SS Ivernia - we sailed on this ship from Montreal to Le Harve, France at about this time of year in 1960.

It was quite hot on the dock on Monday - perfect for a lot of ball tossing in the lake for Sunny.

 The chemical spill on our highway, HWY 63, is in the clean-up stage.  The road is reduced to one lane so the trucks hauling the spilled crap away to Quebec can stage. 

 30 "big rigs" have been filled since last Thursday, with more to be filled.

Some evacuated residents have been allowed home, but the last ones won't be going home until next Tuesday at the earliest - those folks' houses are at "ground 0."

At first glance, this looks like a lot of things it isn't.

We went on 2 Four Mile Bay cruises aboard the Fun Ship yesterday.  This is from the 2nd trip, the sunset cruise.

 On Monday morning a semi-tanker truck crashed and spilled its 36,000 kg load of formaldehyde.  The contaminant eventually made its way into the lake.  More than 50 homes were evacuated, and most of the lake residents were to not use the lake water for anything (most rely on the water for drinking).  The highway was closed to traffic.  This is the last closure warning before the crash site, just up from Peninsula Road.

This is another photo looking towards the crash site.  In the distance on the small hill sits an OPP vehicle in case folks dismiss the sign.

 On Thursday afternoon, after 3 1/2 days of the highway being closed, the road was finally opened.  Some evacuated folks were allowed back to their homes, but many were still not allowed back.  I had to be careful taking photos from my moving vehicle due the police presence and the "no hand held device" driving law.

 This is where the tanker left the road.  A police neighbour of mine suggested the driver, who was dead upon arrival at the hospital (no cause of death known yet), may have had some "trouble" prior to the accident since he apparantly never even attempted to negotiate the curve in the highway - he drove straight off the road.

This is one of the excavators cleaning up the crash debris and probably some of the contaminated soil.  As I drove through the site, fresh after the highway opening, my windows were down ( it was 29C), and I noticed a very strong formaldehyde smell.  I can hardly imagine what it must have been like prior to any cleanup as the smell I was noticing on the 3rd day was still pretty strong.

Mr. FKIA and me at the "compound" on Saturday night, the night before Margarita Sunday.

Not the best photo, but this is the roadblock on Highway 63 to North Bay announcing the closure of the highway due to a chemical spill.  Vehicles going into North Bay were being directed on a long detour around the back of the city by the airport (behind me on the road).  The spill occurred around 8:30am Monday, and the road is still closed today for cleanup and assessment.

Wow, what a great hot weekend!!  There were, however, a few "disasters" in North Bay on the weekend - a formaldihyde truck crashed and spilled its contents into our lake, we're to not swim or drink the water until it's safe, the driver didn't survive the crash, more than 50 residences were evacuated; there was a bush fire (photo above) in the middle of the city off Ski Club Road below the ski hill that  threatened many houses, lots of water bombing by helicopters; and a house on Thibeault Hill was destroyed by a lightning strike.  I'm sure there were many more great things happening, but these ones sure put a damper on things on Monday.

Mother nature is an artist, though I do suspect a man-made machine may have put thses rocks on top of each other some years ago at the Mattawa Golf and Ski Resort.

A Mother's/Father's Day present to us - with nice weather on the horizon this long weekend, it looks like we're "going to" Margaritaville!

This little memorial off the forest access road between Noth Bay and Mattawa always makes me sad.  Bradley would have been 61 this year.

When you tee off at the blue tees at the 7th hole of the Mattawa Golf and Ski Resort, there is this nice little waterfall running right beside the tee box.  In the early spring it becomes a raging torrent from the winter snow runoff.  In golf season the sound of the waterfall is barely noticeable to golfers.

The green at the 6th hole of the Mattawa Golf and Ski Resort where the Ice Marshal, Dr. Thug and I played yesterday.

With the fungi growths and the pilliated woodpecker action, this tree hasn't a chance.

The Fortuitous captain's controls.

Sunnydale Stables, just off Highway 17, east of North Bay.

Sometimes spring photos on the lake look a lot like fall photos on the lake.  I took this a couple of evenings ago.  The slight green of the new growth isn't visible here, but it certainly is not autumn.

 I had some fun on Saturday as I turned this section of a spruce log, above, into ...

... this, a self-contained campfire - a pretty cool experiment!!

Here's the "super" full moon from last night as it was rising over Trout Lake.

I was out on the Fortuitous last night with the Ice Marshal and GAWD, and on one side of the boat we had a gorgeous sunset, and on the other side there was the "day before' super full moon rising.

This is a photo from this morning as I was looking through the fog down One Mile Bay.

It may well be spring and the beginning of May, and the boat is in the water, but we are still a few weeks away from the leaves on the trees  appearing.

 The Fortuitous cruising down the lake for the first time in 2012, May 1.

The Fortuitous at the dock intead of in the driveway.

3/4 of the dock is now in - that means there is enough to dock the boat, so ... maybe it's a boat launching day.