Oct 1st: Euclid Lake front follow-up and Burlington with the Scott family

 

I added some information to the last blog after I posted it, so here it is again in case you missed it. There were a couple signs explaining some of the restoration work that was completed at the Euclid waterfront. It was great to see the efforts made to keep contaminants out of Lake Erie.

Here is a link that talks about the project. Euclid Erosion project  Also, the video describes the project in depth. The picture of the shoreline includes the end of Julie and Jim's street. (About in the middle of the picture.)  Lake project video

Panoramic view of the main floor

I arrived at my sister Terri's and brother-in-law Scott's house Friday evening. I had not seen it since they finished construction a few months ago. I really liked the house and the setting. Here are a few pictures. Some are panoramic views.

Panoramic view of the backyard
 from the second story deck

The weather forecast for Sunday through Friday was for a lot of rain, but Saturday looked good. So we took full advantage. My niece Stephanie selected a hike for us. She and Scott always picks winners. This was no exception. I took so many good pictures it was ridiculous. I just had to include a lot!

We all thought this sign was quite creative and effective!

Notice how tall the trees are in this picture. It was like we were walking in a canyon.

Some of the leaves were starting to change colors along the edge of this meadow.

We followed the hike with a wonderful lunch at Ideltyme Brewery. The food was excellent. I had one of the best Rueben Sandwiches ever. This is clearly a favorite of the Scott's. Scott was lamenting that he forgot to wear his Ideltyme T-shirt. And I neglected to take a picture! But here's one I got off of the internet. 

Idletyme Brewing Co.

After the hike I had a chance to get together with Chris, Theresa, Annika and Owen. We watched Owen play in a basketball. game. He has grown quite a bit and improved a lot since last year. The seating arrangements did not allow me to get a good picture, but I thought I'd have other opportunities. Turned out I was wrong. We got a call that Annika came down with a cold and would be staying home from school Monday. That meant no soccer game to watch. Then Tuesday, we got word that Owen was also sick. So no more athletic events while I was in town.

We were watching the Monday weather forecast closely. It looked like Terri and I could squeeze in a kayak ride at Stephanie's house, which is on Lake Arrowhead. It looked a little iffy, but it was going to be rainy the whole week I was here. So away we went. The kayaking was excellent. Stephanie's place is a natural wonderland. The pictures say it all. The pictures of her place are from last year when it was sunny, but the kayaking pictures are current.

This is a picture of Lake Arrowhead, taken from Stephanie's deck. The tower had an osprey nest last year and an eagles' nest this year.

We walk downhill on Stephanie's long driveway to get to the water and the kayaks.

This picture is taken from the back of her property toward the storage barn on the right and the house further back on the left. Stephanie, with some help from Scott and Terri, planted that entire field with wild flowers.

Snapping turtles make the long trek up to this backyard area to lay their eggs. Once in a great while Stephanie can spot a newly hatched turtle heading to the water. It is a long treacherous journey given the eagles, osprey, and other predators. She spotted this little guy the day before we arrived and she gave it a free ride to the safety of the water. The turtle is about 2 - 3 inches long, quite tiny!

Newly hatched snapping turtle.

The picture below was taken from my kayak across the lake looking toward Stephanie's house. There is a large marsh in the middle which is fun to paddle around and through. You can see the osprey/eagle tower also in the picture in front of her house.

We enjoyed the kayaking despite the cloudy and sometimes rainy conditions. We turned around to head back three times when it started raining, but then stopped and turned back around. We were able to finish our chosen route without getting completely soaked. 

Great Blue heron

We saw wood ducks from a distance, a kingfisher, an egret, several great blue herons, as well as a few other birds. The picture of this blue heron is an indication of the weather, it's all hunched down and it let me get close enough to get this picture.

Purple loosestrife 

There were very few flowers still blooming but these very pretty purple/pink flowers seemed to be growing all over. Terri identified them as Purple Loosetrife. Unfortunately, it is an invasive species that have a negative impact on wetlands. Purple Loosestrife impact

The lake is very nice for kayaking because there are large open areas but also many little channels, like the one below, which kept us out of the wind.

There is quite a variety of natural beauty. Here are just a couple samples.

Typical marsh water path

Monarch butterfly chrysalis

When we got back to Stephanie's house she had returned from her run. She showed us a Monarch butterfly chrysalis she had been watching. A couple days later it disappeared so hopefully the butterfly is on its way to Mexico!

Joint birthday celebration - 2019

September 20th is Linda's birthday. In the past, because we were often travelling, we had a joint birthday party for Linda (9/20th), Wendy (8/8th) and Rebecca (7/23rd). 

