Good Old Canadian Shield

As Canada approaches its 144th birthday, this example of "the rock" scoffs at the blink of the the country's age. 144 years?!?!?! HA! Try something like way more than 144 million years!!

Whoa, time warp. This lunch box is in pristine condition, which seems a bit unusual as it's used quite a bit as a container for the Sadies when on tour.

This is an interesting rock face along the Mattawa River. It's neat how the various elements stain the rock over the centuries.

After paddling the Coleman cooler all trip and shooting all the available rapids, Mr. P. and I relinquished the tub so the Butcher and Freight Train could shoot the final set of rapids.

Freight train responds to the Butchers screams of impending doom and rocks.

Nice expression!

The Butcher narrowly misses a big boulder.

Freight Train looks ahead past the Butcher for further obstacles. Both made it safely through the rapids. The Coleman tub took a few scrapes, but that's why it was used.

The campsite we had at Elm Point featured a natural spring fed waterfall. Not only was it really cold clear water, it was extremely loud - sort of like sleeping next to a roaring highway. The good thing was the roar of the water was constant, so it did fade, somewhat, into the background.

This was the view west from Elm Point on our last night of the canoe trip.

An almost full moon peaks through the trees.

Early morning on the Mattawa River.

All is quiet in the morning fog on Elm Point.

As soon as the fog burned off we started a slow wake up and prep to paddle down the river.

These are photos of the Pariseau Falls on the Mattawa River. Obviously we didn't "shoot" them, rather we had to portage around them, a tough "pick up and carry.'

Freight Train and the Butcher close in on the base of the falls for a little fishing.

This is one of the expected "normal" methods to portage around a series of rapids or waterfalls. Not too taxing with a kevlar canoe and Freight Train doing the carrying.

This is the other extreme method of portaging as demonstrated by the Butcher.

Just tie up to the Coleman "cooler" and drag her along the portage - rocks and boulders be damned

Here we are chowing down at lunch after an arduous portage.

Some of the rock faces we encountered on our "paddle down the river" were amazing. The reflections weren't too bad either.

As my pal Tom said, it looks like the rocks are walking down to the water.

Butcher Brophey descends one of the easier sections of the portage around the Talon Chutes.

This rock "path" is also one of the easier sections of the Talon Chutes' portage.

This is the bottom of the falls at the talon Chutes where the water flows into Pimisi Lake and the Mattawa River.

Gerald and Glenn paddling towards the end of Turtle Lake. Well, at least Gerald is paddling.

Mike all "shiny" at the first portage.

One of the many portage signs along the route.

Gerald in his kitchen. The stove was not used for the steaks. They were bbq'd over the fire - fabulous!!

This is the view down Trout Lake from the canoes on day 1 of our Voyageur canoe trip. It was cloudy and rainy, but quite nice as far as we were concerned - it wasn't cold, so it was a grand day on the water.

Just got back late yesterday afternoon from a 3 day canoe trip with some Killer Strawberries after paddling from Trout Lake down the Mattawa River to Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park. More photos to follow.

More art from Cuba

Cool Cuban Art

This strange roof art is only visible from the hotel windows to the guests and staff at the hotel we stayed at in Santiago de Cuba.

Our new kitchen granite counter tops prior to installation this afternoon.

The counter and bar.

The bar and counter tops completed. Now it's time to figure out backsplash.

Seusi, one of my guides through Santiago de Cuba.

This is the city of Havana, Cuba taken just after take off. To access the city by road there is a huge tunnel under the opening of the bay at the harbour entrance, red arrow, that permits all manner of vehicles to freely move to and from the city. The upper left of the screen, west, is the large impressive waterfront that is slowly being restored.

In the 2 years since we were last in Havana, Cuba, there has been quite the push to restore the downtown buildings on Havana's impressive waterfront. It's really nice that our amigo, Alberto, has a hand in making this happen.

There are a lot of pre-1959 American vehicles in Cuba. Most are or seem to be held together with bailing wire, bondo or other ingenious methods. This Chev Bel-Air is by far the best looking vintage car I have seen in Cuba. In fact, I'm pretty sure it would blow folks away at any A&W or street in Canada or the US. Mr. FKIA, please, year and model??

I went to the dump a few weeks ago with a truck load of "goods." When cleaning up the yard and doing renos, taking stuff to the dump is a necessary evil. Our dump is about 15km north of the city in the bush, and it's quite large. Unfortunately, it's an eyesore, as well, from miles away as can be seen in this photo. It clearly stands out as the high (smell too) point for miles around.