West Branch

Nothing like a weekend to complete a busy week. We really look forward to our time.

Friday evening was recovering at home and watching the sorrowful Indians game. They should have won.

Saturday Nicki worked on cleaning the house while I went into school to do tech work and to get ready for a big reading achievement test we are giving our 3rd graders Monday. And of course we watched/listened to the even more sorrowful Indians game as we worked. That evening we did a little shopping out of town and on the way home went to a jazz concert at the college - Purple Stuff - a student group of various musicians featuring two fantastic drummers. Of course it was free and amazing music. We were probably the oldest people there by 30-40 years (but I thought we fit right in).

Sunday afternoon after the most sorrowful Indians game we drove about 70 miles east to West Branch State Park which has the Michael J. Kirwin Lake (also known as the West Branch Reservoir). The maps said it was a scenic lake with mountain bike trails, campgrounds and lots of fishing. It has a great reputation for muskies up to 50 inches (but we didn’t see any). If you look real close you might see the ripple of one following Nicki's boat but I don't think so.

It is a very nice serene lake though the water level was way down. Lots of fisherpeople but the lake was big enough and they were spread out and there weren’t many powerboats that late in the day. A big enough lake that we had some nice wavy motion from the infrequent powerboats.

Had a very nice sunset. Not much wildlife - not sure why not since the migratory season has started. No geese or ducks and only 2 skittish herons. Might have something to do with the low water and the lack of trees right on the water’s edge. And again we were tying up the boats as it got dark. Either we need to start kayaking earlier in the day or mount lights on the boats. We are getting very good at putting the boats on top of the CRV by touch. Stopped on the turnpike for a late supper on the way home. Forgot that West Wing was on at 8:00 so we missed it totally. I much preferred having it on Wednesday nights.

And the Indians season is over so we can stop watching baseball. That will free up a considerable amount of time in our schedule. We are trying to do at least one evening of kayaking on Findley Lake during the week and discover a new lake on the weekend. That will work until the days get too short and the temperatures too cool.