Elk Lake

I was doing so well... 11 posts in July, 17 in June.... then life got in the way. It started with Spa Day at the winery -- certainly the most labor-intensive thing we do. That spun almost directly into vacation.

Well, I'm back and ready to report on What I Did on My Summer Vacation.

Because of our trip along Route 66 in 2006 and finances and various other things, we hadn't gotten to the family cabin in Elk Lake, Ontario since 2005. That's crazy for us -- Tommy had been there every summer of his life up until then.

When you have a family business, it's hard to get a lot of family members together for vacation. But we were able to pack our car with my sister Holly and her two girls, Bob, me, Winston, and Holly's new mixed-Beagle puppy, Snoopy. 5 people, 2 dogs, and all the luggage.... whew!

Normally a 10 to 12 hour trip, with dogs that needed to be walked, this turned into 14 hours each way.

Elk Lake is a tiny logging town in northern Ontario, about 45 minutes west of the Quebec border. My grandmother and her sisters and parents homesteaded there in the early 20th century. The family still has the land where their house stood near Wabun Creek along the Montreal River, land across the street where they found silver, and the tiny log cabin in town where my great aunt Hazel lived right after she was married.

We all stay at the cabin -- it's cozy and part of our family's tradition. My great aunt Isabelle purchased it in the 1960s and added a small back addition with bathroom, laundry, and another tiny bedroom/alcove.

What do you do while you're there? Other than watching the Montreal River go by, we swim at the little town beach just below our cabin, pick wild blueberries, canoe, and visit various local attractions.

One of our favorites is Kap-Kig-Iwan, a little Provincial Park along the Englehart River with two gorgeous falls. You can hike to see the lower and upper falls, and as beautiful as it is, there's rarely anyone else there.

It was a lovely week. Gorgeous weather. Yummy blueberries.

And now we're back.... and I'll try to do better posting to my blog.

SP12: Question of the Week #6

What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?

I love to knit while on vacation, but figuring out what to bring is a real art. You want a project that's interesting, can be picked up and put down often, and lasts the right amount of time for the trip.

In terms of how much to bring, I've done it all -- brought way too much and way too little.

In the fall of 2006 Bob, Tommy, Winston, and I drove the length of Route 66 as our vacation. We drove to downtown Chicago and officially started at its beginning -- right across the street from the Art Institute. I brought lots and lots of knitting supplies with me. Gosh, two weeks on the road, I figured I'd knit and knit and knit.

But navigating along the old road required that I constantly study several Route 66 guides. It twists and turns constantly. I couldn't knit. So I carried all that yarn the length of Route 66 and back home again.

We try to visit my family's cabin in northern Ontario every summer. We all love it up there -- the air smells wonderful, we pick wild blueberries, canoe, bake bread, and relax. The perfect place to knit. But the first few times I brought knitting with me, I didn't bring enough. And there aren't a lot of yarn shops anywhere nearby. I need to bring more with me this year!

Topic #4: My Most Memorable Vacation

Topic #4 for the Hot Cocoa Swap is "My Most Memorable Vacation."

I've got a recent one and one from my distant past...

....From the past:
The year after I graduated from college I worked two jobs (teaching and waitressing). I saved and saved and then spent more than a summer in England, Wales, and Scotland. The trip was based at the Scottish College of Textile for a few weeks for their summer semester. But I also lived in London for about a month and had two different rail passes that allowed me to travel all around the U.K. It was amazing.

....Pretty recently:
Last year we spent several weeks driving the entire length of Route 66. We drove from Michigan to the Art Institute of Chicago, where the Mother Road begins. We had all sorts of guidebooks spread around the car, and followed every piece of the Old Road we could find. The average speed limit was about 30 mph... for over 3,000 miles.

It was a wonderful trip, but we did it in two weeks (there along Route 66, then back home via Interstate highways) which is pretty much the minimum for over 6,000 miles. Someday I'd like to do it again and take 4 to 6 weeks.

Images: Road sign at beginning of Route 66 (across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago), Wigwam Motel (the 2nd one... in CA), end of the road (Santa Monica Pier).