Canoeing ... (part three) ...

Our last canoe trip together was with Paul Joe and Jacky, two very dear friends of ours.


Paul Joe was a farmer. Not tall (around my height, perhaps, 5'8" or so), but stocky ... I mean, that man had muscles out the wazoo!! Amongst his many crops were pigs. He was used to lifting and working hard all day, every day!

Still, my husband thought it would be best if Paul Joe learned a technique that he had perfected over the years -- that of hefting a canoe in a "1-2-3" step manner that would not be injurious to one's back. So, we went over to their place with our canoe and the instructions began.

Paul Joe watched carefully as hubby demonstrated his back-saving maneuver. He tried to emulate same in a graceful manner, as illustrated. He tried, and tried again. And again. Each time, he was simply unsuccessful. At one point, in his efforts to be lithe, both he and the canoe fell back into some thorny bushes!

FINally, just as we were all about to give up, Paul Joe said, "I think I've got it!" And he went over to the canoe, grabbed it in the middle by both sides and proceeded to lift it over his head, all in one fell swoop ... kind of an "up/down" technique.

We couldn't stop laughing!! Yeah, he had it, all right, and we were pretty sure that there was absolutely nothing that could happen on that trip to dampen our -- by now -- heightened spirits.


And so, off we went (putting in out of Winton, as usual) to Superior/Quetico. My husband had all he could do to try and keep up with Paul Joe & Jacky. It's really funny, looking back on it.


The weather was GORgeous ...cold, but what would you expect from June in that area? All right, you might have warm weather at that time of the year, but to "expect it" would be way over the top!


I don't have any bear stories to share with you on this trip, but I do have a moose story. Ready?


One night, as we were lingering over the campfire after eating, we were hearing all kinds of different sounds. Paul Joe must have thought he recognized one particular recurring sound as a long lost brother, or some such, and he thought it would be fun to 'answer the call'. And so, he did.

Well, Paul Joe answered. The animal responded. Paul Joe answered again. Another response (this time the response was from a somewhat shorter distance away). Paul Joe answered again.

THIS time, however, the response seemed to be so close to our campsite as to be cause for concern! I mean, who wants to be in the midst of a moose looking for a mate?!? Not we!!!

All was silent. We all just wanted to laugh hysterically out loud, but we dared not utter a peep! We stifled our laughs, and -- for an hour or more -- just listened ... I mean, we listened!