On Paugh Lake

We took advantage of the Family Day holiday with a trip up to Killaloe to see Bdot’s parents for the weekend. There is still a lot of snow in their region. After a stop in Newmarket for wreaths we had an uneventful, but long drive up. Friday evening was just chilling out after the drive. It was nice to have a place to sleep but gawd, the bed was like sleeping on a plank of wood. Saturday we met up two of bdot’s friends Trish and Jess to go skiing. Jess knows a guy who sets ski tracks and was testing out a new route through the Paugh Lake area. So we basically had the entire trail to ourselves. It was a sunny and warm (but windy) day. It was a good day to ski. Some of the track on the lake was a little slushy but otherwise, it was great. The route was partially on the Lake but then entered a lovely forested area. The forested area had some nice hills and an alley oop! at the bottom of one hill. The trail was about 8-10km long. I was bagged when we were done. After a post-ski snack we ventured over to Jess’ house to hear about her future renovations.

Setting the trail

Jess has an incredible place on a lake just outside of Barry’s Bay. After grabbing some drinks in town we joined her at her place. It sounds like she has a significant renovation planned. The kitchen, living room, basement and outside deck just some of the areas that are getting a facelift. I’m sure we could have talked all night but we were expected for dinner with bdot’s parents so we had to go. Of course I played with the fridge scrabble pieces:

Cretins eat Kumquats

Sunday was a little slower to get moving. Jess had falling ill and wasn’t sure if she was going out of the house. So we met up with Trish at her huge property to go snowshoeing. She lives at the end of a long road. At the top of the road one of her neighbours has two angry dogs that will often run out at cars coming down the road. Trish was even bitten once. So we are always a bit apprehensive every time we go to her place. Fortunately there was no doggie drama. After a little visit with Finn and the kids we took off snowshoeing. We were blessed with another great day to be outside. Trish’s home is on a well forested multi-acre property that they use themselves to ski and snowshoe on.

Reflections as the snow begins to melt

The snowshoe was a little longer than expected but was enjoyable.

Icy.

Jess did make it out to Trish’s, and after snowshoeing we had a nice chat and some snacks before we had to leave for dinner again. Driving home the skies became alive with an incredible sunset. It was the most brilliant hues of orange I’ve seen in a long time.

Wide shot for Wilno

It was pretty incredible:

Incredible.

It was an enjoyable weekend in Killaloe. Happy birthday to Bdot’s Dad as well. On the drive home, there is always a vista we both really like. It is a massive hill that overlooks a lake. We drove off to the vista lookout road for a photo…

X marks where the road is. Denied. Sigh.

It is nice to know that there are potential Earths out there. What the article doesn’t emphasis is how faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar away the planets are. They are 40 light-years (235 trillion miles) away! Presently we have no way to travel at light speed… so, while it is miraculous news, it is future generations that may benefit. Still, it sounds very exciting. Trappist-1!