Haloranch

We laughed till we hurt. Then we laughed some more. John Lithgow plays the Michael Caine role and Norbert Leo Butz plays the Steve Martin role. Man, is he funny! I'm so glad we went to see a comedy and not one of the other musicals. Laughing out loud. What a perfect way to end a day.

There is just a large hole in the ground surrounded on all sides by a heavy duty chain link fence. Then we read the posters on the fence giving the timelines of 9-11. It brings back all the memories of that horrible morning nearly four years ago. It is an emotionally charged place haunted by grief. Then, the melancholy notes of "Amazing Grace" float towards us on the wind, played on a solitary flute. How very perfect.

Ellis Island is a poignant place. The great hall has been renovated to look very much like it did 100 years ago when 5000 immigrants per day flooded in carrying with them their meagre but precious possessions. On our self guided audio tour we heard interviews from seniors who still remember when their parents bundled them up to travel halfway around the world seeking a better life. Often the children came with with their female relatives, the men having left years earlier to earn enough to send for them. One elderly woman wept as she recounted the reunion with her dad when she was only four. Her memory of that day is still vivid and she is very emotional when she tells how her Father sobbed as he knelt to embrace her. One young girl of 11 travels alone from Hiroshima, Japan, to meet up with her parents. There are sad stories, but luckily not too many, of people who were turned away because they had communicable diseases. When it was a child that was diagnosed with the illness, fam...

Our Hotel QT is quite a funky place. Evidently if we are under 25 we would receive a 25% discount. We are definitely uncool people in a very cool place and we're lucky we don't have to pay a premium, being so far over the age of 25! But what the heck, it has a pool!! That is my focus during our first day walking around Times Square. Waves of superheated air boil up from the sidewalks. So hot, they take your breath away. Sometimes a heat wave is spiced with the pungent odour of sewer gas. Now that really takes your breath away. The traffic is a ribbon of yellow as the cabs ply their trade on both sides of the street. There are no busses except for the "hop on, hop off" red double deckers which give tours of Manhattan. These are the best way to see the city especially as the temperature soars into the high 90's and humidity is thick at 87%. Walking is not an option. The tour guides hustle shamelessly for tips and to prevent you sneaking off the bus witho...

I forgot to mention that our trip to Albany wasn't the usual quick and dirty fly-in/ fly-out. We made it okay to Chicago. Then boarded the plane, taxied out to the runway, and the captain said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We've just been informed that due to a line of thunderstorms in Michigan we've been asked to wait indefinitely here on the sweltering tarmac while you sit in un-airconditioned discomfort. Thank you for flying United". Jerks. It's possible that I'm not remembering what he said word for word. We sat there for two hours. Two hours! Did you know that they turn off their engines while they sit there? It's 100 @&#^$% degrees out there, and that's not factoring in the shimmering heat waves lofting up from the black runway. You know what your car's like when you step into it on a hot day. That's what this was like, only 150 times worse. That's because there were 150 bodies in the car with ...

Here we are a little outside of Albany at the GE Betz complex. The lodge, which is on the GE company site, is gorgeous. It's a recently built (2 year old) company owned lodge to house guests and visting GE staff. There's a fitness club, but it's a separate building and the tall trees between the lodge's deck and the club hid it from mhy view. The complex is huge, with 1850 employees. The lodge is like a hotel, but alas, without a pool. I spent yesterday alternately in the beautiful air conditioned lounge and on the deck, which overlooks the brilliant blue Mohawk River below. When the heat got too much, I'd go back inside and sip a cool drink. Every morning there's a continental breakfast with beautifully sliced, peeled and presented cold fruit, bagels, muffins, coffee, juice, etc. There's also a 24 hour pantry where you can get snacks, make specialty coffees (I tried cashew caramel) and help yourself to what's in the fridge. There's an open ...

