Tudor Robins's Blog, page 14

Amphicar! #twoweeksonwolfeisland

Yesterday we went for a ride in an amphicar!

This is a restored amphicar circa 1967.

This is the way things happen on Wolfe Island – unexpectedly, casually, and last-minutey (I made that one up). We were sitting around the pool, when my dad said, “Oh, David (our friend) said the kids could have a ride in the amphicar if we took them over. Let me just call him.”

We had been planning to go to David and Betty-Anne’s place anyway because they have some of The. Most. Awesome. Waterfront on the island and we love swimming there.

A brief photographic digression to show you the waterfront in question:

The shoreline is beautifully rocky.

More rocky shoreline.

The water is so clear.

And the view, over to Kingston, is just breathtaking. That point, on the left of the picture, is the Dawson Point ferry dock. We can watch the ferry coming and going from here.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering about the amphicar … it is pretty darn cool …

A car with lifejackets!

And propellers …

This is what a car looks like in the river … such an odd thing to see!

Look at the wake!

And here’s the exit – from a distance …

… then closer …

… and out they come!

Apparently, you can pay $100 US for a 20-minute ride in one of these cars at Disney World … or you can come to Wolfe Island!

This is the start of two weeks on Wolfe Island – I’m pretty sure I can find something to tell you about every day – even if it is something small and not-very-important.

Let’s see how I do!

Night Ferry

By now I have been on the Wolfe Island ferry at almost every conceivable time (except I don’t think I’ve ever been on the 5:45 a.m. boat. Of course, now that I’ve mentioned it, some instance will surely occur that requires me to be on the 5:45 a.m. boat).

The trip across is always lovely, but I thought it might interest you to see what it’s like at night. Here are some pics:

Leaving Kingston behind.

Here’s a tall ship / schooner in the harbour – can you see it? Sorry if you can’t …

The cars lined up – looking back, toward Kingston.

It was a beautiful night, so everybody was outside.

Those lights on the bridge are BRIGHT at night!

For some people the night was just starting – here’s a trailer of one of the bands playing at the very popular Wolfe Island MusicFest.

Lovin’ the night ferry!

Gar … and other swimming challenges

In case you’ve never seen one, this is a gar.

“Say hi to the gar!” It’s what my husband says to me as he watches me wade into the St. Lawrence, swim cap and goggles on, with my Safer Swimmer float tethered around my waist.

The gar, if you’re not familiar with them, are very much like the picture above – murky, lurking, large fish that skulk in shallow water – in our bay they like the areas with mucky, sucky, goo on the river floor, and cattails not far away.

The first time I caught a glimpse, from high on the bank, of sixteen, or maybe eighteen, gar all lined up basking in the warm water by the shore, I was really freaked out. There’s something prehistoric and menacing about those giant, long, skinny fish.

Now, I don’t worry about them too much. Or at least not when I do the 1K swims I’ve been doing while at the cottage.

I swim through a relatively deep part of the bay, cutting a straight line from our swimming raft to our neighbour’s boathouse. It’s about 500m there – about 1K round trip – a distance that would make me laugh when running. A distance that leaves me breathing hard and wobbly-legged when I finally slap the swimming raft at the end of my swims.

What might freak other people out are the weeds. If you divide my swim into thirds, the first third – starting from our swimming raft – merely has weeds on the river floor. Ditto for the final third by Scott’s boathouse. The middle third has world champion weeds. They grow ten or twelve feet from the bottom of the bay. They’re thick and healthy. They poke their heads above the water’s surface. They grab and twine around my wrists, ankles, neck. I look down into their waving, green depths when my face is down between breaths.

I’m still struggling with my breathing (please let that come – please let it get easier) and mid-week I was face down, weed-gazing, when a fairly large fish scooted through my line of vision. I gasped. When you gasp, and your face is underwater, guess what happens? Yup, so that was another breathing setback.

I don’t mind the weeds, though. In a way, I’m happy when I reach them on my way back. It means I’m making good progress – means I’m going to be done in the foreseeable future. So, the gar don’t bother me, and the weeds don’t bother me … what does?

