Wake with the Sun: Independence Day Irony, The Calm after the 4th

So, it's the 5th of July this morning, and Lake Winnipesaukee is relatively calm, the sun is shining, and we have had our great breakfast of garlic eggs, solar-side up. I am remiss at taking photos of the food I've been cooking up, but will make up for that soon, I hope. On Saturday we took a walk on Bear Island, where we are staying, and I took some nice photos along the way.

We visited a couple from Oregon, whose family has owned property on Bear since the 50s. I had first met them at Y-landing, and we have seen them there almost every time we crossed to the mainland since. As their family and generations bloomed, so did the tent platforms. They have a lovely family enclave out on the broad north-eastern side of the island, so they can see plenty of wave action from the lake over there.

We stopped at the Winnipesaukee Yacht Club, which is a private boat club on Bear, where folks can come and tent, moor, dock, hang, barbeque, and swim, not necessarily in that order.

We then stopped at the Bear Island Mail Boat dock and lending library (combined). I also photographed some of the chestnut trees along the way, since the couple from Oregon, foresters from the west, were less familiar with eastern hardwoods.

On Sunday, we rose early, and after my swim and board, Claude pulled out the motor.to dissassemble it. He was originally going to order a new electric motor to replace the old one, which is still not working, but he realized he can purchase a part of the motor (the crucial non-working part) and not have to replace the entire motor. I did a little video work with the motor, to make sure he will be able to reassemble it when the new part comes in.

When we were ready, we headed out in both kayaks to Y-landing. We had thought we could dock both kayaks in the skip with the landlord's boat, but in fact there were not enough room, so we stacked the kayaks one over the other. Luckily it didn't rain overnight.

Then we headed out to MA, where we went to a lovely 4th of July party in Littleton, MA, also on a lake. I will include a sunset photo from that location as well.

When we arrived back at Y-landing yesterday, on the 4th, We had unstacked the boats and loaded them full with water and groceries we had bought in Meredith. A woman coming off her motor boat was amazed I would fill my kayak with so much luggage, but the kayak has large front and rear storage compartments and I can carry a lot with me.

When we headed out, there were lots of motor boats on the lake, lots of wake and lots of slosh. I was being rocked around, and it was a little scary. But we made it back here, to the calmness of our little cove, and after a swim to cool off from the blazing sun and heat, we had a nice lunch of fresh corn from the microwave.

The lake was busy with internet traffic as well, and we had no luck using the internet last night. This morning was another story. The lake was calm again. Folks were gone from their long weekend. And the internet was better for us.

So, it's post-independence day, and the irony is, without our motor, we are in some sense, the least independent we have been in a while. Luckily, we have the pedal kayaks, so still have freedom, are still independent.

So, I hope you enjoy these photos from the last few days. I have lots of sunrise/sunset photos, as well as some nice shots of Bear Island. As always, Double-click a photo to enlarge it, and you can scroll through the enlarged photos by clicking the photo thumbnails at the bottom of the page.