Saturday, July 5, 2008

Mom and Dad were going to arrive so we just kind of hung around the cabin and did a little straightening. :) They showed up midmorning. Dad was all pumped up so after we unpacked everything, he and Scott got the boat all set up and put on the water. They also added some bumpers to the boat. Then the four of us went swimming about half way to the island. It was fun and about the nicest temperature that the water has been. Scott and I went kayaking after that to give them a little time to settle in. When we got back we helped Dad and Scott get all ready for their fishing excursion the next day on Eagle.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

It’s Alan and Bridget’s anniversary. I’ve been waiting all day to call them. I tried around 8:20 pm. I’ll wait a few more minutes before I try again. I still haven’t been able to wish Alan happy birthday. We finally got the phone straightened around today so I can make calls. Scott and I were just working on dishes when we saw two deer walk between Jeff and Martensen’s cabins to head down for a drink of water. Then we watched them grazing in Muse’s yard. Then the deer took off and a gray fox came trotting down the road. He stayed on the road for awhile until we lost sight of him behind our garage. It was fun. I’ll have to remember that 8:30 pm is happy hour for the animals!

We had a lazy day for most of the day. It was very cold when we woke up. We used Dad’s fireplace/heater. It did a nice job of heating up the cabin. It was windy and we could see the rain coming in from the lake. It would bring a nice light rain and then clear up. We would start to think about taking the boat out and a couple of minutes later; we would watch another front coming in over the water. After about the third one we resigned to spending the day in the cabin. We read for awhile and until the rain seemed to have passed so after lunch and a couple hands of Spite and Malice we headed for the boat. The only problem was that it was rougher than we anticipated and the wind was going pretty well. We cast and trolled around Paradise Island and then headed in. We decided that indeed we would be in the cabin most of the day. Back at the cabin we watched some CSI episodes and took a nap. Around 3 pm it started to clear up and the sun was threatening to stay out so I put on my warmer kayak clothes and we headed out. It was like a whole new day. There was still a cool breeze but the water was calm and the sun was coming in and out of the clouds. I got to choose today’s destination so we headed for the mainland south of Tivo Island. Wouldn’t you know the sun started to disappear more often than not and the waves started to get bigger? So we made it to the mainland but chucked the plan of going back by way of exploring the shores along the way. It was going to be a cold, wet paddle back. Of course back we were against the waves and the wind picked up. (It still wasn’t as big of waves as the day before!) We headed back but took a turn into the island just in front of Bear Trail Lodge. It was much quieter there and we enjoyed a paddle along Muse’s and Janie’s shores. When we got back the water had calmed way down and the sun was back out. We laid on the dock for awhile to dry off and warm up and headed up for dinner.

P.S. Chippie is getting braver and braver still chowing down on those peanuts! There was also a female mallard on our dock when I woke up this morning. My animal pictures aren’t great because they were through the screen.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Happy Canada Day! It was already 70 degrees when I woke up at 5:30 as a matter of fact it was quite warm in the cabin. I got up and opened some windows and the porch door and slept on the couch for couple more hours. When Scott woke up we ate breakfast and did a Bible study. Today we did a John tape and he’s talking about the crucifixion. The main principle I took from it was that it wasn’t important that John stood on the hill but the doctrine that he had in his soul. He focuses on the promises that had been fulfilled rather than his environment. It’s hard not to focus on the environment here. It is so relaxing. Every time we embark on a new adventure my soul rejoices in the beauty and the grace of God. I can’t help but smile. We collected all the fishing gear and headed out. The motor was having problems starting up and wouldn’t run very fast. It was also die when we idled. We cast a few times around Paradise Island and then headed to Deer Trail Lodge to buy some fresh gas. The gas we were using was from last year and Scott was afraid it was causing the problem. Once we got the new gas we were good to go. It started in one pull and moved out at a good pace. We took a little tour of the mainland a little ways passed Cabin Island. We saw an eagle who let us get right up next to him before he flew away. We casted a few and then I pulled out the fish finder watch that Scott had received as a gift. I hooked it to the pole and we discovered there just weren’t any fish there! So we moved on to Tivo Island where we found some fish but they didn’t seem to want our lures. It was a beautiful day, the sun had come out and our thermometers read about 80 degrees. We talked to a guy for Bear Trail who had two beautiful dogs in the boat with him, they both looked like labs, one black and one golden. We watched a serious Canadian fisherman pull in a small northern. He was using a big lure and really working it. We decided it was time for lunch so we thought we would troll home. That’s when it happened! I finally caught a northern. We both thought it was dead until Scott reached in to pick it up! After that we headed in for lunch.

