VACATION!!!

I've been working full time for 4 years now and for one reason or another, I’ve only taken 1 week vacation. Usually because I've been starting a new job so I’m not entitled to the paid time off and can't afford to take off without pay. I assumed this was the case at my current job, I’ve only been there for 4 months now so I figured I didn't have any time owed to me, I was wrong so I took advantage of it post haste! I had already arranged to have the Friday, Saturday and Sunday off so I could go up to my Aunt's Camp, as they call it in Northern Ontario which is just west of Sudbury. So I sweet talked the manager into also giving me Thursday off, which gave me a full day to drive there, one for driving back and two full days there. First of all, it was a good think that I didn't try to drive on the Thursday night after I was done work at 5. I forgot how boring driving for 6 hours on your own is. I have a bad habit of falling asleep as soon as it gets dark also so it probably wouldn't have been very safe either. The other reason it was a good think I didn't try to drive at night is because the camp is buried 30 min off of HWY 17 in, basically the middle of a bush, with a lake in the middle of it. The road twists and turns and you actually lose sight of the road quite a few times. It's also very difficult to drive a standard vehicle up steep hills on gravel so there were 2 hills I had to try to take twice. I also had left gas as long as I could in hopes to find it cheap somewhere, not thinking that I would be literally in the middle of nowhere and an hour away from a gas station. Needless to saw the beginning of my drive home involved a lot of praying of sorts, but that's another story.
So I arrived around dinner on Thursday night which was also my mother's birthday so that was a nice treat to see her, since I really haven't seen or hung out with her for quite some time. My dad, aunt and my parents’ friends who were also over for my mom's birthday made an amazing steak and potato dinner, the only thing missing was corn on the cob, but we had that the next night. We also made a camp fire and watched the stars which were awesome because we were so far away from civilization, the stars were so nice and bright and the fire created a nice relaxing atmosphere.
So I had an awesome sleep which I was surprised at because of the not so soft looking bed but it was really very comfortable. So we all slept in a bit and enjoyed a nice big breakfast and then said goodbye to my parents’ friends. The rest of the day, my mom and dad, my aunt and I spent sitting on the back deck, facing the gorgeous lake and reading. My aunt and I did take a break from all the excitement to go for a little paddle boat ride which was enjoyable. I haven't been on one of those for years. But it was a good way to see the whole lake settlement which is quite big. Around dinner my brother came with his puppy who is a 2 and a half year old Rottwhiler, and the sweetest little thing you could ever meet. Pat and I goofed around with his dog for a bit and got to chat and hang out in general. We also had a sit in the Sauna which is one of my favorite things to do but I’ve realized that I don't enjoy steam baths, and i understand why they tell you not to put water on the elements anymore, doesn’t make for a very good experience. I tried going into the lake after the sauna but was just to chicken to take the cold water. I haven't done much swimming for a very long time and had wanted to swim to the island that was about 100' from my aunt's dock but thought better of it since I might get half way there and not be able to swim back. We had another campfire and some more star gazing which lead into another really good night's sleep.
The next morning I got up and tried to go for a run. I took the dog with me but he is so attached to my brother that we would just get off my aunt's property and he would stop, turn around and look for my brother. So back he went. I ended up taking a walk instead of a run because the hills were so killer. I would be running down and feel like I was going to slide down and hurt something so I decided that walking was better then nothing and still ended up working up a pretty good sweat. After I got back, my dad and brother decided they wanted to go fishing. They tried to bring the dog along with them but he was to chicken to get in the boat (he is a big suck) Once they were about 20' from the dock, he realized my brother was going away from him, he jumped in the water and tried to swim after him. The poor dog got about 80' out and then started swimming in circles because he was tired. My aunt being the wonderful person she is grabbed her Kayak and went out to rescue him. The made it to a sand bar and transfer Zeke into the boat. And no they didn't catch any fish! The rest of the day was a lot of lounging around and reading but I ended up going on a Kayak tour of the island which was fun because it was my first time in a Kayak. My other aunt, her husband and their 2 kids showed up and we all ended up going swimming. We had another big dinner and another nice campfire and yet another good sleep. But that was the end of the vacation time. I did mange to get a lot of sun which was really nice. For the first time in a long time I'm a nice and dark colour, no pasty white for me :)