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Canoe Trip Story-All Invited

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Angelo was delighted they already had experience with the area.. He would look up Lake Champlain on his phone before leaving cell service so that he would have some talking points with their vacation. As far as not bringing their canoe with a motor, that was a mercy. Some of the areas they wished to go involved unloading the canoe and carrying the canoe and its gear separately over land to bridge to a separate lake system. Once one did that even one time, motor boats could not follow. The complete serenity of the wilderness with the only sounds being loons, the cry of eagles flying overhead and fish flopping in the water was to be highly recommended.

Farine had just finished making the arrangements for future guests when to her delight, she saw Angelo speaking to two guests. Her delight had to be balanced with her sense of professionalism, but the glint of merriment in her eyes could not be hid. She began to quicken her stride across the gravel lot to join them.
 
Farine waved excitedly at Billie enjoying the lake already.. 'HI! HI! Are you okay with us as the outfitters choosing the gear for you and your Dad? Because you can pick tent colors or what have you if you do care. Angelo and I have done this before lots so we can choose for you if you just want to kick back and enjoy this.. "

Angelo noticed Farine's approach and was eager to introduce her to Bill who was examining the canoes for his selection.. "We picked a shorter length so that one person theoretically could handle a canoe by him or herself should that be desired. We have a longer one we will load up with just gear that will be tethered to ours for some of the bigger items like a screen tent able to have all of us under it. Sometimes it rains for a day or two and being cooped up in a small tent isn't enjoyable for that length of time. I'm here to help out if needed. We try to make sure that anyone who wants to enjoy the experience can. " Then he stepped back so Farine could encounter him should she choose. She might end up visiting with Billie some.. either way, this trip was officially underway.
 
My favorite color is red, Billie replied. Anything red or orange is fine.

She checked out the scenery and remarked that bright colors might work well to scare bears and other wild animals away from them a little ways at least.

She had not expected to find outfitters here, what a pleasant surprise!
 
Farine looked over at Angelo... He had packed tents.. She mouthed 'red'.. in case the distance had been too far for Billie's voice to travel.

Angelo's hearing was excellent. He smiled that his woman thought he needed help. He had his own prescription for scaring bears and part of that was to run a spotlessly clean camp. If there were no food odors, there would be little reason for a bear to come investigating.. Anything that fell on the ground that could be considered food got swept up to be burned in the fire. He nodded to Farine.. He was ON IT.. Then he was pleased to see Farine come over to greet Bill.. This was proceeding nicely. Billie seemed absolutely content wading in the water..

Farine noticed that too.. She grinned at Billie.. "We'll get your canoe loaded for you momentarily. I'll be right back.. " SHe excused herself to be introduced to Bill. 'Hi! I'm Farine.. You've met Angelo. We've got a small operation that takes groups deep into the Boundary waters.. I wanted to show you the map. Sometimes it's good to just have a sense of location. " She pulled their trustworthy copy of the area and pointed to their current location. "This is where we'll return in a couple of weeks. There isn't cell service that far back in the bush, so we have a satellite texting service that can get a word back to us.. or us to them in case of something like an emergency. " She passed Bill her business card which had that text number on it. " You can keep that and if there's someone who needs to get ahold of you while you are with us on vacation.. they can still text you through that number. Past that, tech and toys won't really work. Now.. I'll help Angelo here make the next part go 'like magic'. While you are waiting.. I want you to try a bit of this fish we just cooked.. THIS is part of what you'll be experiencing while we travel. " She put a portion of the just cooked fried fish on a small plate for Bill to try. This would help pass the time while she and Angelo worked together to gather and load their items into a canoe meant just for them.

Angelo caught her meaning and grinned.. It was a contest eh? Who could make this happen the fastest? Well he knew what wanted to pull from their stores immediately. Could she do the same? He flashed her a look that said 'ready... set .. go'... and started the friendly competition on his mark. He was halfway done with his part in five minutes.. could she do the same?
 
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Billie came out of the water reluctantly, knowing she would be able to swim in it later, if she liked. The temperature was quite a bit comfy, though a bit on the cooler side. Yes, the had brought swimsuits.

Bill always was very careful, making sure that Billie had a life jacket. One could never be too careful. He asked for one for himself too. Billie was pleased it would be orange, of course. Just then she spotted a loon. She was so glad to see it. She loved seeing birds and would be watching for them throughout the trip.
 
Billie looked a bit guilty, "Hey Dad, we better go get Mom. She'll be worried about us, you know how she gets when we go off for long."

She turned to their outfitters and said that Mom was back at the motel a ways down the road. She'd been so excited to find outfitters here, that she had forgotten about Mom, who was unpacking their car. Mom would be surprised at the change in plans.
 
