OK, I've managed to edit one pic down to a manageable size (trimmed of a lot
of the background, adjusted color balance & whatnot), and still have good
detail. If the pic looks 'fuzzy' that's because the 400 zoom lense we have
for our camera has a soft focus - Bette Davis would love it!

Pic located at
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...26203755xrMdhn


Magic Mood Jeep© wrote:
Saturday, April 16, 2005

We load up the canoe on top of the Land Rover, and head out to a
place on Lake Monroe called Pine Grove. There is a public access
ramp for the lake there, and it is near the main stream (Salt Creek)
that feeds the lake (Lake Monroe is a man-made lake, created when
they dammed Salt Creek).
We launched at sometime between 11:00 am and 11:30am. I say this as
the last time I looked at the clock in the dash of the Land Rover it
said 10:50 am, and we were still on the road, having not left greater
Bloomington yet.
There were a lot of boats being launched, and a few being brought
back. One guy dropped his wife/girlfriend on shore to get the truck
with trailer in tow, however, she couldn't get the thing turned
around enough to back it up straight, so she pulled up the road to
have another go, in the meantime, two other guys and their boats had
decided they were finished, they brought their trucks down, turned
and loaded their boats in less than 5 minutes!. The wife/girlfriend
tried again, and this time she made it first time! I guess watching
the other two gave her a few pointers.
Anyway, we didn't actually have to use the ramp, but it is an easy
place to go as there is a pebbly beach next to it that we can launch
from. So, once we get the canoe in the water, and whatever gear we
are taking (chips, bottled water, camera & the spotting scope), we
get in ourselves. Getting in & out of the canoe is the fun part. Fun as
in not trying to tip it over, but yet holding it close to you
and getting in at the same time.
Away we go.

I might mention that we haven't had the canoe out in 6 months, and
even then we were still learning how to get the thing to go straight
- as it is we go /\/\/\/\/\/\ kinda like Bart Simpson's hairdo.

Also note that Saturday was very sunny, not a cloud to be seen (until
early evening), temps in the upper 70's to low 80's. About 10
strokes into out trip, I realize we have used no sunscreen. And
don't have any with us. A bit late now.

We come to a marshy area, near where the creek meets the lake. The
water is shallow - so shallow our paddles are hitting bottom! We
move further from 'shore' so we have easier going (and also so we
don't drag the bottom with our $1400 canoe, the one that's made of
Kevlar). We are also considerate and take wide berths around any
boaters that are obviously fishing, so as not to disturb them. Jeff
is fearful and wants to head to shore whenever a powered (gasoline
engine) boat comes by, of getting swamped by their wake. But since we
are WEST of the causeway, it is a no-wake zone (a whole 1/3 of the
lake set aside for slower vehicles). And most of the others out
actually slowed when they saw another boat, more so when they saw the
canoe. But as long as you keep your butt planted in the seat, and
don't make any extreme movements, the canoe is pretty darn secure.
So we figure that we are going upstream in Salt Creek, which is what
we want. There is a wetland preserve northwest of the lake that we
like to go to watch waterfowl. I didn't know that there were so many
different types of ducks in Indiana! Anyway, as DH usually does,
he's watching the scenery instead of where we're headed, and he sees
a big tangled knot of branches up high in a tree. We know that there
are Bald Eagles at the lake, and so I THINK i see a white dot
hovering just over the tangle. I get the spotting scope out, and
zoom in - sure enough, there's an eagle sitting in the nest. DH gets
the camera out to start taking pictures. After a few minutes,
another Bald Eagle flies up and comes to rest in a tree right next
too the one the nest is in. We've found one of the mating pairs! Mama in
the nest, Papa on lookout. DH was snapping tons of pictures,
especially when the male flew in. Then all of a sudden, I hear DH
muttering curse words under his breath: Seems DH, rocket scientist
that he isn't, has forgotten to put a CF card in our digital camera! Oh
well.....
He gets a card into the camera, and takes more pictures. We decide
to keep moving upstream, 10-20 yards at a time, pulling over to the
shore to take pictures at each stop. We are finally right across the
stream (more the size of a river at this point, but not technically a
river), and DH gets some good pics of the male, sitting in that tree,
looking around.
What we both found amazing is that, among all the other boaters &
fishers out there, not one of them seemed to be aware of these
eagles. How can one NOT be aware of the symbol of our country?!?!?!

Anyway, we continued up the creek, dodging old rotted tree stumps
that stuck up out of the water (and some that didn't, those were the
scary ones as you can't see them until you're almost on top of them),
fallen trees and other boaters/fishers. We went up until we could
see the boat ramp for the creek access, according to the GPS that DH
brought with us , we went 3.58 miles upstream.