Shh. It's 10:15 p.m. and everyone except Suzanne is meeting in the lounge dressed for a midnight paddle. Suzanne got a touch of heat stroke today and isn't feeling well, lying in bed drinking lots of fluids. Teddy is tired and her blistered thumb hurts. She doesn't want to go, but Lana insists, saying she'll chauffeur her and Teddy won't even have to paddle. There's a plankton bloom in the ocean. Conditions are just right to see the very special effects this creates at night. Off we go. It's not easy carrying our kayaks down to the water's edge holding the boat in one hand and aiming a flashlight at our toes with the other. We whisper and giggle, and because we know we have to keep quiet so as not to awaken the staff, we try to giggle softly. But the rocks shuffle and tumble around our feet making too much noise. We giggle harder. Amazingly, we're launched in record time. The water appears thick and oily smooth. We're still whispering bec...

Thursday was another perfect day. An incoming low pressure system calmed the sprawling ocean and we skimmed along as on a mirror. It was so beautiful. We were promised an easy paddle with lots of marine life, and that's exactly what we got. The early morning got quite hot and both Judy and Teddy needed to take off their jackets. Teddy's pedals also needed adjusting. Cal paddled over to Teddy first and lifted her skirt, reaching into the front of the cockpit to fix the pedals. Then he steadied her kayak and helped her undo the PFD, pull out her jacket and finally put everything back the way it was. Then he helped Judy do the same. It was low tide and Cal took us to a section between some islands where we saw the most splendid display of sea life. There were constellations of brilliantly coloured sea stars shimmering in hues ranging from deep rich purple to pale violet, from brilliant blue to the prolific orange stars. Interspersed we'd see clusters of black batstars w...

Early Wednesday morning, 6:30 a.m. to be exact, Lana led us in a half hour "Greet the Sun" stretching exercise. We started with hands meeting prayer fashion, slowly stretching above out heads and opening our arms in a delicious reach-for-the-sky motion. She followed this stretch with a variety of movements that worked and pulled everything from arms and shoulders to legs and buttocks. We all felt so good afterwards that we unanimously agreed to do it again on subsequent days.

We had lunch one day by an ancient shell midden . Later we paddled to what appeared to be a random collection of rocks. However, it was really a cleverly constructed fish trap dating back to ancient times. These fish traps took advantage of high tides. The natives would beat the water and herd the fish into the inlet and over the manually constructed rock walls. When the tide receded, the fish remained trapped.

On Tuesday Lana cleaned Cal's clock in Bocce, so he was keen to redeem himself. Those Bocce balls are heavy! We played on the front lawn of the lodge accompanied by the incessant chatter of the hummingbirds who darted back and forth from the feeder. It was impossible to count them, so quickly did they flit around, but there were easily a dozen. We were told they were still juveniles as adults fight for territory and don't willingly share their feeder. The Bocce tournament was fun but we stopped after four games, each team having won two. Even liberally spritzed with a variety of insect repellents we got bitten by the mozzies who were out in record numbers and boy, were they hungry.

While I was enjoying my wild ride on the waves, Sue had the misfortune of single kayaking today and was locked in her own private purgatory. Battling the headwinds is energy sapping. Battling the lumpy water makes it even harder. Lana stayed close to her, and so did Cal (with me in front). They took turns telling her silly jokes and at one point Cal asked if she want him to tie on, but the said she was okay, just getting tired. It was a very hard paddle.

Earlier this morning, our longest day, Lynda and I had decided to partner in the yellow double. But as everyone was sorting and loading gear, discussion turned to who was going to double and who was going to single. Cal said he'd be my partner today. "Sorry Lynda", I said, sincerely grateful for his offer. "I'd rather have Cal". As we paddled from Clarke to Benson, Teddy, who was with Lynda, glances over. "He's not paddling" she said. And he wasn't. Cal said that the rule when paddling with him is that I can take a paddling break whenever I want (and apparently so could he) but I wanted to show him that I would be a good partner and do my part so I paddled harder. How stupid is that?? I'm sure he's laughing if he reads this, but I really thought I paddled harder on that day than on any of the others. That evening my wrists were swollen and I had to loosen my wristwatch two notches, but I still had the best day! It was fairl...