Farine was in the midst of her effort to make 'the magic happen'... falling behind the smart, efficient pace her partner set almost from the start.. her sense of humor kicking in... it seemed the world at large was sending her a signal that she had to tighten up her routine. When she heard Billie say,
"Hey Dad, we better go get Mom. She'll be worried about us, you know how she gets when we go off for long."
She shifted her proportions of gear .. adding a new person wasn't an issue in the slightest. She had everything in a smooth ratio per person. She simply took that ratio of items up a standardized notch and pulled things out of their stores appropriately.

Angelo had to go back a step and add a little more to his effort with the proposed addition of a third person. He was THRILLED.. The red three man tent was swapped out for a red four man tent. He then upped his game by packing ALL OF THE FOOD thus ensuring his 'win' because she was denied the opportunity to pull that together. He liked winning. At least in this sense. She was a good sport... the moment she noticed he was 'doomed to win'... she began to splash water at him when he got to the aluminum canoe designated for Bill and Billie and now also Billie's mother. He took her efforts graciously... and then held up one hand to have her pause. He had the life jackets at the ready... and it wouldn't be appropriate to soak THEM just because she had lost fair and square... Having distributed the life jackets... he then got into a REAL water fight with her.... they had a change of clothes if she didn't feel like staying wet.. or it was a warmish day.. she could let the wet clothes air dry... but she had challenged him... and that was something he enjoyed responding to.
 
Billie smiled at her Dad, as they walked off to collect Mom. She was pleased to see that Mom's presence wouldn't mess up any plans that their outfitters had made.

Dad had Mom on his mind a bit too late and looked a bit sheepishly at Billie when they walked off. "Mom will be just fine. She loves the water. But I wonder if we can park the car here?"
 
Farine's frame was soaked from top to bottom.. a determined six foot four man armed with a canoe paddle chipping a half gallon of water at her at a time made even sight a struggle at the pace he was going.. but she was having a blast and this was a side benefit... she wasn't overheated now. Thank God hearing still worked. She heard...
"Mom will be just fine. She loves the water. But I wonder if we can park the car here?"

Angelo heard it too. He paused his industrious movement of water to respond. "Oh yes. No parking ticket or anything. This is a free parking lot. People leave their vehicles here for weeks while they're out without any restrictions or penalties.. " Having relayed that as they watched Bill and Billie step away to go get their family member.. He would spend another minute or two dousing his partner with clean lake water before calling a halt to it. There was no WAY she could respond to that level of barrage and the point of the thing was to have fun... He laughed .. this trip was every bit as much fun as he had spent the preceeding weeks imagining it. Now that Bill and Billie and Billie's mother's canoe was packed, it just needed them to return and their official voyage would commence. No matter how these last minutes on shore progressed.. he was already on vacation.
 
Billie and her family returned to find everything in ship shape. Mom introduced herself, saying that her name is Adele. They were pleased to find out that they could park the car here. They were especially pleased that the motel owner was very flexible about the reservations they'd made there. It seems he was acquainted with the outfitters and was quite fond of them. He'd passed along a greeting to them. Billie grabbed swimsuits and a few other things she thought they'd need. Mom brought their medications in a zip lock bag. Each of them had at least one med they took. They put one cellphone in the Ziploc bag too, in case they needed to make a text to that number Dad was given. Hopefully there would be no need, but just in case....

Mom looked over the canoes and everything, asked a few questions about what this or that was for. She's the curious one in our family, Billie explained.
 
Farine was delighted to meet Adele.. another curious soul? EXCELLENT! Here was an answer for every question. Farine took her around the loaded canoes and explained why they brought a screen tent.. what was the purpose of the lashings on the gear to the canoe.. the whole nine yards without pushing their proposed push off point too much further into the future. It was good that the cell phone went into a ziplock bag.. They had one already for the map. Other last minute items would go in theirs. She wanted her phone out to the last possible moment in case someone contacted her. IN fact, she'd text teh Motel owner now to thank him for the reference. She thumbed it into her phone lightning fast. She had averted her gaze to give her descriptions time to breathe. She knew Angelo would wish to head out soon and this way she had plausible...

Angelo laughed. That sort of thing was grade school .. really? but then.. he had won at the water fight... she was getting a little of her own back... no matter.

Farine paused a second in her descriptions... o0(Hm.. he noticed.) She then turned to regard him.. her best innocent face.. batting her eyelashes JUST the right amount. Children were such amateurs at this ...

Angelo was now doubly amused. Well.. well.. TWO could play at THAT game... He, being a head taller than her... was able to send a knowing glance at Bill... so close to his height... a look that could only be interpreted one way.. "WOMEN"
 
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