After lunch the water was getting pretty rough but still I decided to take a kayak ride. It turned out to be the ride of my life! It took me 10 minutes to paddle out to the tip of Paradise Island. The wind was really blowing. I was getting sprayed about every third wave but I paddled on. I knew that if I could just get around to the other side it would be a calm ride in with not a lot of paddling. After 10 more minutes I hit the southwest end of the island. It was like I suddenly hit the ocean. The waves were incredible (for Eagle Lake) but they were crashing into the shore. When I turned to go around the island, I would get stuck in the swells and water would crash into my kayak. I was actually scared but tried to continue to think. I knew then that I had to paddle against the waves and angle away from the island toward the other end. That worked much better but the waves were doing this crazy “mixer” thing. Every once in awhile I would get turned sideways or pushed by a wave and it would crash onto my kayak. I was sure I was going to capsize. I kept the beach in view through the corner of my eye so that if I did capsize I could swim to it. I continued to angle away from the island until I was passed it. The waves were still huge and there were tons of whitecaps. I wasn’t going to get the calm side like a thought! Now I had to somehow do an 180 degree turn so that I could go with the waves and not get caught in the swells. Once I did that I started riding the waves back toward the cabin. It did start to calm down at the end of the island and when I turned around the tip, I found Scott in his kayak and the water was pretty calm over there. When we looked back toward Tivo Island you could see the whitecaps, it was a lot rougher over there. Then we looked to the southwest sky and saw a storm moving in so we hightailed it back to the dock. As we were pulling in the wind started in again and the waves got rough again. It was throwing water over the last two sections of the dock. After we secured everything we took our baths and then sat on the dock to watch the storm. There was some massive cloud to ground strikes over toward the northwest that were cool to watch. Then the wind picked up and the lightening began to circle around toward us so we headed into the cabin. After picking up we sat down to do some reading and listen to the storm. It was a real pretty rainfall and didn’t last much more than a half hour. As I was sitting in the chair, I saw a man walk by our front door so Scott went to check it out. It was a furniture delivery guy from Orr, Minnesota looking for Jeff Grove. We called Ron and Dee and met them at Jeff’s cabin. They had sent this old guy to deliver this heavy furniture without even a dolly! Scott and I ended up carrying the chest inside because this guy couldn’t even lift one end of it. They had also delivered a bunk bed for the kids and some beautiful chairs for the front deck. We visited with Ron and Dee for a while and then headed back to the cabin as a light rain started to fall. It doesn’t seem like it will amount to much!

It’s 7 pm and we are going to heat up some leftovers and who knows maybe a game of cards…

