The fine line between day and night as the sun sets beyond the edge of the earth.
I just returned from a much needed vacation up North in Dorset Ontario, Canada. My father-in-law lives up there year round and every summer we all rent cottages at Bunny Hollo on Rabbit Bay for a week and spend time together.
It’s about a 5-6 hour drive with eating and bathroom breaks along the way and this year for the first time we took the 407 Toll Expressway and it was SO MUCH NICER of a drive. We completely went around Toronto and missed all the congested traffic we always get stuck in! It was a total surprise to not find any toll booths on the expressway though!Apparently cameras take your picture when you get on and off the toll road and then they send you the bill in the mail.
This is the cottage that we stay in–it’s not glamorous, not even close! But it is right on the lake!
Picture from our cottage steps to the next cottage that my brother-in-law uses.
View from cottages down to lake.
Although the beach front isn’t large, this place is great for people with smaller kids because this area right here has a sandy bottom that remains shallow for a long way out before getting deeper for adults.
So where the heck is Dorset you’re wondering?
Dorset is a small friendly community located on the boundary between the Lake of Bays Municipality in Muskoka District and the Algonquin Highlands Township in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 400 residents live there year round but that number increases by tenfold in the summer with vacationers and cottagers.
Attractions within Dorset:
The Dorset Scenic Look Out Tower is located on a high ridge above the community and the tower offers a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and picturesque Lake of Bays in the Muskoka / Haliburton region and is open year round; although the access road is not plowed or maintained in the winter months. Built in 1967 on the sight of the original fire tower (1922-1962), the scenic lookout is open to cars from late spring until Thanksgiving. Snowmobilers can access the tower in the winter months. The tower as well as the ridge is a dominant geographical feature in Dorset as it can be seen from almost anywhere within Dorset. (In 1963 the former Dorset Fire Tower was shown in the opening credits of the old CBC TV show The Forest Rangers).
Here’s two pictures I took from out in the water on the boat:
Here’s a view FROM the scenic tower:
Dorset is home to the famous Robinson’s General Store, once voted “Canada’s Best Country Store”, owned and operated by the same family since 1921.
I love the fact that you can take your boat to go to the grocery store!!
Where’s a good place to eat?
Located on the Dorset channel is Cajun inspired restaurant, The Fiery Grill and we visit here every year! I always enjoy a Strawberry Daquiri or two while picking something delicious from their menu.
**If you like Cajun hot then be sure to give their VooDoo Pasta a try…If You DARE!!! ;-D
Now that you have all the good information please feel free to enjoy the rest of my photos on a little virtual vacation tour:
Click on picture below and then click on slideshow button as indicated to begin slideshow. Enjoy!
Here’s my submission for this weeks weekly photo challenge Ocean
Sign up and enter your own photo for the Weekly Photo Challenge!
More info at the Daily Post here:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/introducing-weekly-photo-challenges/
Now, Listen to Thea and have yourself a Great Day!!!
~Thea 🙂
via Life Inspired
This photo was taken after a heavy band of snow came thru catching the last glimpse of the sun setting behind the stormy clouds.
It is my first attempt at a HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo effect.
I was inspired by viewing other HDR photos here on WordPress like The Zen of Zann who’s photos using HDR just blow me away.
My photo subject is not nearly as interesting as their work but I took what I had and pushed it to the limits using Topaz Filters in Photoshop.
This type of photo art is a little different for me but I like the effect, I feel pulled into the picture, like stepping into a dream.
Some pictures just seem to stir an emotion within me–I’m not even sure what that emotion is but I like it!
What do you think?
Thanks for Listening to Thea
Check out http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
Drinking all this water isn’t easy for me and believe it or not I was loosing track of how many I had already drank! So, I went on a search for an app for my ipod touch that I could track my water consumption and what I found was so much more! What I found is an awesome app called My Fitness Pal and they also have a website http://www.myfitnesspal.com
It has an incredibly huge food data base already but you can add your own foods, recipes, exercises and water consumption. You can enter your information in your device whether it be Iphone, Ipod or blackberry and others I believe, and it will sync with the online site. When you’re home at your computer you can log into the website and enter or track your information there and it syncs with your device. Best of all it’s all FREE!!
Nutrition Facts For Foods
Thanks for Listening to Thea
I’m very proud to say that for several days I have hit my 8 8 oz glasses of water and dare I say…actually had MORE THAN THAT!
Monday & Tuesday, I managed to meet my water mark and only drink one 24 oz. Mt. Dew and Wednesday no Mt. Dew at all –only water!
The rest of the week I had some stress and since I gave up smoking and I don’t drink alcohol, I fell back into drinking more soda than water.
