August 22, 2018 – Did something happen to the brigade?
This morning my mistress got up at 4:45 am to make sure to be in the kitchen by 5 am and get the hot water started for coffee and prepare breakfast.
She was alone in the kitchen until the helpers showed up and together they made sure everything was set up when the paddlers arrived to eat.
Today they had pancakes and eggs and some left overs as well as the usual things.
I stayed in the camper with my master because I love to follow my mistress but I would have been in the way and she does not like me being in the kitchen.
The busses arrived at 7 am again and by then my master and I were awake and at the garage. Again it took a while for them to take off. My master and Marc went with the cars to the launch point to help them launch the canoes and bring the trailers back. The paddlers had to carry the canoes for a long distance this morning to bring them into the water.
We were told to be in Cochrane at the boat launch at 1 pm to pick them up and the bus would be there too.
After the crews left my mistress checked if everything was put away and clean as well as the bathrooms to fill up water, toilet paper and paper towels. She also took care of the budget and wrote down all the expenses of the day before, made sure the right amount of money was left and filled up envelopes with money that would be needed for the day.
Today the paddlers were expected to be at the Tim Hortons Arena in Cochrane to take a shower, visit the Polar Bear Habitat and have a potluck and the Pavilion on Lake Commando in Cochrane.
At 12 pm my humans and Marc left towards Cochrane and in Cochrane we met the bus. We waited for the canoes to arrive and Dave joined us. After one hour we wondered where they might be and the humans figured that the river has less water than usual and that it might be slower to paddle it and they had a strong head wind.
Time went by and they still hadn’t shown up by 3 pm. The bus driver, Carol, came over to us and asked us if we knew anything where they are.
The humans said there was not take out point on the route. They tried to call them but there was no reception and the paddlers would probably not have reception on the river either.
We kept waiting. Around 5 they got really worried and Dave was about to call the police. Unfortunately there was nobody nearby they could ask to get a boat to look for the canoes.
Tim said it was 25 km to paddle and my mistress calculated 42 km when she made the planning. Marc started to calculate how long it would take them for 42 km with a strong head wind and he said they would not arrive until 6 to 7 pm.
It was too late for the Polar Bear Habitat and the potluck anyways but did not have a chance to go there and tell people that might have been at the potluck as we did not know when the paddlers would arrive and we had the trailers on the cars.
Tim wanted my humans to take our van to transport all the display for the potluck but we fit everything in Marc’s van so we did not need our van. That saved gas and the van my humans have needs a lot of gas. I do need a lot of food too and by the time the paddlers arrived at 7 pm I was starving.
My humans had a burger earlier because Carol, the bus driver, went to town to get a burger and got some for the humans too. Marc hast diabetes and he needed to eat.
The paddlers were exhausted when they arrived and very hungry. My mistress wanted to take one paddler of every crew to get something for the potluck but it was too late for this. I heard them talking about getting pizza for everybody but that was a problem for the gluten free people. They agreed to have a salad instead.
Tim was angry with my mistress because they did not take our van and could not go to the potluck to let people know that they were late and could not make it on time. She was very angry and very sad at the same time. All she wanted was not to spend too much money. And again Tim blamed her. It wasn’t her fault they were late and what should she have told people at the potluck, when she did not know what was going on.
I could feel her stress and disappointment and I tried to comfort her as much as I could and I could feel her relax a little bit. But the stress wasn’t over; they still had to find a solution to the dinner problem.
The humans decided to go to the Pavilion to see if somebody was still waiting for them and order pizza from there.
At the Pavilion was nobody waiting and so some of the paddlers went back to the Arena to take a shower. Meanwhile Tim tried to order pizza but the places that serve pizza were all closed. Also there was a public viewing for a film at the Pavilion for 9 pm and it was already after 8 pm.
The humans needed a new plan. Now they wanted to go to Tim Horton’s where Subway and Harvey’s was in walking distance. Everybody would get the money they paid for dinner and they could get what they wanted. The bus went off and my humans and I followed in the van with the trailer. Marc was on his way home already. After the first junction they must have noticed that Jay was missing and they headed back to the Pavilion to get Jay.
