I walked over to Dave and Shirley's for a cup of coffee and asked what was on our agenda for today. We were supposed to be going for a quad ride today so I wondered if it was still on. It was decided that we would think about it after breakfast!!
I returned to the bus and Gary came over to say that "yes" we were still going. John decided to stay home, so I got my quad ready and left without him.
So, it was Dave and Shirley, Gary and Arlene and me on the ride.
We took the North Road to Mile 8 and headed into the trails. It was an awesome ride and it was great to be back in the forest. The tiger lilies are in full bloom and looked great. I love to see them. They are our provincial flower and are protected under the law.
The wild roses are also out in full bloom and they smell absolutely wonderful. Their scent is carried on the breeze and serves as a great reminder of all the beauty that lies in our forests.
Of course the trails remained wet but all the puddles were easily traversed. We meandered through them, stopping whenever the urge hit although it had to be somewhere in the shade as the sun was shining unmercilessly!! We eventually hit Otter Lake then took the same trail as the rally did which eventually spit us back out onto the North Road by Vimy. We then headed up Vimy Tower Road, took the first left after the big hill and headed towards the trails that would take us back to Vimy Lake. It was on this trail that I got stuck and had to have Shirley come rescue me. She got her feet wet going through on her quad so when I got stuck, she simply hopped off her quad and wadded through the water to get my winch. Now that is a good friend!!
I just needed a bit of a tug and was soon out. Once we hit Vimy trail, I had to stop and take the grass out from around my boots. It was packed in there solid and I didn't want to run the risk of having it tighten any further and rip any of the boots.
When we made it to Vimy to cross the beaver damn, I was surprised to see that the lake was a good 3 feet from the shore line and the flow over the damn had been reduced to a trickle. We crossed the creek without any issues as the water level was so greatly reduced that it made for a very safe crossing. So unlike what it had been a few weeks earlier when Tyson damn near lost his side by side in the raging waters.
From Vimy, it was time to head back to town. It was getting late and with two more designated beer stops between us and town, we headed down the road.
Once back at the bus, we had to have a few more refreshments in the man cave. John had kept the home fires burning while we were gone. The kids had packed up their stuff from the lake and had stopped to say goodbye as they were headed back into the city. I missed seeing them and that sucked but there wasn't much I could do about that!!
Shirley was standing beside me and mentioned that she was feeling a bit sick. Her face was flushed and she complained about being "so hot" and dizzy. I immediately thought she may have a bit of heat stroke so quickly got some cold water out of the fridge and made her drink lots of it while I poured another bottle of it on her head. It took her a few minutes to start feeling better and I remembered that she had been riding all day in the sunshine without a hat on!! Gosh, I didn't even take note of that while out on the trail today....none of us did and Shirley never realized that she was overheating. Once she started feeling a bit better, Dave took her home and the two of them called it a day.
Gary and Arlene stayed for a bit longer then they too headed home. It was time for all of us to start thinking about supper.
We got a surprise visit from Patrick while John and I were finishing our beer and we had an awesome chat with him. He ended up staying for supper. I had made ribs on the BBQ (and yes, it was me who actually cooked them and they were awesome) and rice. Mmmmm
After that, it was time for me to head to bed.......Good Night!!
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| Beverage |
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| Trails are still a bit wet |
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| A swallowtail butterfly on a tiger lily. |
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| Shirley and Arlene checking out Otter Lake |
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| Gary and Arlene |
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| Our Provincial flower the Prairie Lily |
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| Wolf tracks, They are out there |
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| Dave and Shirley |
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| Crossing Vimy Creek |
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| The water level on Vimy Lake is about 3 feet from the beaver damn. |
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| Not much water going through the damn |
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| Wild Rose bud |
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| Heading down Vimy Trail |
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| Shirley crossing the creek |
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