Back to Duluth...

My trip home took me through Oakville Ontario where I got to visit my very great friends Bob and Jo and spend 3 nights with them.  Took the train into Toronto one day and did some sight seeing where I ended up at the REAL Hockey Hall of Fame.  Of course I had to get my photo taken with the Coupe Stanley which will be awarded to the Penguins in due course.

It was a fun trip.  I got to see places I haven't had much exposure to in the past and of course, it's nice to be back home in spite of the crappy weather...

Life is Good.

Coupe de Grass...

Well, before I got to Montreal I had been bitchin' a bit about the cold weather and the "brown" spring.

As you can see from my photos the past few days, green has definitely taken over from the brown. The folks here have a huge double lot and a nice little ride around mower.  Of course there are gardens and trees everywhere so it's not really that easy to cut with the ride around..

I had decided that if it wasn't raining today, I'd mow the lawn. John and Wendy are back tomorrow so it's time to get the place shipshape.  It was raining this morning but unfortunately, for me, the sun came out for a few hours this afternoon and I was able to crank up the push mower and do the complete lawn.  It only took a couple and a half hours.  I'm beat.. but it looks good.. n'est ce pas?

Life.. C'est Bon!

Hiking in Oka National Park.

This morning I headed out to the Oka National Park which is just outside the village of the same name (Oka).  This park is known for its cultural and religious heritage and the trail I chose was about 5km and passed by four Romanesque - style oratories and ended near three chapels overlooking the village.  These buildings were build between 1740 and 1742.

It was a very pleasant and peaceful stroll even though it was rather busy as there were lots of locals out enjoying the morning.  Unfortunately, the mosquitoes also seemed to like the trail and they were ravenous to say the least.

Now, Oka's other claim to fame came in the summer of 1990 involving  a showdown between native people, Quebec police and eventually the Canadian army. One police officer was killed and the conflict lasted 78 days. The Oka Crisis drew worldwide attention, casting native land rights into the spotlight. 

Anyways, I finished the tour with a lunch stop in the village.  It is on the shore of Two Mountains Lake (also known as a widening of the Ottawa River), and is quite a touristy.  This is such a pretty and peaceful area and I am sooo happy that I was able to visit.

Life is Good.

Parc de la Riviere Mille Isles.

Took today's stroll in a park nearby.  Le (that's french) park consisted of a huge number of maple trees that are partially submerged in the high waters of the river.  The walkway consisted of a network of bridges to access the park with several viewpoints.

Lots of water wildlife in the area.. turtles, little fishies, and muskrats busy building their homes.  The river is called Mille Iles which means one thousand islands... it's a pretty area .. the weather was nice and it was good to get out on a bit of a hike..

Life is Good.

Strolling around the old city of Montreal...

Today started out rainy and cold and I considered canceling my plan to go down to the old city of Montreal and do some sight seeing.  The rain stopped by noon and although it was cold and windy, I decided that I shud check it out.

Now... driving worked out fairly well but parking is a very expensive proposition... like $3.50 per half hour... no limit in many of the lots.. I was lucky to find a meter that gave me 2 hours max for $6 so I just couldn't stray toooo far as I had to go back and feed the meter.

My first landmark that I recognized was while still driving. I encountered a very old Hudson's Bay Store on a busy corner so I had time to take out my camera and take a pic.  One of the first businesses I noticed was a Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop in a lovely old building.

There are several streets that are blocked for auto traffic.. had to take a pic of one that had a Northern Images sign beckoning me.  The next photo is of the Notre Dame Basilica - very imposing amongst the other old buildings.

I had to include photos of Montreal's culinary gems... the first being a Poutine shop and the other was the second half of my lunch.. Montreal is known for it's smoked meat sandwiches and after stuffing myself with this one, I know why.. I was delicious.

The last picture here is the Hotel St James... probably named after moi??  When I was taking the photo a local guy came up to me and started telling me about the hotel's claim to fame as Madonna appears to be a regular customer when in town... as are the Rolling Stones.. apparently Mick likes to book at least two floors of the hotel for his entourage.. I guess it would be interesting if the walls could talk.

A beautiful city.. lots of bad roads and traffic problems... not quite as charming as Quebec City but a fun place to visit..

Life is Good.

I see your Pierre.... and raise you one....

The signature hole at Le Versant Golf Club is #15 on the Seigneur course.  It's a great par 5 looking down on the course with the city of Montreal and Mount Royal in the background..

Ok, but here you can't see the background coz it was about to start pissing rain and - well -  take my word for it.. it was there in the background and it was nice.

