A Night to Remember...

I had just finished my tour of duty at Onondaga Camp and was heading home to get ready to get married in only 9 days (September 05). Because I had been up north I had not been much help, so the next couple of days were crucial.
I got home and sort of unpacked, and hung out with the girl of my dreams. It had been a while since we had spent any time just the two of us so it was great to be back.
We did get some work done, finishing the mass amount of wooden coasters and wine stoppers and going over any last minute details.
Then came a day that was fun... but unfortunatley not remembered by me so well.
A few of my friends organized a small but well represented group of my friends to take me out for a Stag party. Represented were: Mc (Brother), Shawn, Stu, Roseman (from Stratford), Nick, Sho, Lutz (from Onondaga) Jayme, Jeff, Darryl (from PineCrest) Mac, Dave (from London) and a lot of quick visits from others throughout the night.
The evening began with sitting on my front porch drinking our faces off and eating delicious BBQ. This we eventually got bored of and walked downtown to find some other venue to serve us some drinks. First up was T.J. Baxters where we met up with a bunch of other good people. We ate some pickles, drank and talked it up with whoever we saw. Then after many shared beverages, it was off to the other side of the street to Barneys. See now, this is where things begin to get a bit foggy. I do remember most of my time there but leaving... nope. I was walking around pretty much butting into conversations and speaking my mind whenever I possibly could. To add to this, I was made to wear this old canvas bucket hat which resulted in the boyz to start calling me "Coach"... which also was not remembered by me. I do not remember leaving that bar but there are a few other flashes of memory that have somehow made it back into my system.

One: finding myself in the rippers, without a drink, and deciding then to stand up and get the hell out of there.
Two: finding myself on a rooftop... scary, and deciding that this can't be good so I turned around.
Three: finding myself in my washroom, so I washed my hands and made my way to bed.

Now waking up the next moring, I of course was a little rough... ok, a lot rough, but at least I was mobile.
From what I have pieced together, my timeline was pretty much bang on but there were a lot of adventures that didn't stick around inside my brain... which I now believe is a good thing.
I guess the "Coach" (as I would like to call him) did a whole bunch of things that were pretty crazy:

He almost started a few scuffles while talking it up with people. Ate some street meat. Would randomly run away from everyone including one episode where somehow he managed to get on the other side of the road then all of the others (cars in between), had to be held by the belt to not get away, managed to escape and made it up a fire escape to a rooftop but had enough wit to decide on his own that it was a bad idea to be up there, drank whatever was put in front of him, ate some pizza, threatened to flick all of his friends in the eyeball many times, drank some water, threw up on the floor of his house, made the slowest and vulgarity filled crawl to the washroom where he managed to sleep with his head in the linen closet.

I do imagine that there were other stories that erupted from that night but who knows who would remember. I do know that from what I took from it... it was a lot of fun, but I am glad (and so is my liver) that it will only have to happen once in my life.
Now to wait... patiently for the next victim to emerge. I will keep the hat around for only that reason and I plan to create more nights where the "Coach" will interupt and takeover one of my dear friends for a little while, so I can enjoy some laughs at their expense... I can't wait.
Slater

A Long Strange Trip its Been

I have to appologize to anyone that has read or thought of this blog as worthwhile in the past.
I will make up for it by posting more often to catch up anyone who has any interest or at least to let my mind spill out somewhere... it is full, and rather heavy.

Slater

The Paddleopoulus Experience

Well where to start...
We started the day working at camp and doing everything as normal as the day before. Planning to leave camp at 5:00 and rush our way up to Algonquin as soon as possible. The bell struck five and we were off after collecting a few important ingredients (Reburn's and Vic's ipods... props). The sporty volvo station wagon zoomed its way northward and our journey had begun. As we drove we pounded some food including some Subway and an ensure shake (which I now loath) to give us the energy that we would obviously require.
Once there we grabbed our two small backpacks, paddles and made our way over to where we were renting our canoe. Now this was no ordinary canoe, I pre-ordered (without seeing it) a yellow ultra light kevlar boat that at first glance looked like I could break it over my knee. It was somewhat see through, which we were quite amazed about later as the water underneath us put us into a sort of a trance.
Throwing ourselves into the boat we took off and gave one last look behind us, both of us hoping to see this same dock as soon as possible. Our route was simple... start at the Canoe lake access point and travel to the Brent store on Cedar lake and then back, as fast as we can.
This trek has been known as the Brent run in the past and has probably been called many other names... we decided on Paddleopoulus.
The total distance covered is something close to 150 kilometres including about 34 portages and many a push through in shallow areas.
In the first few hours we flew along. There was hardly even a breeze and the sunset alone could have inspired us to keep moving.
short amounts of time.... work in progress...