Monday, June 30, 2008

I think I slept for ten hours last night. I didn’t fully wake up until 8:30 this morning. My arms were feeling better until I typed my blog entry from the day before. They started to cramp again. I took two more ibuprofen and they have been tolerable for most of the day; Just a twinge of pain here and there. It was already 70 degrees when I woke up this morning so it must not have been too cold last night. There has been a nice breeze all day which helped keep the mosquitoes to a minimum. We just had a lazy morning; sitting around talking or reading. After lunch (leftover soup), we headed down to the dock. It was sunny with a cool breeze. It couldn’t have been a nicer day. Scott took my kayak for a short spin to test it out. We worked on clearing off the beach some more. I found a lot of hard but mushy little, black slimy things and just as many white wormlike bugs with a brown head and legs. I would be interested to know what they were. I killed a few bloodsuckers that must have just hatched in the muck on shore. We chopped and pulled some of the weeds and grass along the shoreline. Mommy Ducky came by with her 8 babies and an eagle flew over. I was really worried we would have a repeat of the “Dianne” incident when the eagle swooped down in front of Scott, Janet and I and had one of the babies for a snack but the eagle flew on. We fed the ducks a couple of pieces of bread. The water was pretty rough and had whitecaps most of the day. (P.S. When I ran up to get some bread for the ducks, I almost stepped on Chippie Redbud. He was so busy eating he wasn’t watching, he saw me at the last second and took off. I think it really freaked him out although he did come back later and finish them.)

Then we hooked the little boat up to the truck and headed to Deer Trail. He backed Scott into the water. He patiently talked us through the entire process and waited for Scott when the motor wasn’t starting. He took great care of us and we really appreciated it. While they were doing that I followed the rocks around so that I could see Barker’s cabin. Their boat house was open so I was wondering if Cameron’s had arrived. I would have called checked but we can’t use the phone right now. There was a mix up with the phone company and our package wasn’t activated. I can’t use the phone until tomorrow. I feel very badly because it’s my brother’s birthday and I wanted to call him and wish him happy birthday. He has been on my mind off and on all day. I’m sad to think that because of various circumstances we won’t be up here together any more. I always miss him when we are up here; we had so much fun when we were younger. I have many memories that I will always treasure but more importantly I want him to know how blessed I am to have him in my life. I love who he has become and I love how he loves God. I love how comfortable I feel around him. I know that he will always be there for me. I guess birthdays aren’t the only times to say those things! Love you, Al! Sorry I missed your birthday.

Anyway Scott brought the boat back to the dock and we got it all tied up. It ended up being a waste of time to get it out today because at this point the whitecaps are in full force – too dangerous for that little boat. BUT not too dangerous to take my kayak for a spin!!! I decided to stick close to shore to begin with so I went around the peninsula by Deer Trail and as my confidence built and turned west and headed out for open sea. I decided I would go parallel to Paradise Island and then ride the waves back to the dock. I didn’t want to send my arms into shock again! I was doing great, it was a blast. The waves make it extra fun! Suddenly the wind picked up even more, not only were there whitecaps but there were now “wind ripples”. It took everything I had but I paddled a few more feet to reach my goal. I let the wind turn me back to shore and started to paddle. It was bizarre! It was like I wasn’t even moving. I couldn’t hear the wind. I could see the waves but when I paddled it was like I was like they didn’t work. It was an eerie feeling almost like the still of a tornado but the wind really was blowing. I paddled in to shore and told Scott he had to try. So he went out a ways and tried it only after a couple of strokes back he quit and laid down on the kayak and floated back in. That was weird too because it took forever for him to get back.

It was one of those lazy days! We just hung out on the dock after that. I daydreamed and watched the water, the island, the boats and the birds. It’s so easy to see the grace of God lying on a dock surrounded by all that beauty with not a care in the world. Scott read his book. Around 5:30 pm we carried a few more buckets of muck to the burn pile and raked the beach again. The wind was stirring everything up so I’m sure we’ll have to redo it in the morning but at least it will be easier. We took our baths and I washed some clothes. The water wasn’t warm but it is getting more bearable. Scott even swam out to the rock. After that we fixed dinner and watched a couple of CSI episodes. It’s after 9pm and just starting to get dark. The water has calmed a little but still not worth going down to kayak. Scott also said that the mosquitoes are getting thick again. I’m excited for our next grand adventure tomorrow and will go to bed thanking God for our pleasant day and safety…

