Canadian Fishing Trip

Last week I set out with my family into the wilderness of Northwest Ontario for a seriously fun week of fishing. Our residence was a 75 foot houseboat, which was driven for ten hours into the vast remoteness of Lac Suel. Normally I don't consider myself a sportsman, but the fishing in Ontario is so instantly gratifying and fast paced compared to back home that I enjoy making the trip. Over the week I reeled in more than 50 fish with the largest being a 28.5" Walleye and a 39" Northern Pike.

Besides fishing, the wilderness and isolation are relaxing experiences unto themselves. To illustrate, on Friday morning we watched, over breakfast, four bald eagles fighting for the remains of our cleaned fish. And, on Tuesday night, we observed the Northern Lights shower down greenish-purple streaks of light in the sky right before falling asleep.

I have to admit though that I did bring my laptop and iPhone. When the pace of the fishing slowed, jigging gave way to watching videos on my laptop, reading books and listening to podcasts.

So, we all had a great time. My brother Matt and I fished the least of anyone on the trip, but we had fun doing other activities. The trip was enjoyable both for the fishing and the opportunity to get away from the daily grind.

Photos

Oshkosh Airshow, 2008

Yesterday Jess, I and friends Jason, Matt and Paola took a drive up to Oshkosh to watch the annual EAA airshow. The number of military airplanes there was impressive. Also, while there, we had the opportunity to watch an aerial demonstration of a brand-new F-22 raptor. It was the most impressive airplane I have ever seen!

For your viewing pleasure I have included a video and slideshow.

Photos

F-22 Raptor Video

I found this video on YouTube from a different day of the airshow, but it's quite a bit more impressive.

Northern WI Vacation

Jess and I took a long weekend in Northern WI near the UP for some R & R. Brenda, Wayne, Jeremy, Denise, Jean and the kids came with too. Over the four day trip we went white-water kayaking, fishing, built a lot of camp fires and drank some beer. Here's some pictures/videos from the trip...

Photos

Wayne Reeling In The Big One

Morgan Talking About The Trip

Morgan & Lindsay

Niagara Falls Road Trip - Day 5: Crossing The Finish Line

Jess and I had originally planned to take two days to get home. However, we decided that we would try for an all out marathon drive back home. Today we departed from Ontario and drove through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and finally southern Wisconsin. Phew! The trip was about 13 hours at a distance of just under 700 miles.

Ohh BTW, if you're reading this, Chris (Not my brother, but Chris from work). I think I am going to owe you some serious coinage for your I-Pass! :-)

Niagara Falls Road Trip - Day 4: Toronto

Today Jessica and I decided to get out of tourist land and head up to Toronto. We've found that one can only see water go over rocks for a set number of hours before it becomes a bit boring.

Before going up to T-Town, I did some Wikipedia reading on the city and found out some interesting facts. First, Toronto is truly an international city. Of it's 2.5 million residents within the municipality, only 51% are native born Torontonians (That's the official term for a Toronto resident.). Secondly, the city is home to the second largest free standing structure in the world, the CN tower. And Finally, the city acts as Canada's financial capital, with banks such as TD Ameritrade, HSBC and Citi all having large office buildings there.

So, for our day trip to the city today we went up in the CN tower and watched a Blue Jays game. Both were fun, but only one was an expensive line-ridden tourist trap. I bet you can guess which one. Even with all the lines and expensive tickets, the CN tour was worth it. I would say it was even better the going up to the top of the Empire State Building. The day was probably our best yet, and the Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves.

Pictures From Today

CN Tower Glass Floor Video

Ride Up CN Tower On Glass Elevator

Niagara Falls Road Trip - Day 3

Okay, first thing: Last night Jessica and I watched the movie "Juno" on our laptop at the hotel, and I have to say that was a good film. Definitely a must see. Anyways, back to the road trip.

Today was a little slower paced, being we didn't have to travel in a car. We went back to the falls and partook in some of the local tourist traps. First, we toured the falls from a viewing deck at the bottom, then we watched an IMAX movie.

Also today Jess and I made an interesting observation that there are at least 4 gentleman's clubs in a 5 mile (or 8km if you will..) radius, and twice as many adult stores. It seems to create quite the environment for a family destination.

We ended the day by having dinner at an authentic German restaurant that was off the beaten path. The food was quite good and the portions were ginormous.

We hope to drive up to Toronto and go up in the CN tower.

Tootles from Niagara,
Nick & Jessica.

Niagara Falls Road Trip - Days 1 & 2

Well, we've made it to Niagra Falls! The road trip was pretty easy with only two days of 5 1/2 hour drives. We decided to plan a route from our home through Chicago, around the south shore of Lake Michigan, across the state of Michigan and then through Ontario. I have to say the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario is a lot like Wisconsin Dells, which we hadn't foreseen. We were thinking it would be a quaint town along a river :-). Here's some of the tourist traps we've run across:

• Ripley's Believe It Or Not


• TGI Fridays


• An IMAX Theater


• A whole mess of different rides to see the falls

However, the falls are spectacular. Take a look at our pictures below.



And some video...