Well, I guess the waves. For those of you who don’t know, Wolfe Island holds 86 wind turbines. This is for a very good reason. It is frickin’ windy. Like, almost all the time. So, I watch the bay closely and when the water is merely ruffled – not choppy or whitecapped – I’ll start swimming. But just because I start swimming with no waves, doesn’t mean there will be no waves when I turn around to come back. This morning there were, and that meant they both hit me in the mouth and nose when I turned my face to breath in one direction, and washed over my head and trickled down over my mouth and nose when I turned my face to breathe in the opposite direction. So, breathing issues again …

So, how do I feel about these swims? I like them enough to keep doing them. I figure if I can swim in these weedy, fishy, wavy conditions, at least I won’t be unpleasantly surprised later when I encounter something similar in some other open water swim.

I’m happy I’ve started swimming. I want to get better. I want to swim farther.

Just please, please, please, let me come to peace with the breathing thing. Or maybe I’ll have to start swimming with a snorkel …

Beach Day

You guys are going to think every place I go is my favourite, but I’m still going to have to go ahead and tell you about this particular favourite – Big Sandy Bay on (yes, of course) Wolfe Island.

Big Sandy Bay is a (not very creatively named) massive horseshoe-shaped stretch of sand at the Lake Ontario end of the island. Beautiful fine sand is bordered by sand dunes on one side (think Sandbanks) and runs into the crashing waves of Lake Ontario on the other.

Looking out from the beach, you can see … nothing. Nothing at all. Just water stretching way, way out into the massive lake. And all you can hear is the deafening crash of waves. And then you go in and it’s freshwater! This often freaks out visitors used to the ocean because it looks like the ocean, and sounds like the ocean, but it’s not.

And, you know, there’s not much else to say about this place, so here are some pictures …

This was the view to the right of our spot on the beach …

And this was the view to the left. Notice anything missing? That’s right – other people! One of the charms of Big Sandy Bay is that you often feel like you have the whole place to yourself.

There’s not much yummier than lunch on the beach after body surfing for a while. This is my current favourite – pearl barley salad.

See? Nothing to see here, except water, waves and sky. Heaven …

What’s your favourite beach?

On. My. Kindle. 2

During my first On. My. Kindle. post, I wrote about Kate Lattey’s books – all of them, Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run, and Monty Roberts’ From My Hands to Yours.

Since then, I stand by my recommendation of Kate’s books, I finished reading Born to Run, and I still haven’t read the Monty Roberts book.

So, first, Born to Run. I really liked this. I borderline loved it. It definitely changed my running life, which means it changed my life in general. This book made me think about the joy of running. I was high on this book when I ran the Wolfe Island Classic, and those thoughts helped make what is really quite a tough run, much, much easier.

If you’re a runner, I definitely recommend this book, and if you’re not, I still think it’s a well-told story full of thought-provoking ideas.

Thumbs up for Born to Run.

For my horsey readers, a new book on my Kindle that I still haven’t read, but am looking forward to trying, is Stay the Distance by Mara Dabrishus. Mara had a great free deal on for this book, and I’ve heard great things about it, so I made sure to get it on my Kindle. I’ll let you know once I’ve read it.

Now, for my over-the-top, one-hundred-per-cent, most-definite-favourite-book-of-the-year-so-far … The Fall Line. Sound familiar? It did to me, too – this book kept popping up next to my book (Fall Line) on Amazon, and it was a non-fiction book about downhill ski racing, which I’m currently researching for the sequel to Fall Line, so I thought “what the heck? Why not order it?”

Oh. My. Word. This book rocked my world. I LOVED it. I loved everything about it. I loved the writing. I loved the subject matter. I loved the background about downhill racing (I ate up every word). I came to love Bode Miller, and Lindsey Vonn, and all the other racers Nathaniel Vinton writes about. I loved the ski venues. I already loved downhill racing, but this book made me love it more.

I admit it – I’m totally biased. I’m immersed in this subject matter right now, and it’s fascinating to me. I think anybody could love and enjoy this book, but I can’t be subjective about it. What I can definitely say is, if you like skiing at all, I highly recommend this book.