Jamming with Barefoot

On a crazy day off a couple of us embarked on a fantastic voyage. We set out from camp (Ryan, Miles and myself) and picked up one of Ryan's cousins (Scott) from Can-Aqua, who is the director there, and one of his good buddies (John). Now that is when things got pretty funny, as having a bunch of camp staff that usually are being the responsible ones now have the freedom to let loose.... so onward to the big metropolous of Wilno.
The town of Wilno was started by a bunch of draft dodging hippies and most of them still live there. There is really only one place to go in Wilno and that is the Wilno Tavern, which has excellent cabbage rolls and occasionally sports a great band that is touring. We arrived around 9:00 and there were still a bunch of seniors enjoying there dinner so we quickly met the band who at the time were setting up and were invited to have a couple in there tour van before the show. Now this isn't your average band... the lead singer/guitarist is Ryans other cousin Heather so we were welcomed with open arms when we arrived.
Now after a few sodas, we went in to watch and noticed that the crowd had changed. There were now a bunch of obvious camp staff, some local hippies (tye dye included) and a few of the dinner crowd lingering.
They started up and instantly it brought on a good vibe in the whole place. They have a Phish type of sound, being a four piece (drums, bass, keys, and guitar), however the lead singer being a woman is a much different dynamic.
It was a pretty long set and stopped around 1:30 as they were told that was as late as they could play here. Then a few people gathered outside on the small porch and one of the random camp peeps picked up a guitar and started playing out there. Well the bass player couldn't help but bring his upright outside and so started the second concert. About 20 of us were singing along with well known songs and the guitar was passed to about 3 different people, unfortunately not me. This was hilarious and to hear that many people belt out songs while squished on a small porch was something to remember.
Eventually we did break it up and our crew, the band, and their close friends headed out down the road to one of their cottages. We were responsible enough to have thought ahead and had the needed drivers with us. Now realizing that there were some sober people among us basically created a flow of booze, and we all sat down to a game of 3 man... which got a bit crazy.
What felt like no time at all, we noticed that the sky was getting a bit brighter and that maybe it was time to lay down for a bit. Being a two hour drive back to camp and having to be there by eleven made for a two hour sleep... yikes. The next morning brought us to Tim Hortons and the rest of the day was a sleepy foggy day that actually went quite smoothly.
So the adventure ended and another band was put into my collection, added with a bunch of stories that will be remembered, and again inspired me to pick up my guitar and start jamming... possibly without shoes this time.
Slater

One Small Step

So it has begun... our dream of running our own tripping company that is. We have bought the rights to a web site which really has nothing on it yet but it is a step in the right direction. This also was a big decision to decide on a company name. We tossed around a whole bunch of ideas but nothing seemed to be working and then Andrea and I were driving back up to Minden last week and I threw out the name Birch Cove and it just seemed to make sense. If you are in the dark... Birch Cove is one of my favourite places on Earth. It is a cabin at our old camp that the two of us stayed in sometime over the years. I guess if you look deep it could also mean something to do with traditional ways of tripping (birchbark canoes) and tranquil water (cove)... but pretty much it just rolls off the tongue. Say it with me now, Birch Cove Tripping... that's right, it does sound good.
This may not be something we will be putting our whole life into right away but who knows... it may just blow up and keep both of us busy, and happy for many years. We definitly have the support from our huge amount of friends that are more than qualified to be a part of the action, which will be a great asset for the first couple of years. Then maybe we can even have some of them on a fat payroll that will even keep them happy.
Ah sooo good... it gets me pretty damn excited even thinking about it. I think we were born to do this and it has been and will be a huge part of our lives so why not share these great times in the woods with others. Now really doesn't everyone just want to get out there and enjoy what nature has to offer, I know I do... now it is just a matter of time.
Slater

Friends on the water

I just spent another great five days out in Algonquin Park and got to know some good people. I was out with my group of LIT's who were all good for a couple of laughs and a few complaints, but all in good fun. Mixed in with things like watching the stars at night, people falling into beaver slime, eating mass food was also an opportunity to get to know a very unique person. The other tripper that came along with us used to work for Onondaga but has lately been doing editing for the Globe and Mail and is probably the best musician I have ever known. His name is Peirson Ross Mclean and he makes me feel that I should never touch a guitar again... honestly. He throws out some crazy licks that pretty much made me feel that I am a novice and should never play again. This guy has made an album and you can buy it in HMV for about $25, but only for the next couple of weeks and then he is taking it out of there because he thinks it is a rip off, I got one for free... suckas. Anyways, he has done an amazing amount of trips over the years and is now making another studio album that is actually funded. He played on trip and basically sold 9 CDs right there. I have never been so blown away buy an artist before. Maybe it was the fact that I also got to know the guy as well but I think it is the shear respect that I have for the ability to play that well. Anyways, I will follow his career and thought the world should know that this guy will be famous and well... enjoy his music.
Slater

Paddleopolous

So here we go... a new mission has been presented to me and I will gladly step up.
If you have not heard of the Brent Run then this will be an eye opener to you.
It is an insane trek from southern Algonquin Park to the northern side and back... as fast as possible. It is about 150 kilometres with 34 portages. If that is not enough, we have heard that the fastest time is somewhere around 22 hours... now that is crazy!
A new friend of mine (Ryan Lutz) and I will embark on this crazy mission we have deemed 'Paddleopolous' sometime in late August and really fill a day off from work. The funny part will be returning to work the next day. I have been tired before, but I have a feeling I will resemble a zombie... zzzz.... what? We are not sure of a date yet but I we have decided to do it and so it must be done.
If you are into seeing this on a map, we will travel from canoe lake access point to cedar lake (Brent Store) where we will purchase something and then turn around and come back to the beginning. We have a few options and are still deciding which way will least kill us on this insanity. One thing that has been determined is that we need some sort of tune souce to get us through this... hmmm.
So wish me luck, wish Ryan luck, wish the poor suckas we will pass a goodnight, and hope that we don't meet up with any angry moose late at night.
I will write again about this later for sure.
Slater