Call Us at 1-877-635-2575 (toll free Canada and the US) or email: info@loggingchainlodge.on.ca
Saturday, August 30, 2008
The weather is the most spectacular that it has been all summer - go figure! Only 3 days remaining until school starts and now we have a real summer underway!
We are full with guests once again this weekend, and only one cottage remaining for next weekend. If you are planning on visiting Muskoka this September and October, you should book your cottage in the very near future! Our phone has been ringing off the hook with inquiries...I think everyone has summer fever now that Autumn is on our doorstep.
Summer 2008 Summary:
The final guest numbers are in for Summer 2008 and we have once again hit an over 50% rate of returning guests. Thank you to all of the families who have allowed us to host their vacation once again!
The most popular activity that we have had this past summer has been Archery - it was such a hit, in fact, that 8 of the 9 weeks resulted in 2 nights of Archery per week! So, we are actually considering scheduling two Archery nights per week for next summer. Our canoe/kayak tours, although enjoyed by the guests who took part, were not well attended for 6 out of the 9 weeks and inclement weather played a big part in folks simply not wanting to go for a paddle - so, we will more than likely take those tours off of our Activity Calendar.
We have also realized that having activities scheduled for 7 nights a week was a bit crazy, on many levels! We are considering having Sunday as a free day next Summer for families to relax and enjoy each other's company without any events scheduled.
Our Campfire Nights every second night were very well attended and MANY marshmallows were savoured! We will absolutely continue this campfire tradition!
Thank you to all of our guests who provided their comments, feedback, suggestions, and praise of our Family Activity schedule.
Monday, August 25, 2008
It's here! The last week of summer 2008 before school begins! Hey kids - only 8 days to go! Parents, stop smiling and try to look sad... :-)
We have another great group of guests in this week at our cottage resort. The weather is fantastic! Our grass is still green, thanks to all of the rain that we have had over the summer. I believe this is the first time that we've not had a fire ban in July or August - that's something to celebrate! I noticed on our drive to Huntsville today that some of the maple trees are starting to change colours - wow!
We were not able to do our canoe/kayak tour last night as the wind really picked up on Lake of Bays and created white caps - not touring conditions, that's for certain!
Today was our 2nd last day of Kid's Crafts - very popular again this summer. We're having a campfire tonight - we've had to move the time forward by 1/2 an hour as the daylight is getting shorter now...
We're looking forward to a very busy Labour Day/Holiday weekend in a few days. Check out our Availability section on our website - we've listed our weekend vacancies only for September and October, so please call if you are interested in mid-week rentals.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
It's a spectacular weather today at our cottage resort! High 20'sC and full sun! Now, this is how a summer day should be. Another completely booked week for us here at Logging Chain Lodge.
We're almost completely booked for our canoe/kayak tour for this evening. We've moved the start time to 6:00 p.m. now that the daylight is starting to get shorter - no more paddling in the dark!
There was a bit of excitement 2 days ago when a young bear went running through our property - actually, by the archery area (now that's tempting fate!). Of course, where there is a young bear, there's a mama bear somewhere nearby... Here's a great link for information on bears in and around Algonquin Park - http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/nature/mammals/bear.html.
Update: Sunday night's canoe/kayak tour saw 10 watercraft paddling to Marsh's Falls - the water is still high as a result of lots of rain run-off - the water running over the falls is almost the same as in Spring time!
Friday, August 15, 2008
It's Friday - I almost forgot to add in this blog!!! Yes, we survived last week's Dwight Library Reptile Show - what a great organization that put this on for us - the Indian River Reptile Zoo, and their host Bry Loyst. Visit them at www.reptilezoo.com .
This week has absolutely flown by! As soon as everyone was checked-in on Saturday afternoon, we had a power outage throughout the region - thank goodness it only lasted a couple of hours! Power outages are a pretty regular occurrence here - the mix of rainstorms, above-ground power lines, and lots of trees will do that!
Archery was again so popular this week that we added a 2nd night in on Thursday night. It's amazing to see the skill and comfort levels increase with just an extra couple hours of target shooting! The 3D Boar target is still the most popular with the children. The adults seem to prefer the 3D Deer target - it was pretty shot up last night!! :-) Good shooting, everyone!
Only 2 weeks are remaining for summer at our cottage resort - next week is sold out again! We still have 2 cottages remaining for the week of August 23 - 30. The last week of summer is my favourite! Fewer tourists in the area, cool nights for sleeping, and Lake of Bays is still warm for swimming. Only 18 days left until our children return to school - but who's counting?!!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
It's already Wednesday! We had an awesome canoe/kayak tour on Sunday night to Ragged Falls on Lake of Bays with 8 watercraft and 14 participants. It took us 2.5 hours, round trip - a bit longer than the usual 2 hours, but well worth it!! We returned in full darkness and slept like babies that night after all of the exercise! We were able to see a few beaver, a painted turtle, and a huge blue heron circled over us on the return trip. The water is still quite high due to the abundance of rain this summer, so the water was really flying over the rocks at the falls.
A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Bob, Vera, and Katie in "D" cottage - they have very generously donated to our resort a kayak that Katie has outgrown. WOW!!! We've had the pleasure of hosting their visits to our resort over the past several years - they are such a lovely family! Good luck with High School in September, Katie!
Last night's Archery Night was rained out, or more precisely, thunder and lightening-ed out! We're rescheduling it for a different night this week, as this event is a very popular night and no-one wants to miss out on giving the bows and arrows a try!
We've discovered a large turtle living on the edge of our parking lot! I haven't seen it personally yet to identify it - I'll be on the hunt later...
Today, the Dwight Friends of the Library are hosting a Reptile Show at the Dwight Community Centre - a great opportunity to learn about reptiles from around the world. If I should survive this event, there will be a blog entry for week 7...