Next up, as you may have read in my recent blog post, I’m working on my swimming. A friend recommended I read Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier (doesn’t that sound promising?). I put a hold on it at the library and it’s there, waiting for me to pick it up, so I can’t wait to give it a try.

That’s me for now – what are you reading? Great tips are always appreciated!

Cape Vincent

It’s amazing how many different things we can do from Wolfe Island, and one of them is go to the States. We’re on the island’s south shore, so we stare at the US coast all day, every day. We enjoy their fireworks on July 4 and we get reminded it’s time to stop swimming and think about lunch when we hear the noon whistle from Cape Vincent, NY – the tiny town right across the St. Lawrence from our cottage.

Cape Vincent isn’t exactly a fast-paced, high-adventure destination, but it’s easy for us to get to and, like all Thousand Island / St. Lawrence communities, it’s pretty and relaxing.

Here’s how a trip to Cape Vincent looks for us:

This is my dad’s new, super-easy, super-simple bike rack. He discovered it when visiting my brother in Nelson, BC. Isn’t it great? If you have a pick-up, I highly recommend this system …

We bring bikes because there’s a nice bike ride on a quiet road along the shore of the St. Lawrence that ends at a lighthouse.

Even though the US seems so close, to get to the US ferry, we have to drive back to the north shore of Wolfe Island, through the village, then cut across the entire island. It’s over 20 (windy) K each way. I’ve told the kids one of these days (sooner than they think) we’re going to cycle the whole way, but for now we drive to the ferry dock.

Love the seagull!

Crossing into US waters!

This ferry is MUCH smaller than the ferry to Kingston, and our bikes take up a lot of space on it.

Once we clear US Customs …

This is it folks! Friendliest US Customs officials ever …

We cycle through downtown Cape Vincent and head along the pretty road to the Tibbett’s Point Lighthouse.

This is my kind of Dead End …

The lighthouse is really pretty, and there’s a Youth Hostel here, too. A picturesque place to stay.

We cycle out, we cycle back, then we get lunch, or ice cream (or both) and check out the art gallery, and buy any necessities in the Cape Vincent market / hardware store / souvenir shop (today it was guinea pig pellets), then it’s time to come back to Ontario.

Did you know there was an official border crossing on Wolfe Island?

It’s always fun to go for a little trip, and it’s always good to come home …

The road home.

I hope your summer’s going well!

Swimming

“Swimming Goggle adjustment” – a Creative Commons image taken by www.simplyswim.com

This is not me, but I know how this feels.*

This week I started working on my swimming.

As someone with a fairly typical Canadian childhood, I have always known how to swim. I love the water. I took many hours of swimming lessons until I was – I don’t know? – eleven? twelve?

I was a strong swimmer at that point and could essentially keep myself going over pretty much any distance so I think the idea was that I was done. “Knows how to swim,” could be ticked off my list of life achievements.

And, I guess I wasn’t terrible. When I entered a triathlon on a complete fluke, the night before (and did the bike portion on my mountain bike), the swim was 1K in the Ottawa River, and I did fine. Much better than I expected. I finished about halfway through the pack, when I had been prepared to be dead last.

But you couldn’t say I was an efficient swimmer. And – although I couldn’t see myself – probably not a pretty one.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, as we were arriving on the island for the Wolfe Island 10K, my mom mentioned in passing that an acquaintance of ours had just completed a 5K swim from Kingston to Wolfe Island.

Really? I was intrigued. I had a million questions. And poor Jack (the swimmer in question) – I cornered him at the start of the race (he was running 5K after swimming 5K the day before) and dug for information.

Long story short, I hope to attempt that 5K swim next year, and by the end of this summer, I’d like to attempt a shorter (less than 1K) swim to a smaller, closer island, but it means I need to improve my swimming.

Which started this week.

I was nervous on Tuesday morning as I waited for the experienced Masters swimmers to clear the lanes. I was wearing a brand-new training swimsuit, and I had goggles for the first time ever, and a swim cap. My instructor said I looked like a swimmer. I felt like a poseur. Which, at that moment, I was.