Terri was on top of it and suggested we celebrate Linda's birthday with some desserts from Mirabelles bakery. We of course all agreed. We rationalized that we were going to try to beat the rain once again by hiking on the causeway on Lake Champlain. Then we'd go to the bakery.

Once again the forecast was iffy but the sky didn't look too bad. We had a short hike through the woods to get to the causeway and then walked along the lake. After hiking a mile or so along the lake we heard thunder. Hmmm! Seemed like it was pretty far away so we kept walking. We saw some darker clouds coming toward us and decided it was time to turn around. Scott had earlier decided he was not going as far as Terri and I. Terri walks a very fast pace, which happily I was able to keep up with. Of course the rain caught us before we got to the protection of the woods about 10 minutes away. We walked very fast and got to the car just before the downpour started. My wonderful brother-in-law had gotten to the car ahead of us so he picked us up at the opening of the trail. Scott, Terri and I all got a little wet but not soaked. We were happy with our decision to go for it.

So now it was on to the well deserved bakery. We bought a chocolate raspberry mousse cake, but then I saw the chocolate eclairs, one of Linda's favorites. So I added that to the purchase. Then I noticed an unfamiliar item. It was a glazed, Mexican, chocolate, little pull apart cake. Had to try that also! (I was told the Mexican cake was not spicy so I thought I'd try it. It was just okay. The cake and the chocolate eclair were top notch!) We had a toast to Linda and enjoyed our treats. There was enough cake left to share with Chris, Theresa, Owen and Annika at a seafood dinner we planned for Friday.

Then Scott started getting a cold. It seemed like he was getting worse by the hour, because he was! There was a lot of sneezing and coughing. Terri and I tried to stay away, but we had all been together in the house and car for several days. We had a major kayaking event planned Wednesday at Green Reservoir. Chris and Stephanie were joining Terri and I. Scott is not into kayaking so we left him home sneezing and coughing! 

Launching the kayaks

It was cloudy but there was no rain forecast. The reservoir is very protected, no houses nor cottages nor motor boats. We carried the kayaks to the water and embarked. As you can see from Terri's outfit, it was neither hot nor sunny. But it was warm enough.

 A few trees had started to change colors.
 

Chris brought fishing poles for us which was fun. We each caught some bass and pickerel. They all were released.

 We were paddling along when we heard some loons calling. Then a little while later we heard them calling loudly and excitedly. Stephanie spotted a bald eagle in a tree that the loons did not like. I was able to record the loons. (You can't see them in the video. Turn your volume on to hear them.) It's always fun to hear loons calling. 

We saw several loons while kayaking. We're not supposed to get too close so the picture is a little fuzzy but I got a good look at these as they were swimming toward me. They are both juveniles so the coloration is different than the typical very distinctive black and white. 

We kayaked for several hours. It was very enjoyable. I was hoping the sun would come out to enhance the colors but that didn't happen. It was just that kind of weather week! At least it didn't rain!

Beaver lodge

We were somewhat separated when Chris went around a corner and we heard a big splash. We were looking around to see what it could be. Then we spotted a very large beaver lodge. The splash was obviously the beaver smacking the water with its tail. I figured it went into its lodge but then we saw it just floating near shore

I figured it went into its lodge but then we saw it just floating near shore

It was not very skittish. It just watched us for a while and then crawled up a bank into some bushes. 

Beaver tail

His tail was hanging out into the water. (In the picture, what looks like a double tail, is actually a reflection in the water.) The beaver was huge. The largest any of us had ever seen. It was the hit of the day.

Here are some interesting and fun facts about beavers.

The American Beaver

Also, here are a lot of pictures of the reservoir. Green Reservoir, VT

Christopher and I enjoy sea food a lot. Therefore we planned a seafood dinner Friday night. The kids were back in school and Scott was feeling pretty good. We picked up swordfish for an appetizer, and lobster for the main course. That afternoon Chris called and said now Theresa was getting the cold. Well at least Theresa doesn't like seafood so she wasn't going to mind missing that. Stephanie, also not a sea food fan, decided she was staying away from all the germs! The rest of us got together for a great dinner.

I had an early morning flight from Burlington because it was by far the best flight. Terri was good enough to drive me to the airport at 5:00 AM. I was connecting at O'Hare in Chicago, always scary. But all went well. Having in theory, gained 3 hours, I arrived home at 12:45 California time. Having gotten up at 4:15 AM it didn't feel like I gained 3 hours!