Factory in the Woods

Making It All Fit

I hurt myself lifting the bag, and I still hadn't packed my clothes.

Earlier this year, as DW and I were starting to seriously plan for our upcoming vacation, which starts this Friday, I gave myself a challenge. I usually travel with one carry-on suitcase and one personal item, but for this trip, I only wanted to have one carry-on backpack, which would hold all of my clothes and all of my camera equipment, including my new drone and its accessories.

I was going to squeeze all of that into one bag and was going to add an empty day bag, that would carry necessities for the day while we are exploring the countryside.

This weekend, DW and I started packing for the trip. I started by laying the day pack at the bottom of the larger pack, adding my tripod, my 200–500 zoom lens, shower shoes, and an electronics bag, which carries spare batteries, data cards, cables, power chargers, and more. With all of that in the backpack, I only had room left for my compression cube, which holds three pairs of underwear and four pairs of socks.

There was no room for any other clothes. Or the drone.

So much for that challenge. I realized that I'd have to use the day bag, as well, and even at that, I'd have to make serious changes to get everything in the two packs.

I removed everything from the large backpack and started over. The tripod went in first, followed by the large zoom lens, which is protected in bubble wrap. Next, my packing cube with my pajamas and two pairs of pants. Then, a packing cube with four long-sleeved shirts, followed by the pack with my socks and underwear.

With all of that in the bag, I only had room for my shower shoes. There's also a top pouch, into which I've placed my toothbrush, paste, hair brush, razor, travel towel, and meds. A side pouch holds a monopod and one of my 360-degree cameras.

In the day bag, I have my electronics bag, a mini tripod, drone and RC, and my rain jacket. A clip on one of the shoulder straps will allow me to clip my D-SLR to it, as well as a water bottle.

And that should be it.

The day bag can clip to the outside of the larger backpack but it's a lot of weight to carry on my back.

It should be interesting to see how I get around the country, this laden, but everything I have with me, I need.

Stay tuned.

Ice Out, Paddles In

As the weather has been getting warmer—finally—in the Ottawa region, our thoughts have been turning to one of our favourite outdoor activities: kayaking.

Last year, in early September, DW and I journeyed to Frontenac Outfitters, just north of Sydenham, to check out new kayaks. We left, having put a deposit down on two 2025 Delta 14 kayaks, to pick them up in the spring.

We were becoming anxious, worried that the kayaks would arrive while we were on vacation, risking missing out on a notification and not getting our new boats until the end of May. Last Wednesday, I called Frontenac Outfitters to get a status update and was thrilled to learn that the kayaks were in transit, would be arriving either later that day or on Thursday.

They notified us the next day that our kayaks were in.

On Saturday, we left the house bright and early to make the two-hour drive to Frontenac. Our car was packed with all of our paddling gear, with the hope of putting our boats into the lake behind the shop, to try them out. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and, even though we had our skirts and rain jackets, it was coming down too hard to make our inaugural paddle any fun.

We had to make due with strapping the kayaks on the roof of the car and taking them home.

DW's lime-green kayak. Mine's still wrapped up, next to hers.

But I can't wait to get in the water. And now that I'm not working, perhaps I'll take a break from writing, during the week, and paddle somewhere close by.

Assuming DW let's me go on an inaugural paddle on my own.

We'll sell our old kayaks, which served us well for five seasons, when we return from our trip. It's going to be sad to say goodbye to our first boats: they were great for what we needed them for, but we'll be taking on bigger challenges this season.

Stay tuned.

They call this azure blue.

Juiced

In late 1996, a couple of months before DW and I packed up our lives and headed to South Korea, where we would be living for the next two years, we met with a travel-medicine practitioner to ensure that we were inoculated against any disease that could come our way. And while there were no mandates to have any shots for this East-Asian peninsula, we were planning to travel all over this region of the world.

Image: ChatGPT

And better safe than sorry.