When the bus arrived at the food places my mistress handed the money out to everybody and my humans and I went into Harvey’s. More than half of the brigade was there and these people at Harvey’s did a great job. They were so nice and professional. It took a while to feed all these people, especially because some of them wanted to have something else from one of the other places. It was a miracle they did not forget anybody else.
It was late and I was so hungry. My mistress gave me some of her meat. WOW - that was yummy - Angus beef burger with cheese. I did not get any of the other good stuff like onion rings and whatever was on the burger beside the meat and the cheese.
My humans went back to camp after they finished and the bus was still there. They arrived about 30 minutes after we did.
We all were very tired and some of the paddlers were very angry with Tim. That was not what they expected of that day. My humans were worried that some of them might leave early because of the problems they had with Tim.
Tim is a very nice guy, with a very good heart. And he has a vision that he follows. This brigade for this year and for the next four years is his dream. That is a good thing but he keeps forgetting that other people might see that differently and that they are used to other standards or ways of living. When the paddlers asked him what would happen the next day he would keep telling them about the last day of this years brigade, the Great Canadian Kayak Challenge. He sees the whole picture and they only wanted information about the schedule of the next day. That’s complicated. I know exactly what they feel like because when I ask my mistress for my food she keeps telling me what needs to be done first before she can feed me. I am not interested in the whole picture I just want to have my food and a nap afterwards.
I could feel the tension between all these people and I knew my mistress could feel it too and it was just too much for her. All I could do as a dog is be close to her and give her strength, confidence and patience.
We all were very tired and almost every body went straight to bed.
Don’t get me wrong, or my humans, Tim is a wonderful person and he helped me and my humans a lot last summer and winter and we are very grateful for this. My humans did everything to make his dream/vision come true and they are happy they were able to do this. Tim is a man on a mission, the mission to have a Voyageur City in 2022 at the Peterborough Canoe Museum and that’s his goal. He has a different point of view and a different lifestyle than other people. He is Northern Ontario through and through, that’s the way he is and that’s good.
We love you Tim and we want to thank you for everything you did for my humans and me. Just one thing, please tell Silver to stop biting me when somebody throws a stick in the lake for me to get it. That hurts.
She was alone in the kitchen until the helpers showed up and together they made sure everything was set up when the paddlers arrived to eat.
Today they had pancakes and eggs and some left overs as well as the usual things.
I stayed in the camper with my master because I love to follow my mistress but I would have been in the way and she does not like me being in the kitchen.
The busses arrived at 7 am again and by then my master and I were awake and at the garage. Again it took a while for them to take off. My master and Marc went with the cars to the launch point to help them launch the canoes and bring the trailers back. The paddlers had to carry the canoes for a long distance this morning to bring them into the water.
We were told to be in Cochrane at the boat launch at 1 pm to pick them up and the bus would be there too.
After the crews left my mistress checked if everything was put away and clean as well as the bathrooms to fill up water, toilet paper and paper towels. She also took care of the budget and wrote down all the expenses of the day before, made sure the right amount of money was left and filled up envelopes with money that would be needed for the day.
Today the paddlers were expected to be at the Tim Hortons Arena in Cochrane to take a shower, visit the Polar Bear Habitat and have a potluck and the Pavilion on Lake Commando in Cochrane.
At 12 pm my humans and Marc left towards Cochrane and in Cochrane we met the bus. We waited for the canoes to arrive and Dave joined us. After one hour we wondered where they might be and the humans figured that the river has less water than usual and that it might be slower to paddle it and they had a strong head wind.
Time went by and they still hadn’t shown up by 3 pm. The bus driver, Carol, came over to us and asked us if we knew anything where they are.
The humans said there was not take out point on the route. They tried to call them but there was no reception and the paddlers would probably not have reception on the river either.
We kept waiting. Around 5 they got really worried and Dave was about to call the police. Unfortunately there was nobody nearby they could ask to get a boat to look for the canoes.
Tim said it was 25 km to paddle and my mistress calculated 42 km when she made the planning. Marc started to calculate how long it would take them for 42 km with a strong head wind and he said they would not arrive until 6 to 7 pm.
