BBC & Clarks Summit PA

It is Tuesday and I am having a great time here in Pennsylvania!
I have been catching up with friends from back home in Iowa and also some of my new found friends from here at BBC that I meet up in Canada!
Also I have been hanging out with Ben Wilhite and family -- Thanks for letting me stay with you! Its been great!
Today I am going to the World Headquarters of Pilgrimage -- should be exciting!
also today I have a lunch meeting with Mel Walker of Vision for Youth!
well I am still trying to get to a point where I can ad more pictures to the web site!
so please be patient with me on that! :)

well I am going to run for now! talk to or see ya all later!

simply serving
drue

Stowe / Montpelier Vermont & Springfield Massachusetts

So on Saturday I traveled down from Burlington Vermont to a very cool little Vermont town called Stowe! It is known for it's Bed and Breakfast resorts and also the Van Trapp Family Lodge is here ... yes the family that was made famous for the Sound of Music! There family has a "Lodge" Resort up on the mountain over looking Stowe! It is as they say just a little bit of Austria in Vermont! and it is incredibly beautiful! unfortunately it was overcast and rainy while I was there visiting! so I traveled around the area checking out all of the sights! I also took a self guided tour of the Van Trapp Family Lodge ... here is a picture

... I guess I just acted like I was a guest there!




After hanging out in Stowe I traveled down the road to Montpelier Vermont! This is the State Capitol of Vermont and again is a very neat little town!


The gold dome of the capitol building is very reminiscent of the Iowa capitol building! but more in a New England kind of way! I also had lunch here in Montpelier at a cool little Wrap sandwich joint called Uncle Joes or something like that! It was incredible! best wrap I have had!
Here is one of the pictures of some cool doors that are in some of the old buildings in Montpelier


After that I traveled on down the road to Springfield Massachusetts! ... Did you know this is where the Basketball Hall of Fame is? well it is true! I have pictures! :)



So I just missed getting in as closing time was 5 ... so I decided to stay the night here in Springfield and get up in the morning and go to the Hall for some Hoops lore! plus the Adidas store is having a big sale! Then after I cruise through there I will be heading on down the rest of the way to Scranton / Clarks Summit!

as before more pictures are forth coming ... please be patient! :) & check out my photo section for the rest of the road trip photo shoot!

see ya all real soon!
drue

Friday in Ottawa!

Ok so on Friday I traveled from Huntsville Ontario down the very picturest Hwy 60
made a stop at the Algonquin Loggers Museum! It was pretty interesting!

Then it was on down to Ottawa which is Canada's capitol city!
Let me just tell you that Ottawa is a very cool town! I wish it had not been raining! and I wish I would have had a friend there with me to enjoy all of the sights and sounds of the city! But I made due with all of it and very much enjoyed myself! the Parliament buildings were very cool! and I loved all of the old architecture!







I also hung out in a really nice mall in the downtown district ... I forget what it was called but it was way sweet!
But here are a couple that I caught walking down the streets of Ottawa! :)




After hanging out in Ottawa I traveled to Montreal ... just pretty much passed through here and then headed on down to Burlington Vermont! Since it is the start of University all of the hotels were booked ... so I just camped out in my truck Friday night! I can say that I got very much sleep last night! :)
More to come!!

Slalom Skiing on Lake of the Bays!

So one of my dreams came true this past Tuesday! I got to ski behind and Awesome ski boat on one of the finest lakes in Ontario!


So it wasn't the best water conditions one could hope for ... but we did find a nice little cove to cut up some pristine Ontario water! The best part was the Malibu 23XTi ski/wake board boat that I got to ride and be pulled by!
This is one Amazing boat!! If I had the cash there would be one of these sitting in my boat dock at home! :) But a huge thank you to Rick and Cathy and Cathy for allowing me to go out on the water with you guys!


It made my stay up here in the near North even that much more enjoyable!
Besides being on an Ontario lake to ski which was great! The lake and the Cottages on the lake are beautiful! here is a peak at one...


... the rest you can find in the photo section! enjoy the pictures!!

Last Monday @ the Bean

Hello to all my friends -- American and Canadian! :)
Well it is surprising to me how fast this summer really went!
I can not believe that this is my last week to spend up here in Ontario!
It has been a blast! I have learned some good things about my self! and even though I still do not know what my future holds 100% I do have some good ideas and direction to consider!
So this last week we had some groups in the park ... one of them being the BBC college group! It was awesome to get to know some of these guys and girls! I love making new friends and being able to have a small impact into their lives! Also was great to reconnect with Dwight Peterson! Here is a picture of that Awesome group!

To all of you BBCers I will see you in a week or so! and I am looking forward to it!

