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ESCAPE to the NORTH
Finding the right place to come ashore.

Page 7

June 28th; After finding the closest place to the main downtown area, I hauled the canoe up onto the beach and walked up a street that led me to the business section. As I was walking along, I noticed the fire hall and the police station were in the same building, so I went to the police station to report my lost I.D.'s because I was now walking around town with nothing in the way of having any identification on my person. I informed the police officers that were behind the counter that I had just landed on the beach with my canoe, and explained to them how I came to loose all of my identification papers. I gave the police officers all the information about me that they required and then went to Tim Hortens and got some donuts and coffee to take back with me to the canoe. The first thing I had to do was to find some out-of-the-way place to camp that was not too far from town. I studied the map and thought of going up the Wabi River but that led to a lot of farm land. I would be too exposed to any people and I did not want to cause people to worry about my presence. So I decided to go further east along the shoreline and see if I could find some wooded area that would not cause people any concern. After rounding the Marina, I came upon a shoreline that was lined by trees and heavy bush. I landed at a few places along this shoreline to explore the lay of the land and then I finally picked a place where I could put up the tent without being exposed to anyone from the lake or being close to any house.

A heavly wooded area for a tempory camp

Once I had the tent set up and the gear stowed away, I changed clothes and went back into town. By following a slight trail that led me to a street, I found my way back to downtown to get some supplies. It seems that I had just arrived when the city was having its Canada Day Celebrations. I got caught up with the celebration atmosphere and had a real pleasant day taking in all the sights, sidewalk stalls and the concerts and shows that was going around. I even bailed out a pretty lady from jail (make-believe jail for some charity drive). I also met a young man, I can't seem to recall his name, as hard as I may try. I think his name was Phil, who was a university student. He wants to become a historian. I had expressed my feelings on this topic and I related to him how urgent we needed historians who will give society the full, true facts about what had actually happened in our past. Most of our present history books had always been slanted by the point of view of the victors. We needed to have people who were willing to give us an unbias view of what had actually happened in our history, the good and the bad. How are we to learn from our past if all we get is history that had been covered up or slanted from the true facts? The young man also likes to sing the blues, which tend to be spiritual in nature, looking for truth and justice. He preforms at night clubs along with others of his age group. I hope that he does well in his pursuit as a historian. GOD, do we need them to present us the true facts. Then I went back to my camp. I had bought a bag of books from the public library sidewalk stall. I made supper and rested as I read one of the books, titled "Trixy Belden and the Happy Valley Mystery." It started to rain so I just stayed in the tent for the rest of the day. When it got too dark, I stopped reading and just listen to the radio until I fell asleep.

June 29th; This morning was a clear sunny day. After making breakfast on the main camp stove, I went into town to see if I could find a campground that was around the area, for I did not feel very secure leaving my gear, tent and canoe where I had made camp. I went to the police station to find out if where I had made camp, would it cause any problem for anyone. They had informed me that they believed where I had made camp, it may be privet property and if anyone should ask me to leave, I would have to. I told the officers that if that happened, it would only take me minuets to take down the tent and put my gear into the canoe and I would be off their property. The officer had told me that as long as they had not received any complaints from anyone, I could stay there. I asked the officers if there was a campground near by and they directed me to one that was not far away from where I was. So I went over to Lakeview Gardens Campgrounds to find out how much it would cost me for a month stay while I have my ad in the paper. I saw Betty White who is the owner of the establishment and asked her about staying here for a month. She had told me that her usual fee for a tent is $18.00 per day. That would cost $540.00 for a month. I explained my situation to her and that I had to find a place to stay for a month while I waited for a response from the ad that I want to place in the local newspaper. We had talked at length as to what I was trying to do and I had asked Betty if she would consider me paying $150.00 up front and I would work for her during the month that I would need to remain in New Liskeard. She told me that she had never received such an offer before and was not quite sure how to respond to it, and that she would have to think about it. Betty told me to come back tomorrow and she will give me her answer then. I told Betty that I would return tomorrow about noon. Then I went back to downtown, which was just a mile away. There I took in the sights as I had done yesterday. Later I went back to my camp and did some hard thinking of what to do if I find it hard to stay around this area. I decided that I would just have to wait until I had received Betty's answer before I start worrying about what to do next. I spent a quiet evening and night reading and listening to the radio.

