Just Lynn

One woman. One name. One hell of an attitude!

Summer of 2017

Written By: witchypo - Jul• 26•17

You know, time’s been going by so fast that summer’s going to be gone before we know it, and that got me thinking that I really should write something about what we’ve been up to while its all still fresh in my memory. So…

Kayaking:

This year, the Niagara Region’s gotten a lot more rain and more consistent cloud cover than we’re used to, which has led to record high water levels, not only in the Great Lakes, but pretty much anywhere not controlled by the canal system. That’s meant that ponds and streams that, usually, dry out to the point of inaccessibility have remained usable… especially for people like us who like to kayak… well into the boating season.

I, also, realized fairly quickly that, while we’ve kayaked some local waterways to death, these higher water levels have been opening up the chance to travel further than we have in the past, so that we could rediscover old favorites. So far, we’ve kayaked…

15 Mile Pond: from Charles Daley Park to just short of 4th Ave., where it became tree choked.

16 Mile Pond : from service road at Charles Daley Park to just short of 4th Ave.

Martindale Pond: from the Green Ribbon Trail, down the side creek to the last bend before the QEW.

Grand River: from York Park, York to Bob Baigent Memorial Park, Caledonia.

Welland River: from bridge in Niagara Regional Road 27, (between Beketts Bridge and Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Airport,) down southward pointing branch of Welland River to natural dam, just past the train bridge.

Big Creek: from Concession Road 3 to the marina at the last bridge (Regional Rd 59) before Lake Erie.

Frenchman’s Creek: from the Niagara Parkway to about a kilometer or so past first split in the creek near Bridgeberg.

Rockwood (Eramosa River): paddled from the mill to the dam near the beach.

Guelph Lake: just a short paddle around northern branch of the reservoir.

and we’ve taken in a few of the many local musical events…

  • went to private party to hear the ‘Brothers Gunn’, St. Catharines
  • checked out Blues on the Battlefield, Thorold, Ontario
  • caught a number of bands at the Bro Summer Bash, Welland
  • the Norfolk Tavern, Saturday afternoon band jam, Port Dover
  • also various street festivals in Font Hill, Niagara, etc.
  • Fireman’s park Thursday night blues concert

Of course, we’ve also done a little riding (motorcycle),

  • the Bro Summer Bash, Welland, gave us a chance to ride from St. Catharines to Vineland, to Font Hill, and Welland, where the party was amazing, as usual.
  • Rode to just north of Port Dover, then hugged the shoreline of Erie to Port Stanley, and stayed a night in Simcoe, before kayaking Big Creek, then rode to Dover for the night, and home.
  • From Niagara, along Ridge Rd, to Hamilton, where we clocked the Burlington Harbor for future kayaking run
  • Various rides around the Niagara Region

In between, we’ve also gotten the chance to do some ‘killin’ an’ chillin’ out at Jack’s ‘Lake House’ and at various friend’s homes. We’ve taken in the the 82nd running of the Prince of Wales Stakes at the Fort Erie Race Track, and gone bicycle riding with the grandkids.

One thing we haven’t been doing this year is mushroom hunting, which is a shame because this moist weather’s, likely, been making all sorts of treasures pop up, but I just haven’t been willing to risk the ticks (Argh!) Same goes for camping, which is a shame, because I really wanted to camp at Rockwood Park(near Guelph) or Turkey Point this year. Maybe I’ll get brave in August(?)

Of course, life’s not all bikes and beers, and we’ve spent a good deal of time – including the BF’s vacay – just taking care of business. In his case, that’s meant getting a lot of miscellaneous repairs and clean up done on his property. While, in mine, its meant finally tackling some serious drainage issues at my house. So, I’ve been puttering for weeks at installing a French drain in my yard, relocating a storage shed, and getting foundation work that I’ve put off for the past 8 years DONE.

Now, I’ve still got a tree root to deal with, and a bunch of brick to move and ground to level, as well as a ‘fire pit’ to build, but we’ve gotten the worst of the work done. So, next year, I can start beautifying this joint.

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