that bad and after stuffing it full of gear, I paddled off, happy to be on the water.
The paddle out only took and hour and I was happy to find I had the campground to myself. Many years ago—in the early Seventies— my youngest brother and I had walked out to this same boat-in campground in winter, pulling a toboggan loaded down with Dad’s big canvas tent and a wood stove we had built from a 30-gallon drum. We had walked in over the frozen lake from the James Creek launch area— a big adventure for us. The adventure became even more adventurous when little brother was injured cutting firewood and we had to walk back out to take him to the emergency room. Because of the long wait at the Emergency Room we didn’t get back to the launch area until after midnight. I still vividly remember the walk back out to our campsite in the starlight, the Milky Way so vivid it lighted up the snow around us. Later that night, our little woodstove set the tent afire because I hadn’t made a proper exit in the tent for the stovepipe (I had split a seam and wrapped the stovepipe in a piece of asbestos cloth (!!!)). When the smell of the smoldering tent fabric woke us, we knocked off the stovepipe and carried the still-burning stove out the door (the legs I had welded on were cool enough to allow us to pick it up) and we tossed it into the deep snow, opened up the tent to clear the smoke, and eventually went back to sleep.
I didn’t recognize a thing at the campground. Obviously it had been re-done, probably several times, since our last visit. I set up the tent and got a nice fire going as it grew dark, then spent the evening around the fire, enjoying my tea and planning the next day.

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Monday, 3 September-

Happy Labor Day! Today I spent the morning catching up on my blog and email. In the afternoon I began planning a trip. Heck, we’ve been home since Wednesday so it’s time to hit the road again! Actually, I’ve wanted to do some camping on my own with the sea kayak. I’ve had the kayak a couple of years now and have only used it for day trips. Our little day-trips in the Boundary Waters have whetted my appetite for more. I need to get some experience loading the sea kayak down with gear and camping out of it to prepare for some kayak and boating trips I want to do in Florida this winter.

======== end of 9 September post =========

Home again!, ‘Perfume’, ‘Disappearance’, ‘Black Snake Moan’
(posted from home)

(this post covers 27 August- 2 September, 2007)

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Sunday, 2 September-

It’s another beautiful, sunny day today. I helped Labashi by mowing down the remainder of the weeds in the planting beds. With the mowers out of the way I had easy access to the KLR motorcycle parked in the deep recesses of the barn. I pulled it out and was happy to find it started up easily (I’ve been keeping the somewhat-weak battery charged up with the float charger). I see the inspection just ran out so I’ll have to get that done and I know it’s due for an oil change now that it has 5000 miles on it.
I decided I’d take the Miata into town today and took it up to the local gas station to check the tires (one has a very, very slow leak). Then I remembered— the inspection on it also ran out while we were away. Rats!
I rode the Concours down to Starbucks and Lowe’s (they’re in the same shopping center) for a coffee and Sunday paper, then a search for a solution to a problem with our mud-room door. When a hard rain comes from the east, it blows against the door and leaks past the seal in the lower corner.
I then rode down to the Long Level area along the Susquehanna (below Wrightsville) to the kayak shop. I’m hoping to find a nice, light fiberglass ‘yak to replace my heavy poly Sirocco but I really can’t afford the $2000+ price of a decent fiberglass one so it’s kind of ridiculous to look. But I like the ride down there anyway.
On the way home I went to Rocky Ridge Park and jogged the end-to-end route late in the afternoon. My goal today was just to finish since I’ve not done this long jog in quite a while and my time showed it, about a 1:40.
That evening we watched ‘Black Snake Moan’ with Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci. We thought it a good movie, particularly the use of blues music but there is a strong sexual content which could offend.