But I tried hard for an hour. Working on breathing every three strokes sometimes left me feeling like I was drowning in slow motion. One of the drills was absolutely horrible. But I learned lots in that first hour and, when I got back in the pool this morning, I was already much better than two days ago.

So, I’m going to keep practicing, and get some more instruction, and I hope to become a (more) efficient swimmer, who can do distance swims for fun when I feel like it.

I only get one life, and there are certain things I want to achieve during it, and this is one of them.

How about you? Is there something you want to work on during your amazing life?

*I don’t know what the swimmer in the picture above is thinking, but I know what I’m thinking right then as I rest at the start of the lane and buy time by adjusting my goggles – I’m thinking “This is the last pure air you’re going to breathe for a while: enjoy it!”

Pan-Amazing – another YOLO post

You know, yes, Mono is a long drive from Ottawa. And, yes, that drive is made particularly harrowing because you have to either face Toronto traffic (!!!) or make a very long, slow detour around Toronto – essentially long, slow driving no matter how you look at it. And, yes, when booking tickets in March for an event in July, it could be pouring rain on that distant summer day. Easily. Or it could be thirty degrees with a heat advisory (BINGO! it was …)

But YOLO. I can’t imagine the Pan Am Games will ever be in Toronto again in my lifetime, so I bought tickets and we went. There was lots and lots of evidence of Panamania all around the GTA. Direction signs carrying the three-letter venue codes everywhere, and the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes marked out on the 401. Here was the sign we saw as we approached our venue:

I was so glad I bought our tickets early!

There was a buzz – a sense of excitement as we entered the venue. A nice lady’s voice reminding us to mind our crossing guards, and only cross the course at designated crossing points, when allowed (or risk being run over by a thundering, galloping horse). We had to make sure any water bottles we brought in were empty, so the nice lady also reminded us to fill up at the water filling stations and “stay hydrated!” It was frigging hot, so I visited the water filling stations many, many times … And then there were the flags:

A great reminder of what we were there to see!

And the competitors! We were so, so close. You could feel the horses’ breathing in your chest, and the vibrations of their hoofbeats through the soles of your feet. When you cheered you were looking right at the riders’ faces. It was hot, and the horses were slick with sweat – it was a very immediate experience. Here are some of the hundreds of shots we took:

This is jump one – the Toronto Arch – with the view onwards along the course.

This was the first horse / rider that thundered past us. This was when I knew it was going to be a great day … talk about firsthand experience of world class riding!

Next we headed to the second of two water areas – each had three jumping efforts – the kids thought these were pretty cool.

This was at the first of the two water zones.

The jumps were fun and beautiful, with local themes. This one was the “Fort York Cannons.” It was fun to hear the announcer reading out the names of the jumps as the horses cleared them (Blue Jay Corners, Turkey Feeder, Owl Hole, etc.).

An amazing shot of one of the Canadians clearing the Golden Horseshoe (second-last jump on course). You could tell when a Canadian was on course – and follow her jump-by-jump – just by the cheering that broke out all over the site in a kind of wave following her along.

I’m showing you this jump for a reason … remember it.

When the final rider had gone, the volunteers let down the ropes and we were able to walk in among the jumps, take pictures, etc.

This is me, leaning on that same jump you saw the grey clearing above.

And the entire family, seeing just how high and solid those logs are. There was a lot of “We’ll take your picture, if you’ll take ours” going on. That’s how we got a picture of all four of us.

So, that was it. Pan Am Games Toronto 2015 done for us. I’m super-glad I went. Are you going to the Pan Am Games this summer? Are you doing something else that fits into the YOLO spirit?

Wakefield, QC

I actually like a day with a few clouds in the sky even more than I like a day with “not a cloud in the sky” – just my preference!

So, yes, you all know I love the island. Many of you have come to love the island, too. However, there’s a place that is possibly more integral to me, more formative of who I am, and at least equally dear to my heart, and that place is Wakefield, Quebec.

In fact, if I could only choose either Wolfe Island, or Wakefield … well I hope I never have to make that choice!