Already though, I can feel a difference in my body like my abdomen doesn’t seem to feel as bloated and my body just feels better in general! So I will definitely be trying to get back on schedule with consuming my required amount of water a day and less pop from now on.
Drinking all that water isn’t easy for me though and believe it or not I was loosing track of how many I had already drank! So, I went on a search for an app for my ipod touch that I could track my water consumption and what I found was so much more! What I found is an awesome app called My Fitness Pal and they also have a website http://www.myfitnesspal.com
It has an incredibly huge food data base already but you can add your own foods, recipes, exercise and water consumption. You can enter your information in your device whether it be Iphone, Ipod or blackberry I believe, and it will sync with the online site, so when you’re home at your computer you can log into the website and enter or track your information there. Best of all it’s all FREE!!
They even let you create a weight loss tracking banner like the one shown below with your own uploaded picture if you like. That’s right! I’ve lost 5 lbs since I started my quest for a healthier lifestyle and that picture is one I took when we were on vacation on St. John Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It’s the view from the beach at Trunk Bay–listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. It had beautiful white sand and as you can see beautiful blue water!
Created by MyFitnessPal – Nutrition Facts For Foods
Thanks for Listening to Thea
One of the most beautiful places on Earth... Trunk Bay on St. John's Island USVI
I just returned from a wonderful vacation at the Frenchman’s Reef Resort on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
This was an award my husband achieved at work for surpassing his quota(Way to GO Hubby!) otherwise it’s certainly nothing we could ever do on our own. If you’ve read any of my other blogs you understand that I’m a country girl, the farthest I’ve ever lived is an hour away from where I grew up in Western NY. The ocean has always been a magical and terrifying place to me. I’ve seen the Discovery shows and love the colorful fish but I also grew up watching all of the Jaws movies! The first couple of times in the water that dang Jaws theme played in my head over and over!
This time was different though because I bought myself and underwater case for my camera and now I was able to take photos and video’s of the creatures I was discovering for the first time. I was still nervous about being pushed into coral or some unexpecting sea creature but I survived and so did they! lol!
I want to remember every detail of this trip and therefore I’m sharing my story on this blog so we can all go on a virtual vacation together any time we want! So, let’s start at the beginning…..
The Frenchman Reef Resort. When we first found out where the company had arranged for us to stay I immediately looked it up on the web and starting reading reviews. ALLOT of reviews were negative, so I was worried but the part of the resort we were in The Cliffside Wing was fine. It wasn’t too extravagant at all but the king size bed was comfortable, the air-conditioner worked well and the room was clean enough. The only negatives to the room was that there was no fan in the bathroom and the air conditioner didn’t work in there, which made getting ready for a fancy dinner out difficult. Water pressure was a little weak for what I’m used to but the water was only shut off once during our stay in the middle of the night and they left a message on our phone informing us they were going to do it. We were put on the 1st floor which was a little bit of a bummer as our view was mainly of a pretty flowering hedge rather than the ocean. But on the upside, we were right above the beach and didn’t have to ride in the hot elevator every time we wanted to leave our room. The hallways were not air-conditioned at all either and they did smell musty but nothing I couldn’t handle.
We took a taxi to Red Hook to catch the ferry to St. John Island. Everyone always said you have to wait for things because now you were on ‘Island Time’ however I found the Islands to be hopping and we sometimes were scrambling to make it places in time. Which of course only matters if you have somewhere you have to be later like a dinner reservation.
Except for the exhaust from the Ferry, the ride itself to St. Johns was beautiful. The ferry traveled at a fairly fast speed once we cleared the anchored boats and the breeze was nice in the hot humid temperature. The view was spectacular and I enjoyed every bit of it! We even got to see a giant Albatross up-close as we approached the Island and an amazing flight of the male chasing a female. The Albatross males sure look like prehistoric birds!
We arrived on the Island in time for lunch and walked to a few different places. It seems their main crowd time is late afternoon to evenings so allot weren’t really open yet. We ended up going to the Waterfront Bistro in the Wharfside Village and sat beach-side, ordered a couple of Cheeseburgers with sweet potato fries and a Dirty Arnie or locally called John Daly drinks made with Sweet Tea Vodka. Everything was Yummy all the way around and the atmosphere was very nice & relaxed.
Slurp….Ahhhh, Just what I needed!
After lunch we stopped in a little convenience store and bought a bottle of Raspberry Rum, some chips & bottled water and then caught another taxi to Trunk Bay which is part of the National Park and is listed as one of the top 10 beaches in the world!
https://listen2thea.wordpress.com/2010/04/24/carribean-dreams-trunk-bay-on-st-john-island/
Thanks for Listening to Thea
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