It was too late for the Polar Bear Habitat and the potluck anyways but did not have a chance to go there and tell people that might have been at the potluck as we did not know when the paddlers would arrive and we had the trailers on the cars.
Tim wanted my humans to take our van to transport all the display for the potluck but we fit everything in Marc’s van so we did not need our van. That saved gas and the van my humans have needs a lot of gas. I do need a lot of food too and by the time the paddlers arrived at 7 pm I was starving.
My humans had a burger earlier because Carol, the bus driver, went to town to get a burger and got some for the humans too. Marc hast diabetes and he needed to eat.
The paddlers were exhausted when they arrived and very hungry. My mistress wanted to take one paddler of every crew to get something for the potluck but it was too late for this. I heard them talking about getting pizza for everybody but that was a problem for the gluten free people. They agreed to have a salad instead.
Tim was angry with my mistress because they did not take our van and could not go to the potluck to let people know that they were late and could not make it on time. She was very angry and very sad at the same time. All she wanted was not to spend too much money. And again Tim blamed her. It wasn’t her fault they were late and what should she have told people at the potluck, when she did not know what was going on.
I could feel her stress and disappointment and I tried to comfort her as much as I could and I could feel her relax a little bit. But the stress wasn’t over; they still had to find a solution to the dinner problem.
The humans decided to go to the Pavilion to see if somebody was still waiting for them and order pizza from there.
At the Pavilion was nobody waiting and so some of the paddlers went back to the Arena to take a shower. Meanwhile Tim tried to order pizza but the places that serve pizza were all closed. Also there was a public viewing for a film at the Pavilion for 9 pm and it was already after 8 pm.
The humans needed a new plan. Now they wanted to go to Tim Horton’s where Subway and Harvey’s was in walking distance. Everybody would get the money they paid for dinner and they could get what they wanted. The bus went off and my humans and I followed in the van with the trailer. Marc was on his way home already. After the first junction they must have noticed that Jay was missing and they headed back to the Pavilion to get Jay.
When the bus arrived at the food places my mistress handed the money out to everybody and my humans and I went into Harvey’s. More than half of the brigade was there and these people at Harvey’s did a great job. They were so nice and professional. It took a while to feed all these people, especially because some of them wanted to have something else from one of the other places. It was a miracle they did not forget anybody else.
It was late and I was so hungry. My mistress gave me some of her meat. WOW - that was yummy - Angus beef burger with cheese. I did not get any of the other good stuff like onion rings and whatever was on the burger beside the meat and the cheese.
My humans went back to camp after they finished and the bus was still there. They arrived about 30 minutes after we did.
We all were very tired and some of the paddlers were very angry with Tim. That was not what they expected of that day. My humans were worried that some of them might leave early because of the problems they had with Tim.
Tim is a very nice guy, with a very good heart. And he has a vision that he follows. This brigade for this year and for the next four years is his dream. That is a good thing but he keeps forgetting that other people might see that differently and that they are used to other standards or ways of living. When the paddlers asked him what would happen the next day he would keep telling them about the last day of this years brigade, the Great Canadian Kayak Challenge. He sees the whole picture and they only wanted information about the schedule of the next day. That’s complicated. I know exactly what they feel like because when I ask my mistress for my food she keeps telling me what needs to be done first before she can feed me. I am not interested in the whole picture I just want to have my food and a nap afterwards.
I could feel the tension between all these people and I knew my mistress could feel it too and it was just too much for her. All I could do as a dog is be close to her and give her strength, confidence and patience.
We all were very tired and almost every body went straight to bed.
Don’t get me wrong, or my humans, Tim is a wonderful person and he helped me and my humans a lot last summer and winter and we are very grateful for this. My humans did everything to make his dream/vision come true and they are happy they were able to do this. Tim is a man on a mission, the mission to have a Voyageur City in 2022 at the Peterborough Canoe Museum and that’s his goal. He has a different point of view and a different lifestyle than other people. He is Northern Ontario through and through, that’s the way he is and that’s good.
We love you Tim and we want to thank you for everything you did for my humans and me. Just one thing, please tell Silver to stop biting me when somebody throws a stick in the lake for me to get it. That hurts.
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