It helps that one of the major sponsors of the club that owns the boats (22Dragons) is McAuslan Brewery. 
Taking off from Canoe Lake, Joe lake, Burnt Island Lake and Otter Lake then heading back spending more nights on Burnt and Joe on the way back.
Taking that route before ?
That is handy! I know that our boats are usually just sponsored by a company, and crewed by employees of that company; but if last year was any indication, the beer tent will be serving the fine products of the Big Rock brewery.
That is exactly what it does. Money goes into provincial coffers to do with as they will. Money that may or may not be used to move them towards being a ‘have’. Essentially, ‘have not’ provinces are taxing people in ‘have’ provinces because they don’t have the tax base from their own people to support their spending.
Re. BC. If they didn’t have the money leaving the province to go somewhere else would they have a deficit (too lazy at the moment to look it up myself, wife is making ‘Freedom’ ;)toast)?
So jealous! I haven’t been to Algonquin yet, and it doesn’t look like this is my summer for it, either.
This summer’s vacation will feature some cycling through Prince Edward County and Niagara Escarpment wineries. I’ve ended up with a concert right in the middle of the time when the kids are away at camp so I’ll be desperately trying to cram 90 minutes of recital rep into my head instead of pretending to relax.
What’s everyone else doing for vacation/summer trips/expeditions this year?
No, I haven’t. I look forward to your trip report.
So, let’s share some good fortune, instead of beating each other up.
Any good Canadian stories to share?
Playing about on the water at the top of Lake Superior:
Urban kayaking in Thunder Bay in April:
McIntyre River Above Highway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82TW-oA8SGM 720HD
McIntyre River Pin Recovery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnCd6BdoDU 720HD
McIntyre River University Section: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeePQNBT4kQ 720HD
A nice canoe run down the Dog.
A couple of visits recently to Grand Marais, Minnesota, including the Wooden Boat Festival last weekend.
Sea kayaking on Superior:
Cobble Paddle Jackfish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPh60Jd0Np0 720HD
Cruising Jackfish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4olE3bTgfU 720HD
Jackfish Main Beach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lID0Q1wTxs4 720HD
Moss and Cobble Walk Jackfish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehvzg1Swq2k 720HD
Looking forward to a group sea kayak trip out to the Sleeping Giant in a few weeks.
Outrigging on Superior:
Summer Solstice Sunrise, OC6, Thunder Bay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq8cDvP1vFw 720HD
We’re hoping to rig a couple of 40 foot outrigger hulls in a catamaran configuration for a trip around Victoria Island, which is one of the prettier places on Superior, and we’re purchasing a third OC6.
Been coaching Thunder Bay’s breast cancer survivor dragon boat team in preparation for a race in TBay in July and a race in Superior, Wisconsin / Duluth, Minnesota, at the end of the summer. Will also be paddling in the local race on a law firm’s team.
But the best thing of all is that I get a mini-vacation every evening at home – the soundscape is lovely: A little noisy outside tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52XJv-JQsok Audio
Henry of Pelham. Seriously, it’s one of the best - IMHO - wineries in the Niagara region (though there are a ton that are oh-so-close and pretty much all are awesome!). I am very much partial to their Rosé, and they have a cheese selection in their café to die for. If you’re into evil bleues, see if they have any Dragon’s Breath available. It might kill you, but fans of bleue (my inlaws) unanimously said it was awesome. Their Baco Noir is, also, a damn good wine for the price.
I’m unemployed for the summer - recently graduated - and it just makes more sense to wait until after our extended trip to Europe in July to seriously look for a job (in a company where I have a lot of connections, so I’m aiming for September or so to start working). This trip involves being able to see one of my best friends in the UK and re-visit the German town where I lived on an Army base for three years as a pre-teen.
And dragon boating. Always dragon boating. Paddles up!
Muffin fundraise and come to the Québec Cup!!! Paddlin’ Dopefest!
ETA again: Just like Parliament, we kind of shut down for the summer, don’t we? Hey, no snow! Get outside!!!
Actually, I do kind of shut down for the summer, for in the winter I ski daily, whereas in the summer I only paddle four or five days per week – summers are fun, but I really love our winters!
I’m bringing my camcorder this time. I’ll post a link once uploaded.
Terrific!
I’m pretty happy that Winnipeg again has an NHL team, and that the owners gave the fans the name they wanted - the Winnipeg Jets.
At least when the Winnipeg fans go mad and trash the downtown, no one will be able to tell the difference… 
That’s fantastic; I’m slowly playing my way through all of them. I may have to send the links to my BC brother-in-law, who can’t be arsed to go anywhere east of Banff, but loves his paddle like a Taphian.
Do you know the passage from ‘La Montagne Sécrete’ where Gidéon loses the canoe over a waterfall and watches, while hanging onto the branch that saved him, as the basin suddenly blossoms with his collected paintings and sketches like some strange arctic flower?
I want you to be the dude that films that…
I’m calling them The Re-Jets.
Are you trying to Flame me?
You might enjoy the final sequence of Canadian painter Bill Mason’s film “Waterwalker” Waterwalker - NFB at 82:10. Although there are some lovely wild water canoeing shots in the film, the final sequence of him paddling through the seasons in flat water, with Bruce Cockburn’s title track playing in the background, is as beautiful as it gets.
The last time I shot folks paddling over a waterfall while I was hanging from a branch, things got a bit messy. I had rappelled halfway down a cliff to get high-angle shots, but while I was shooting, the lens fell apart in my hands. I didn’t have a pocket that was large enough to hold the parts (I was in my paddling togs), so rather than climb back to the top, I had to hold onto the casing with one hand, continue to rappel down to the base of the falls with the other hand, and then get ferried across to the other side on the back of a kayak.
The falls were in the middle of a very long class IV rapid, so botching the ferry would not have been a good thing. The ferry succeeded without incident, and the manufacturer was able to rebuild the lens, so all was well with the world until the next season, when after a couple of us had a terrific run down that same rapid, my companion pulled my skirt’s ripcord and sunk me. That would have been fine, only it turned out that my inflatable camera bag had a pinhole leak, so the camera drowned. I sent the film in for processing anyway, and was left with some interesting results.
How {cough} are all the rest {cough} of you Alberta Dopers? {cough} I was out for a really long walk yesterday when the smoke came down. Wood smoke always makes me feel sick to my stomach, so between breathing hard from walking and getting all that smoke in my lungs and feeling ill from the smoke smell, I’ve had better walks. At least the wind has shifted today. 
ETA: Some good pictures on the weather channel of the smoke here.
I suppose considering most of the northern part of the province has been on fire all spring, I’d say we’re really lucky these are the first smoky days we’ve had - in Calgary at least.
Reminds me of when I was a Girl Guide 
Good point, Lady. I’m guessing this has been a miserable spring/summer up north.