You see, I ski in Wakefield. I started skiing in Wakefield when I was about four or five. And, actually, before I was four, or five, my parents used to put me in a daycare at the ski hill while they went skiing. So, I’ve been spending time in Wakefield for longer than I can remember.

My kids ski in Wakefield now and, in the winter time, we spend LOTS of time in Wakefield.

In the summer, not so much. Not never, but not so much.

Well, today we went to Wakefield and the weather was what you see in the picture that opens this post, and I was ready to put our house in Ottawa on the market and move forty minutes up the Gatineau river. I really do love this little village.

Here are some of the reasons why …

OK, first stop today was this somewhat-strange (or, possibly, very strange) attraction called Éco-Odyssée. Adults might not be sure about the attraction of paying to “steer” (I use the term loosely) a pedal-boat through a swamp, but believe-you-me, kids love it. And, when kids are happy, we’re happy. So here’s a snapshot(s) of Éco-Odyssée:

Like I said, you head out on pedal boats. I will say these are much more posh than the one we have at the cottage (shade canopy!), however, they don’t steer any better.

You work your way through six kilometres of “maze” cut into a swamp – kind of like this.

And it’s all pedal power! Note the map of the maze in the footwell …

The facilities are primitive, but at least there are facilities. Then again, that’s a good thing, because one of the posted rules is “No urinating in the paths!”

There are definite duelling banjo moments – like when you see somebody has shot the plastic deer by the side of the path – ???!!!??? This was when my friend and I started looking over our shoulders into the swamp around us …

Like I say, the kids love this place, and there’s a nice shady area to eat lunch, and clean bathrooms (on firm land – not just the ones in the swamp) and it’s definitely different.

After we finished our pedal-boat adventure, we cruised down Highway 366 into Wakefield proper in search of ice cream with a view of the Gatineau river. It was worth it.

This was the view out the door of the ice cream shop, across the main street, and the train tracks, to the Gatineau River beyond.

There was a nice bench with a view over an inlet off the river …

… complete with a deer sighting … thank you Wakefield!

Wakefield is a funny, creative, artsy, down-to-earth, hippy, organic, outdoorsy kind of place and so seeing a sign like this isn’t surprising, even though I’m really not sure what it’s for. It’s just Wakefield …

And that was our day. I think, in an ideal world, I might live on Wolfe Island in the summer, and move to Wakefield in the winter. Maybe. Not committing to anything right now, but it seems like a pretty sweet possibility.

I’d love to hear about places you love! Let me know …

YOLO – A Case Study (involving Taylor Swift)

YOLO – You Only Live Once – it’s something my kids have been saying lately. And, as long as they don’t some day use it as an excuse for excessive drinking, speeding, or partying, I’m good with it.

In fact, I couldn’t agree more. YOLO is why I write as much as I possibly can every day. It’s why I keep saying yes to challenges. YOLO keeps me trying new things, even if they are a little scary.

My friend, Lynn, wrote an absolutely great, super post this week, illustrating just what can happen when you embrace YOLO – without further ado, here’s Lynn (by the way, if you like this post you should lurk at Lynn’s blog regularly – she’s great)!

Oh my GOD, you GUYS. IT WORKED. I went to see Taylor Swift last night, in some sort of crazy stars-aligning miracle situation. I apologize in advance for the amount of all-caps in this post but I still just CANNOT get over it – my half-cocked plan of action actually WORKED. Crazy!

I spent all day Saturday, Sunday, and Monday on Kijiji, compulsively reloading the Taylor Swift search, looking for people posting tickets. By Monday new postings were going up at least every five minutes, either people with tickets to sell, or people looking for tickets. The going asking rate was still around $200 a ticket, and the going “willing to pay” price for people looking was around $100 a ticket, and actually things started to get kind of bitter on there as a few “looking” people started to bitch about how the “selling” people should get off their high horses and should be grateful t

o get something rather than nothing, while the sellers started to post snidely that NO LOWBALLERS were welcome, and eep. I emailed about 100 people letting them know I’d take a ticket (or two, my friend LuckySevens was willing to join me) off their hands for (admittedly) lowball prices but almost no one even bothered to write back.