To all of my friends at home ... I am probably going to be home sometime around Labor day! but don't hold me to any exact dates! i am really looking forward to getting home and reconnecting with everyone!

My next few days here will be nice and relaxing ... with finishing up packing up the box trailer and my camper! fixing a few of the boats so they are ready for the Sept. WILD and then buttoning up everything!
I am potentially planning on traveling to PA leaving Thursday via Ottawa and Montreal! then down through Vermont -- visiting a few places on the way to Clarks Summit, PA!

I will try to update this blog sometime before I do leave!

well I am off to the next adventure!
simply serving!
drue

Winding Down!

So today is Wednesday the middle of the week that is winding down to the end of my summer! CRAZY! however I need to go back and catch up with last week eh!

So a week ago I spent a couple of days mountain biking at the Minnising Mountain bike trial in the Algonquin park! It was nice to get out and enjoy the park in a different way! The trail was great! but much more rockier than I am used to at home! you had to dodge a lot of boulders and many many tree roots!! Here is a picture of the typical trail!



So on my way home I was scanning the countryside of millions of trees! always on the look out for wildlife! and I spotted a Moose eh ... pulled over got out of the truck and went into the woods to track her down! well here is just one of the end product of that photo shoot!


Hope you enjoyed that one! :) I know I enjoyed the experience!

Here is a picture of me hanging out in an area known as Whiskey Rapids! a little day hiking trail in the Algonquin park that I went on I think it was last Wed.



So that was some of the highlights of last week for me!

This last Friday my good friend Josh left with his group from MI in the morning and then his brother and another good friend as well, Ohh and also my "boss" -- Ben and his son Caden came up for a few days! It was great to see all of them! Ben and I got to spend a few quality days together just catching up and talking shop! which was great! Also got to go to Church here in Huntsville which was great!! Then it was back to work! WE ahve a little over 60 people in the park this week ... One of the groups is a group of 22 that came up from BBC - Clarks Summit PA - that are here on there 3 credit Wilderness trip! It has been great to meet all of these guys and girls and make some good connections at BBC! plus I got to spend time with Dwight Peterson again for a few days! I love that guy! Also up and in the woods for the week are my new favorite newlyweds! Tim & Stacy! it was really good to reconnect with Tim and meet his new wife! They are Awesome! Thanks for the grapes! :)

So I think that brings you up to speed on the events and good times at least for the most part here in the wild wonderlands of the Algonquin and the near north of Ontario Canada! :) I am loving it here but, but yes it is true ... I only have a week or so left of FUN & Games up here! then it is over to PA to visit BBC for a few days and then the long trek home to Iowa ... with a few pit stops along the way! :) looking forward to it Josh & Gwen and Jake & Megan! I hope you leave the light on for me! :)

Ok well I need to work on a few other things here at the Bean my home away from home!!
enjoy the stories and enjoy the pictures!
Love all of you!
Simply Serving!
drue

It's Monday!!! YEAH!!

So yes it is Monday! up here in Canada it is the last day of the Civic Holiday Long weekend! so things are just now slowing down from a busy and crazy week of Canadians partying all weekend! it will be nice to have my campground a little bit back to normal! however the interesting people watching will end!! that is always entertaining! :)
Last week was a really long and kinda hard week for me ... both work wise and emotionally! It just seemed nothing really flowed or went the way it was supposed to go! but that is sometimes what happens up here and you have to roll with it and adapt!! however this is now a new week and I am very excited for it! Today (Monday) has gone really well as I put two groups in at Rain Lake today and now I am here in Huntsville hanging out online at the Bean Coffee shop! which is again a nice refugee for me! :)
Also I am thankful for friends and especially the ones that have taken the time to communicate with me online in chat and on the phone! All of those things were huge to me today!! so Thank You!!

On Tuesday I plan on going to a really sweet Mountain Bike park in Algonquin and ride for a while! it should be a sweet ol' time!

Not sure if I have mentioned this before but I have been taking advantage of the nice beach front area at the base camp and doing a lot of exercise swimming in the himbury lake! So that has been great and is super good exercise as well!

the rest of the week should be pretty easy going until Thursday when I have a couple of groups coming out of the park and get to play chef and cook them steak dinner! :) fun times!

ok well I need to get moving for the day! much to do and see! oh and the weather is perfect today! nice easy breeze in the air a little overcast but somewhat sunny and a cool 83 degrees! sorry to all you suffering in the Iowa humidity!! we dont really have that here in Ontario! :)

so like I said ... need to move on for today! thanks for reading! send and email if you would like! druewolfe@gmail.com or leave me a comment!

love ya all!
drue