Sunday, June 29, 2008

I’m actually writing this Monday morning. I don’t think I even could have last night. My forearms and wrists were cramping to the point of tears. I took two Motrin before I went to bed…

After we were both awake and alert Sunday morning, Scott and I had bacon and pancakes and then did our Bible Study. The lesson was on David and a great reminder of how important it is to self evaluate and then move on. We decided to try and get the truck unstuck. Not only did we make the ruts bigger but the front tires also began to dig in. Our last attempt was to put some boards under the tires. It still didn’t work, but as we were trying, the Groves and Durbins came along. Jim offered to pull us out with his truck. Using a ski rope as a chain, we were out in a couple of minutes! After visiting for a little while, we went to the Coop in Vermillion and picked up a couple of groceries. After looking at prices it reaffirmed our decision to bring most of our groceries from the United States. On our way home we stopped at Gold’s Deer Trail Lodge and bought our fishing licenses from Ruth. We both bought a one year conservation license that were about $40 (actually they were more because of the exchange rate). I gave her a $100 and it was only worth about $97. We set up a tab, talked to her about using their garbage bin and putting our little boat in and headed back for the cabin.

When we got back we made some sandwiches and Scott decided to take a nap. I cleaned up a little and headed down to the beach. I cleaned up about 5 bucketfuls from the beach and decided to take my kayak out. I hollered up to Scott who indicated that he wanted to go with me (big mistake!) Today our goal was to go a little farther so we headed out for Tivo Island. The water was choppier than it had been the day before and you could see a whitecap every once in a great while but we paddled on finally reaching our destination. It was fun. An eagle flew over us about half way there. I tried to take a picture but it took too long getting the camera out of the dry bag. I took a picture of Scott instead. We decided to go around the island before we headed back. When we reached the southwest side of the island we were discussing whether to swing back by way of Paradise Island or just head straight back. The my brilliant husband suggests we go to the next island further southwest saying things like “it’s not that far” and “we’ll be fine”. Of course me being the realistic logical one was saying things like “we have two weeks we need to pace ourselves” and “are you sure we’ll be able to move tomorrow” but of course my competitive side and my joy for kayaking won out. Oh we had a grand adventure but I was destined to pay for it! As we passed the wind block of the island the waves got bigger and the wind picked up but we paddled on. The waves were splashing the bow of my kayak and spraying my face. It was a blast. When we arrived to the island we decided we should get out and stretch our legs. The problem was that there were rock shelves all around the island that dropped off into the unknown. We circled the entire island stopping to talk to some fishermen and take some pictures of the ducks, not finding a good exit point. On the north side of the island, there were a couple of houses and a dock with boats. I was surprised; I guess I had never been on that side of the island.

We decided to head for the beach on Paradise Island to stretch our legs. We were in for a big surprise when we lost the protection of the island. The wind had picked up and there were lots of whitecaps. It was a battle the entire way. I wasn’t sure if I would make it but I did. We got out of our boats and looked at dead fish bones that were all over the place, took a couple of pictures and then headed back. At this point it was just a matter of survival, each man for himself. Paddle with all your might. Finally home sweet home we both beached our kayaks and just sat there! It was quite awhile before we disembarked.

By now it was 7pm and I started our Zuppa Tuscana soup while Scott ran to Kleinpeter’s and got us some water. We put the small boat back into the garage locked up and were carried in by the mosquitoes. They aren’t terrifying yet but they weren’t pleasant either. While the soup was cooking we headed down for our baths. The water was not any warmer than before. It was painful to emerge but better after the first dip. After dinner, we watched to CSI Episodes and started to prepare for bed. That’s when it happened! My arms started to cramp. The pain would shoot from my wrist all the way up my arm but my forearms hurt the most. I whimpered as Scott twisted the cap off my water and helped me into bed.