The return trip went quicker (downstream!!!), and was a bit shorter
as we were tired, and didn't meander through the marshland like we
did on the way up. We also took a fairly strait run across the lake
from where the creek enters, around the last bend and to the boat
ramp where we launched. According to the GPS, top speed we got up to
for that was 4.2 MPH.
Now for the hard part: Getting out of the canoe without dumping
everyone & everything in it. We managed it, but then we had to carry
the canoe back up the hill where the ramp was located (remember
Spider Creek Road - and that hill that ran along the quarry??? Imagine
carrying a canoe up that, loaded down with camera, spotting
scope, half a bag of chips, 2 empty bottles of water, a couple of
towels, 2 paddles and about a gallon of muddy water sloshing around
in the bottom). Oh, and your arms back & butt are sore from padding
it for about 7 miles.
It was not pretty.

We finally got it up to the parking area, unloaded it and basically
threw everything into the back of the Land Rover, and somehow got the
canoe back on top of the Land Rover & lashed down. DH thinks it's
anal of me, but I always tie off the loose ends of the straps so they
don't flap in the breeze while we're driving. I figure if it's not
flapping, it has less of a chance of working itself loose. Also,
since the canoe is tied down in front, back and middle, it's less
distracting when your driving to not have a flapping 1-2 foot section
of strap in your face.
Land Rover is all loaded, so home we head. Get home and get the
canoe off the Land Rover. We don't put it back in the garage as our
intention is to was the lake/creek gunk off of it first. We leave it
in the yard. Screw getting the rest of the stuff out of the Land
Rover, save the camera. Jeff decides he's hungry, but neither one of
us has the energy to cook, so we ordered takeout from Outback, and
ate it on our newly retiled back porch. While eating, a bunny came
from the woods next door, and wandered about the yard a bit. Ping
(the Siamese) caught sight of it, and thought we might have a new
friend for him to play with. Lizzie (formerly a 'stray adopted from
the pound) was more of the thought of "Mmmmmmmmmm dinner". Moe,
Smokey & Ernie were more interested in my steak, DH's BBQ ribs &
chicken. Mimi was sleeping, Weeble was playing with 'his' purple
puffball, and Tennessee couldn't be bothered to get off the bed.
After eating, clearing off the table and putting away the leftovers
(DH's salad went out in the yard for the bunny, or whatever, to have
a treat - nothing left on Sunday am but a couple shreds of lettuce),
the bones from his BBQ pork went to Merlin (the dog-cum-garbage
disposal), as did the leftover cheese-fries (fries re-heated are a
greasy glob of yuck).
We watched a bit of TV (not much on Saturday evenings), and then went
to bed.

I might mention at this time that we are both quite sunburned. Remember I
said we had no sunscreen with us!!! Can you say "ouch"? I knew you could.
Fortunately, I was wearing jeans, so only my face
(I was wearing sunglasses, & had my hear back in a bandana (a-la
hippie/flower child style), so now I have a reverse-raccoon effect
going) & arms (aside from a white band where my watch was) got it,
but DH was wearing shorts. He has now some very red thighs, from
where his shorts ended (mid thigh) to just under the knee. I feel
for him having to wear pants tomorrow at work.
During the night, DH & both toss & turn a bit, trying to find a place
that's not bothersome for out 'tender' areas. During my short
periods of wakefulness, I still feel like I've got that !@$%!@#$%
paddle in my hands. I probably even made paddling motion in my sleep!

Next day (Sunday) we rest, aside from a quick trip to the nearby
grocery to get some sunburn ointment, and we also washed (and waxed)
the canoe. Then we did the Land Rover, but didn't have the energy to
do the Jeep.
We took frequent breaks, too, and during one, we heard a cat meowing
from outside. It sounded like Smokey. We were confused (easy thing
to do to us). We look around (or rather DH does, since I am
'indisposed' on the 'porcelain throne' at the moment) and all of a
sudden, he hollers that Smokey is OUTSIDE!!!!! Seems the screen on
the front bedroom window has popped out when she leaned on it, and
she wants back in! She can't because the way the screen fell, it is
still upright and the upper holder-pin-things are still holding it
in, but the bottom is resting on the ground outside. I have, by this
time, finished my "business", so I slam the bedroom window while DH
runs out to get Smokey. As soon as she's back in, we do a headcount.
All present and wondering what all the fuss is about. Whew! Now to
get the screen back in. And we also apply Frontline to ALL cats to
keep nasty fleas away. Smokey may have only been out for a minute or
two, but that's all it takes. They did not appreciate it in the
least.
So now you know our exciting lives.

Anyway. Now that you've either been bored or amused, I will sign off
for now as it is waaaaaaaaay past my bed time.

--
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy
former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)©
email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep