There is a small natural beach on the lake. Growing up, I think we went to the beach almost every day. This year — we only made one trip out to the beach. We had the little strip of beach to ourselves for a little while and then it got crowded (by crowded, I mean 2 other families came). It really is nice to be able to vacation on such a quiet lake.
In Canada we have a variety of watercraft to enjoy. We have a canoe, paddle boat, small sail boat, a few fishing boats and the ‘big boat’.
One of the first things that Ross and I did was take the paddle boat out for a spin. It was near sunset, was pretty calm and really nice.
Also popular is the trusty old canoe. We made it through the whole week without anyone tipping and getting wet while on the canoe. Ross was a little leery of getting in the canoe with me, afraid that I would get sea sick (as I did on the kayak on our honeymoon). However, there aren’t near as many waves on the lake as on the ocean — and I was fine.
Aunt Jackie and Alex took out the small sunfish sailboat. The were moving pretty fast once they got started. They had a little trouble when they went to head home…but made it home without having to get towed…so it was a success! I think the sail looked really pretty on the lake.
There are new regulations in Canada that require that all boat drivers pass a boating safety course. So, before heading to Canada I took the MD boat safety course online. Once we got to Canada though, there were plenty of other people eager to drive the boats, that I didn’t drive them all that often. Sam, my 13 year old cousin, absolutely loved driving the boats — I was happy to just go for the ride. However, one afternoon I did drive one of the boats — and Ross captured some pictures of me squinting into the sun as I drove.
The day after Christmas we left early in the morning to spend a few days on Kauai with Ross’ family there. Unfortunately, they had been having lots of rain and it continued to rain while we where there. It wasn’t nearly as fun with all the rain – but we still enjoyed the time with the family. As always there was lots of good food — and it seems like all we did was eat.
Even though it was raining in Kalaheo, Ross and I escaped to Poipu beach for a few hours Friday afternoon. It was certainly a ‘tourist’ beach – but his Uncle thought it was the best bet for finding some sun. The beach was busy and full of people. The shoreline was kind of rocky, so we didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the water. Ross noticed ( I wasn’t so observant at first) that there was a section of beach roped off. We went to check it out and found that a Hawaiian Monk Seal (endangered species, and state marine mammal) had beached himself and was sunning on the beach. Having just read an article about the Monk Seals, I was excited to see one up close.
Saturday it continued to rain, rain, rain. Ross’ family was playing a chinese card game, Mah Jong. They taught me how to play, and we played for most of the afternoon. It’s a game like rummy where you try and make runs or matches with your “cards” (really tiles). I had a hard time with some of the chinese characters for the numbers – but once Phyllis made a cheat sheet for me, I did okay. I still don’t get the complicated scoring system, but I can learn that on some other trip. While I thought the game was fun, I thought it was way too long…it took us four hours to play.
Saturday night Ross’ family had a dinner to go to, so we went into Lihue to Hanamura’s for saimin. The place was BUSY since it was the weekend, and was cold and rainy. It was a small local owned saimin shop and very yummy. It must have made some guidebooks since lots of tourists managed the find the place. Ross, Scott and I all ordered the “special” saimin which included two wontons, meat, fish cake and a hard boiled egg.
Pictures from yesterday when we went out to Ko Olina for a couple of hours before we met Keane and Kristyn for dinner.
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