By the way, I fed chippie. He was starving. He sat there and shelled them and ate them and didn’t even bother stuffing them into his mouth. I will give him more today. I have named him “Chippie Redbud” after his orange hair on his bottom half.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

We had quite an adventure today. After sleeping in our truck from 1AM -5AM, Scott and I filled up the truck and crossed the border at 6AM. Scott drove 502 in the rain for two hours before we hit Ojibwa Trail. Shortly before we arrived at the cabin, I remembered that I hadn’t brought our keys with us. I didn’t figure it would be a big deal because Dad had a key hidden on the porch. Well I was wrong when we arrived at 8:30AM; we quickly found out in the pouring rain that Kleinpeter had not undone the padlock so even if I had brought me keys we would have been locked out because I don’t have a key to the padlock. This was no big deal; we would just run over to Kleinpeter’s and get the key. He wasn’t home. Plan C – there were two trucks at Jeff’s cabin so we went there, they were working on his cabin. Jeff had his phone working, so we called mom and dad who said just to saw off the lock. The worker had a Sawzall so he tried to cut the lock but it wouldn’t cut it so we just cut the latch. Once we were in we began to search for the key. After a while we found it and we couldn’t get the door to unlock with it. About the same time one of the men next door came over and said that someone had called Jeff’s phone and said that Kleinpeter was home. So we got back in the truck and went to Kleinpeter’s again. Finally, we began to unpack in the rain around 9:30AM. Around 11:30 AM in between cleaning and unpacking, we made grilled cheese and tomato soup. After working a little longer, we had to go back out in the rain to empty the toolbox on the kayak trailer. We got pretty wet so we decided we might as well get our baths over with. The temperature of the air was 65 degrees so this wasn’t going to be pleasant! It was one of the coldest baths I’ve had, even Scott moved quickly. But we did it after we got back we were cold and tired so we started to watch a movie on our computer but I kept falling asleep. We took a 2-3 hour nap and the rain had quit.

We decided to run into Vermillion Bay to pick up a couple of groceries we didn’t have. When we got out to the truck we realized it was stuck. We tried to get out a little bit but didn’t want to make huge ruts. We walked over to Groves to welcome them and the Kulbum’s were there. We visited for a little while. When we went back to the cabin it was sunny and 70 degrees so we unpacked our kayaks and went for a spin around Garbage Island. It was beautiful. It is a lot different from kayaking on the pond and even the river. It’s a little tougher to navigate and stay on course. The lake wasn’t glass smooth either so you could never just stop paddling until we got around to the south side of the island. I was disappointed because our eagles were gone. It looks like the tree that held their nest was destroyed because I don’t see it there.

When we got back we fended for ourselves for dinner and then did our Bible study. Now it’s almost 10PM and we are both wiped out. My shoulders are started to feel the kayaking!

Kayaking the Kankakee River

Our weekend was fabulous. It was a day of firsts. It was the first time we have been with Julie and Jason in the States. It was the first time, Jason, Julie and Lennox had been to the farm. It was the first time Hannah and I slept in a tent together. It was our first kayak trip of the season. It was the first time Scott and I used our kayaks in a place bigger than the family pond. It was the first time we used our new kayak trailer that Alan and Scott designed and built. It was the first time any of us had ever kayaked on the Kankakee River.

I loved every minute of the trip except for burning my shins. My original plan had been to wear long pants since it was a little cooler and I have a sit on top kayak. I changed my mind at the last second and forgot to put sunscreen on my legs.

Around 10:30 AM, on May 24, 2008, Julie followed me to the boat launch at the State Park just west of Warner Bridge. We found a place to park where Alan would have room to hook the trailer up to the truck after he dropped us off. When we got back to the farm the guys were finishing up loading the trailer. (It is the limousine of kayak trailers! We still need to change the bearings, add new tires, work on the padding, fix one of the lights and bolt a toolbox for all the accessories.) They hooked it up to Alan's truck and we all hopped in. Alan drove us to the boat launch in Kankakee just west of Washington Street Bridge and the dam. He helped us unload and all get launched off. The plan was for him to then take the trailer to hook up to Scott's truck waiting for us at the other end.