So…Monday night rolls around. Here I also have to mention that I’d been really sick all weekend, like so sick I actually spent Sunday lying on the couch resting, which is nearly impossible for me as I have an overwhelming need to be busy at all times. But my head was pounding and I couldn’t eat anything because my throat was so sore I couldn’t swallow. It would have been so easy to just bail but Sir Monkeypants was AWESOME, he was all, “It’s an opportunity!” and “She might not be back for a w

hile!” and “Do something crazy while you still can!”

So, having not eaten anything but yogurt for three days, I took all the Tylenol allowed by law and made myself a little sign in Word that said “SINGLE TICKET WANTED.” Then I drove down to the Canadian Tire Centre and (GULP) paid $15 for parking and figured I was committed now. I headed over with my little sign and hoped for the best.

There was a fairly big crowd milling around outside because there were stands set up where you could have your picture taken with Taylor Swift cutouts and souvenir stands and stuff, so I held my little sign and started walking around. I felt like an IDIOT, everyone staring at me, GAH. I figured I’d last maybe five minutes tops. A guy pulled me aside and pointed me in the direction of a scalper in a red hat – said scalper had a few single tickets but he wanted at least $250 for them, so I passed. I made one more circuit with my sign, ready to pack it in.

And then, A MIRACLE. A lady came over to me and said, “Oh, you need a ticket? We have an extra,” and then she GAVE IT TO ME. HERE YOU GO, WEIRD LADY. COME SIT NEXT TO ME. FOR FREE.

OH. MY. GOD. Pretty much my ideal plan, RIGHT THERE.

I mean, what are the chances of that actually happening? Like, nil, right? It was a crazy, stupid plan, right? And then IT TOTALLY WORKED.

This reminds me of a side anecdote about my Uncle Mark, who, at age 8, was caught smoking with his buddy Rob by his mother, my Nana. The hilarious part of this story is that Mark and Rob’s plan for trying smoking did not involve stealing cigarettes, but rather, sitting at the side of the road and waiting for a passing driver who was nearly done his cigarette to throw it out the window onto the road, and then they’d pick it up and smoke the last bit. And of course you would think, great plan boys, that is NEVER going to happen, and then that is EXACTLY what did happen not five minutes after they sat on the curb. The world is funny sometimes.

So, I rushed inside and the ticket was good, and I peed and ran to my seat where my new best friend was already sitting (Nicole T. of Manor Park, you are THE BOMB). She was there with her 15-year-old daughter and daughter’s friend, and there was a third friend who was unable to make it last minute, and they couldn’t find anyone else to take the ticket, so it was just available. I like to think it was fate.

And, GUYS, the ticket was also AWESOME. 300 level but really central AND I got to sit on an aisle which meant I had a great unobstructed view at all times.

Audience for Taylor Swift: 13 000 girls and women, about 500 men. But the girls were so cute! Many had dressed up or wore handmade concert t-shirts or had signs. Nicole’s daughter and friend had matching outfits of white tutus and sparkles and feather boas that they had made themselves, and they were so adorable. Some had even made magical glowing signs, like this one:

The opening act was Vance Joy and he was just adorable and I like his song Riptide. Still couldn’t believe I was actually there.

And THEN, OMG TAYLOR SWIFT.

She did not disappoint. Over two hours of solid music and she was onstage all the time unless she was quickly changing costumes. And she chatted up the crowd too, a combination of a) Ottawa is awesome! and b) you are all my personal friends and c) don’t let other people’s opinions weigh you down, because you are awesome!. I’m sure she says all the same things at every concert but it felt very sincere and heartfelt and honest and OMG I LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT.

(She totally loves me too. She said so.)

After the show I thanked Nicole again profusely because she is seriously, the greatest human on the planet next to TAYLOR FREAKING SWIFT, and then I dashed out – as a single you can make it out to the parking lot pretty quickly and I think I was the first one out of there, back home 15 minutes after the concert ended to nurse my ringing ears and take some more Tylenol. Today: aiming for solid food for the first time in days and sharing my pics with the girls. AWESOME.

Remember – like this? Read Lynn!