In normal Saturday turnover fashion, Mother Nature made another visit as the wind checked out and the heat checked in. This happened right after a very heavy storm that came in right after the last boat arrived in camp. Jody, Brenden, Nick, Penny, and myself were waiting out the rain in the bottom of the boathouse when lightening struck right over by the fish house and the thunder clap that followed instantly afterwards was so loud that I it caused all of us to flinch. Nick will try to say that he didn't flinch but don't believe it for a second folks.
We had some very hot
days this week, probably the hottest so far this year. Basically every day was
mid-to-high 80's with it feeling like it was in the 90's sometimes. Needless to
say, the lake was put to good use this week as the water really warmed up which
made for a lot of great swimming.
Tom Egger, along with
his boys Matthew and Andrew really stepped up to the plate for us this week.
Sometime over the winter, a chain had snapped that kept the floating swim up
dock in place and none of us were willing to dive down about 10-15ft to the
bottom to retrieve it so that it would stop spinning around. The Eggers showed
no fear and without hesitation they got it for us. While down there they also
miraculously found one the of oldest and best ice cutting tools that had accidentally
been dropped down there during the most recent ice cutting season. Needless to
say, Nick was extremely happy as were Jody, Brenden and I that we didn't have
to take the plunge to look for the items! We are "EGG"static about
it!
We had a lot of fun
and a lot of laughs this week with Nick's friends, Tim and Todd Chase, Tim
Tipsword and Chad Wolf. They came to help, they came to fish, but I think
mostly they came to prank.
During the week they
parked boats diagonally to take up 2 parking spots. They parked each other's
boats overnight at the ramp at the fish house. One day they duct taped
Brenden in the hammock he was relaxing in and later while Brenden was fishing,
they came up close to his boat and on the pretense of asking what lure he was
using, they cut his line.
So that night when
they went out fishing we got our revenge. We put the bear decoy right inside
their door so that it would be the first thing they would see when they opened
the door. Then we rolled up their bedding and following their theme we duct
taped it all together.
So pranksters be warned...we can dish
it as good as we can take it!
We heard the next day
that the bear gave them a fright and they would get us back for the bedding.
Well somehow Jody and
I avoided the retaliation but Brenden wasn't so lucky. They put fish guts in
the new outhouse hole he was digging!! But it was all in good fun and made for
an enjoyable week here and it was nice that Nick was able to get out fishing
with his buddies like old times.
Wednesdays tournament
was a really fun one with everyone making up team names and nearly every team
bringing in fish and make it a close tournament. The winning team this week
scored the second highest point total of the year with a score of 300 (out of a
possible 320)! Well done Paul, Luke and Bruce!!
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| The Winners - 300 points |
The Kistler family,
the Docherty family and Penny and Keno who are all either friends or family and
who plan their trip here together every year enjoyed a shore lunch together one
day that had looked like it involved some great food and some great times. The
kids all went cliff jumping and while walking the beach they discovered a Big
Foot footprint!! I guess he still walks among us, although it looks like he
might be hopping as there is only 1 footprint!! Haha nice creation Kai!
We had a couple first
timers to Wine Lake that were as nice a father and son as you could ask for. It
also happened to be their first time to Canada which was pretty cool. Lloyd and
his son Cole were so amazed by all that Wine has to offer and loved everything
about this place as so many others do. I don't think either of them wanted to
leave as the week felt too short to them but they both promised that they are
going to be back with the rest of their family so that makes us all very happy!
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| Cole and Lloyd with their tournament entries |
After 3 months of
being here it still amazes me that week after week we get such a diverse group
of people that are either first timers, or returnees that love this place for
all it has to offer. Saturday mornings are always a sad occasion when you have
to say goodbye to a group that you have quickly gotten to know but a nice
feeling when you can say "We look forward to seeing you again next
year!!"
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The boys trying to hook up a back-up battery for the minnow tank if the solar trips
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| A Groundhog watching Brenden dig the outhouse hole |
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