Around 11:55am we were on our way! It was a beautiful day! The sky was blue with beautiful, white fluffy clouds. There was a nice breeze off and on, just enough to keep the sun from making you sweat. We casually make our way down the river. We went under the two bridges and were almost to the boat launch at Bird Park when we hear Alan yelling for us and waving us in. We were worried that something happened to his truck or the trajavascript:void(0)
Publish Postiler. Evidently, he was giving us one more chance to change our minds! He also told me that Hannah and Bridget would be going passed on Kennedy Drive in about two minutes. I hung back to wave. I had to continually paddle in order to stay in the one place. Finally, they started to pass and I could see Hannah waving - one of those just in case I don't see them waves - when she spotted me and began to wave her arm out the window wildly. I knew she saw me then! I yelled goodbye to Alan and started to paddle to catch up w/ everyone else. On my way, I noticed a turtle sunbathing so I went over there and took a picture of him - it turns out there were two of them.

After that Jason and Julie taught us the hand signal for turtle that you use in diving, so that next time we see one we could alert everyone without scaring it away. We did use it once. We also made up a couple of other signals, one was for heron cranes. We saw at least a couple of those. There were a lot of Canada Geese with there families and a few turkey vultures.

We often glanced at our map from the book:
Paddling Illinois :
64 great trips by canoe and kayak /

Mike Svob

2000

English Book vi, 153 p. : ill., maps ; 28 cm.

Madison, Wisc. : Trails Books, ; ISBN: 0915024772 9780915024773


It was pretty accurate and fun to read as we were experiencing it. According to this book our trip would have been 10.4 miles if we would have put in at the Bird Park Launch but we went a little further than that. I would say we almost went 11 miles.

So far we have been paddling slowly off and on just enjoying the gorgeous day and the beautiful scenery. We were going to try to paddle into the Indian Caves but there really wasn't anywhere to go. There was a man there with a lovely German Shepherd. He was throwing a stick out in the water and his dog would run and then swim out to get it. I was in awe by his power and grace.

We took a break at an island about 4 miles into our trip. We stretched our legs and watched Jason swim in the freezing water against the current. Scott only got in up to his legs. The water was really cold. Considering we take swims in Canada when the air is in the 40s and 50s we really aren't exaggerating. We realized we had not gotten very far and figured we should actually try to paddle a little bit. Reed's Canoe Rental said that the trip from Bird Park was from 3-5 hours. We couldn't take 5 hours, that would just look bad! As we neared different islands the current seemed to speed up a little more each time. By the time we reached the State Park on the North shore there was a series of islands. Some of them had a "whitewater" affect which was a fun change of pace but really not much of anything. When we reached Willow Island, Scott and I decided to each take one side of the island so that we could compare notes. Scott being in the lead was already out of sight when I heard a snap behind me. I looked around and didn't see anything so kept on going. As Jason and Julie got closer they hollered out that Julie's paddle had broken. Luckily we had a spare in my cargo area. I pulled up along side of them and Jason pulled it out and put the broken one in. We were off again and only about a mile or two from the boat launch.

Just after the Rock Creek boat launch came the best part of the river as far as excitement. It was the quickest and the most whitewater we had seen so far. It was fast and fun but again not scary. There were cliffs on either side that were pleasant to look at. After we were out of it, I heard voices on the shore to the south of me. I looked up and there were about 5 people on the horse trail with their horses. You could watch the trail for a little while. I haven't been on those trails in years but I didn't remember being so close to the river in that part of the trail. We paddled about a half of a mile more going under Warner Bridge and pulling out at the Boat Launch.

It had been a wonderful day. Jason and Scott loaded our kayaks up in a matter of minutes and we were on our way home! It had been a day I will remember for a long time!