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Have a great trip Mark, the Maritimes are fantastic and Diane and I are heading back down again in September for our second trip in 2 years.

Look up "Pigeon Lake houseboat rentals" on GOOGLE and you'll find a few of them. They're a very popular vacation destination so you may want to book early.

My Dad taught me to fish waaaay back in the early 50's and they were pickerel then and they're still pickerel today and they always will be pickerel.

We spent a week at a cabin on Angus Lake on hwy 11 south of Temagami about 15 years ago and found a fully loaded tackle box on the side of the hwy one day. No type of identification in it so we dropped it off at a local bait shop but I don't know if anyone ever claimed it.

Loved my Skeeter that wasn't a bass boat

The whole GTA is getting that way now Dave & if you drive the 401 west from Oshawa it's so built up you almost can't tell when you go from one city to the next and you basically don't see any grass till you get past Stoney Creek. I left Toronto 9 years ago and have only been back once and hopefully that's the last time. LOL

I think an automatic stand-by generator is one of the best investments a person can make when living in the country and was one of the 1st things I bought when we moved here 9 years ago. Nice to know when the power goes out the Genny will fire up and run pretty well everything in the house which is especially important when you rely on electric pumps for getting water into the house and more importantly getting it back outside. We usually lose several times a year, sometimes for a day or more, and it's very reassuring to know when it does go out you've got nothing to worry about.

They had to be at the airport for 5:00 for departure then didn't get back into T.O. till 2:AM at the end of the trip so they booked the hotel for both ends of the holiday so that's probably why they got the good deal.

My wife and her 2 girlfriends just got back from DR a couple days ago and they stayed at the Best Western Plus on Dixie Rd near the airport. She said it was a pretty nice place with 2 beds and was only $120 for the night. They also provide a shuttle to & from the airport, included in the room price.

I've got Defenders on my F150 and they're the best 3 season tires I've ever used. I use dedicated winter tires when the snow blows though.

Hard to believe prices have risen so much in the last few years. Just 10 years ago I bought a new glass Skeeter with a 150 Yamaha, on a trailer, and I even had them throw in a custom made fully enclosed stand-up up top & stainless prop all for $32,000.

Bears are somewhat common around my place and it's not unusual to see them, infact I've seen 4 or 5 right in my yard and have cleaned up scat 8 or 10 other times and a couple months ago I cleaned up a pile only 20' behind the house. They've also pulled down my bird feeders a couple times when I didn't remove them soon enough in the spring. I came out the back door early one morning and found this guy sound asleep in the yard but he hung around long enough to get this picture before he wandered off. I've had 2 very close encounters with them but both ended peacefully. I live on a dirt road that runs along Clear Lake and is 1 1/2 miles out to the hiway and I walk out and back every day and last June I was walking along when a bear came out of the woods only about 40' in front of me. I stopped and when he saw me he just kinda looked for a few seconds then made a loud sorta grunt then took off. In August 2017 we were up on Nippissing and again I was walking along a dirt road thru the bush when I came to a clearing. I heard a branch snap to my right and 2 cubs came out from behind a stump 100' away followed by Momma. I didn't think this would end too well when she lowered her head and put her ears back while she stared at me. I slowly backed up and avoided staring at her and she took the 2 kids back into the bush. Always good to see but makes you pay attention when wandering around their homes.

We've been getting the odd frost quake around here the last few nights but this was far bigger that any I've ever felt before.

Thanks for the link Paul, some interesting reading there. Not many earthquakes around here and certainly no big ones, but every once in awhile there'll be a little bump and I'm guessing that's what we felt yesterday. I was just talking to another neighbour and she felt it too so at least it wasn't my old brain playing tricks on me.

Already played a couple games today Art and the tables still good....just wish I was LOL

I'm in the Kawarthas near Burleigh Falls & was sitting here yesterday afternoon and felt a big bump and the whole house shook and you could hear things rattling. My wife was in the other room and came out and asked "what the heck was that" My 1st thought was someone driving up the driveway and hit the house. Took a look around and nobody there so I went thru the house and everything was fine. A couple neighbors felt it too I but have no idea what it was other than maybe a mini-quake. Crazy stuff for sure.

But one 50+" musky is worth a boatload of 40" pike, but that's just me LOL

I heard that !!! ?

Nothing happening in the Kawarthas yet but it's sposed to get grungy later on today.

For old times sake Brian LOL Good to see you back Dax

Thanks Bud, that spot on Nip has some incredible sunsets. That 2nd one of yours is amazing.

West Arm of Nippissing last summer

I joined the Fire Dept in '68 with a salary of $100 a week and that was considered good money and your right Brian, inflation is a killer LOL ?

Hard to believe it's been 8 years already Norm, Jack was a good guy.

My son was killed 12 days before Christmas back in '04 and Christmas has never really been the same since then. The pain diminishes but never really goes away.