oh what a night! pt 1

Okay- that should be "oh what a series of nights" and should refer to that last two weekends... I've been meaning to post for awhile now but haven't had time as I've been anywhere but home the last couple of weeks. And when I am home it's just to do laundry and hit the road again.
So I will try not to overload this post with words, as I am prone to do, and let the pictures do the talking... : ) Ok- I've just read what I wrote and of course I couldn't limit the descriptions and have decided to break this out into two posts. It will be an exercise in contrasts- one of my camping adventure and the other of my jet -setting one. read on...
Algonquin Park
I went canoe/portaging for the long weekend. It's an annual trip that I missed out on last year- and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. This year was a large crew of 12 - including my good friends Ivan and Robyn, who while they have camped before, have never done the portaging in Canada bit. Of course the put us all to shame by getting up earlier then us and doing far more physical activity than anyone (aside from Jim- who is the type to chop trees for fun- thankfully!)

The trip started out promising enough- except that my ride up was 2.5 hours late- and we had to go it alone as the rest of the group wasn't going to wait. The first pic is me and Dave- about to embark on our adventure.


We got lost, and stuck in a sludge type bog- where Dave had to get out and drag the canoe in mud up to his thighs. It was awesome. (for me to watch. not so much for Dave). And then we were two hours late getting to the campsite.
Honestly- I have NEVER been so happy to hear a South African accent calling out in the distance as Ivan (and Erica and Paul) were waiting for us at the second killer portage- calling us to safety. The portage was so hard- and they'd already done it twice: and they did it again to help us.
As for the rest of the weekend, the weather was AMAZING! It was so hot but not unbearable. The water was awesome- and we went swimming several times a day.

Saturday night the sky was super clear and we went out in the middle of the lake to see the stars. We could see the milky way and shooting stars... it was amazing. You forget the enormity of the stars when you live in the city.
We played rummy cube and catch, and though my poor arms could hardly bear it, we canoed some more. And for anyone who has camped they know that a majority of your time is spent preparing food. I actually ate better on this trip than I do at home!

There is something so liberating about bathing in a lake, and not having any mirrors or make-up or anything around. It's awesome. I already can't wait for next year. And thank you to my friend Tania who organized the trip. It takes such a lot of work- and I hope she knows that everyone is very very appreciative!!