So, the two guys I golfed with today were both named Pierre.. One of the three yesterday was a Pierre also.  Just goes to show you that you can't get enough Pierres on your platter .. uhhhh... whatever that means.

They were very nice guys.. fun to golf with, and with my new wonderbar putting stroke.. why.. Jimmy almost broke 90 today.. hitting balls in a strong wind, I shot a 90 and it really made me happy..

Jimmy likes 90..... Life is Good.

Oh.. my pic makes me look like I'm totally bloated but I did have a 50 KPH wind blowing up my arse and my pants are too big so they were fulla air!

Today's golf game...

I just had to post a little note to let you'all know that today's golf game started out with a birdie on the first hole (I rolled in a 60 footer).  And to top it off, I lipped out a putt on 10 that would have been a birdie to start the back nine as well.

Oh well, the final score was still 96 so there had to be a few bad shots as well... Like that efffen 8 on the 17th hole.

It was fun.  I played with three local guys.. Pierre who spoke little english but expressed himself quite clearly on the course when he hit a bad shot.  Then there was Ron who plays a mean foot wedge... And finally Raymond - he was very nice but hands of stone!

Tomorrow I play at Le Versant... about 10 minutes away and the weather - which was very nice today - will be even better as we're expecting the low 20's starting tomorrow.

Life is good.

Je suis arrivee dans Montreal...

After two long days of driving, I arrived in Montreal (Terrebonne) 2 days ago.  I've been visiting with John and Wendy and their two lovely cats and this morning dropped the folks off at the train station so they could depart on their vacation - they have a cabin up in the wilds of N Quebec and will be back late on the 21st.   I've gotten to know my little sidekicks - les chats - fairly well and they are comfortable with me.

After dropping the folks off this morning I did a bit of exploring and as a result have a 0904 tee time tomorrow morning and a 1016 tee time at another course on Wednesday AM.  Both courses are about 10 minutes from the house (which is a lovely home) so all I need now is for the damn weather to warm up.  It's 8 degrees today but very windy and some sleet off and on.  Supposed to be +16 tomorrow and in the low 20's on Wednesday so that shud be nice.

It is VERY french here so it will be interesting to see the groups that I am paired up with for golfing and see how the communications work.  Of course, I can curse in French as well as English so it shouldn't affect my game at all.

I'm planning to take the train into the city on Thursday.. that way if it's very interesting, I'll have time to visit the city again during this trip.  If not, I'm not to far from the Oka national park which has some great hiking areas so there's "stuff" to do.

I may even take some photos of my own for posting here..

Life is Good.

A new low... which is a new high!!

With our clean eating program Jewels and I have not only been eating much healthier and feeling better for it.. but we've been dropping pounds as well.  It started out with quite dramatic losses at first but has now settled in at about a couple of pounds per month.

This morning the scale had good news for both of us.. Jewels is down 36 pounds since we started and I've lost just over 30 pounds.  That's a whopping 66 pounds between the two of us.

I keep equating our combined weight loss to the 50 pound bags of EZ Street asphalt I have in the back of my truck. They are heavy little suckers to move around - but it's fun to consider that each bag is less than our combined weight loss...

WoooHoooo... Life is Good.

Arrival of the Baie St Paul

Cold nite - we were thinking of taking a walk when we saw a ship arriving on the horizon.  We decided to drive down to the harbour and officially watch our first arrival of the season.

It was really cold down by the water but worth the trip.  Tonite's arrival was the Baie St Paul - Canada Steamship Line's newest laker which was built in China and completed last October. This is probably the newest ship in operation on the Great Lakes.

It looks like it's going to be very busy at the harbour this summer which will be fun.

Life is Good.

Looking forward to a regular visitor this summer!

I was on the deck today putting away the ..... uhhhhh.. christmas lights - I know, I know but it's been snowing almost every week and they're forcasting a couple of inches tonight as well!

I heard some squawking from the trees between our house and the neighbors place - I looked up and there was a beautiful pileated woodpecker munching away at a stump - chips flying everywhere.  How they attack tree stumps for their meals is beyond me.. pro sport teams should study them in their cause to eliminate concussions!!

Anyways, it looks like he will be a frequent visitor as the stump appears to be infested with ants and, well a fellow has to eat.

The real cool part is that Jewels and I have decided that "bird" is the word for the summer.  We had planned to do as many "bird" related pro-jects as possible.. so May 1 is officially the first day of summer and what a nice bird-way to start.

Life is Good.