After lunch on the beach at Benson Island Cal picked up a Horse Clam. "It's quite rude looking", he said, stating the obvious. Apparently the Horse Clam is kin to the Geoduck (pronounced gooeeduck) Clam which, incredibly, has an even bigger appendage. You can form your own visual image (or you can click on Geoduck above and see an actual picture). I can only assume that whoever named them got them mixed up. Following this amazing discovery, nine of us went for a walk in the woods while the married couple stayed behind for a nap.

This was one of the highlights of our kayak trip. It was also our longest paddle day at 13 nautical miles (15 land miles or 24 kilometres ). Cal had arranged for Hank to take our group of 11 to the outer western islands. We loaded the kayaks right after breakfast so we could be on the boat by 8:15, but first, we spotted a mama bear and her tiny little cub just outside the lodge window. Hank scared her off with a few impressively loud rifle shots so she wouldn't pose any danger to the guests. The way out seemed quite long even in the high-powered boat. At our dropoff point on Clarke Island Cal and Lana led us on a hike to an ancient gnarled cedar estimated to be 1500 years old. Its diameter must have been a good 20' but I'm terrible at estimates so if anyone has a better guess I'd welcome it. We couldn't see its top but glancing upwards, we saw a number of its "witch's brooms", a starburst of branches that is part of the tree's defense mechani...

I met John as I was heading outside in full gear, ready to kayak. "Ready to roll?" he said. "Never say roll to a kayaker!" I replied. But his comment was foreshadowing. On one of our breaks Judy arrived at the beach and, having gotten in and out of her kayak numerous times without mishap, stepped out. And in she went. The wobbly kayak tipped her out. It was a warm day so the quick dip didn't cause her any discomfort. That was a good thing because she did it again later the same day! She named her kayak "Bronco".

I bet you thought this would be about us, but it's not! On our very first paddle we saw a black bear grazing in the shallows. We stilled our kayaks and watched quietly but it seemed quite unconcerned with us. We also saw two bald eagles perched high in the trees and jumping porpoises in the distance. Took a little walk after dinner to look at a lake close to the lodge. "It's only about 50 metres" said Cal. It was too early in our trip for us to know that Cal's estimation of distance and time are at odds with reality. I was keen to see the lake and asked if we could go there before taking another walk along a logging road. We plunged into the forest. There is no real trail. That should have been our first clue. Obviously this isn't a lake where the staff go swimming. We soldier on, once again picking our way around the icky slugs. "Anyone know anything about slugs?" asks Cal. "No." "About how they do it?" "No." ...

We pooled some of our clothes and decided to do a quick laundry that evening after dinner. It's about 9:00 and we were all finally hungry enough to break into some of the appetizers we'd brought along so Lynda opened the package of smoked salmon we'd been carrying around for 3 days. Gail and I sat in the lounge and played a game of Scrabble. Teddy watched. Lynda prepared crackers for each of us with some cream cheese, salmon and capers and was serving us. My glass of wine was empty so I asked, "Teddy, would you get me some more wine?" "I've done the laundry. I've been working hard." "Fine." Not long after, Gail's beer is empty. "Gail, can I get you another beer?" asked Teddy. *sigh*

It's our second day and Teddy is doubling with me in the yellow kayak. *gasp*! I hear a sharply indrawn breath from Teddy. "What's wrong!" I call out. "Nothing" she says in a little voice, but I know she's lying. More indrawn breaths come from behind me. "What!" I call again, feeling slightly alarmed. I feel the kayak shift, and she's doing something funny with her paddle. Like not stroking in the water but waving it in the air and banging it on the kayak. "Eeeuw!" "Come on, what is it?" "There's a slug on your vest! It's crawling up your back!!" Now she has my attention. "Cal", she calls out, "can you come over here? Hurry!" I am so afraid to move. I sit rigidly and suppress the rising bile. Cal is there in an instant and Teddy waves her paddle at the slug. She had been trying to reach my back to poke it off but couldn't manage it. Deftly, he swings his kayak over and p...

