Deux Coureur des Bois - Les Voyageurs

Joel and I were at it again!  We were on ice and snow I suppose, just like our adventures throughout the winter, but in another state of mattter.  Water this time.  In a canoe and on the mighty Maitland.  What a fantastic day too.

We launched our scow, its maiden voyage, just passed Benmiller and the plan was to paddle back to Benmiller.  I would guess it is a 6 or 7 mile run?  I don't exactly know though....  The day couldn't have been any nicer; sunny, bright blue skies, wind at our back, lots of water, and about 16 degrees centigrade.

Within the first 20 minutes we came across a bald eagle at its nest.  It was pretty cool.  It wasn't that far away, but I never really got a good photo of it....  We also saw many geese, ducks, and a few great herons.  The most interesting thing though, was paddling over top of a beaver swimming in the river.  It didn' really notice us until we were right on top of it.  I was going to smack it with my paddle, but I didn't really want it to turn on me and attack = even though I am sure I could have handled it no problem!  Joel saw it too.  We really were a bunch of Coureur des Bois.

Because of the faster current, we hardly had to paddle feverishly.  We just rolled with the moving water and made it to our destination without any issues.

The teacher.

The pupil.

After that journey, we went back to Joel's parents' place to have some lunch and explore around the farm.  His parents have such a great farm with so much to do and see.  Plus Trista and the kids were there and they always love a visit from uncle awesome. 

The highlights of the visit included:

1. Taking the boys for a bit of a wheel barrel ride
2. Collecting eggs from the chicken coop
3. Going up in the hay mow and seeing the newborn kittens (even though I don't really like cats)

These cannibals - We broke an egg and threw it back in the coop for these animals to eat.  They went absolutely nuts!  It was pretty funny.