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Saturday, 1 September-

This morning I drove Cherry Larry down to the garden nursery to pick up 30 bags of mulch for Labashi. She’s in ‘tornado mode’ re-doing all the planting beds, i.e., clearing the weeds, digging up the bed, and then covering with oak mulch. Labashi had bought ten bags yesterday using a 50%-off coupon. So I took another of those coupons today for the additional 30 bags only to have the clerk tell me the discount would apply only to the first bag. When I pointed out they had done it yesterday on all ten bags, she said okay. As I left she told me the girl had done it incorrectly yesterday but since that had happened she felt compelled to go ahead with it today so I had gotten a heck of a bargain. (That Labashi is so lucky!)
I then fired up the Concours and rode down to the REI store in Timonium, MD. They had a Labor Day sale going on but I didn’t find much of interest. I did find one of the ultra-light wind jackets I like on sale and bought it but otherwise I was disappointed to find how high the prices have gotten.
That evening we watched ‘Disappearances’ with Kris Kristofferson, Genevieve Bujold, Gary Farmer, and Lothaire Bluteau. I was hesitant to select this movie given the lack of information on the DVD case but just had to see Lothaire Bluteau. He was so fantastic in ‘Black Robe’ and ‘Jesus of Montreal’ in the early 90’s. I also wanted to see the older Genevieve Bujold, particularly after just seeing the young Genevieve last week in ‘Coma’. And Gary Farmer was the quirky Indian in ‘Dead Man’, one of our all-time favorite movies. Unfortunately, ‘Disappearances’ doesn’t quite work. I love the idea of the story taking place on the Quebec-Vermont border and even the idea of the magical-realism elements of the story. But as storytelling, it didn’t work. Lothaire’s character was just weird and we end up not knowing who he was supposed to be and seeing him far too little. We don’t find out what ‘disappearances’ are and it’s not clear whether Genevieve’s character was real, sometimes-real, or what. The photography is lush and interesting but that only carries the movie so far. As one reviewer puts it: “the movie is lovely to look at but makes not one lick of sense”.

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Friday, 31 August-

Today we ran a few errands. For some reason the state of Pennsylvania thinks we didn’t pay our taxes (we did!) so we met with our tax preparer today. By mid-afternoon I wanted to get out so I mowed the lower lawn section and our wooded area.
That evening we watched ‘Perfume’, an odd movie about a perfumer/murderer in 18th Century France who finds compelled to bottle the ‘essence’ of young women in his quest for the perfect perfume. The book version of the story was quite a hit and it took years for anyone to attempt putting it to screen. But we have to agree with this reviewer: “By the time the mad finale rolls around, the viewer will feel had, for ‘Perfume’ grasps for significance where there is none to be found”.

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Thursday, 30 August-

It’s SO nice to be home! It’s a hot day today and I spent most of it going through our carton of held-mail and working on the computer, then later in the afternoon took on the considerable task of mowing the lawn. We had told the lawn service we only need the lawn mowed when it really, really needs it and they apparently took us at our word. My guess is they were planning to do it one last time just before our scheduled return but we came home early. In any case, the grass is very about six inches high and extraordinarily thick so I could only mow about half a row at a time.

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Wednesday, 29 August-

Today was a make-some-miles day. Time to go home! After a leisurely breakfast we got underway by 0900 and soon hit a construction backup on I-75 south of Detroit. But I can’t object too much—that stretch of road really needs a rehab. Traffic, particularly truck traffic, was very heavy down to the Ohio turnpike but then was blissfully light once on the turnpike. By 1830 we were nearing home but decided to celebrate our trip with a nice meal at the Hillside. When we finally pulled in the driveway shortly before dark we were amazed to see our new crop of weeds. The lawn service had kept the grass mowed but we hadn’t anticipated how well the weeds would do in the planting beds around the shrubbery. Some of the weeds were over six feet high! As Labashi toured the weed beds with our neighbor, I opened up the house and buzzed through getting things turned back on and checked out. We were happy to find everything came up with no problems and we had no surprises.

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Tuesday, 28 August-

This morning I drove over to a motorcycle shop in Bloomfield Hills which advertises itself as the largest in Michigan. They did indeed have a lot of motorcycles but a predictable and somewhat boring selection of models—except for one. I finally got to throw a leg over the new Kawasaki Versys, an interesting new 650cc cross-over. I did see two interesting Can-Am three-wheelers--- sort of a combination snowmobile/motorcycle with two wheels in front and one in the rear— in the parking lot.
I spent the afternoon on the web at the Southfield library. I’m really impressed by that library and just love it. It’s completely modern and has dozens of tables for laptop users, each with an electrical outlet and a hardwire connection if you prefer that to their nice, fast wi-fi service.

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Monday, 27 August-

Today I drove over to a Royal Oak appliance store to pick up a spring for the dishwasher door I had temporarily fixed yesterday with two smaller generic springs from Lowe’s. I spent the remainder of the afternoon at the library on the laptop and reading magazines I don’t normally get a chance to see. That evening Labashi and I took a long and very pleasant stroll around the neighborhood.

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