Morning in Wellesley Island State Park was glorious. We had another of those retirement mornings where time means nothing and slept in a bit. We had a faint but usable cell signal (it was on the Canadian Rogers’ system) so we could keep in touch via all manner of social media, email and texting, however posting to this blog was out of the question so I am writing this after the fact. I cooked up a decent batch of whole wheat pancakes and we tried the Maple Syrup we purchased at the big cow store back in Lowville, NY. The pancakes were the perfect start to the day, and the Maple Syrup was VERY good.
After breakfast Carol and I did a bit of clean-up around the 'house' with almost no help from Harper. Once everything was tidy, we set off on a hike down toward a marina which is part of the park. Being a couple of ex-boaters, we cannot pass up a marina and check out all the boats and the facilities. There were quite a few boats still in the water, surprising for this far north, this time of year. This was a very nicely kept and a well protected marina. It would be a pleasure to keep a boat here, just off the Saint Lawrence river.
We hiked out to the end of a spit of land that jutted out into the river with spectacular views, and Harper was having a great time with nose to the ground taking in all new smells. Harper bounced down the rocky shore to the water and drank in at least half her body weight in fresh Saint Lawrence water. We hiked further and the foliage was just beginning to peak so the scenery will forever be embedded in our memories.
While hiking I chatted with a fellow photographer and watched geese fly overhead, coming down from Canada, eh? After walking back to the Doodle we sat around and just goofed off for a while, had some lunch and took a bike ride to explore the rest of the park. Being this time of year (October) many of the campsites were empty but one area was covered with mostly small one person tents, but there was nobody around. We guessed that it must be some youth organization and sure enough, later in the day a parade of vans with happy kids pulled into the park and headed for that area.
We also saw another Leisure Travel Van but couldn't find the owners to chat. Carol had made an outstanding supper in the 'crock pot' (slow cooker or what ever you call it) and as suppertime closed in I got a pot of potatoes on to boil and we ate like royalty that evening. I have to hand it to Carol who has a great ability to plan and execute these things. After supper as the sun and the temperatures dropped we built a fire and pulled the chairs up and sat chatting, mesmerized by the dancing flames.
As the fire began to die down and darkness began to gather in earnest I got my camera and other gear out. I began to set up tho do some night photography. Of course as I was getting things set, the Moon began to rise, obscuring most of the stars with it blinding light. However I was determined, and focused my attention to the north and decided on doing a polar star trails shot.
So while we were comfy in bed watching something on Canadian TV, my camera was working away just outside the window - luxury astrophotography! I ended up taking 193 photos, each one a 30 second exposure. I combined all of the images into the image above, giving clear evidence of the earth's rotation. It was well after 11:00 before I shut things down and stowed away my camera, and it felt good to crawl back into my nice warm bed. . . I fear I am getting spoiled, but then again, I like being spoiled.
Below is a gallery of images from the day and some from our stay back at the vineyard where I had such a bad internet connection.
