March 21, 2015
Today we all met at Timberland Tours Dog Sled Adventure near
Shawville. It was just above freezing with fresh snow and big snowflakes.
The owner, Denis Roca, carefully explained how to drive the
sleds.
Denis has been dog sledding since the 1950s and his teams
have won international awards. He introduced us to his special dogs, a cross
breed of German Pointer, Greyhound and Alaska Husky. They are fast sprinters.
One was named Sam!
Then it was time to harness the dogs and attach them to the
sleigh.
Papa was the driver and Maman and
the boys settled into the sleigh. Soon they were ready to go..
Check out the dogs on video:
The Bowman boys were all ready.
See the fast start:
Soon they were off on a 10 km run.
Grandpa, Barbara and Grant followed a "cross over trail" to see the
action at each loop. There were ten loops so we could easily travel between
them.
Video action:
The boys stuck out their tongues
to sample the big snowflakes.
About half way, David got a bit
restless so they dropped him off with the family photographers. He had a lot of
fun waiting for his sled to whiz by. He was so excited to see them.
Video action:
Soon they were on the last loop - time for the photographers
and David to walk back.
Denis took us into his basement to show us his dog sledding
awards and pictures (it was so warm in there, the camera lens fogged up).
Finally it was time for hot chocolate and hot dogs.
Good memories.
Back home we checked the maple sap and playtime completed
the day.
