Lac Lu outing - part 3

Swimming was one of the big activities of both days. when T. found out that he could actually stand on the bottom and still have his head out of the water he wanted to try without using the life jacket. The area between the dock and the rock was just the right depth for him.

After spending some time in the water it was time to get warmed up on the rock.

Sat. about noon we packed up and took a short trip into Kenora, ON to visit the Railroad Museum - it was a very interesting place with an old station like building housing a model RR which depicted rail service from coast to coast and from the early days until now. The volunteer who showed us around gave us a good lesson on the history of the RR. T. really enjoyed watching all the trains traveling around on the big model.

Outside we were able to go into a real caboose and walk around on the external walkways of an engine.

After a DQ stop we went to a park that was close by where there was a beach on Lake of the Woods - Opa and T. had a good time swimming and Oma just sat around in the shade.

When everyone was good and hot and tired we headed home to Winnipeg.

Outing to Lac Lu part 2

Off for a canoe trip - about a half hour paddle towards the west of the island there is an inlet from another lake - to go to the other lake requires a portage. Getting to the portage point one must paddle through an area of many water lilies and cattail plants. With careful paddling it is possible to get right among the plants and see some interesting wild life. We were able to come quite close to a turtle (likely the western painted kind) sunning itself on a rock. We also found a discarded Red-winged black bird's nest in the cattails and collected it for T. to take home for show and tell.

At the portage point there is a small rapids where the stream flows into Lac Lu. Opa found a good place to beach the canoe with T. and Oma still in it - thus we could disembark with dry feet - didn't matter to T. but Oma sure likes keeping the feet dry. We hiked around in this area and then spent some time sailing stick boats down the rapids.

When T. was in the woods looking for dry sticks he made a great find - dry animal bones (likely a young deer). Something more to add to his collection for show & tell.

Oma what happened to the tote box?
Oma had to rest for a while by sitting on the tote box. Opa had to help her up while T. took another picture which is not going to be published.

After about an hour we headed back to the cabin - reaching there in time for lunch which was very much needed by everyone.

Outing to Lac Lu - July 22-24, 2010

We took our grandson for a couple of days to Helmut's sister's cabin on Lac Lu. The cabin is located on an island and we reached it by canoe. The crossing was pretty wet because it was raining but the luggage was well protected by plastic bags and the people didn't suffer much from getting wet.

We arrived after supper so only had to get ourselves settled for the night.

Fri. morning we had a pretty early start on the day because everyone was awake just after 6 am. We started out with a big pan cake breakfast. Then Opa and T. investigated the dock and tried the water which he thought was chilly while Oma cleaned up.

Then it was time for a hike around the area (20 minute walk if you keep going) . We took a little longer because we had to see where three deer went bounding off to. Then we met the neighbors' big golden retriever, who is a lot of bark but quite friendly. Stopped for a view from the rock at the top and also smelled the wild sage. When we came around to the fire pit area we saw one of the deer at the far end of the clearing.

Keep watching for the next installment.

Sun. Nov. 22, 2009

On Sunday we chose to attend the Waialae Kahola Chapel which was located not far from the Diamond Head Crater. Helmut had jogged from our hotel to the chapel on Sat. morning to see exactly where it was. It wasn't all that far but very up and down hill. He had visited with a brother who was there for some reason. So we drove there on Sun. and when we arrived the sister that was in the lower area met us and asked if Helmut was the jogger.

The pomello fruit was in a tree in the adjacent yard to the parking lot. I wondered what would happen to a car if one of those fruits fell on it.

The people were very friendly with us and made us feel right at home.

Some of the young people were staying at the chapel for lunch and to practice some music. They invited us to have lunch with them.

The elderly man is a retired missionary from
Japan.

This chapel was right beside the main highway that took us to the airport where we met up with Jim and Myrna and waited around for our flight to Kona.

Waimea Valley - Botanical Garden and Water Fall - Sat. Nov. 21, 2009

When driving around with Jim and Myrna on Fri. we had seen on the map this place but couldn't find it along our way. So Sat. Helmut and I went back and found it- the sign was very small. We enjoyed a fairly long walk through the gardens to the falls. We had some showers along the way. I have a love of flowers as we took many pictures. At the moment I can't locate the folder that has the names and pictures of so many of the flowers. So just enjoy looking at them.

















































































































The bird is a White-rumped Shama. It is well known for it's beautiful singing. This one was certainly going strong with the singing this afternoon. It was very close to where I was resting for a little while.












































We were told the falls was about 40 ft. high and that the pool was about 30 ft. deep. We weren't prepared to go swimming.

Dole Poneapple Plantation Nov. 21. 2009

Every time I use this handy-dandy tool to slice and core a pineapple it reminds me of our visit to the Dole Pineapple Plantation in the middle of Oahu, HI. We purchased the tool in the store there at the plantation. a lady demonstrated how to use it and we were sold on it right away. It is not fussy - it will slice and core any pineapple whether it is a "Dole" or a "Delmonte" grown in Hi or some where in central America.













These are pictures from the plantation. There was a little train which took us around the whole plantation with information all along the way about the cultivation of the pineapple.

We were impressed with the very colorful tree that I am standing next to. According to a book we have it might be the Bagras eucalyptus.

There are various types of pineapples but only one type is grown for market in HI. We had the opportunity to sample some and then we bought one right there and took it along to eat during the week that we were there. Bringing one back to Canada was not allowed.

The soil is so red because it is very rich in iron which is very good for the pineapple cultivation.