Short Summer Vacation

I don't have any news on Rusty - I went to check on him last night and guess what? It was RAINING. *sigh* It wasn't just sprinkling, it was pouring so hard I could barely see the road. The horses were out on grass, waaaay down at the back. I spotted Rusty, counted 4 legs, a head and a tail, so I'm guessing he is ok. I'll be out tomorrow (with rain gear) to pull him in and give him a thorough checking over.

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Here are a few pictures from my family trip this year. We spend a few days at cabins on a river in Quebec. It's about a 4 hour drive from our place. The area is beautiful - part of the Canadian shield. It is rocky and hilly, with lots of beautiful trees (that are sadly being heavily logged)

We stayed in cabins that belong to a hunting and fishing club. The cabins and main house all have hot/cold running water, fridges/stoves and showers. You can't drink the water, but it is safe for other uses.

(Note: I wasn't too thrilled with my pics this year, so I used a couple from last year...)

You are very happy to see this sign signalling your arrival - after almost 2 hours of driving up bumpy, dirty logging roads and rickety bridges.

They fly the Canadian flag, the Quebec flag and the US flag. There are a lot of members that come up from PA, MA and NY to hunt and fish

The main lodge - you can rent bedrooms here. This is the original farmhouse that was built in the mid 1800's. Every time I see it I wonder how those poor people survived all the way up here by themselves. There are no neighbours.

The view from our cabin, looking over a wide part of the river. This is where we swim, boat, etc.Not much wildlife visible (which is good, since there are bears around) - but there are hummingbirds...

...and cute little chipmunks scrounging for left-over bird seed

This year there were 2 special guests - Jack and Jill, my father-in-law's mallard ducks that he hatched in an incubator and imprinted...

They would go for walks with him and follow him down to the river. Max, my big tough bird dog retreiving boy, was afraid of them. Yes folks, my dog is afraid of tame ducks.

My father-in-law, in addition to being a duck whisperer, is also a pilot. He has his own float plane that he brings up every year. My husband Richard is also a pilot - he only gets to fly a few times a year, so flying up here with his Dad is quite an opportunity. I may not have a cowboy, but I have a part-time pilot, that must count for something!! lol Here Richard is prepping and untying the plane to take off...

Watching the plane take off (pictures below) is exciting, watching a landing has my heart jumping in my throat.

The taxi for take off from a different angle...

We spent most of our time down at the dock, my nephews loved swimming and playing with the dog.There were these scary creatures in the water. :-)

The ducks would swim around you sometimes - when they weren't busy eating bugs.
Max, being a good sport and wearing this cowboy hat. He is so cute...
There were lots of wild raspberries around. Picking them was a bit hazardous because of the bugs. We stuck it out because my mother-in-law made a pie. It was worth it in the end!

My brother-in-law's dog was obsessed with the chipmunks. She spent 99% of her time staring up this tree at them, while they chattered away at her, just out of reach. Too funny.
This picture doesn't do justice to the beautiful sunsets up there - but you get the idea. Props to anyone that read down this far! lol