Hello Canada!

My last night in the Saranac lakes was stellar. Beautiful stars and no rain. The morning came quickly, with an alarm I had set the night before. I'm up to see a gorgeous sunrise complete with the perfect amount of cloud cover to make classic pinks and oranges. You'll see it in the picture. After breakfast and a quick break down of camp, I'm on the water just before 8, which might be a record for me. I had scheduled my ride from the rental shop (I took out from lower Saranac and launched from flower lake) to pick me up at 11. But I'm now thinking that if I paddle straight to the launch, I'll be there by 9. My 2 hour paddle estimate was conservative, as well as my wake up time, which put me 2 hours ahead of schedule. I explored for an hour but called in the calvary for a 10 am pick up instead of 11. The cell reception on lower Saranac is actually really good for future reference. I used the extra hour to arrive at my next destination that much earlier.

My plan was to stop by Jonathan, Kimberly, and Matteo's house to say hello since I hadn't seen them in about 4 years. Their house was also right along my route on my way to Algonquin provincial park. When I arrived at their house it was just after 2, and I had a 3.5 hour drive left. It was shaping up to be a long day. I went inside and it was great to see Jonathan and Kimberly again. We started catching up and then the rain started to come. After a few minutes they offered me a place to stay for the night, which I gladly accepted as the weather only worsened.

After deciding to stay it was time for a beer and some of Jonathan's famous hot sauce! Kimberly made a delicious chili for dinner and we had an apple crisp that her sister had made for dessert. I was glad they had me over! The food was delicious and it seemed like only a few days had passed since Aruba where we met at Matteo and Kristin's wedding. Just before dinner, their 2 year old son Matteo awoke from his nap. At first he was really shy, probably just like I was when I was his age (I still am pretty shy but I'm getting better) but soon enough he started playing with his toys and being himself again. What smart and cute kid.

After dark, there were intense thunderstorms and a tornado warning! Again, I was really glad I got to spend the night. Eventually the power went out, but came back on a few minutes later. Jonathan and I finished the night with an episode of the Simpsons. Classic bedtime programming.

The morning brought bacon, with pancakes and a huge omelette. These two know how to make food. I also got to try some picked beets. Delicious. After breakfast it was operation "hot tub never freeze". Jonathan and Kimberly's hot tub needed some insulation underneath it to prevent a hose from freezing and causing hot tub trouble. I lent a hand and got to hang out for the morning and part of the afternoon. After inserting two sheets of foam insulation under the tub, we had the best BLTs in the world. Well second best as I'm told the bread wasn't quite right. You'll have to visit if you want to know the secret.

After lunch I said my goodbyes, and I felt so lucky to have such awesome people in my life. Thanks again for putting me up for the night, and all the delicious food!

Next stop is Algonquin provincial park.

Pictures: Sunrise from partridge island in lower Saranac. My relatively short paddle to end the paddling trip. Looking into ampersand bay, the morning brought glassy water.Read more