We received shots against hepatitis, typhoid, and other diseases (I've since forgotten and have misplaced that immunization record). We were also given vials for yellow fever, to keep refrigerated and to have administered if we decided to go to countries like India, Cambodia, or Vietnam.

Unfortunately, the vials didn't stay refrigerated long enough for the long flight, so we had to dispose of them. Fortunately, we didn't go anywhere that such an inoculation was required.

Still, money down the drain.

For our upcoming trip, which is only a week away, we found ourself at another consultation for immunization shots. This time, we didn't go to a specialist and this time, many of the vaccines were covered under either mine or DW's health plans (we were out of pocket in the late 90s).

While none of the vaccines are required for entry into the country we'll be visiting, many are recommended and, just as in 1996, it's better to be safe than sorry.

We've rolled up our sleeves and popped pills. So far, we've received shots for Hep A and yellow fever, and we've been taking pills for typhoid (four capsules that are taken once every two days: our last pill was taken yesterday).

We also have tablets that we'll start taking, next Friday, when we arrive in the country. And over the following couple of days, we'll take more. They're meant to help relieve altitude sickness. And, we'll have anti-malarial pills as well, which we'll carry on us just in case.

So, in a word, we're juiced. We're taking preventative steps and are carrying treatments for unknown possibilities.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. We want to enjoy every moment of it.

So, where are we going? I'll let you know, next week, when we're en route.

Stay tuned.

Beer O'Clock: Cody's Brew

I'd been looking forward to trying this brew for a while.

Even though DW suggested to my family and friends that my birthday party, in March, was a no-gift event, some people brought something anyway. From lush wine to hand-made, knitted toques, my friends and family are thoughtful.

Among the generous gifts, I received a pack of assorted beer from various breweries in the east end of Orleans—an Ottawa neighbourhood that I don't get out to often enough. The pack included brews from two of my favourite breweries, Stray Dog and Broadhead, as well as from a brewery I have yet to visit and whose beer I have only tried a couple of times.

OBC: Orleans Brewing Company.

As I moved the cans of beer from the wooden crate that held the gift pack to my beer fridge, I read the labels of each can, and I gave an "oooh!" as I looked at one can. It was an oatmeal stout with coffee.

I don't drink as often as I used to. Now that I'm retired, it could be too easy to open a beer at lunchtime or keep a pint next to me while I work on my novel. And I promised myself that I wouldn't do what it did at the start of the pandemic, when I always kept my beer fridge full and would drink a few pints a day.

My gut is big enough, these days, and I want to focus on my writing.

More than seven weeks after my party, I decided that the time had come to try this coffee stout. I had already enjoyed some of the other brews from the gift pack but I wanted to give this stout a proper review. My hopes were high as I cracked it open.

Cody's Brew: Oatmeal Stout with Equator Coffee (4.6 % ABV; 22 IBUs)
Orleans Brewing Company
Ottawa ON

Appearance: pours a near black with a foamy, deep taupe head that settles to a fine lace. Within a couple of minutes, the head was completely gone and the effervescence disappeared. I thought the stout might be flat, but it wasn't.

Nose: strong coffee with a hint of chocolate.

Palate: there was almost a sourness right away but the coffee followed up. A bitter chocolate brings the short finish. I was almost put off by that sourness but on subsequent sips, it disappeared. While the brew wasn't flat, there wasn't much fizz action going on in the mouth. It made me wonder how long the can had been sitting on the OBC shelves before it was added to my gift pack.

Overall impression: there's good coffee flavour in this stout and not much else to distract you from it. Equator Coffee Roasters make great coffee and their beans make this a much better brew. It's a fine stout but perhaps my expectations exceeded what I received. Was it a good stout? Yes. Would I drink it again? Perhaps. Would I seek it out? No.

In my opinion, Stray Dog and Broadhead make better stouts.

Beer O'Clock rating: 🍺🍺

OBC offers online ordering with free shipping on orders of $60 or more and within a 30-km radius.

Thanks to my friends, Bee and Marc, for the lovely brew pack. I still have more cans to savour.

Cheers!