This wasn't our longest day, but it was certainly a busy one. Today Teddy and I switched positions. The steering with the rudder takes a little practice since the double kayaks, ours especially, are slow to respond to the rudder. So your instinct is to push down hard. By the time the kayak responds, it's usually time to hit the other pedal. And so we did. There were many unkind comments. "Don't follow the Yellow Peril" was heard. Others laughed at our zig-zag stich across the waters, saying we didn't have to tack since we had no sails. They were just mean. So we covered a little extra distance. Big deal. We got home first! Okay, so we missed the waterfall. But once we drew a bead on the lodge there was no stopping us and we homed right in. Brenda, bless her, accompanied us to the lodge but still, Teddy and I were a little afraid we'd get into trouble. Cal was very gracious about it but felt it his duty to remind us not to do it again, especiall...

We were met on the dock by a barefoot Kerry, who we would later learn is a woman of amazing energy. She likes to dress in white jeans and t-shirt that, unbelievably, remain pristine in the wilderness, despite all the work she does. The Lodge is situated somewhere near the mouth of the channel and is run by Kerry and her husband Hank, whose primary duty (indeed only duty that we witnessed) is to drive the boat that we would be using later in the week. We were only one group of several that Kerry had as guests, and she laid out the house rules for the Lodge: . dining room is available all night for tea and coffee, fruit, bread, etc. . party there if you want as it won't disturb other guests. . two lounges - one with a piano, and one with a fridge. Use both. . games like Scrabble, cards, etc. are available for your pleasure. . stay on the floor which has your room. . rooms have no locks on doors and each room has a sink. . we share toilets and showers, which are down this hallway. I...

We had dinner at a Greek Restaurant since the Clam Bucket was full and we would have had to wait an hour. We didn't have the time since we needed to meet with Cal at 8:00 p.m. for our first briefing. The Greek Restaurant was empty except for one table with 4 men (who were probably relatives). So we ordered the food and impressed our urgency upon the waitress, stating we had to be somewhere in an hour. "No problem", she assured us and went to place the order. Thirty minutes later, she finally came with our food. She explained. "In his haste, the chef cut his finger and so I have been helping him", and shrugged her shoulders in explanation. In the previous 30 minutes she had allowed a couple of girls to take a table but now, she was telling all customers that the chef was injured and that while they were welcome to come in, dinner was likely to be very, very late... Most took the hint and left, promising to come back another time.

"Look for someone with a bloodied finger", Teddy said as we deplaned. "What"? "We're late. She's been waiting and will have been twirling her keys around her finger for the last hour and a half". Shirley was, indeed, standing there with her keys in hand but no bloody finger. Instead, she was all smiles as she helped us load our luggage and obligingly stopped at the liquor store on the way to her B & B so we could pick up a bottle of wine for the evening. We had an amazing version of Eggs Benedict the next morning. The ham was thinly sliced and fitted into a muffin tin, filled with scrambled eggs, topped with a touch of Hollandaise and baked to bubbly perfection. The table centerpiece featured a fresh pineapple sliced lengthwise and both halves artfully filled with succulent melons topped with juicy red strawberries. A fragrant rose completed the fruit sculpture and my mouth watered just looking at it. Then came the blueberry and cream che...

So I ask you, what kind of holiday starts with a quick stop to the pharmacy on the way to the airport for Advil? That's how it started for Teddy. She didn't know I already had enough Ibuprofen in my bag to keep us all pain free for the upcoming kayaking week. We met in the Calgary airport to catch our connecting flight to Comox. I had already had an accident. Getting out of the shuttle bus I accidentally ran my heavy suitcase over my big toe. Blood quickly filled my sandal and I left a trail on the airport floor leading to the bathroom, but it didn't really hurt. It was just messy. But we laughed together as we talked about our fears for the upcoming week and a frisson of relief shot through me to hear I wasn't the only one worried. Turns out Teddy's neck and back were sore, and I confessed I had had stress headaches. Turns out our worries were completely unfounded. We had an absolutly great time!! But we did use the Ibuprofen.