June 30th; This morning was heavily overcast with brief summer showers. By 10-11 A.M. the sky became clear and the sun was shining down, drying the moister from the rain. I left my camp to walk to Lakeview Gardens Campgrounds to see what Betty had decided. When I had arrived at her place, she had accepted my offer. I paid her what we had agreed upon and I told Betty, Bless her little heart, that I would try to get my canoe and gear at her place as soon as I could. Betty was saying to me as I left her place that I might regret my offer later on. I told Betty that this will only give me something to do and keep me out of mischief while I waited for any response that I may get once I place my ad in the paper. I told Betty, that the wind right now was blowing from the west, a head wind for me, and that I would try to paddle to her place as soon as the wind died down or changed course to a more favourable direction. After I had left Betty, I stopped in at the Police station to informed the Officers that I would be leaving the place where I had camped and will be staying at Betty's place at Lakeview Gardens Campgrounds. When I got back to my camp, I took down the tent and loaded all the gear into the canoe and waited for the wind to die down. By 7 P.M. the wind had not died down as I had hoped it would. So I decided to try and get as close to Betty's Lakeview Gardens Campgrounds, little by little until I get there regardless of the time it will take. Paddling hard against the wind and waves, I made it to the Marina and rested for a while before tackling the long, open stretch that lined the beach. To make a long story short, I finally made it to Betty's Lakeview Gardens Campgrounds by dusk. I found a wooded area that was by the shore and pitched my tent.


My camp for the month

I had just put the gear in the tent when Dave, Betty's son came over and asked me to help him move some picnic tables and place these in a location that would prevent people from parking their vehicles, blocking the driveway. Dave had told me that people tend to park their vehicles that block their driveway into the Campgrounds, while the fireworks display were going on, preventing any fire trucks or emergency vehicles from getting through if need be. We stayed at our post until the fireworks were over, and then we put back the picnic tables where we had got them. Then I went back to my tent and sorted out my gear and made my bed for the night. Betty is a short, slim woman of around 86 years of age. She reminds me of granny on the Beverly Hillbillies, in that Betty is just as spunky with a heart of gold. Dave, her only son, is around age 46, and he reminds me of Abe Lincoln, with that beard that he has. Dave grows the largest pumpkins in the whole area and had received many first prize ribbons at the country fair. Dave and I get along very well and we keep together, looking out for each other. I managed to settle in very well. I had also met, Irene, Betty's sister. Irene is quite the opposite in nature from Betty. While they both have a heart of gold, so to speak. Betty is the more serious person, thinking of all the ills that are going around the world, especially with hungry children. Betty was a top notch RN in her time, while Irene takes life in her stride. They are both beautiful people in their own way.

July 1; Today we may have thunder showers according to the weather forecast. After mowing the campgrounds, Dave and I set about cutting up a huge tree that had fell down due to root rot. We used the chain saw and tractor to do the job. We got quite a pile of logs and splits for firewood from that tree. It must have been a couple of hundred of years old. After our work was done, Dave and I had to take a dip in the lake to cool off and regain some strenth, for this hot weather has sapped the strenth right out of us. Later that evening, I went for a walk along the boardwalk that skirts the mile long beach to see if anything was going on for Canada Day. The whole city was quiet. Most of the people that I had seen were swimming down at the beach. today is 38 degree Cel. Being that nothing was happening and the city seemed to be shut-down, I headed back to my tent at the campground. Dave came over a little while later and we talked about our past experiences we had in life. Dave had been a welding specilist in Toronto before he had returned to his home town to live with his elderly mother. Dave does the bull work around here at Lakeview Gardens Campgrounds. He also plows the fields for the garden for corn, tomato, cucumber, potatoes, strawberries, onions, and of corse pumkins, his babies, as he likes to call them.

June 2nd; This day turned out to be hot and humid. Being that we are by the lake, we have some relife from the hot weather from the breeze that come off the lake. I went to The Speaker, and placed an Ad in their newspaper for four weekends. That will cover the month of July. That done, Dave and I worked around the campgrounds, along with some work in the vegetable garden. Dave gave me some pumpkin seeds to plant and look after, while we were doing our daily chores. I had learned a lot about gardening. I would like to someday try it on my own, just for the sake of it. I may develop a green thumb yet. I had made inquiries as to how I had to go about to get copies of my lost I.D.'s and I was told by government officials that I would need I.D.s as proof in order to get copies of my lost I.D.'s. A sort of catch 22 situation. So I gave up on the whole idea of obtaining copies of my lost I.D.'s. I figured that if any government officials wanted I.D.'s from me, all they would have to do is look through their data bank. I am sure they have one and that they must have quite a lot of data of me in all of my 58 years of living. I had also tried to get a replacement of my Canadian Tire Card, but I ran into the same problem of not having a photo I.D. to activate my new card that they had sent me. I had given the main office information that no one would have known or been able to give, but that would not do. So I told them to delete my 32 year relationship that I had with them. I wounder what would have happened if I had owed them money? Would they still not have recondnized me as the owner of that card? The month went by rather quickly without getting any response from trappers from my Ad. So when July 31st, had arrived. I told Dave and Betty that I was going to try and live that kind of lifestyle, without the trapping part, on my own. I had given this much thought during the last week of July. I figured that I should be able to live just on what I could earn from my paintings. After all, I would not need very much money to live on, living the way I had intended. The more I thought about this, the better I liked that idea. So I bid my farewell to Betty and Dave and made ready to find myself a home.

Journal to be continued....

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