Y.: Rain!
Any thoughts of a morning walk or a nature trip were off, I even vaguely considered detaching all our hungry electronic devices from the wall overnight when I saw the lightning, but it did not come close till this morning.Then it was clear we were not going to be able to fulfill any grand plans.
We had a late breakfast and did some shopping, after which we made some failed efforts at internet connection but the storm had obviously done some damage. But in the afternoon the weather suddenly cleared and the family decided to take advantage of this and try to find the local bison.
We took off all together in the van, to the designated bison enclosure, a huge area through which one drives and hopes to find the animals grazing. One is warned not to get out of the car, nor get too close as if they get frightened, a couple of adult bison can easily trash a small car and would do so if they thought they were being attacked. So we drove into the enclosure without much hope and got out at the lookout which is the only place where you are allowed out of the car.Overlooking a huge meadow we could just see at a long distance a stationary car and one tiny dark bison. Then we climbed back into the van, somewhat undecided as to whether to call it a day or to go on. We went a bit further down the road, around a slight bend - and there in front of us was a whole herd of some forty-fifty bison! David slowed down immediately, there were two more cars almost among the animals, standing stock still with the bison milling around them suspiciously but still moving along slowly on their intended route. We got as close as we dared and opened a window taking picture after picture watching how the leading bull kept the younger bulls away every time they tried to investigate us... and then we breathed a great sigh of contentment that the day had not been wasted.
It finished up with the kids on the pedal-boat on the lake.
A.:In the evening there was a resurrection of the mythical Eagle Fleagle (an in comment for the family). Shira enjoys, smiles and does not believe a word of what her Saba tells her, alas.
Wednesday AM
We got up a bit earlier this morning, saw some blue in the sky and decided to take a walk around the lake.
We smeared ourselves with repellant and had a lovely hike along the shore path. There are beautiful houses, obviously summer homes of the Manitoba opulent with private docks and boats, although most of the craft are in the marina near the pier.
The lake provides facilities for any kind of activity, well almost...
We returned for breakfast with the mighty Hoults who were more or less awake mainly because Shira had become hungry. Today looks promising for some moderately decent weather and we shall start with a grocery shopping trip to a town a few tens of km away and go on from there.
Y.; Shopping was done easily, we picked up some more anti-mosquito remedies as well. Every entry or exit to a car or lodge is done with haste and accompanied by a "shut the door" call from one or several affected persons. Sprays, applications, special wicks and candles are sold everywhere. Life with these pests and the dragonflies that feed on them is part of the local scene.
Shira needed some help in handling the golf-club, but held her place,
and we went back to the same good restaurant for dinner. After dinner we had to go back to the golf course to retrieve Arkee's sun glasses which had fallen out of his pocket, Ari who had seen them on the ground but not known they belonged to his grandfather came with us and easily found them again. Luckily the distances were short
A: Ari has been introducing me into his world of Intendo and Yoshi the dinosaur. I told him that I have on good authority, namely Ma'ayan and Natan, been told that dinosaurs have been extinct for a long time, in fact 1,000,000 days according to Nathan. I failed to convince him. We played a few games on his Ipod and I lost miserably in every case. Even Shira beat us at bingo. Nonetheless, they are very patient with us and we are all enjoying one another's company..
Thursday July 15
Happy birthday Boaz. We skyped Berlin, but failed to connect to Atlit. Anything in real-time has to be done in the morning and if the weather is not too good, we go down to the cafe and pay the fee for the connection, as sitting outside the office where there is wi-fi but also a chance of rain is not a comfortable option, nor is it easy to talk loudly in proximity to other boarders. There is also much frustration with Google's blogger software that has had the usual failures after an upgrade or whatever. It is now impossible to add images to a blog. There is a huge outcry on the Net so I imagine they will fix it somehow.
In the early afternoon we went to a ranch where the kids had a great time riding horses. This was a special appointment made for them only, so they got all the attention and time they needed, each in turn. First they were introduced to the horses and were allowed to lead and groom them. Then Rafi had a real riding lesson from the lady in charge,
Ari rode a bit
and Shira rode a pony somewhat timidly.
She was not sure that she enjoyed the experience.
The boys however, are quite prepared for their parents to purchase a horse and stable it in the garage in Winnipeg..........
We had a very late lunch in a town called Onanole and then the adults browsed a used bookstore cum cafe and art shop while the kids wrung out another round of minigolf.
Fun was had all around.
We would have loved to have shared our pix with (on inflicted on) you, but the blogger is still buggy.
Love,
YandA
No comments:
Post a Comment