Beer Fest

Reporting on the Ganonoque Rib-Fest. I think they sold 50lbs of ribs and 10,000 litres of beer. We had pulled pork sandwiches; each one had about a pound of pork. Alot of the hot bands from Kingston showed up for a battle of the bands. It was like Canadian Idol on crack. Yes, Grace Slick is alive and well in Ontario.

The bass attack has waned but I did catch two pike last night. One was 26 inches long. I landed him on my ultra-light spinning rod with 4 lb. test line. Someone had to show me how to get him off the hook; he had teeth like a cat.

We are going to kayak a small lake we discovered about 20 clicks North of Ganonogue. We saw the lake on a map and then set out to find it. It was at the end of a 3 km single lane dirt road. No sign or nothing.

Rib-Fest

We drove North 900 miles to get ribs from Alabama. This is the first Gananoque barbecue festival. It's already better than So. Carolina because it's 30 degrees cooler. The fishing has fallen off a bit; something about the moon. I'm stuck at about 37 bass caught so far and the last ones being small ones. I hear all the mommy bass went to deeper water to do some shopping. We kayaked about 8 miles on the Gananoque River yesterday. It was sublime. I hear Bo is doing great in his kennel. Ben is in the air today returning from his short term mission trip to Farmington, New Mexico. I'm sure they will all miss his wit during the "Drive-Time" show on KNMI radio. Well it's off to streets to rib out.

Hello Canada

Just a mere 900 miles from Fletcher you find Misty Isles Lodge. We spent a night in Hazelton Pa.; to break up the trip. We went out to a restaurant with a piano bar that was straight out of the. Blues Bothers. I was dressed for the occasion in my old torn up sailing shirt. But they did serve us and I only tossed two shrimps into Carol's mouth from the other side of the table. Customs was easy. The North Country is pretty dead. Maybe it's the price of gas. My first cast with a spinner got me a 3 lb. large mouth bass. I've caught about 26 bass so far but Carol the die-hard night crawler has only caught a few. Carol so far has caught the biggest bass about 4 lbs with a worm. It's been cold @ night, down in the 9 degree range. We kayaked to Landou Bay this morning and a huge Pike (about 30 inches) jumped out of the water in front of my kayak. The exchange rate is $1.09 Canadian for every greenback so with the GAT Tax things are no longer cheaper here. The great Canadian BOGO sale is over. Time to go and put a few more brats on the grill and later go to hockey.

Bo's new doo.

Bo got his Summer Cut. It's hard to get a good shot because he freaks out when he sees the camera. I'm working on a video of Bo versus the Ball. So stay tuned.

Bo versus the Ball

I found a volleyball while kayaking. It was a nice Wilson beech volleyball which Bo destroyed in about 10 minutes. At Wally's I bought this huge $2 ball and I got it for him. So far he hasn't been able to take a bite out of it, and we use it to help him relieve his aggression in the evening.

Blue Ridge Southern Barbecue Festival

What do you do on a 93 degree Saturday in Fletcher. We drive 50 miles to Tryon, North Carolina where it's 97 degrees, to the Barbecue Championship. Now these are some serious porkers here. They had Cajun music and enough swine to fill a freight car. The heat helped to maximize the beer sales, and for the teetotalers there was alcohol-free bingo. Bo wasn't allowed to go, which was good because he would have been paw-up in the heat. It was great barbecue, great music the usual craft fair, and yes Tom they did have face painting.

Bo: The Saga Continues

Bo is doing great. That was until the other night when he pooped right in front of us in the living room. I blame it on the sudden change to Sam's "Old Roy" kibble. We finally ran out of the Eukanuba fancy feast he came with. I prefer the Old Roy for its low gas features. When I tried the IAMS with Simba the gas was so bad it would wake me up from a sound sleep on the couch. He still has about two episodes a day when he turns into A.D.D. dog. I have included a pictures of him under our bed flushing out a cricket. Also there is a picture of him by the back door trying to act like a WELCOME mat. Together Carol and I have read about 12 books on dog training; and now we are more confused than ever. It was easy with Simba because she was so submissive. All it took was one dirty look and her ears went back, the tail was between her legs and she slinked away like an inmate on death row.

Our mini heat wave and drought seems to have broken. It was in the 90's last week and it hasn't rained in a month so I was forced to water my lawn. Then last Saturday I decided to go kayaking early before it got hot and we go to the lake near our house @ 0645 and it is closed. We wait till 0715 and then figure it must not open till 0800. By that time it's already getting hot and since the lake water temp is about 89 degrees (from the power plant) combined with being sealed in the kayak with a neoprene skirt you have the potential to become a poached egg. But this week it's a seasonal 76 degrees again.

My mom has been sprung from the Filipino Jail which was her personal-care home. Mom is at a new nursing home in Pahrump, Nevada just a quarter mile from my sister's new ranch. Pahrump is about 55 miles west of Vegas. I owned 5 acres there 16 years ago when it was a watering hole for the Twenty Mule Teams hauling borax out of Death Valley. I made a killing on that property when I sold it for $18,000. to pay off my 4-Runner. Now it's worth half a mil. They would give you an acre of land in Pahrump with the purchase of a new car when I lived there in the early 70's. They just finished building a 400 bed hospital there so maybe we will retire there with the rest of the senior citizen lizards.